How much is No. 6 worth?

The Lawrence Board of Education approved a measure at its Oct. 13 meeting that authorized Goodman-Marks Associates to appraise the Number Six School property.

“The appraisal is one of the steps necessary in establishing the market value ... of the building,” District 15 Board President Murray Forman said. “There are still no plans that exist to sell the building. However, in terms of analyzing what to do with the asset, the board would like to determine the value of the building.”

Goodman-Marks, based in Mineola, handled the appraisal of the Number One School when it was closed in 2004. The board voted to close the Number Six School in March, and the building was mothballed — a process where the temperatures are stabilized while the structure is empty — over the summer. School board members maintain that that was the right choice, especially, they claim, since the building had energy and environmental problems.

Penny Schuster, co-president of the Lawrence High School PTA, is worried that the district may be rushing into a sale. “I feel that the body is not even cold and they’re looking to sell the property,” said Schuster, adding that she hoped the sale of the property would at least generate money for the district. “I’m wondering why they’re rushing to sell that beautiful parcel of land when they still have money from the Number One School sale.”

But Dr. Asher Mansdorf, the school board’s vice president, stressed that the board does not have a final plan yet. “We didn’t say we weren’t going to sell the building; we said we didn’t know what we were going to do,” Mansdorf said. “We’ve always said it’s possible that we’re going to rent or sell the building. The appraisal will be one part of helping us determine the next step.”

Some in the community, like Barry Ringelheim, a former school board candidate, still question closing the Number Six School. “Where was the shared decision-making in such a major decision?” Ringelheim asked. “Numbers show an increase in student population, not a decrease, which the school district has stressed. They’ve closed the wrong school, and I can’t find any reason for closing any school.”

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