JONESBORO, Ark. – A $2.5 million purchase was approved by the Jonesboro Public Schools Tuesday night.
As the school board held their regular monthly meeting, discussions ranged from new LED lights for the schools to the purchase of a new Durango to replace a vehicle totaled in an accident. Board member Ralph Waddell submitted his resignation as a member of the Jonesboro school board but the board decided to wait until November to accept it.
While many of the items on the board’s agenda were important, one stood out monetarily and as an item of interest to the region. Trinity Church, sitting on sloped land on Highland Drive in Jonesboro, was voted unanimously by the school board to be purchased by JPS for $2.5 million.
Superintendent Dr. Kim Wilbanks strongly recommended the deal, saying it was “very attractive” a number of times. She was fond of the traffic lights being nearby the property. She said it was less than a mile from Jonesboro High School. She also said it was zoned residential and the price reflected that.
“It is our intent to remove the building,” Wilbanks said. “It is an older building.”
Although no decisions were made as to what would replace the church, the discussion Tuesday night revolved around the need for expansion for JPS as the student population continues to swell.
Marketing the church for sale was Haag Brown | Commercial Principal Josh Brown, who told NEA Report late Tuesday the sale was an opportunity for Jonesboro.
“The nearly 14 acre tract of land we have marketed for Trinity Church offers a rare opportunity for the Jonesboro school system,” Brown said. “A tract of land of that size at a signalized intersection between two of their main campuses is hard to come by.”
Stan Morris Reporting
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