BRADENTON — Manatee County school officials want to list for sale or lease the district’s Parent Information Center on Manatee Avenue East to save money.
If the property were sold or leased, the district would save operating costs with the relocation of 10 employees.
“What we are really doing is more exploratory than anything else,” said Mike Pendley, the district’s executive planner. “We want permission from our board to advertise it for sale or lease. We want to determine what the interest is out there.”
The center is a 5,280-square-foot office building on 0.77 acres near the intersection Manatee Avenue East and First Street. The district purchased the property in April 2007 for $982,500, Pendley said.
The center serves as a customer service hub for parents.
The center had been at the same location since August 2003, said Sheryl Riker, the district’s school choice specialist who works in the center. The district rented the space before buying it.
Staff in one half of the center helps parents with school choice, school registration in the summer and voluntary pre-kindergarten enrollment, Riker said.
The other half provides information for parents whose children are enrolled in schools with a high population of low-income students, and schools that are facing federal sanctions under the No Child Left Behind Act. Staff in this department helps parents sort out tutoring applications and school transfers.
Last year, the center served about 9,781 families, Riker said.
This year through February the center has served 2,005 families because of the school choice period in the same months, she said.
If leased or sold, the move wouldn’t disrupt services much, Riker said. It’s a center that could be set up anywhere in the district.
If the property is sold or leased, employees in the center would move to the Owen Annex, on the southwest corner of First Street and Manatee Avenue West, said Superintendent Tim McGonegal.
Moving the employees depends on the potential buyer or renter, he said. If someone were to rent just half of the building, employees who are already there could be consolidated into the other half. If the lease or sale is for the entire property, then the center’s entire staff would be relocated.
Leasing the property is an option in a list of possible budget cuts the district put together for the 2009-10 school year.
If the building is leased, the district would save $83,000 in utilities and rental fees, McGonegal said.
The school board will consider the matter Monday.
Sylvia Lim, education reporter, can be reached at 745-7041.
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