District approves lease for Toledo Tel building

The Toledo School Board has accepted an offer to lease Toledo Tel's former office building downtown as a way to relocate from their current portable building across from Toledo Middle School.

Approved during the board's Feb. 19 meeting, the agreement is for the district to pay $500 per month to rent the building on Ramsey Way, which Toledo Tel left largely unoccupied after moving their offices to their facility on Plomondon Rd. last year. According to Superintendent Sharon Bower, the proposal from Toledo Tel would include the cost of utilities in the rent payment, while the district is already paying $320 for utilities at their current site, she stated.

Bower said, after the move, the district will seek to amend their contract with Cowlitz Prairie Academy, an alternative learning program sharing office space with the district, to include a $500 per month rental fee, as the academy will then become sole users of the building. Bower said the idea of charging the academy a fee for use would conform with similar practices elsewhere in the state, and said Toledo has been speaking about the possibility of a fee for use in the past as Cowlitz Prairie Academy has become "more established," she stated.

Meanwhile, district officials have said they look forward to making use of the Ramsey Way building, as it was designed specifically for administrative purposes, and will allow the district to have a presence right in Downtown Toledo.

As of press time, it was not yet known by what date the district plans to move into the new facility.