Reader questions school demolitions

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Urbana East Elementary is gone now residing in the bottom of a landfill.

Urbana Local has undergone an interesting change immediately after my last letter to the editor. The doors and windows were removed on a weekend by a local fellow who stated they were given to him for the value of the materials. The contents of the building are still there.

After reviewing federal contracts and acting as a project manager for five years there is something that must be made known. According to the Ohio School Boards Association page 2 concerning district property disposal, it states that “In most cases if the value of the real or personal property exceeds $10,000 a board of education is required to sell the property at public auction.” Then the article described the process for the auction.

Did anyone see anything in the paper about an auction or 5 well visited places for either East or Local?

Page 3 then states what happens if the district fails to comply with the “Statute” requiring a public auction.

A court could stop a proposed sale or set aside a sale that has already been completed if the sale is or was improperly executed.

It is my take that willfully allowing a property to be opened to the elements as a means to discourage someone from buying it is the willful destruction of public property.

The school board and the superintendent do not own the property. It has been paid for and maintained by the public via tax dollars.

By opening up the building they have decreased the value of the property making it a better deal. Window and doors go out and they can go back in. If no one wants to do anything the building will be gone.

I once asked an administrator from another district why they did not put solar panels on the roof of the building as per the design.

His response: ” We can’t appear to save money. If we did that how would we ever justify another tax levy?”

Need I say more?

Wes Beery

Urbana

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