Schools
LBI Grade School Still Up For Sale
Superintendent says there has been several interested parties, but no sale as of yet
The Long Beach Island Grade School remains up for sale, eight months after it went out to bid for $8.6 million.
Superintendent Karen T. McKeon told the Patch that there have recently been "several letters of interest" from parties looking to purchase the school, "with many creative ideas," but she said, the Board has yet to recieve an acceptable offer.
McKeon said that plans call for the Long Beach Island Grade School, which is located on 20th Street in Ship Bottom, to merge with the Ethel A. Jacobsen School, which is located on South Barnegat Avenue in Surf City.
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Consolidation plans cannot begin until the building is purchased. After that, McKeon noted, there is about 10 months of planning before construction changes could actually be implemented at Ethel A. Jacobsen.
District officials have noted that the LBI Grade School, which was built in the early 1950s, would take about $1.3 million to repair, whereas renovations to the Jacobsen school, which was built in the late 1960s, are only expected to cost around $700,000.
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McKeon acknowledged that there has been some resistance to the consolidation, with many teachers concerned about job losses. She noted that the district is taking steps to keep all teachers and staff informed of the consolidation. She noted she has also been keeping local town officials informed as well, including recently writing a letter to Surf City Mayor Leonard Connors, updating the Council about potential offers.
