February 2, 2011
Board begins steps to
sell school
by Terry Myers
The Renfrew County
District School Board is taking the first steps in the process of
selling off Morison Public School.
Under provincial regulations, the school will first be offered to a
long list of other government agencies.
If there are no takers for the property from that list, the building
could hit the open market later this spring.
However, board officials say they will not finalize any deal before
Morison students have all been safely transferred to the “new” JK-12
school facility in the current Mackenzie High School.
“It is timely that the board begins this process,” board chair Dave
Shields said in an announcement.
“We are anxious to get our Deep River family of schools settled and on
the road to success.”
The school board voted in October 2009 to close Morison and move all of
Deep River's public school students into the Mackenzie High School
building as of September 2011.
The board said last week the renovation project under way at the high
school is “on budget and on schedule” for Morison students to move in
next fall.
According to provincial regulations, the board must first offer the
property to a list of other government bodies, including other school
boards in the area, local colleges (Algonquin), the university whose
head office is nearest the property (Nipissing), the local
municipality, the county, the province and the federal government.
Those listed will have 90 days to make an offer on the school.
If no offer comes forward, the board can put the property on the market
for sale to “any other body or to any person.”
Any sale of the school must be at “fair market value.”
The school board office said Monday that letters offering Morison to
the list of regulated bodies are expected to go out within the next two
weeks.
That would mean replies would be due back by the middle of May.
The board will get an outside appraisal of the school to determine the
“fair market value” of the property.
However, it's not clear how the board's own estimates for the costs of
“school renewal” at Morison will affect the value.
In a financial review in September 2008, the school board determined
that closing Morison would result in savings of only $10,000 a year.
The board's figures showed at the time that closing Morison would save
$171,000 in school operating costs, plus another $89,000 in
administration.
In addition, the board said it would avoid almost $2.3 million over the
next 10 years - or $227,000 a year - in “school renewal” costs for
repairs to Morison.
The board's figures showed that those savings would be offset by the
loss of $388,000 in provincial operating grants, $54,000 in “capital
renewal” grants, and $35,000 in additional busing costs.
|
