Manatee School Board Rejects Bid to Sell Major Property

BRADENTON – An offer to purchase the Manatee School District's former Parent Information Center was rejected at Monday's regular school board meeting.

The $247,500 offer, made by Swift Enterprises LLC, was almost $600,000 less than the property's appraised value.

During discussion before the vote, board member David Miner stated, "I don't think that it's in the best interest of our community, no matter how much we need this money, to accept this offer at this time." 

Speaking after the meeting, Miner said that the deal to sell the district's former Instructional Materials Center -  which was approved earlier this year and sold for half of that property's appraised value - may have set a bad precedent for offers on district properties.

He added that he felt Swift's offer was not enough to justify letting the former PIC go. "I'm hopeful that we're going to get an offer closer to the appraised value," he added.

The vote tally was 4-0, with board member Robert Gause recusing himself to avoid a possible conflict of interest.