By Rebecca Rider

rebecca.rider@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A former school building could be used to house men in transition after the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education voted Monday to declare the building and property of the old R.G. Kizer School to be surplus.

The Cottage Street building and its 2.95 acres were advertised for sale some time ago. On Feb. 16, the board received a bid from Grateful Heart Community Services for $51,000.

The property was appraised at $51,500, Assistant Superintendent Anthony Vann said. The building, constructed in 1950, was declared a liability during the appraisal. At a Feb. 25 meeting, the board moved to begin the upset bid process, asking for a bid of at least $53,000.

At the April 11 work session, Vann said the school system had received no upset bids and requested permission to begin closing. The board’s lawyer, Ken Soo, requested that the board approve a resolution declaring the building surplus before they finalized the sale.

After a unanimous vote Monday, the system will proceed with closing on the sale of the property.

Grateful Heart, a faith-based, nonprofit organization, said it would use the property to provide counseling, food, shelter, hygiene and transportation to men in transition.

In other business the board:

• Heard an update from the new teacher recruiter, Scotty Robinson. Since the position was created at the beginning of the year, three new teachers have been hired from 12 job fairs, and nine more candidates have interviews.

• Approved Vann’s recommendation to hire REI Engineers as a roofing consultant.

• Heard an update on an energy performance savings contract, which has just finished phase one. The board made a first quarterly payment for the contract – which began over two years ago – of nearly $73,000. The contract has a guaranteed first year savings of $304,227. In that time, contractors have upgraded lighting at 14 district schools, retrofitted over 16,000 fixtures, improved water conservation and upgraded system controls.

• Voted in closed session to hire William Brown as Assistant Principal for West Rowan Middle School.

Contact reporter Rebecca Rider at 704-797-4264.