Madison County School Board asks staff for parcel maps, to revisit proposals for three surplus schools; workshop set after Aug. 18 meeting

MADISON COUNTY, Fla. — The Madison County School Board on Aug. 4 reviewed proposals to acquire three surplus elementary school properties — Greenville, Lee and Pinellas — and directed staff to prepare parcel maps, consider dividing parcels and return with recommendations. The board scheduled a follow-up workshop to be held immediately after its regular meeting on Aug. 18; no final conveyance decision was made at the workshop.

Board counsel described the legal framework for disposing of surplus school property and cautioned members that the meeting was for discussion only. "You can't make any final decisions today," said Mr. Reeves, board counsel, explaining the board would need to give staff instructions so a draft conveyance contract could be returned for a later meeting.

The workshop included three formal proposals and multiple community presentations. Donna Hayes West, town manager for the Town of Lee, presented a municipal proposal accompanied by a resolution of intent and a request for right of first refusal; she said the town prefers a public-to-public transfer and proposed deed restrictions or a reverter clause to ensure continued public use. "This is about public land, public use, and public responsibility," Hayes West said.

A private buyer, identified in the packet and at the meeting as Mr. Shabrick, offered a cash purchase for a 2.25-acre parcel adjacent to Lee Elementary (described in his submission as the former baseball field) and said he would pay for a survey. Board members asked whether that portion was separately parceled and staff said some sites show separate parcels in property records and others do not.

A partnership proposal for Greenville was presented by a nonprofit and a for-profit consulting arm that described plans for a community resource center to provide health screenings, tutoring, workforce development and food-access programs. Dr. Johnson Sanders, identified as chief operating officer for the foundation involved in the Greenville proposal, described existing and anticipated grant funding and letters of support from local and regional partners. The presenters said the Greenville site would be used for a mix of services including agriculture training, after-school meals and disaster-response staging; they asked the board for a discounted public-benefit transfer or lease-to-own terms.

Representatives from True Wisdom New Hope Ministries (identified at the meeting as Erica Foster and Danielle Shackleford) proposed acquiring all three facilities to operate food distribution and disaster-relief hubs, summer enrichment and vocational training programs. "We are interested in the purchase of all 3 school facilities," said Erica Foster during the presentation.

Board members raised parcelization, easements and shared drives as practical issues for conveyance. Staff said the school district owns some sites as single parcels and others as multiple parcels, and that the board could choose to divide parcels for conveyance but that doing so would likely require mapping and surveys. Staff also noted a practical constraint: the district pays insurance on the properties and officials said disposing of property before the end of the year would reduce those carrying costs.

Several presenters cited legal authorities the board should consider in evaluating public-to-public transfers. Mr. Reeves summarized the boards statutory discretion under state law and the states encouragement of intergovernmental transfers; Donna Hayes West explicitly cited Florida Statute 1013.281, the State Requirements for Educational Facilities (SREF) section 1.44, and the Florida Interlocal Cooperation Act, 163.01, in support of a municipal transfer.

Board direction and next steps: the board asked staff to prepare maps showing options for dividing parcels, to identify any required surveys or easements (for example, to preserve access to a library drive at one site), and to return with recommended parcel boundaries and a proposed process for conveyance. The board agreed to hold a workshop immediately after the Aug. 18 regular meeting so members and members of the public could review maps and ask follow-up questions. No conveyance contract was drafted or approved at the Aug. 4 workshop.

Why it matters: the proposals would shift ownership of district property into municipal, nonprofit or private hands and could affect community services including emergency sheltering, health screenings, food distribution, workforce training and after-school meals. Several presenters said tenants or grant-funded services would be reinvested into property operations if a transfer were approved.

The board adjourned the workshop and planned to reconvene at 6 p.m. for its regular meeting; the parcel-mapping workshop will follow that meeting on Aug. 18.