Dos Palos school district invites bids for closed Oro Loma Elementary

A dilapidated elementary school property south of Oro Loma that closed six years ago is up for sale by the Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified School District.

In a public notice Monday, the school district announced a public bid hearing at 10 a.m. on Dec. 12 at the district office at 2041 Almond St., Dos Palos, to sell the Oro Loma Elementary School buildings and property.

The school district is offering a minimum bid of $394,000 for the property, according to the notice. The property is at 5609 Russell Ave. in Firebaugh, about 5 miles south-southeast of Oro Loma, between Shaw and Bullard avenues.

The elementary school has been vacant since it closed in 2010, Superintendent Bill Spalding told the Sun-Star on Wednesday. It was part of the 1993 school district merger.

“Over the years, it saw a pretty significant decline in enrollment,” Spalding said. “There just wasn’t enough kids from the area to justify keeping it open.”

The school district formed a “7-11 committee” that met in May and deliberated selling the school, Spalding said. In July, the advisory body officially recommended selling the school, and the school district voted to do so on July 21.

Spalding said the school district is in the process of talking with insurance companies to fix damage from a few fires on the property since it closed. But the property, including classrooms and office space, will be sold as it stands.

If the school district doesn’t receive any bids for the property at the Dec. 12 hearing, it will apply for a waiver to sell it on the open market, Spalding said.

This story was originally published November 23, 2016 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Dos Palos school district invites bids for closed Oro Loma Elementary."