LEUSD To Sell Two Vacant Schools

The Lake Elsinore Unified School District will take offers from public agencies for two former elementary school properties, Butterfield in Lakeland Village and Jean Hayman  in Wildomar.

The district board voted on Thursday to accept a recommendation by the Surplus Property 7-11 Committee to offer both properties for sale. The committee was appointed by the district.

The properties will first be offered for sale to public agencies, said Mark Dennis, coordinator of community and media relations for the district. Letters will be mailed out to various public agencies, he said.

If the properties don’t sell to public entities, then an auction will be held and private buyers can bid.

The properties will be sold in as-is condition.

The Butterfield property, consisting of 18.53 acres, was closed because of declining enrollment in the district. Many of the students were moved from the K-6 school on Grand Avenue to nearby K-8 Lakeland Village School.

The district closed 11.32-acre Jean Hayman Elementary on Lemon Street because it sits on earthquake fault lines. Under state code, the school can be occupied but it can't be modernized.

Both schools needed modernization.

The 7-11 Committee recommended selling the properties as a first priority. Leasing and exchanging the properties were second and third priorities respectively.

Once the properties are sold, money from the sales could be used to expand, convert and modernize other school sites in the district.

Committee chairman Kim Cousins recommended that the district request a hardship exemption for Jean Hayman School because of the discovery of the earthquake faults. The exemption would come from the state allocation board.

It could provide extra funds for the district to expand schools, he said. And district enrollment is expected to pick up again.

“We will have to provide this space in the future,” Cousins said.

Building a new elementary school takes three to five years.

If no public agencies show interest in the properties, then private individuals can obtain bid forms and join in the bidding process. Each bidder will provide $10,000 as security.

Minimum bids will be no less than district appraised value. Final acceptance of the highest bid will be made at a board meeting.

In addition to approving sale of the two properties, the district board honored members of the 7-11 Committee with handshakes and plaques. The members are Cousins, Jim Flores, Tom Burnside, David Blake, George Landon, Gary Washburn, Sarah McChesney, Tammy Howard and Mike Norkin.