Lawrence's Number Five School for sale, vote on Feb. 16

The fate of the Lawrence school district’s Number Five School lies in the hands of the public as a Feb. 16 referendum vote could determine new ownership of the Cedarhurst building.

The asking price for the 97,000-square-foot building built in 1929 is $12.5 million. The Shulamith School for Girls, the current tenant, is the highest bidder, as of press time. The property at 305 Cedarhurst Ave. has been leased from the school district since 2015.

“Shulamith has been a good neighbor,” said Josh Justic, a Lawrence resident and president of Community Coalition of the Five Towns. “They’ve taken good care of the building.”

The Community Coalition, founded 10 years ago, addresses community challenges and builds awareness of ongoing activity in the Five Towns.

In 2013, the coalition spearheaded opposition to the first sale of the Number Six School in Woodmere to Bronx-based Simone Development for $12.5 million which was planning to lease the site to Mount Sinai Hospital for 60-doctor, 30-speciality medical center. In almost a two-to-one margin, residents rejected the sale.

‘It would’ve been a disaster,” Avi Pinto, the coalition’s vice president said about the proposed medical facility. “Knowing the area the neighborhood couldn’t handle that kind of structure or traffic.”

A year later, district residents approved the sale of the building to the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach for $8.5 million.

If sold, the Number Five School would be the fourth school sold by the district since 1980. The Number One School was sold in 2007 to developer David Neuberg for $29.1 million. The site became the upscale Regency condominium complex.

“We need to keep our buildings schools,” Pinto said. “Everything in this town has already been built. There’s very little room for redevelopment.”

Justic hopes to draw another big turnout of neighbors. By doing that, he has sent messages in Five Towns-related group chats, posting on Facebook as well as sending emails. “We have to do our job and go vote,” he said.

“If this fails (the referendum), then it can be revisited, Justic added. “A potential developer can say, ‘Hey, I can get this for less money because the first bid failed and I could get someone to approve a five-story building with 50 units.’”

Lawrence High School will undergo a $60 million to $80 million makeover, using $50 million to $60 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency project funding for damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, as well as the projected proceeds from the sale of the Number Five School, Board of Education President Murray Forman previously said. New sidewalks, a new heating and air-conditioning system and flood protection walls are planned.

“The voters get the final say at the referendum,” Forman said previously. “If (the sale) is something that the voters are in favor of, it will get done.”

Shulamith has an early-childhood school, lower division, middle school and high school. The high school is housed in the former site of a New York Sports Club on Franklin Place in Woodmere.

Lease payments for the Cedarhurst building began at $500,000 per year and grew to $600,000 this school year. The district has saved roughly $800,000 in annual operating expenses for the building as Shulamith is responsible for maintenance.

“They want to keep it as it always been,” Justic said. “A school for kids. What the community does not need is another high-density apartment building or anything that would generate vehicle traffic in already congested area. Our community needs places to educate our children as the Number Five School has done for almost 110 year. It's the right thing to do."

Voting on Feb. 16 is from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., at Lawrence High School, 2 Reilly Road, in Cedarhurst.