In its regular July meeting Monday night, the Wilkes County Board of Education agreed to sign the former middle and high school complex on Gordon Street over to the City of Washington.

“It’s in our best interest to turn it over to an entity that can handle real estate in a timely manner,” said Superintendent Dr. Rosemary Caddell. She reviewed the year-long efforts to dispose of the property, the ongoing deliberations with prospective buyer The Guardian Center, and the insurance settlement that paid more than the facility’s appraised worth.

“Now we can relieve ourselves of this property and get back to the business of educating children,” said board Chairman Ricky Callaway.

Caddell and Callaway signed a quitclaim deed during the meeting, turning the 14-acre old school property to the city, which is still working closely with The Guardian Center on bringing its homeland security training facility to Washington.

In a separate but related matter, Caddell revealed the new plans for athletic facilities at the new school campus. The plans for the school’s new tennis courts, softball field, baseball field, and associated outbuildings, were drawn up with consultation from Athletic Director Lee Hutto, she said, and included cost estimates of each sport’s playing area.

The four tennis courts planned would cost an estimated $147,370; the softball field some $280,387; and the baseball fields, including scoreboards, concessions, and restrooms, would cost $357,175. The fields could be done one at a time as money allows, or bid out all together to save money. The $752,000 insurance settlement from hail damage to the old school building would just about cover all the costs, Caddell said.

Callaway said that it is important to get moving on at least the tennis courts to get them finished by tennis season, and recommended that requests for bids go out before the August board meeting.

In other matters, Caddell announced that during the Friday, September 24, Tiger home football game, ceremonies will be held to name the football field at Tiger Stadium in honor of Coach Charlie Davidson. (See separate story on page 8A of this issue.) The board gave permission for a 7-foot granite marker to be erected with the new name.

At the start of the meeting, the board heard a request from Bob Haughey for a letter stating the purpose of the board’s administrative building on East Robert Toombs Avenue. Haughey desires to open a package store at the former Movie Gallery building and Dept. of Revenue rules say any package store must be more than 600 feet from an

educational facility.” If the board issues a letter saying that students are not taught at the administration building, it would help Haughey get

variance from the Dept. of Revenue. Board attorney Jim Roberts was asked to look into the matter.

In other actions, the board accepted the uniform contract bid of Cintas Corp., approved changes to the school activity funds accounting procedures manual, and gave final approval to the FY11 budget.

The board approved the deletion of the system’s bad-check fines, and had the first reading for a policy revision on entrance ages.

During an executive session for personnel, board members heard recommendations for personnel, a 21st Century data manager, substitute teachers, and a tribunal committee.