Ashland City School Board approves Lincoln property sale, files tax valuation complaints and declares April ‘Love the Bus’ month

The Ashland City School District Board of Education on March 24, 2025 approved the sale of the former Lincoln School building at 30 West Eleventh Street to the City of Ashland, authorized three tax-valuation complaints for 2024 property sales, and adopted a resolution declaring April 2025 as “Love the Bus” month. The board also approved routine treasurer and superintendent consent calendars. All roll-call votes recorded at the meeting were affirmative.

Superintendent Mike Paramore told the board the district is working with the city to repurpose the former Lincoln School property into a park and said district and city leaders have discussed naming the space “Lincoln School Park.” Paramore said the city is seeking donations to support park development. “We’re pleased to work with the city of Ashland,” Paramore said during the meeting.

Treasurer Kyle Klingler presented three resolutions authorizing the district to file original tax valuation complaints for tax year 2024. Klingler said the district’s legal team annually reviews sales and, when recent market sales materially exceed current auditor valuations, the district may file complaints to request updated valuations. The three properties cited in the packet were listed as exhibits and named in the meeting as: Merchants Bank (exhibit B), Legacy Core Line, LLC (exhibit C), and Net Lease Portfolio 63 DST (exhibit D). Klingler confirmed the sales cited were from the prior year.

The board also adopted a resolution honoring the district’s transportation staff by declaring April 2025 as “Love the Bus” month in Ashland City Schools. The resolution’s text — read into the record by Paramore — cited national statements about the yellow school bus as a safe mode of transportation for public-school students and recognized drivers, mechanics and other transportation staff for their work.

Motions and recorded votes: the sale of the Lincoln property was moved by Mrs. Deppert and seconded by Mrs. Mowery; the motion carried on a roll-call vote with the board recorded as voting Yes: Mrs. Deppert, Mr. Summers, Mrs. Mowery, Mr. Hart, Mr. Teavant. The three tax-valuation complaint resolutions were considered together under the treasurer’s consent calendar and were approved by roll call with the same recorded Yes votes. The Love the Bus resolution was moved by Mr. Hart, seconded by Mr. Summers and passed on the same unanimous roll call.

The board approved both the treasurer’s and the superintendent’s consent calendars — routine bundles of items listed in the meeting packet — by single roll-call votes. Paramore and Klingler noted those calendars contained standard fiscal and personnel items included in the public packet; no individual calendar items were pulled for separate discussion.

The meeting concluded with the board voting to enter an executive session to discuss bargaining strategy and negotiations with public employees; the board announced there would be no further action following that executive session.

Votes at a glance (selected items recorded in the meeting): - Sale of Lincoln property (30 W. 11th St.) to City of Ashland — motion approved (mover: Mrs. Deppert; second: Mrs. Mowery). Outcome: approved. Vote: Deppert — yes; Summers — yes; Mowery — yes; Hart — yes; Teavant — yes. - Resolutions to file original tax valuation complaints for tax year 2024 (Merchants Bank; Legacy Core Line, LLC; Net Lease Portfolio 63 DST) — approved as part of treasurer’s consent calendar. Outcome: approved. Vote: unanimous yes. - Resolution declaring April 2025 “Love the Bus” month — approved (mover: Mr. Hart; second: Mr. Summers). Outcome: approved. Vote: unanimous yes. - Treasurer consent calendar — approved (routine). Outcome: approved. - Superintendent consent calendar — approved (routine). Outcome: approved.

Why it matters: The Lincoln property sale transfers a district-owned site for municipal park development in a neighborhood with a concentration of students; tax-valuation complaints seek to align property assessments with recent market sales and could affect future property-tax revenue; the transportation resolution formally recognizes the district’s transportation staff and signals district support for services that affect daily student access to school.

The board did not adopt any new district-wide policies during the meeting; the item on bargaining moved the board into executive session for strategy and negotiations.