NELSONVILLE, Ohio — A Logan-based charter school wants to put its older students in a former county resource center on the Nelsonville Public Square, but the plan is waiting on a zoning process that has not formally started, the Athens County Independent reported.
Southeast Ohio Classical Academy, known as SOCA, opened in Logan in 2024 and currently offers free K–7 classes, expanding to 8th grade next school year on its way to serving grades K–12 by 2030, according to the Independent. The school is looking at the building at 10 W. Washington St. in Nelsonville, formerly the Athens County Community Cares Resource Center, which would require a zoning variance to operate as a school in the downtown commercial district.
SOCA Principal Tim Allen told the Athens County Independent in an email that 10 W. Washington St. would be used for “many of our upper school students. This will also free up much needed space here on our lower school campus.” Allen told the Independent he hopes to see about 120 students attending classes at the Nelsonville location by 2030, and that the school has toured other sites in the area in case the variance is not granted.
The building itself is changing hands to make the plan possible. Jonathan Cozad placed an uncontested $776,000 bid for the Public Square building in late September, according to a public records request fulfilled by the Athens County Commissioners office and reported by the Independent, and Cozad told the Independent he is purchasing it with the intent to lease it to SOCA as a long-term tenant.
Residents, business owners and educators have weighed in at two October meetings — the Planning and Development Committee on October 20 and a city council meeting on October 26 — the Independent reported. Supporters told the meetings they favor SOCA’s curriculum and said a school could bring more traffic to downtown businesses. Nelsonville-York City Schools employees, meanwhile, raised concerns that a charter location in town would divert more state funding away from the city schools, since Ohio charter funding follows the student.
“When enrollment and funds are continuously siphoned from our school district, this inherently limits the type of opportunities that we can provide for our students,” Nelsonville-York English teacher Casey Cox said at the meetings, according to the Athens County Independent. Nick Conroy, speaking for the Nelsonville-York Education Association, urged council to understand the proposal’s enrollment and funding effects before deciding, the Independent reported.
For now, the city says there is nothing to decide. SOCA has not yet formally applied for a zoning variance, and council member Gregg Clement said at the October 26 meeting that council would not respond to public comments because, as he put it in the Independent’s reporting, “We have nothing to look at yet.” The city’s Board of Zoning Appeals, which would hear the variance, currently has several vacancies; the city is seeking residents to serve, and the Independent reported that council can act on the board’s behalf under the city charter if the seats stay empty.
What happens next is in SOCA’s hands: the school must file its zoning variance application with the city before the Planning Commission, the Board of Zoning Appeals or council can take any action on a Nelsonville campus.
Photo: Tim Kiser, CC BY-SA