Epic story of middle school sale continues

Friday, April 27, 2007

During a special meeting on Thursday, the USD 234 Board of Education discussed several options in the ongoing saga that has been the sale of the old Fort Scott Middle School building, 412 S. National Ave.

Business Manager Alan Drake said no action was taken by the board; the board was simply presented various options to consider.

The sale of the former FSMS building was supposed to close on April 13, for the price of $75,000. However, West Haven, Conn., native Robert Gbobaniyi, whose contract to buy the building was approved by the board in March, did not close by that date. Therefore, his original contract with the district was voided, Drake said.

Drake said Gbobaniyi has proposed a new contract with the district, which would increase the purchase price to $80,000 and would close on June 15. Gbobaniyi, who has expressed interest in turning the building into a senior citizen facility, has already sent $1,000 in earnest money to a local abstract company. That $1,000 is the school district's to keep whether Gbobaniyi buys the building or not.

Another option the board is discussing is a proposal from James Mayfield to purchase the building for $45,000. Drake said the closing date for that sale would be set for around 30 days after approval of the contract. Mayfield's bid of $45,000 was originally passed over for Gbobaniyi's during the March school board meeting. Mayfield has not submitted a contract, Drake said, simply a letter of intent.

The board has also received interest in the building from Texas resident Les Renfro. Drake said Renfro has nothing in writing, but said he is offering around $50,000 for the building. Because there is nothing writing from Renfro, the closing date of the potential sale is "a question mark," Drake said.

Interest in the building has also been expressed by Gary Johnson, whose place of residence is unknown, Drake said. Johnson has no contract to submit at this time, but Drake said he is offering $75,000 for the building. If he were to get a contract to submit through Realtor Dave Rose of Mid West eServices, he would be asked to submit $2,000 in earnest money, Drake said. Drake said the closing date of that sale would be between 30 and 45 days after the contract approval.

During Thursday's meeting, the board asked Drake to gather more information on each of the potential buyers before any action is taken. Drake said part of his job will be to find out just how serious each of them is about buying the building.

"We do need to see how serious they are," Drake said. "One way to do this is to see if they will put more escrow money down, which would be forfeited to the district whether they close or not."

Drake said the board is not wanting this sale to drag on for a long period of time.

"We're not looking at trying to close on this thing a year down the road," he said. "We want to try to get it done within 30, 45 or 60 days, once we have approval of a contract."

The old FSMS building has sat vacant since 1999.

Also on Thursday, the board approved a 1,116-hour calendar for the 2007-08 school year.

In employment matters, the board accepted the resignation of Fort Scott High School applied communications teacher Larry DeLaney, Winfield Scott Elementary School primary at-risk instructor Andrea McNutt, central office secretary/receptionist Kristy Bolden, and Keith Butler, Fort Scott Middle School math teacher. The board approved the employment of licensed personnel at each of the four district schools.