School Board To Discuss Putting Millikin Up For Public Auction in Executive Session Tonight

Cleveland Heights-University Heights School Board president Karen Jones that board members will meet in an executive session tonight to discuss putting the up for public auction.

"Our hope is to make a decision ... We do want to resolve the Millikin situation," Jones said. "We would like to get this off of our plate."

Mosdos Ohr Hatorah parents and others in the Orthodox Jewish community sparked the Millikin debate when they told the CH-UH School Board at its that they wanted the property to remain a school, arguing it would significantly improve the neighborhood, increase property values and attract new residents. Supporters of Mosdos at Millikin urging the board to reconsider its offer of $550,000. The building has been vacant since 2006. 

A conducted by Charles M. Ritley Associates determined the building's current market value to be $770,000.

Superintendent Douglas Heuer based on the 2005 assessment, which indicated the property's highest and best value was $2.4 million.

The district will discuss this new information, including the appraisal Mosdos commissioned which says the building is worth $600,000 in today's market, in its executive session, which begins at 6 p.m.

Members will then move into their public work session to discuss the . 

Plan C, the third idea developed by architects working to renovate and modernize the buildings, calls for renovating , and elementary schools, , and middle schools and demolishing and rebuilding in Phase I of the master plan. The current elementary schools would serve pre-kindergarten through third grade and the middle schools would house fourth through eighth grades.

They will also consider approving bids for pilot programs at and R, which will be models of how classrooms will look once the buildings are renovated.

Look for highlights from the meeting soon, and see the agenda included with this article.