School Board Directs Appraisals and Property Inventory as It Weighs Sale or Lease of Stewart High School
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Summary
Facing policy hurdles over alcohol service and long holding costs, the Martin County School Board asked staff to update appraisals and surveys and to inventory underused district properties as a first step toward sale or other disposition. No final decision or vote was taken.
Board members signaled concern about the financial burden of holding the vacant Stewart High School and the slow pace of fundraising for the proposed arts campus. The chair said the district is paying maintenance and utilities on the property and noted only about $500,000 has been raised while the project is estimated to cost tens of millions.
"We are still taking care of that building. We are still supporting it, paying the electric bill," the chair said, and asked staff to prepare updated appraisals and surveys. Several members argued selling the property to a nonprofit or other third party would remove the district from ownership and thereby avoid some policy barriers to alcohol service.
The board reached consensus to direct Dr. Miller and staff to update appraisals, surveys, and to compile an inventory of underutilized district properties (including the Indiantown parcel and the Stewart campus). The direction was taken by consensus as information gathering; the board did not formalize a sale, vote on a lease, or change district policy in this meeting.
Staff will report back with the updated valuations and recommended next steps before any decision to sell or finalize a lease is advanced to a future, publicly noticed board meeting.