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| Schools for sale? |
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| Community involvement will be critical in deciding the future of our schools |
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 | | CENTRAL OREGONIAN | | Steve Swisher is the superintendent of the Crook County School District and can be reached at steve.swisher@crookcounty.k12.or.us or at 447-5664. |
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So, what happens when someone approaches a school district and says they want to buy one or two schools?
Of course, my first response when this recently occurred in Crook County was that they are not for sale. We must have a place to educate our students. I expected them to go away at that point, but something interesting happened. They said they might be willing to build a new school to our specifications and turn it over to us in exchange for the school they wanted. Of course, I said that a new school would cost about $15 million dollars - and expected them to go away. Something even more interesting happened, they said they would like to continue to talk about it and that they would be interested in two of our schools - not just one. An even more interesting thing happened - two other credible parties indicated that they would be interested in buying one or two schools.
We are facing some difficult decisions in the near future regarding schools in order to address the growth issues in our community. We will need new classroom space and schools to address the added students. However, we also need to address aging buildings with long term maintenance and/or replacement plans. The schools that interested the various parties varied. The schools included Ochoco, Powell Butte, and Crooked River. It was also clear that their interest was primarily in the land the schools sit on, not necessarily the buildings themselves. According to Dana Bratton, a well respected commercial real estate appraiser in central Oregon, old school buildings are often very hard to sell and usually detract from the value of the land they sit on.
Obviously, we have many critical issues facing the school district that will affect the future of Crook County. One issue is the need for a long-range facility and property plan for our schools. We must make the best use of our current assets including both school and general community use. Before we can really respond to the kind of offers described above, there is work that needs to be done.
We need to identify future school sites in growth areas of the county, like Juniper Canyon. Also, we need to identify the best possible uses of our current assets, including current school sites, district- owned property on Barnes Butte Road, and the property designated as a school site in the Iron Horse subdivision. In addition, we need to know the life expectancy and cost of maintaining our aging schools.
The school board is asking for broad based community input regarding these topics in order to develop a long-range facility construction and maintenance plan. They have authorized the formation of a steering committee composed of about 24 people to review the demographic studies; tour current school sites and properties; gather first-hand knowledge of current conditions; receive input from other professionals including engineers, architects, and planners; and gather input from the community-at-large.
This steering committee, and any subcommittees it develops, will spend the next several months gathering and reviewing information, synthesizing the data, and making recommendations of options and priorities to the school board. Meetings will always be open to the public with notice provided of meeting dates, locations, and agendas. The county, city, recreation district, historical society, and Chamber will be offered standing positions appointed by their governing boards. Student representation and members of the district budget committee will also be included. Other community positions will be appointed by the school board after receiving applications. You may request the one page application by calling 447-5664 or checking our Web site at www.crookcounty.k12.or.us after March 13. Applications are due April 5.
The time commitment for a committee member, including meetings, will likely be over 80 hours. We expect the committee to start its work by the end of April and continue into the next school year, concluding sometime in January or February, 2007. What will a person get out of participating? A thank you and a deep sense of satisfaction knowing they are helping to form a critical path for the future of our schools, students, and community. I encourage you to apply.
In the meantime, should we receive real estate offers for our schools that seem too good to be true - they probably are. On the other hand, we have a responsibility to our taxpayers to consider every offer in order to determine if they are real, viable within the context of the steering committee work, meet long-range needs, and are of financial benefit to the public. Things are happening in Crook County faster than any of us can imagine. I encourage you to participate in the public decision-making processes that will shape our future.
Steve Swisher is the superintendent of the Crook County School District. He can be reached at: steve.swisher@crookcounty.k12.or.us |
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