On Monday, March 22nd, the Durham Board of Selectmen turned down an offer from Regional School District 13 to take ownership of the former Korn Elementary School.

The RSD13 Board of Education set March 31st as the official deadline for the Selectmen to make a final decision to acquire the school cost-free.

Durham First Selectmen Laura Francis tried to create a capital plan to take over ownership and maintenance of the building but recognized she could not foresee a way to do so.

Due to the decision of the town, RSD13 will be financially responsible for the removal of the building.

During the February 10th Board of Education meeting Regional School District 13 Director of Finance, Mrs. Kim Neubig solicited quotes and received estimated costs of about $750,000 to $1,000,000 to demolish the building.

Mrs. Nuebig explained that this capital expenditure could be paid in multiple ways. It could be paid either through bonding costs or divide the costs into a three-year capital reserve. Another option could be to budget the demolition costs all in a one-year period. This option would increase the district budget by over two percent.

As of now, it is unclear when the building will be removed.