PELHAM — The superintendent is negotiating with at least three property owners to piece together enough land for the proposed high school.
Superintendent Frank Bass said he expects to unveil details of those negotiations — including who the landowners are — to the Budget Committee tomorrow.
The district has been negotiating with multiple landowners to secure the minimum 27 acres the state Department of Education requires for a new high school, the superintendent said.
Bass said he hopes the land deal is completed by the time the school warrant goes to residents for a vote in March, but that's not a done deal.
"There's a real possibility that we may not have a purchase and sale agreement representing every landowner by the time of the March election," he said.
The School Board has placed on the warrant three articles related to the new school.
They include $37 million for building the school, $5.5 million to convert the high school to a school for seventh- and eighth-graders, and $2 million for land.
Residents have hungered for information about the school site but those details are protected under the state's Right-to-Know Law because they involve land negotiations.
The superintendent said the talks with landowners have taken a lot of time.
School Board Vice Chairman Cindy Kyzer said facility committee members and other residents urged school officials to conduct a thorough search for land and even inquire about tracts not for sale but big enough to accommodate a school.
"And we have," Kyzer said.
She acknowledged that not having specifics about the land at this point will likely make it harder to gain the public's approval of warrant articles for a new school.
But she said the extensive search and negotiations have been necessary.
The Budget Committee's 11 members will vote Monday on whether to recommend school warrant articles to taxpayers.
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