No sale for now: School Board keeping land

Talk about it

At Monday’s meeting the Jamestown Public School Board decided it was against selling a tract of land the district owns for residential development.

An unnamed developer wants to buy 15.3 acres of land between Gussner Elementary School and Jamestown High School for $600,000, according to JPS Superintendent Bob Toso. The developer is also interested in buying the land to the east and west of the JPS land.

There was a brainstorming session recently at JHS among coaches and extracurricular activity directors about what they would like to see in development of the land surrounding the high school for athletics or other events.

“It’s cheap to brainstorm,” Toso said. “It doesn’t cost anything to wish.”

The brainstorming group identified goals for its prospective activities. The main goal was to move all athletic facilities to the high school campus.

“I don’t want the community to get all wound up, that ‘oh my goodness, they’re moving the football stadium up to the high school,’” said Gail Martin, board member “...But in a town this size, it may be a little extravagant to have two beautiful football facilities.”

Toso said he would need some information before moving forward in discussions with the developer.

“I don’t think we would have nearly the information to talk about selling,” he said. “The only thing I would ask, if you’re amicably opposed to it, say ‘Mr. Toso, don’t even have those discussions’ because I don’t want to waste my time or the developer’s time.”

Three board members said just that.

“I say no. I wouldn’t even want you to pursue it and waste your time,” said Diane Hanson.

“I would say the same thing. If we’re looking at selling that land it’s going to be another 1 1/2 or two years down the road,” said Roger Haut.

Board President Roy Musland said that once land is sold the district will likely not have a chance to get it back.

If the developer calls, Toso said he will say that the board is “not enthusiastic and at this time not interested.”

The School Board also heard from Bill Nold, JHS principal, about what regulations are in place at school dances.

Nold was asked to come to the board and review what he could implement as administrative policy in spring. The board would then implement changes as board policy when it approves the school planners for next year.

Currently the only regulations and rules in students’ planners regard issues about attendance at dances by students with detentions that have not been served, Nold said.

“One would hope one doesn’t need to address that but we’ve probably come to a crossroads where we probably have to so we don’t come to a conflict between students and administration,” Nold said of dance regulations.

He presented a modified list from the website nofreaking.com. Those regulations included: no dancing which could cause harm to oneself or others, no straddling legs or wrapping legs around another person or object, no bending over or squatting down to the floor, no suggestive dancing or simulated sex acts, no front to back dancing — commonly referred to as grinding.

Musland said he would like to see “old-time, moral” dancing. He said it should be the type of dancing people would do at church.

“I’m ready to come down fairly hard on it,” Musland said of grinding. “That’s where I am. I think it needs to stop and if administration and the chaperones know, I think they should know we have their backs on it.”

Toso said the issue was not a School Board issue, but a Jamestown High School issue.

“We’re not looking for School Board policy per say on this, at least Mr. Nold and I have talked on that,” he said.

Sun reporter Ben Rodgers can be reached at 701-952-8455 or by email at brodgers@jamestownsun.com

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