Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us April 12, 2005 School board rejects Lincoln proposals Members take sale off table, hope that more will apply before July By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings For now, Lincoln Elementary School will be empty come June. About 60 people fill the council chambers at the Ashland Civic Center for Monday night’s Ashland School Board meeting. Most of the crowd came to hear the proposals for the lease or sale of Lincoln School. Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings The Ashland School Board received three proposals for the future use of the 79-year-old building on April 4, but during its Monday night meeting, the board ruled that none of them were adequate and that it would continue to accept lease proposals until July 1. “I think with some time and work, we may come up with some things,” said board member Terry Littleton, hoping the panel could find a use for the building that the community would support. She said that finances “don’t look perhaps as dire as they did before.” District officials had thought it would be necessary to dip into their reserve fund to maintain staffing levels at the three remaining elementary schools, the middle school and the high school next year. That is no longer the case, meaning the district will not have to rely on revenue from the lease of Lincoln during the 2005-06 school year. “I think I can say with some optimism, we can get through this biennium,” said Ashland Schools Superintendent Juli Di Chiro. “What this may mean is Lincoln may remain empty for some time.” The school board would like to find an organization to lease the whole building for the listed price ($24,000 a month) and no longer wants to consider sale options. New board members, who will be elected in May and take their positions in July, will be charged with determining the use of the building if a viable lease option does not surface in the next three months. “It would be best for the district to only have one entity in the entire building,” said school board Chair Amy Amrhein. “We’re willing to wait for that.” Although community members came forward to thank the board for not jumping into a lease or sale agreement and taking the sale option off the table for now, they continued to criticize the school board’s management of the situation. Julie Gower asked for the school board to develop a strategic plan, Bryan Holley reminded the board “this is an important land-use issue,” and Sue Graham asked the board to find a way to keep Lincoln open for one more year with “creative funding.” “You all know that I’m a big fan of Lincoln School by now,” said Lincoln parent Martha Cotton, who attended the school as a child. “I’m concerned about this idea of letting the building be empty while you slow the process down.” The building, which does not meet current building codes, cannot be employed as an educational facility without being subject to current standards if it stands unused for an extended period of time. However, the school board is not considering rescinding the February 2004 decision to close the school in June. At 10:30 p.m., after most of the 60 people attending the meeting had left, a brief recess and a motion to extend the meeting until 11 p.m., Cotton stood at the front of the audience and asked to be recognized by the board because she had two questions about Lincoln School — if the district would only accept bids that leased the entire building and if the school could remain open for one more year. “I’d like to stick to the agenda because it’s getting very late,” Amrhein told Cotton, declining to address the questions. Matt Marr, a candidate for school board, rose to his feet next to Cotton and, from the back of the room, someone shouted, “Some of us have stayed to hear the board’s clarification of an issue!” Amrhein continued directing board business as a growing group of people sat or stood in front of the board waiting for Cotton’s question to be answered. Amrhein adjourned the meeting at 10:35 p.m. without addressing the issue. “There will be a board meeting in a month,” Di Chiro said. After the meeting ended, Cotton asked her questions and Di Chiro confirmed the board will only consider leases for the entire building. Keil said school will remain closed. In between the two Lincoln School discussions, the board established a bond committee and appointed 10 members who have been working with board member Chuck Keil on an unofficial, exploratory bond committee. The new bond committee will be charged with reviewing proposals for a facilities study, which the board will send out a request for proposals this month. The Ashland Quality Education Model was also unanimously approved, despite voices of dissent within the audience, and next year’s school calendar got the OK. Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Free Musick Downloads Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress tcg student loan consolidation home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms Tatoos student loans African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems diamonds Currancy Exchange Online Casinos Community Student Loans Tatoo Poker Games Homeschooling Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams