Shoreline School District attorney Rich Hill answered questions about his legal analysis surrounding the future use of Ronald School at a public meeting June 8 at the Shoreline Center.
The June 4 memorandum includes questions and discussion by Hill about the constitutional and statutory requirements for a lawful sale or lease of the Ronald School by the Shoreline School District to the Shoreline Historical Museum.
According to the document, the existing ground lease between the district and the museum of $1 per year does not comply with state requirements and is, therefore, void.
Additionally, “Ronald School must formally be declared surplus, appropriate notice and hearing provisions must be met and a fair market rental value and/or purchase price must be made” in order for the district to validly lease or sell the historic building to the museum.
“It does appear the hoops weren’t jumped through in terms of getting an appraisal, in terms of getting fair market value,” Hill said.
There is no reason to believe that either side was not acting in good faith when the current lease terms were decided upon, he added.
Stakeholders in the future of the Ronald School, including representatives from the city, school district and museum board of trustees, will meet privately today, June 10, to discuss options for the Ronald School and the museum, Superintendent Sue Walker said.
“We’re seeing four (options) and if there are a fifth or a sixth one we’d like to know what they are,” she said. “We didn’t have this meeting sooner because we felt there was too much information we didn’t know.”
An evaluation of the structure of Ronald School is underway, Walker said. A study concerning the feasibility and cost associated with moving the building to another location, as well as an appraisal of the building itself have not occurred.
“If a decision is made for the museum to stay in the building there would be negotiations with the museum to reform the lease,” Hill said.
The memorandum states “no sale may take place if the sale price would be less than 90 percent of the appraisal.”
The complete document is available at www.shorelineschools.org.
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