[taxthedeer]

Attended tonight's public hearing regarding the budget cuts for the schools. There was a young gentlemen that addressed the board that wants to open a private Christian school that expressed great interest in purchasing the former Pine Elementary property, the school board was more than willing to want to sell it to him.

[Southsider2k12]

Attended tonight's public hearing regarding the budget cuts for the schools. There was a young gentlemen that addressed the board that wants to open a private Christian school that expressed great interest in purchasing the former Pine Elementary property, the school board was more than willing to want to sell it to him.

I wonder how that works with the rules about selling to charter schools?

[taxthedeer]

The building was already up for bid but the potential buyer was did not know until it was too late. He said he would like to start having classes at that location in the fall.

[Southsider2k12]

The building was already up for bid but the potential buyer was did not know until it was too late. He said he would like to start having classes at that location in the fall.

Which means they have cleared the Charter grace period. Good news.

[Ang]

I thought there was a difference between Charter and Private.

[Southsider2k12]

I thought there was a difference between Charter and Private.

There is. They have to offer the building to any charter school that wants it for $1 for a period of six months. If none want it, then they can sell to whoever they want.

[taxthedeer]

I bought a copy of todays paper for the football preview section and the front page headline said that the deal to sell the old Pine elementary school to the Christian school has totally fell through because the MCAS put in a clause in the purchasing contract forbidding the Christian from accepting any voucher students from within the boundaries of the Michigan City Area Schools. The Christian School refused to purchase the building under those terms.

[taxthedeer]

http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/news/articl...1a4bcf887a.html

A deal breaker
Christian Academy won't buy Pine building, says MCAS contract was unfair
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Posted: Thursday, August 21, 2014 5:57 pm
By JESSICA O'BRIEN Staff Writer | 0 comments
MICHIGAN CITY — The Michigan City Christian Academy has withdrawn its intent to purchase the former Pine Elementary School building from Michigan City Area Schools based on a line in the purchase agreement that the academy felt was unfair.
In a copy of the purchase agreement provided by MCCA Principal Paulita Qualkenbush, the contract states, “The buyer (Michigan City Christian Academy) acknowledges that they are in the business of educating children. The buyer acknowledges that they do not accept state vouchers. The buyer further agrees not to take vouchers from students who reside within the boundaries of the Michigan City Area Schools without the Michigan City Area Schools express approval.”
Although MCCA currently does not accept state vouchers, Qualkenbush and members of the academy's school board were offended by the inclusion of a clause that puts them in the position to break the law.
“It goes against Indiana code,” Qualkenbush said. “Parents should have the right to say where their children go to school.”
An attorney for MCCA amended the purchase agreement, adding the statement, “If the buyer does decide to accept state vouchers in the future, they agree to do so within the confines of Indiana law relating to school vouchers, including Indiana code 21-51-1.” An additional statement was added, saying “seller's approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.”
The amended contract, however, was rejected by MCAS attorneys, Qualkenbush said.
According to Betsy Kohn, communications director for MCAS, the contract was still in negotiations when MCCA decided to withdraw from the process.
However, Carl Volkman, president of the MCCA school board, said his school did not simply back out of the agreement.
“We had every intention to go through with it, but their demands were not acceptable,” he said.
Kohn said, “MCAS remains open to negotiating the terms of the sale agreement. However, MCAS would not approve the sale of the property to MCCA if they intended to enroll voucher students.”
Referring back to the school corporation's continued financial woes, Kohn said it would be detrimental to the district if this stipulation was not included.
“If MCAS were to lose just 25 students to MCCA, all profits from the sale price would be eliminated in one school year,” she said. “Going forward, MCAS would then experience lost revenue each year due to any decline in enrollment.”
The goal of MCCA, Qualkenbush said, is not to take students from MCAS.
“We started this school to provide a Christian education for people in this community,” she said. “This is about providing an option for parents. Whether it's us, Marquette or La Lumiere, parents have the right to decide where their child goes to school.”
Kohn, however, said it was important to note that vouchers result in a significant loss in funding to Indiana public schools.
“Last year, Indiana's school voucher program redirected $81 million in taxpayer money from public schools to private – for the most part religious – schools,” she said. “Locally, the five private parochial schools in Michigan City that accept vouchers received $1,398,187.40 in voucher funds last school year alone. It does not make good fiscal sense for MCAS to part of an agreement that would, in essence, fund its competition.”
Back in May, MCCA submitted a bid to MCAS in the amount of $150,000 for the Pine property located at 1594 N. 500 E.
Vacant since 2009, the property was valued at $492,500, but MCCA was awarded the bid.
A small K-12 school of 51 students currently located at 11232 W. Earl Road, MCCA was hoping to make improvements to the building, such as window and roof repairs, and transfer into the building for the 2014-2015 school year.
According to Kohn, MCAS attorney Bill Kaminski will update the MCAS Board of Trustees during its next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday at the school administration building, possibly recommending listing the property for sale once again.

[Southsider2k12]

That is smart planning by MCAS. The last thing they need to do is subsidize the competition. Remember we are talking in the area of $6500 in revenue lost PER KID, PER YEAR for students that go elsewhere.

[taxthedeer]

That is smart planning by MCAS. The last thing they need to do is subsidize the competition. Remember we are talking in the area of $6500 in revenue lost PER KID, PER YEAR for students that go elsewhere.

The problem is MCAS has four unused school bulidings, old Pine, Mullen, Niemann and Elston (to a certain extent). If another school is not going to buy them then who will?

The Christian school is better off not buying the old Pine Elementary anyways. They should seek to get a vacant piece of land within the city limits where water and sewerr are provided instead of well and septic and construct a new building to their own needs and specification. The former Memorial Hospital property would be ideal.

[Southsider2k12]

The problem is MCAS has four unused school bulidings, old Pine, Mullen, Niemann and Elston (to a certain extent). If another school is not going to buy them then who will?

The Christian school is better off not buying the old Pine Elementary anyways. They should seek to get a vacant piece of land within the city limits where water and sewerr are provided instead of well and septic and construct a new building to their own needs and specification. The former Memorial Hospital property would be ideal.

They won't buy that land. The City owns it and wants a real development there.