Can City Get Involved with Abandoned Schools?

Montgomery Public Schools Superintendent says cleaning up the abandoned schools in Montgomery is not her first priority.

So at what point does the city get involved with these eyesores?

Vacant school buildings around Montgomery have residents wondering when something will be done with them

“It’s a blight on the community so if they’re not going to use the property for what it was intended for, education purposes, then the most intelligent thing to do is to get rid of the property,” says Matthew Miles.

Schools like the Old Bellingrath Junior High School, Houston Hill Middle School and Patterson Elementary school serve no purpose and in some cases, may be dangerous with their broken windows and unsafe conditions. Montgomery Public Schools Superintendent Margaret Allen told us Tuesday that she didn’t want to focus on the abandoned buildings.

“We’re not in the real estate business actually,” she said. “We’re in the teaching students business and this property thing is really taking a little time here and we really want to refocus our energy back on what happen within the buildings.”

So, could the city get involved? Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange says the buildings are owned by the Montgomery County Board of Education, making them responsible for what happens to them.

“When they own something, it’s not the city or the county that’s on it, it’s the board of education, which is a separate entity, so it would be their responsibility to either market them or to use them or to come to some entity and ask for help to get rid of them.”

But in the meantime, residents say the buildings continue to be eyesores.

“If the buildings owned by them are supposed to be used by them for schooling are going to waste, they need to get in the real estate business,” says Kariba Nelson.

Head Elementary School, which is also abandoned, is in the process of being sold.

City Councilman Richard Bollinger has told us he expects the building to be used for retail or restaurants.