King Negotiating School Property Acquisition

Putnam Schools Director Corby King will begin negotiating the purchase of a 11,000 square foot building on South Franklin Ave.

King said a local businessman came to him looking to lease or sell the former Frontier Communications office building because he felt it would be a good fit for them. King said the building would meet a lot of the district’s needs.

“Lots of our academic services that we’ve got scattered at Avery Trace back in the encore building, possibly student services, our global intake center, family resource center, there’s a lot of things we can consolidate into this one space and free up the classroom space at Avery Trace,” King said.

King said the building would also allow them to create more space at the district’s annex building that houses their IT department and other technology services. The board authorized King to enter negotiations with a sixty-day option and authorized a $5,000 down payment for the option agreement.

King said that before the purchase is made they would assess the status of the building’s roof and HVAC systems.

“I know (Maintenance Supervisor John Magura has) had some initial conversations with the folks who maintain the HVAC system,” King said. “There’s some stuff that would have to be worked on there.”

King did not share any estimates for the cost of the building at the board meeting, but he said they will be able to afford the purchase from their reserve funds.

“We’ve been fortunate the last few years to be able to put money back into the fund balance,” King said. “We could do that without having to go to the commission and ask for an increase.”

Board Member Dawn Fry said she thinks the purchase is a good idea because new space is difficult to come by. Board Member Jill Ramsey said they toured the building and were impressed with its quality and size.

“There’s a lot of extra space in the back, too,” Ramsey said. “There’s great potential, I think, in this space.”