Manatee school district makes offer on Parrish greenhouse property for new high school

BRADENTON -- The Manatee County School District has made an offer on property in Parrish that is adjacent to land it already owns, hoping to make the site big enough for a new high school.

The district is hoping to buy about 48 acres of land at 11601 Erie Road from Aris Horticulture. That piece of land, which is used as a commercial greenhouse operation, backs up to a 48-acre piece of land the district already owns on Martha Road. The district bought the Martha Road piece of land in 2005, and planned to put either an elementary or middle school building there. The land has remained vacant.

A broker on behalf of Aris Horticulture is making revisions to the district's offer, and a counter offer is expected sometime this week, according to updates sent to the school board by Superintendent Diana Greene.

"Staff has had numerous discussions with the seller's broker to answer any questions and allay any concerns about the contract," Greene wrote in her most recent newsletter.

More information, including the amount the district has offered for the land for, was not available on Monday. A message left with the chief financial officer for Aris was not returned Monday.

The potential purchase is one in a series of proposals Greene made to the school board to help balance enrollment across the district. A new high school north of the river was named one of the biggest priorities for the district during an extensive process done by Ohio-based DeJong-Richter, a firm hired by the board. Many of Greene's recommendations were in line with the recommendations from the DeJong-Richter process.

The preferred size of a high school site is between 80 and 100 acres, according to district officials. Purchasing the land from Aris would bring the total acreage in that area to the higher estimate. Building a new high school from scratch can cost between $70 million and $80 million. The Aris land and its buildings are assessed at approximately $1.6 million, according to the county.

A preliminary review of the environmental reports did not find anything that would deter the purchase, Greene wrote in her newsletter.

"Staff has not conducted any due diligence on behalf of the school district at this time," she wrote.

A new high school would potentially open in time for the 2019-20 academic year, according to the timeline Greene laid out for the school board in February.

The new school would help relieve Palmetto, Lakewood Ranch and Braden River high schools, all of which are already overcrowded with students.

While the high school was seen as one of the biggest priorities, the district is first preparing to shut down Orange Ridge-Bullock Elementary, which needs a lot of work to mitigate flooding and other issues, and move the majority of those students in Rogers Garden Elementary School, which opened in 2009 and is half empty.

That move would go into effect for the 2016-17 school year if the board approves redrawn attendance lines on April 12. In addition to attending Rogers Garden, Orange Ridge students would attend Samoset, Oneco and Daughtrey elementary schools. Ballard would also be affected by the decision. The students in the Bullock program at Orange Ridge, which serves some of the district's most medically fragile and physically impaired students, would not be affected by the changing attendance lines, but would all head to Rogers Garden if the board approves the decision.

Other proposals Greene laid out in February include:

Move the international baccalaureate program at Wakeland to Johnson Middle School for the 2017-18 year, and discontinue use of Wakeland as a school. The ACCESS program housed at Johnson would move to Harllee Middle, helping pick up enrollment there.

Open a new elementary school in the north area in time for the 2018-19 year, to provide relief for Mills Elementary. The district does not own any suitable elementary school property in that area yet, but Greene said a new school will be necessary, even if other measures are taken.

Discontinue use of Blackburn as an elementary school and re-purpose it as an Early Learning Center for all students north of the river for the 2018-19 year. Special programs for high-needs students could also be moved there. Blackburn students would be rezoned to Tillman or Palm View to help bring enrollment at those schools up to capacity. That differs slightly from the company's recommendation for Blackburn.

Rebuild or do major renovations at Tillman Elementary School to be complete for the 2018-19 year. Although not included in the timeline, Greene also anticipates a rebuild or major renovation project at Oneco Elementary in the new future.

Convert Harllee over the course of the next few years to a school for gifted students.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter@MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published April 4, 2016 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Manatee school district makes offer on Parrish greenhouse property for new high school ."