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Home school program eyes Waldorf Parents hope Ashland will purchase site By Wendy Siporen ASHLAND � The parents of some former Waldorf School students say they hope classes will remain on the East Main Street ranch property one way or another this fall. The parents are encouraging the Ashland School District to purchase the 40-acre property and turn it into an off-campus location for its home-schooling support program. The district program is offered at the middle school and is expanding to the high school level this fall. "We're really excited about that possibility" of working with the home-schooling program, said parent and Waldorf board member Larry Medinger, who praised the program as offering the best of what the district has to offer. "The only reason the group of parents wanted to purchase the property was to have the land for the classrooms to go forward." In May, the board of directors of the Waldorf School decided not to offer formal classes in the fall because of financial problems. But four of the classes are hoping to continue to meet independently of the school. Representatives of the school district say they are interested in looking into the property as a location for the Community Learning Center for home-schooled students, particularly if it would draw more participants into the program. The program served 150 different students in the past year, the equivalent of 47 full-time students. Adding former Waldorf students to the pool could boost those numbers and draw in additional state funding to the district. But the daunting $1 million asking price, repairs needed and the logistics of running such a center are potential roadblocks to the district's purchase, which would require board approval. "It's a lot of money. We don't know if the student population would support it. Who's going to run it?" questioned retiring school Superintendent John Daggett. "At least in the short term it's not going to fly." School board member Alan DeBoer was slightly more positive, saying he would like the property owners to make an offer to the district so that the board could discuss it. "We'd be interested in seeing some facts about it rather than headlines in the paper,'' said DeBoer. Walter Strauss, a former Waldorf parent and president of the corporation who now owns the property, could not be reached for comment. Listing agent Ali Ross of Gateway Real Estate says she's actively trying to sell the property and there's a "ton" of interest in it. "It's a beautiful property. The barn is 100 years old," said Ross. A previous offer to purchase the land fell through because of the difficulties in developing the property that is zoned Exclusive Farm Use and lies outside the city's urban growth boundary. If the school district declines to purchase the property, three Waldorf families want to purchase it in order to house the independent classes that will continue to meet. "One way or another we want to be there for this coming fall," said Medinger. "We're all hoping it's with the district because it sounds like a wonderful program." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA