Community gives input

Mariel Williams

editor@mitchellnews.com

Mitchell County Schools hosted a community meeting to get public input on the future of two recently vacated school buildings, buildings that are now on the market.

A number of people asked questions and made comments at the meeting, which was held in the Harris Middle School auditorium. Many of those present favored turning either the Harris building or the Deyton Elementary School into some kind of community center where local nonprofits could rent space.

The Mitchell County Schools Board of Education voted last Thursday to put both Deyton and Harris on the market; however the board is not committed to sell the properties within a specific time frame and has the right to refuse bids.

At the community meeting, Superintendent Chad Calhoun said the district has offered to sell both of the old schools to Mitchell County. (Making the county this offer is required by law.)

“They did not accept or reject, but they reserved the right preserve an upset bid — in other words, if they felt like the buildings were going too cheap, then they could purchase the buildings,” Calhoun said.

The district is asking that bids be at least $750,000 for each property. Calhoun said the district expects the buildings could sell for more than that though.

“We asked the assessor and real estate agent that sold the Yancey County schools that closed to … give us a price range,” Calhoun said. “He gave us a range, and we picked somewhere toward the lower limit of what he estimated the schools would sell for. He did say that if we were listing the schools he would list Harris Middle School at $2.2 million and said that he would list Deyton Elementary School at $1.5 [million].”

Board Chairman Brandon Pitman represented the school board at the community meeting.

“I know, as we’re looking at this and moving forward, there’s a lot of anticipation and anxiety about what might be next,” Pitman said.

Pitman asked everyone who came up to speak at the meeting to identify themselves and what, if any, organization they were representing.

Starli McDowell of Mitchell County Shepherd’s Staff said she was concerned about the future of the two properties as a community member.

“I’m … hoping that we can get this school — Harris or Deyton — for the community, because there’s so many organizations that could be served in this space,” McDowell said.

McDowell noted that some members of the community are already organizing to try to find a public-interest solution to what to do with the buildings. McDowell said she was also concerned that the board might be too quick to dismiss offers from private schools that might be interested in purchasing one of the properties.

“I’m not speaking for the Tri-County Christian School in any way, shape or form, but I don’t understand why — I understand why you wouldn’t want a new school absorbing this whole space — that would be a conflict of interest and competition,” McDowell said. “I would like for some consideration that this is not a school that competes with the public school, they’ve been here for a long time, … if they did come here they would not be an expansion, it would just be a relocation.”

McDowell said the old buildings still have a lot of potential as places to serve the community.

“This could be childcare, it could be a nonprofit hub,” McDowell said. “Many, many other organizations could be here. And the gym is so important for the kids in our community.”

Many other members of the community spoke, many of them also in favor of using one of the buildings as a community center of some kind. Participants in the meeting spoke favorably of the impact that Buladean Community Center, also a former school building, has on its surrounding neighborhood.

Megan Hall, a resident of the neighborhood, said that having schools in the neighborhood has been important to her family, and she is concerned that the starting price for the buildings is too low.

“I don’t want some company to come in and ruin the neighborhood,” Hall said. “I don’t want it turning into the hospital at Banner Elk, where it’s too much to tear down but it’s too much to fix so it just sits there.”

Pitman noted that the low starting price makes it easier for nonprofits to be part of the bidding process.