By Tom Gilchrist
For The Advertiser
CASS CITY — Members of the Cass City Public Schools Board of Education wanted their school district’s voters to decide to sell or keep the former Campbell Elementary School, but a lawyer says that’s not possible, according to Superintendent Jeff Hartel.
“It’s not even legal to put it on the ballot,” said Hartel, who said he spoke with school attorney Jeffrey J. Soles about the topic, and updated the school board about the issue at its Monday meeting.
The board wanted to let the district’s 5,533 registered voters decide the school’s fate at the polls in November. For months, board members have debated selling, leasing or keeping the building.
The board meets next at 7 p.m. April 28 in the Board Room inside Hartel’s office.
“I’m talking to the board president that at the next meeting, people have to get off the fence,” Hartel said. “It’s either sell it or put money into it and get it back to using it again. You can’t just let it deteriorate, because even if you put a ‘For Sale’ sign out there right now, it’s not like it’s going to sell tomorrow or anything.”
Hartel said his conversation with school attorneys made it clear that “a board of education is elected by a community to make fiduciary decisions like this.” The board could decide to “do an informal survey or have something on our website where people would have a chance to vote, but it would be nothing more than an informal vote,” Hartel said.
The fate of the former school along Rose Street has been a regular topic at board meetings.
“There are two (board members) who want to sell it, two who don’t want to sell it and there are three that are on the fence,” Hartel said. “Those three people have to make a decision.”
Last year, board members voted to offer to lease — but not sell — the former school to a group proposing to use the building as a nonprofit dental clinic for low-income adults.
At that same board meeting Randy Vollmar, brother of Gary Vollmar, an executive with Millennium Industries which has a Cass City plant, told the board that Gary Vollmar wanted to buy the former school for $95,000.
The group representing the dental clinic didn’t lease the structure, but had offered to buy it for $85,000, according to Hartel.
“We had a buyer at $85,000; they were willing to buy it, but we lost out on that money, plus we’re paying $20,000 a year in utilities just to keep it going,” Hartel said.
A Midland contractor has offered to tear down all but the west wing of the former elementary school, and remove all footings and foundations, and debris and waste — including asbestos — for $450,000. Another contractor offers to build a 450-square-foot addition to the west wing and relocate the building’s boilers and electrical panel into the new space, for $342,000, according to Hartel.
“So, roughly, to tear the old part of Campbell down, keep the new part there and add a boiler room, you’re talking about $790,000,” Hartel said.
In other news following Monday’s meeting, Hartel said school leaders are considering hiring three part-time “coaches” — in reading, mathematics and technology — for next school year.
The coaches “would go into the classrooms and help teachers,” Hartel said.
The mathematics coach will work in kindergarten through 6th grade, with the Tuscola Intermediate School District paying for most of the cost for the coach and Cass City Public Schools paying a small percentage of the cost, according to Hartel. The technology coach will be funded by grant money the district has received, he said.
The reading coach will assist teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade, Hartel said. “We’ll be going into every core area and helping with reading strategies, comprehension skills, fluency skills and how to become more of a critical reader,” Hartel said.