SANDUSKY — The Erie County Health Department wants to take over the lease at Mills Elementary School when the city Recreation Department moves to a new fitness center next year.
The out-of-school program at Mills School could remain intact if all goes well, and the services there might be expanded to provide a medical clinic and outreach services, according to Health Commissioner Pete Schade.
Sandusky Schools CEO Dr. Luther Johnson said he and his chief of staff, Dr. Dixon recently met with Health Commissioner Pete Schade and Tondra Frisby, the former city employee who established the program at Mills School when she worked for the city as its youth programs supervisor. Frisby recently became director of youth engagement in Northwest Ohio for the health department.
Details of any lease agreement with the health department are still in a preliminary stage, Dr. Johnson said.
“While they expressed interest in leasing a district site, there are protocols and procedures in place for matters of this nature. This has not been discussed by the District, as this site is currently being utilized by the City.”
Schade and Frisby also said the inquiry is preliminary. But keeping and expanding the out-of-school program would be a central purpose for leasing the property and partnering with the district at the building, which was constructed in 1955 and has been maintained well through the years by the district.
That would include keeping the dedicated specialized interest rooms the city has said it won’t transfer to the new fitness center, Frisby said. She also has plans to continue and expand the Midtown Supper Club, a culinary program for “young chefs in training,” that Frisby established nine years ago. It brings families together—and kids working with area chefs—to learn cooking skills and healthy choices. Each season, there’s a Midtown Supper Club community dinner prepared by the young chefs in training that serves thousands. The program has raised tens of thousands of dollars through the years to support the programming.
Frisby said Mills School has been a cherished institution for generations of Sanduskians.
“These are sacred grounds, this school on Mills Street between Pierce and Buchanan, is a cherished space for so many people in our community,” Frisby said. “It connects us all generationally, right now today. This space needs to be preserved.”
For so many in the neighborhood there’s a common theme, Frisby said.
“Southside for life.”
Bonus Photo gallery: Midtown Supper Club 2025
