Helen Baker would be sold or razed if vote passes

To the Editor:
I have had many people ask, “What are you going to do with Helen Baker School if there is a successful vote?”
This is a very good question and one that is very important. Before answering this question, please note that the district wants and is prepared to deal with this property properly.
To simplify this answer, the district would try to sell the building and any dollars that were collected would go directly towards offsetting the bond. There is a legal process to not only selling the building, but also in closing a public facility. This is why we have not gone through the process of selling the building on a contingency before the vote. If we have a successful vote, then we can move forward with this process, but we can’t get ahead of the process because we are dealing with a publicly owned facility.
It is the goal of the district that this facility can still be a functional asset to the district and the city of Glencoe. If a plan that meets the needs of the city and the citizens cannot be met, the district would need to move forward with demolition plans of Helen Baker.
It is important that we deal with this building properly, but as I mentioned before, we cannot get ahead of the process until after the vote. If the vote is not successful, we would still need to use Helen Baker as a school and we would need to continue in the process of addressing the facility needs as a district.  
This is a very important day for GSL; not only for our students, but for the district as a whole. We need more space, we need to have better efficiencies in energy and education, and we need to have safety be a top priority. This building project allows us to address all of these concerns in one project. The vote is May 12, 2015.  You can find more information at www.gsl.k12.mn.us.
Thank you all for being a part of GSL!
Christopher J. Sonju
GSL Superintendent