INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Indian River County School Board has accepted $710,000 from Christ Church Vero Beach for the old Osceola Magnet School property on State Road 60.
Christ Church was the highest bidder last week when the property was placed on the auction block. However, at the time of the auction, the church’s high bid fell short of the School Board’s reserve price.
“It meets the reserve now,” School Board member Matt McCain told the audience during the board’s meeting Tuesday night.
Schools Superintendent Dr. Fran Adams explained that representatives from Christ Church and the School District continued negotiations for the property and settled on $710,000, which satisfies the District’s requirement.
School Board Chair Carol Johnson said the District had to follow its policy of not accepting anything less than the appraised value for the site.
“We cannot see faces,” she said, explaining that the decision regarding the auction bid had to be based on the amount of the bid, not who was doing the bidding.
Christ Church Vero Beach initially won the auction with a bid of $620,000 for the 15-acre site.
Earlier this year, the School District demolished the Osceola Magnet School campus after relocating the students and staff to a different campus in south Indian River County off Oslo Road – the former Thompson Lifelong Learning Center.
Flooding issues plagued the original Osceola Magnet campus, prompting the School District to consider its options – build a new campus elsewhere in the county for the school or move the school to an existing campus.
Citing financial considerations, the School District opted to relocate the early and adult learning programs from the Thompson center to make way for the magnet school.