In September, Gupta ordered the temporary relocation of the dozen staff members from the 20 Rubicon Road board offices to two vacant classrooms at Smith Elementary School, 1701 Shafor Blvd. The Oakwood Schools Foundation, which uses the board office space, also had to vacate.
“The action was a direct response to immediate health and safety concerns that made the historic house an unsuitable work environment,” Gupta said during the board’s November meeting.
A floor jack in the basement is holding up one section of the first floor, and two more are needed to support a significant dip in the conference room. Also, the basement has experienced flooding, the building has ongoing HVAC issues and roof problems are persistent and worsening, the superintendent said.
Based on a consultant’s assessment of the building, Gupta said making the repairs would not be a good investment of taxpayer dollars.
“The building has underlying structural issues that require significant and costly repairs,” Gupta said. “And even after spending money to address these areas, we’d still have an office space that doesn’t function well for our needs and would still have to incur unanticipated costs that have increased due to the age of the house.”
The city of Oakwood owns the building and leases it to the district for $1 a year with the district responsible for upkeep.
Oakwood City Manager Katie Smiddy said the city does not have immediate plans for the building and would need to assess it once the district is finished clearing out furniture and files.
The school board’s seven-year lease is for a 4,600-square-foot space at 400 Sugar Camp Circle, Suite 200 on the second floor of Building D.
Rent will go up incrementally from $9,716.67 a month in the first year to $11,602.21 a month in year seven, according to the lease.
Staff is expected to move into the new space in the spring.
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