ECOT
given on the operations side of our business, then there are more resources we can devote to educating our more than 51,000 students and to updating and maintaining our school buildings,” Board of Education President Gary Baker said in a statement.
“This is a solid investment in the future operations of Columbus City Schools. My colleagues recognize that the amount paid for the property is far less than what would be needed to build new administrative space or refurbish existing space to better maximize district resources.”
The building purchase is part of a liquidation of all Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow assets, with proceeds being used to help pay off the school’s remaining creditors after its closing in January.
As the auction ended Tuesday, ECOT attorneys were asking a Franklin County judge to block state Auditor Dave Yost’s attempt to intervene in the dismantling of what was formerly the state’s largest charter school.
Nearly three weeks ago, shortly after releasing an audit that included a referral for possible criminal prosecution against some ECOT officials, Yost’s office asked Franklin County Judge Michael Holbrook to intervene in the case to ensure that it can access data for additional investigation.
“Since the ability to access this data now depends upon an agreement of the parties and a ruling from this court, the auditor may be deprived from appropriately weighing in on this process and accessing the data if it is not made a party,” the auditor’s counsel wrote in its motion.
ECOT attorney Christopher Hogan filed an objection, arguing that Yost’s office has already made digital copies of school data, so intervention is unnecessary. He called the data gathering “part of a transparent and misguided effort by the auditor to buttress an ongoing political campaign with unfortunate allegations of non-existent criminal conduct.”
Regardless of the outcome of that fight, the ECOT building could provide significant savings for Columbus schools through consolidation by allowing it to close and sell other administrative sites, the district said. Two district buildings on 17th Avenue and Hudson Street alone could generate an estimated $6.1 million. Also, academic offices at the Linmoor Education Center in Linden, across Interstate 71 from the Ohio State Fairgrounds, could move into the ECOT building, which has 138,000 square feet.
The ECOT building was formerly a strip shopping center that included a theater complex, and it has three movie theaters — two without seats that are used for storage and a third that has been remodeled. The district might use that space for staff meetings and special events, Varner said.
The district entered the auction on its last day, when the highest bid was just more than $700,000. But that had doubled Tuesday morning, and then doubled again, as the district and three others outbid one another — often by increments of $100 — for hours. But shortly before 2 p.m., the clock expired and the district had won.
The Dispatch reported Monday evening that, despite ECOT being a thorn in the side of the district for almost two decades, the Columbus Board of Education had approved a plan for its treasurer to bid, “in his sole judgment,” on ECOT’s building.
The motive wasn’t to dance on the grave of the online charter school but to snap up an underpriced asset, Varner said Monday. “I think the goal is to purchase this property at a cost less than market rate,” he said.The board approved the measure on a 4-3 vote, with members Mary Jo Hudson, Eric Brown and Dominic Paretti voting no.
Nearly everything inside ECOT headquarters was sold in the auction that ended Tuesday, including dozens of desks, hundreds of chairs and more than 1,500 calculators.
Someone paid $1,205 each for a pair of fancy lobby couches, $1,215 for an even fancier lobby bench, and $355 for a foosball table.
The auction also included some especially peculiar items for an online school, including professional kitchen equipment, a motocross helmet, about 60 apple-shaped Tiffany crystal paperweights, and a former Gahanna police cruiser — a 2009 Dodge Charger with “ECOT Security” emblazoned on the door.