West Greene contemplates former Graysville Elementary as rehab center
ROGERSVILLE – The West Greene School Board rejected an offer to buy the former Graysville Elementary building and is now considering donating it to a local anti-drug coalition that wants to turn it into Greene County’s first inpatient rehabilitation facility.
More than 50 people attended the Thursday night board meeting in which the board rejected with a 3-5 vote an offer from GNAC LLC to purchase the building for $120,000. Board members Chad Scott, Ronald Wise and Jan Berdine voted in favor of the sale, while the five others present voted against.
“We’ve been trying to sell this building for a long time and this is the best offer we’ve received,” Scott said.
The school building was closed in June 2015 after the district consolidated its two elementary schools.
Kelly Loughman said although the building has been on the market for more than a year, she wants to see a better offer with a higher price. Daniele Frye and Timothy Mankey said they wanted to see the building become a rehabilitation facility and sold for $1 to the Coalition for a Brighter Greene and managed by a national recovery nonprofit.
The Coalition hoped to raise money to pay for about $400,000 worth of renovations to the building before handing it off to Teen Challenge, a Christian-based recovery program. Teen Challenge would then fund the operation of the building and start out with 8 to 10 beds for Greene County residents who need treatment.
The clients typically reside at the facility for a year, but if they’re not ready to graduate the program, Teen Challenge will keep them there, said Joel Jakubowski, the chief clinical officer for Pennsylvania’s chapter of Adult and Teen Challenge.
“My hope is that you’ll be able to find a level of confidence in us,” he said to the people at the meeting. “Addiction is always a family and community disorder. We’re all getting sick from addiction, not just the clinical patient.”
If the program is not successful within four years, the facility would go back to the district.
The coalition has presented the proposal to the board multiple times since the fall, and Thursday, the board gave the public a chance to ask questions and voice their opinions about it. Some were in favor of the facility, while others wanted the building to be sold to keep the money in the district and the property put on the tax rolls.
Those who want a rehab center talked about their loved ones who have died from drug overdoses, including Morris Township residents Don and Lynn Bird, whose two daughters died from heroin overdoses in 2014.
“Our daughters graduated from this district,” Don Bird said. “They started experimenting with drugs in this district. Our children begged us to get help and we tried everything.”
Multiple people made comments to the board that they don’t want a rehab facility in their neighborhood for safety reasons and concerns that it may bring additional crime to the area. Others argued that the district has too many financial issues for the building not to be put on the tax rolls.
Andrew Wise, of resident of the Graysville area, said that he felt the district would be breaching the separation of church and state, by donating the building to a faith-based recovery organization. He said that residents “have the right to sue the district” if they feel the board members were irresponsible with district property and money.
At the end of the public comment session, Jonathan Johnson, treasurer of the coalition, said that the district should consider that the school is “the lifeblood of the community.”
“How many people have to die before it’s OK to sacrifice your money?” he said.
The board said they will vote at the July 27 meeting on whether to donate the building to the coalition and Teen Challenge.