LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- Meade County hopes to close the book on two of its elementary schools by selling them off to the highest bidder.
"We had gotten down to about 85 students in this building," says Meade County Schools facilities director Rodney Pickering of Battletown Elementary. It has been seven months since children last roamed the halls there and at Muldraugh Elementary School.
That's not quite long enough for the paint to fade or the smell of tatter tots to leave the building, but long enough for school leaders to move on. An online auction to sell both campuses runs through December 13th.
Auctioneer Stephen Barr explains, "Roughly 1700 people have looked at this auction on our site from 29 states and seven countries."
Muldraugh is a roughly 19,000-square-foot facility on 3.8 acres of land appraised at $83,000. Battletown is 16,000 square feet on eight acres appraised at $62,000. Both campuses are more than 50 years old.
Barr says, "Some have talked about climate control storage, adult daycare -- one guy talked maybe offices."
In one room you could see a split classroom with 4th and 5th grades, -- the assignments for each group would go on the board. But it's also a sign of how tight things had gotten there because you had two grades in one classroom and not even 20 kids there.
Students and parents were visibly shaken when the board voted to close the schools, with one parent saying, "We gotta start all over again, and nothing is going to be familiar."
District leaders say they simply couldn't make the numbers add up -- enrollment increases as state funding decreases. They're also auctioning off supplies furniture and school supplies to try to make money.
Pickering explains, "Decisions like this are a part of what keeps the Meade County School District financially sound."
Pickering says he doesn't know what the next chapter holds for these buildings, although he hopes new owners will remember their history.
Interested bidders can find a link right here.
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