The board in August 2017 voted to approve a real estate agreement under which the district would purchase the property for $733,375, contingent on the bond issue approval. The board in December 2017 subsequently authorized administrators to pay up to $25,000 for additional consideration by the land owners Ann Huegel and Charles Isern and extension of the purchase through 2018.
Schools Superintendent Chris Piper said Tuesday other options are being pursued. The board of education met Monday for its first meeting of 2019 but did not discuss the property or the facilities project.
“After much consideration, the board has decided to not move forward with the purchase of the property off Nashville Road and Ohio 55. We are currently looking for and considering other options across the district,” Piper said.
The board last year began new discussions on future school facilities with new superintendent Piper, who joined the district last summer.
Another bond issue proposal could be before voters in May 2020 at the earliest, board members said in the fall.
The district has six elementary schools, a sixth-grade building, a junior high and a high school with an average age of 71 years.
“This is real. It is urgent. We need to address it,” board President Doug Trostle said during an October board session of the need to work toward replacing aging buildings with fewer structures.
During the most recent discussions, the board talked with Piper about looking at possible building sites in the southern part of the community. Administrators also met last year with city officials about possible use of city park land next to existing buildings, if a larger building was proposed on a site adjacent to park property.
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