Marshall Park School is just one of several schools the Near North District School board is trying to sell. More are coming. Photo by Dennis Chippa.
If you’re in the market for something roomy to build around, then David Thompson wants to hear from you.
The Chair of the Near North District School Board has four schools for sale now and three more coming available next year when the latest consolidation creates one school and eliminates three more.
With students scheduled to move in to the new Pinewood Elementary in September 2016, Thompson says the process of declaring King George, J. W. Trussler and Dr. MacDougall schools surplus and for sale will begin next June.
“We have to offer those three schools to a list of agencies. That includes other school boards, the city, DNSSAB, any agency that’s funded by the government. We have ninety days. And it has to be offered at market value.”
After that, the School Board can put the schools up for tender, list them, or try and sell them itself.
The Board is already trying to sell two schools in Parry Sound and Tweedsmuir and Marshall Park in North Bay.
One of them has a conditional offer and another has some expressions of interest, but Thompson admits all the schools are a tough sell, depending on their location.
“Oh absolutely, absolutely, it goes from school to school. So King George is a 104 year old school and what is it worth to someone. What can you do with that building? The board can say it is worth a million dollars but it may not be worth a million dollars to someone else, especially if they want to convert it to apartments or condos.”
Financial concerns limit what the board can do with the sale of surplus schools, including tearing them down and simply selling the land.
Thompson says that is just not an option .
“First of all we don’t have the money to do that, and that money could be used to serve the classroom as opposed to tearing a building down. I think the Board’s position is that we’d rather have someone else tear the building down and take that cost. And certainly that would reflect in the market value in the purchase price of that building.”
At the same time, Thompson says the unsold schools remain the Board's responsibility, which means continuing to pay for the upkeep of empty schools.
“It is to the advantage of the board to dispose of these properties sooner than later. Because we have to heat these things at least to a minimum during the winter and you know, it’s public knowledge that when we had Almaguin for sale for three years it cost us a hundred thousand dollars a year to heat it. “
The question then remains: Why sell them in the first place?
Thompson admits it’s about savings, savings the Board will eventually see.
But any savings are down the road, and not until the province is satisfied the Board’s schools have enough students.
“The government this year has very clearly explained to us that funding is based on vacancies based on schools, and they are going to drastically alter the funding you get the more space you have vacant. There’s the savings there. You don’t get the top up money any more, that’s going to hurt us even more, which gives us more reason to consolidate.“
Any money the Board does take in through the sale of schools goes into a fund to fix the schools it is still operating.
In the meantime, if you’re interested, Thompson says the board is listening.
