By Jolie Jackson
The Friendswood ISD school board voted unanimously on September 9th on the old Cline Elementary building issue. The recommendation declared 11.39 acres of real property at 505 Briarmeadow as surplus property for potential sale, motioned by Trustee Beau Egert and seconded by Trustee Laura Seifert.
“There wasn’t any vision for what to do with the space short of a fifth elementary,” Superintendent Thad Roher said. “We looked at the demographic study and the efficiencies of needing another principal, counselor, more electricity; our demographics haven’t ever met that low of a growth scenario.”
According to CFO Amber Petree, the building’s upkeep in the last year was costly to the district.
“We had student groups in [the building] due to the delays in construction and I would say we spent over $50,000 in utilities just to keep the facility running,” Petree said. “We didn’t even use a thousand gallons of water and that’s with zone air used only when needed.”
In Petree’s projected timeline, the sealed proposal would start preparation in January and not go through an MLS listing to boost negotiation options. The property will be listed for about the entire month of February and negotiated in March. The decision on whether or not to sell will be brought to the board in the March or April sessions.
