The state schools for the deaf and blind in Clintonville, Ohio, will remain separate, officials have decided. A $42.9 million plan calls for reducing the combined size of the schools from the 400,000 square feet they now occupy to roughly 300,000 square feet, which will cut energy costs and get rid of obsolete space. The building design process will continue through spring, when officials will have a better handle on where the new buildings will go. Gymnasiums at both schools will remain, as will the School for the Blind's natatorium, but other buildings will be demolished, including five girls' residence halls at the School for the Deaf and three at the blind school. Alumni have criticized a proposal to consolidate the schools. They feared it would create social and safety problems between the two student bodies.
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