NEWS CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO — During the Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, meeting, members of the South Tama County school board discussed plans for the old middle school building after the potential buyers indicated they are no longer interested in purchasing the property.

“I think we’re back at square one now,” STC School Board Member Megan Thiessen said after hearing the potential buyer and end user of the old middle school had pulled their interest from the three parcels in Toledo.

In the discussion items at Monday’s school board meeting, Superintendent John Cain updated the board on the potential sale of the old middle school property.

“We had a good turnout in November related to the sale of the old middle school. Since then, I have been contacted by the buyer and end user, they have pulled their interest in the properties in Toledo. They are no longer interested,” he said.

Cain added that the school plans to continue working with the city of Toledo, with their next meeting between the city council and school board on Friday at 3 p.m. inside the Partnership Center.

After Cain’s update, the board discussed amongst themselves as they move forward past the potential sale.

“I think it’s at the point that they’ve withdrawn their offer. We don’t have people begging to buy this building. So I think working with Toledo and saying, okay. We’re back at square one now,” Thiessen said.

Board President Elizabeth Dolezal added her thoughts.

“Well, My initial thought, when I heard that our buyer had withdrawn their offer was, we promised the community at our last public hearing that we heard them and that we would collaborate with the city to find a community based solution. I think that that’s the next step forward. However, I don’t think that that’s the only step forward, we have time scheduled to work with the city and reasonably speaking, we’re here to look out for the district’s interests, as well as represent the community,” she said. “And so I would say that it’s not unheard of to relist this, you know, given that it’s costing us $10,000 plus a month, to keep this property operable. 
So I think that we can take time to work with the city and look for a community based solution. However, if we can’t come to terms on that, I think relisting would be appropriate to see if we can find an appropriate buyer before spending money. I mean, I’m not saying that we won’t spend money to work with the city of Toledo, but.”

At that point, Rick Hopper jumped in.

“One of my thoughts is with $1.3 or $1.4 million put into the school in the last five years, a personal opinion is, it’s too good of a school to tear down. I think that it would be an asset to the community if there was something that was viable to go in there. Maybe our next potential buyer would be something for housing. I would hate to see the school torn down hastily, where there’s opportunity for our community to have additional housing. I look at it this way, every month, the first of the month, it costs us another $10 or $12,000 dollars to own this thing. With the property casualty insurance, now we’re heating it, all the maintenance we take on in the wintertime with the snow, the summertime with mowing. As far as I’m concerned as a district, we can’t let this thing go fast enough,” he said. “I’m sad to see that we didn’t give the other buyer, a potential buyer, an opportunity to do that. I understand everybody’s opinion. But when I talk to people in my district, area farmers, they said, ‘Why didn’t you sell them?’ And I understand why we didn’t, but I still think that there’s. 
Anyway, I guess that’s just my comments.”

Dolezal and Cain reiterated that the work session on Friday won’t be deciding anything, just holding a time to collaborate and work together.

In other middle school news, Cain updated the board on the only issue with the new middle school property at this point. Sewage gas leaks have been a problem at the new middle school due to certain pipes being cut off and not properly sealed, an odor was noticeable. Further work with the construction crew has led to pipes being capped, and the system will be smoked again over winter break.

At the beginning of the meeting, several presenters shared the district’s School Improvement Advisory Committee (SIAC) report. Different committees are filled with district staff and community members. Kristen Donald was praised by elementary principal Brad Schweppe for being a parent who filled an important role in his committee.

The board heard from Eide Bailly, LLP about a federal direct-pay tax credit the district can qualify for because of the geothermal and HVAC installation at the new middle school. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, government entities can receive reimbursement for renewable energy projects, with STC’s potential credit estimated between $1.6 million and $2.7 million.

Eide Bailly would handle the documentation, engineering review, and filing, while the district’s role would be minimal. Once the system is placed into service and the filing is submitted, possibly as early as July 1, the district could receive a federal payment within 45 days. The firm noted they have successfully completed similar claims for numerous Iowa school districts.

Following the work session on Friday at 3:00, the next board meeting is scheduled for Jan. 12.