AVON — The school corporation here will open its seventh elementary school, as well as an Advanced Learning Center at Avon High School, this fall. The opening of those facilities should give the corporation a little breathing room, but administrators and board members are already looking down the road at what the future may bring.
With that in mind, school officials have negotiated a property transfer with Mark Sanders, who developed the subdivision around the land, that gives the corporation 80 acres at the intersection of County Roads 100 South and 450 East.
The property that was given in exchange for the new land was along Ronald Reagan Parkway.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kent DeKoninck said, “We looked at our future needs. With the Ronald Reagan Parkway expanding, it was time to (make this trade). It was a win-win situation for everyone. It fits the town’s needs, we win, and it helps the taxpayers because of the value we got.”
The area around Ronald Reagan Parkway, which houses Clarian West, has been rezoned to become more of a busy, commercial area in the future. In addition, some of the land lies in a flood plain.
DeKoninck said the corporation has no building plans right now, but the land swap gives them flexibility for the future.
“With that land (near the parkway), we could only build an elementary school and it would have been tight,” he said. “Now we have 80 percent of good farm land that is pretty flat. That gives us a lot of flexibility. We were limited with the Ronald Reagan land.”
School corporation officials had been negotiating the land trade for about 16 months.
“Thanks (to the school) for sticking in there for this property trade,” school board member Pam DeWeese said. “We were blessed to have someone who wanted to donate land to us in the beginning and we have continued to be blessed to have someone who was willing to negotiate a more appropriate spot for us. To get 80 acres for our 37 is fabulous. Putting that with the other properties that we acquired over time, I sincerely believe that this corporation is set up for the next decade. There’s not going to be any more property that needs to be purchased.”
DeKoninck said that when River Birch Elementary and the Avon Advanced Learning Center open, the school has no more plans to expand or build. He said they have had demographic reports done and, with the conditions of the current growth and the economy, the corporation should be set for awhile.
DeKoninck said the corporation gained the land along the parkway about 10 years ago when the area was developed into subdivisions. During that time, it was written that some of the area needed to be designated as green space. That was the area that was given to the school.
ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com
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