San Marino Board of Education Rejects Two More Stoneman Lease Bids

The San Marino Board of Education voted at a special session Tuesday night to reject the two bids to lease the Stoneman School site, according to a newsletter update sent out Thursday.

The bids, from Almansor Center and, were those in the second round of bidding to lease the site, as before the meeting.

“These are both considered counteroffers so they are not exactly what we are requesting,” Superintendent Gary Woods told San Marino Patch Tuesday afternoon. “We are looking for a 99-year lease agreement because at this time the school district is not allowed to sell the property and use those proceeds for operational expenses.”

The SMUSD update said the bids were rejected “as not in compliance with the bid specifications or as financially unsuitable.”

Due to the SMUSD’s projected , the District is planning to use the Stoneman lease money to compensate for some of the budget cuts.

The District opened the formal bidding process again Thursday with March 7 as the deadline to submit new bids, according to the SMUSD newsletter.

The city of San Marino, which now leases the Stoneman site yearly for the Department of Recreation, bid during the first round but was rejected. The San Marino City Council held closed sessions to determine what action they would take in the event that the second round of bids was rejected or accepted, said San Marino Assistant City Manager Cindy Collins, but it is currently unknown if they will bid in the third round.

The San Marino Board of Education will consider any further Stoneman site lease bids at their regularly scheduled board meeting on March 8 at 7:30 p.m.