Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) board members voted unanimously Monday night to try and finalize a deal with a nonprofit community group to purchase Old Mission Peninsula School.

The board authorized members Erik Falconer and Scott Hardy and Superintendent Paul Soma to negotiate a legal binding purchase agreement with the Old Mission Peninsula Education Foundation for the property. Final terms will come back to the full TCAPS board for approval, a vote that could happen before the end of this month.

Foundation representatives submitted a formal offer Monday to buy Old Mission for $1 million – a leap from the organization’s original bid of $750,000. TCAPS officials suggested in a finance meeting earlier this month the initial offer was too low, preferring a ballpark of $1.25-$1.5 million.

Foundation Vice-President Corey Phelps called the group's new $1 million offer – which encapsulates both the building and the assets within the school, such as furniture and supplies – an “equitable and fair” price. He warned board members Monday the foundation was at its financial limit with the offer.

“Typically when there are negotiations, you try and find a middle ground,” Phelps said. “We actually countered our own offer…this (deal) will heal the Old Mission community and allow us to go out and get more funds in the future.”

Foundation representatives hope that by purchasing the facility – which TCAPS has targeted for potential closure in 2018 – they can “keep a school open on Old Mission” for the foreseeable future and embolden donors to fund its long-term operations, says President Allison O’Keefe. The purchase offer is tied to an agreement for TCAPS to continue providing educational services to the school through at least June 2018.

“Step one is getting the building,” says O’Keefe. “We get really excited when we look down the road after that.” With the property secured, the foundation’s board can immediately turn its attention toward fundraising for future operations, says O’Keefe.

Soma notes the district is still sticking to a self-imposed November 30 deadline to make a final decision on providing educational services to Old Mission past June 2018. The district is finalizing reconstruction plans for Eastern Elementary School this fall and must make assumptions within the design about whether that property will eventually need to absorb Old Mission students.

For TCAPS to commit to educating students at Old Mission past June 2018, according to Soma, foundation reps need to not only finalize the building's purchase agreement but in the next two weeks provide funding commitments to cover $400,000 in annual education overhead for several years beyond 2018.

O’Keefe acknowledges it will be a battle to accomplish both goals by November 30, but says her board will be satisfied with at least securing the property and TCAPS keeping “their commitment to us through 2018.” Even if the district votes to cut educational ties beyond that point, “it’s not going to stop us,” says O’Keefe. “We’ll keep moving forward.”

Several TCAPS board members Monday expressed appreciation for the foundation’s efforts, as well as their support for an Old Mission deal. Board member Doris Ellery encouraged the district's negotiating committee to be “a little more generous with our negotiations,” saying community discussions around Old Mission had been “difficult." She said the purchase agreement offered TCAPS a “resolution” to public negativity.

“I don’t know that there would be another entity who would want to do this besides (the foundation),” Ellery said. Though Hardy noted several issues besides financial terms still needed to be worked out in the deal – such as mitigating any liabilities TCAPS might incur while providing education at a building it didn't own – he also hoped to move forward with an agreement.

“I’d like to…give them every opportunity to have (Old Mission) continue to operate as a school under the TCAPS umbrella, if possible," Hardy said.