Carter County school board votes to negotiate sale of Little Milligan

By Robert Sorrell

Star Correspondent

The Carter County Board of Education this week voted to move forward with the negotiations of selling former Little Milligan Elementary School.

Board members met on Tuesday during a special-called meeting to discuss the future of Little Milligan Elementary School, which closed at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. The board unanimously approved a motion to move forward with negotiations on how to dispose of the property, which is located on U.S. Highway 321.

The plan does not specify who the system is discussing the school’s future with, Director of Schools Brandon Carpenter said. It allows the board to negotiate with anyone that is interested in the property.

During the meeting, representatives from the Little Milligan Care and Share Program Inc., a local food bank, shared their proposal for the property. The organization’s leaders hope to use the Little Milligan property as a community center, which would provide space for various programs, including community groups, churches and more.

The Little Milligan Care and Share Program Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization with a board and representatives from several sectors of the community.

Negotiating a sale is an option, said Carpenter, who said past auctions did not do well when disposing of property in the county.

“It’s a process and takes time,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter discussed the possibility of the board adding restrictions to the property, including allowing voting to take place at Little Milligan and giving the board a first right of refusal if the buyers were to sell the property at a later time.

Little Milligan Care and Share representatives said their proposal includes allowing the building to be used as a voting precinct.

In order to decide what to do with the property, Carpenter said the board’s attorney has advised that such decisions be made at a regularly scheduled meeting, rather than a called meeting.

The board previously approved the district’s budget, which included the closure of Little Milligan. Carpenter said it had cost the county about $1.16 million to operate the school for one year. As a result, the county spent $16,871 for each student at Little Milligan, he added. The school had 69 students when it closed.

Students from Little Milligan will attend classes at Hampton Elementary School this fall. Teachers and staff have also been transferred to other schools.

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