High school tennis court rebuild costs increase by $50,000

July 14 school board meeting

by Melissa Martin

School district administrators say reconstruction of the five tennis courts behind the Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School and Middle School will be completed before school opens this fall. However, the cost to rebuild them increased over the summer.

Superintendent Jeff Harrison told the board of education that the reconstruction project, underway since the end of May, was slated to be completed by Aug. 1 and ready for use during the high school tennis season this fall.

The board approved a blanket $50,000 change order, much of which will be used to install new fence posts and remove underground drainage pipes as part of the project.

Harrison said the fence posts and underground drainage pipes were not part of the original contract because they involved underground conditions that could not be fully assessed until excavation started.

“Rather than simply paving over these underlying problems, the district is proactively addressing the fence posts and drainage now to guarantee the structural integrity and longevity of the new courts,” Harrison said.

Any part of the additional $50,000 allocated for the work not spent will be returned to the district later this year, Harrison said.

Records show the tennis courts began cracking and ponding weeks after the original rebuild was completed in 2023. SCG Fields LLC, the Brecksville company that performed the work, has yet to accept any liability in the pavement’s failure, according to Harrison.

Though the district requested the company perform testing on the courts before the reconstruction project began, Harrison said that, to his knowledge, the testing was never completed. The school district, however, elected to bring in a third-party engineering firm to conduct testing, which confirmed deficiencies in the original construction.

Harrison said no legal action has been taken against SCG Fields. The district has, however, retained an attorney and is considering taking legal recourse once the work is completed.

“The district is thoroughly reviewing all of its legal options to ensure that taxpayer dollars are protected and that we hold the appropriate parties accountable for the failure of the original courts,” Harrison said.

The rebuild is being performed by Massillon-based Vasco Sports Contractors at a cost of $302,199.

Other campus projects

In addition to the tennis courts, the new Hilton Drive project at the district’s main campus on Mill Road is also on track for completion before students arrive for the start of school.

Harrison said the roadway, which features a new access road, traffic circle roundabout, signage, sidewalks and modern lighting to ease traffic, will be “open and fully functional” the week of Aug. 10.

The access way, which extends and reworks the former Hilton Elementary School driveway along the southern property line, runs from the board of education building to connect with the existing campus drive.

As for the turf on the high school football field, Harrison said that project was expected to be complete by the last week of July, as was the middle school roof replacement.

The project to replace much of the lighting at the middle school with LED fixtures and bulbs was also “well underway” by the meeting, Harrison said. He expected that project would be completed before students return to school on Aug. 19.

TIF updates

The board’s financial updates included a presentation on tax increment financing revenues tied to local developments, with anticipated payments to the district reaching approximately $775,000 for 2026.

District Treasurer Craig Yaniglos said that much of the revenue the district is expected to receive this year will come from development taking place in and around Valor Acres, with the district seeing approximately $80,000 in additional revenue this year over 2025.

“We will be looking at the numbers more closely in August, but so far we have been trending slightly higher (in terms of revenue the district receives from its three existing TIFs) than what was anticipated in our forecast,” Yaniglos said, noting that the district typically receives its payments from the county on its TIFs in March and August, while payments from the city of Brecksville are typically allocated in May or June.

As construction continues in Valor Acres, the district expects to receive additional funds in the next few years, particularly in the 2028-2029 collection year as the grocery store, retail and office spaces are planned for completion, raising the district’s property value to more than $84 million, Yaniglos said.

New AP records

Board member Tish Kwiatkowski said the district set two records this year at the high school for AP testing, which were released July 6.

“The total number of BBH students taking the exam this year was 597 and that is the highest on record,” Kwiatkowski said, noting that 541 students took the tests in 2025, which was the previous record.

She also said the number of students earning scores of 3 or higher reached 472, which was up from 447 students in 2025.

If students obtain a score of 3 or higher on an exam, they receive college credit for the course. The highest score students can receive is 5.

“Kudos to the students who did so well on those exams,” Kwiatkowski said. “And congratulations to the students and staff for all the hard work they put in this year.”