By Graham Sturgeon, co-editor

The Durand Board of Education voted Monday, April 18 to allow the Victory Biker Church of Lennon to buy Doyle Knight Elementary for $125,000. The board also received bids from HQ Adventure Academy for $15,000, the Gold Nugget of Missouri for $11,101, and local businessman Bryan Marks for $1,000. The board, after discussing the potential sale with Lennon residents, decided that the school district and the Lennon community would benefit the most from the church being allowed to buy the building.

Durand Board of Education President Xak Zdunic said earlier in April that the board must think about all the taxpayers of the school district when evaluating bids, and the board voted unanimously in favor of the decision.

Additionally, the board is still deciding what to do with Wilbur Bills Elementary of Bancroft. The board has received a high bid of $50,000 from Welcome Home Veterans, which hopes to turn the school into a faith-based, not-for-profit veterans care and housing facility. The Bancroft Village Council has been resistant to the board selling the school to a nonprofit business because of the village’s current financial situation, and several community members have also questioned the potential sale for several reasons.

In an effort to give Bancroft residents a voice in the process, the Durand Board of Education will hold another community forum to discuss the sale of the building before its Monday, May 9 meeting. The forum will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Durand Middle School, with the board’s regular monthly meeting to follow. In an effort to get everyone’s input, Sup’t. Craig McCrumb is asking questions or comments intended for the forum to be emailed to him at mccrumb@durand.k12.mi.us prior to the meeting.

Durand Moves Forward With School Sales was last modified: April 25th, 2016 by Karen Elford