Though members of the public urged the School Board not to sell the Harris School property Tuesday evening, the historic structure on 1.96 acres will be sold Peter Brawn for $4.5 million.

Several local residents took to the podium to change the board's mind; board members, except for Debra Walker, had stated they were for selling the property.

Shirley Freeman, retired teacher, principal and school administrator, was adamant that the property be preserved for the public.

"You must not sell it," Freeman told the board. "Harris School is the oldest school in Monroe County; it may well be the oldest standing high school in Florida. It's a historic treasure, an architectural treasure. It must be kept and respected. It belongs to the community."

Freeman and others argued that the building, a stone and ballast design built more than 100 years ago, shouldn't be sold for little more than half its assessed value. A commercial real estate assessment two weeks ago stated the property's value at $7.8 million.

"What will happen is this private buyer will flip it, because he got it for such a low, low price, to someone who has more respect for money than history," Freeman said. "I'm begging you; please do not sell Harris School under the circumstances that are being offered to you."

Richard Tallmadge, owner of The Restaurant Store, spoke energetically about keeping the school in the district's hands.

"To put the Harris School on the block would be unforgivable," he said. "The historic edifice cannot be measured in dollar amount. There is an obligation to preserve history that goes beyond the dollar amount. That you're contemplating this is beyond the pale."

The board has been wrestling with the Harris School's future for several years and in the past year sought bids for its sale. Two companies came up with the latest: Brawn, who offered a simple cash sale, and a proposal by Carlisle Development Group to trade the School Board headquarters building and land on Trumbo Road. Carlisle would have renovated Harris School, including transferring computer lines, re-creating a broadband network and modernizing its interior to make it habitable for the School Board room and administrative offices. Carlisle didn't have a lot of the details worked out, including how much it would cost to renovate Harris or how much cash they might have to throw into the pot to make it an even exchange.

On approving the sale, board member Duncan Mathewson said he understood the historic and architectural value of the building.

"I love the little auditorium in that building. We don't want to leave that building there deteriorating by letting it sit there, so I am going to vote in favor of this -- with great reservations -- but hope the owner will do everything he can to treat this building with respect."

Board member Steve Pribramsky said he wanted to use the money to fix the leaking roofs and other failing infrastructure at Horace O'Bryant Middle School and Glynn Archer Elementary School.

"I have to vote for it, despite my friends' wishes," he said.

A spokesman for Brawn told the board that his company will keep the building's exterior as is and will renovate the Dade County pine floors and improve the building's interior. He said the company wouldn't want to change the building even if historic preservation rules allowed it.

The board voted 4-1 to sell the property, with Walker voting no.

Budget proposal

In other business, acting Superintendent Mike Henriquez proposed a $23,247,922 budget for 2009-2010 and a millage property tax rate of 1.688. The combined millage the board has so far discussed is 3.411, or $341.10 per $100,000 of assessed property value.

Dick and Pribramsky voted no to the proposed millage rate and budget because they believe more money could be cut. The board will meet two more times before approving a final budget and millage rate in September.

The board also agreed to bring back retired student-testing analyzer Bruce King, in spite of Dick and Pribramsky's objection to having the $122,000-plus a year administrator return. According to Henriquez, King wanted his job back and was willing to return at a lower salary for a savings to the district of more than $50,000. Former Superintendent Bookie Henriquez took part in the discussion on King's return to the district. Henriquez has been helping his son with advice and attends all School Board meetings.

NEOLA Inc.

The board also discussed whether to approve the contract for NEOLA Inc., the experts that monitor Florida education law and help the district maintain its employee policies and procedures.

Dick told board members that former Assistant Superintendent of Schools Frankie St. James, who now works for NEOLA, has not returned calls from forensic investigator Richard Fechter seeking to interview her about the school scandal. St. James was former Adult Education Coordinator Monique Acevedo's supervisor and would have been the one to approve her alleged personal purchases with a school credit card.

Dick told board members he'd like to ask NEOLA to urge St. James to be interviewed by Fechter as a condition to renewing NEOLA's contract. The board was to try to contact NEOLA and vote on its contract at a subsequent board meeting.

jguerra@keysnews.com