Schools to sell Foss Creek campus

The Healdsburg Unified School District has put the former Foss
Creek School up for sale and the city of Healdsburg is negotiating
to purchase the property that now houses the Community Center.
The city of Healdsburg has leased the former school site since
2008, turning the campus into a Community Center with the city’s
entire parks and recreation department, an after school program, a
community garden and many other community-used programs.
In a legal notice printed in the Tribune, the school district
stated its intention to sell the surplus property.
“Now that we are a basic aid district, we think it’s very
unlikely that we will expand our enrollment to need a third
elementary school,” Superintendent Jeff Harding said.
Harding said that a new provision in the State Education Code
allows for the profits from the sale of surplus property to be used
in the general fund. The code used to only allow proceeds of a sale
to be used for capital improvements. Harding said the new provision
will sunset at the end of this calendar year, making it timely to
sell the property now.
The money, Harding said, will be used to “fill the hole that was
left by a significant reduction in state revenues for next year’s
budget.”
According to the Brown Act that legislates public agency
meetings — including the city council and the school board —
governing bodies are permitted to discuss real estate negotiations
as closed session items, not open to the public. The city council
has held multiple closed session agenda items in reference to the
Foss Creek School site.
City officials said they can’t comment on the potential purchase
of the school, but the city has set aside $6 million in
Redevelopment Agency funds for the potential purchase of the
campus.
“It continues to be a community asset,” said Assistant City
Manager David Mickaelian.
The city entered into a 50-year lease agreement with the
district for use of the building in 2008. The $8.36 million deal is
to be paid out the first 21 years of the 50-year lease with funds
loaned from the Redevelopment Agency.
In the summer of 2006, the school district decided to downsize
from three elementary schools to two, due to declining enrollment.
The schools shifted from Kindergarten through sixth grade schools
to a K-5 model, and moved the sixth graders to Healdsburg Junior
High.
After declaring Foss Creek School to be surplus property, the
district entered into negotiations with Santa Rosa Junior College,
and in November 2006, entered into an agreement for the JC to
purchase the property for $12 million.
But the deal fell through the following spring when the district
was notified by the state that they would be restricted on the use
of proceeds from the sale of the school.
With the new provision, those restrictions have been lifted.
The school district also recently sold two homes on College
Street that it owned, using the same provision.
The legal notice opening up the bidding on the property will run
through May 12, and the school board will hold a public hearing 60
days later.
Kerrie Lindecker can be reached at Ke****@so********.com.