Judge denies order to stop school sale

By ERIKA KIRSCH Western News Editor

A judge denied an order on a suit filed against the Libby School District to stop the sale of the old school building in Libby. A suit filed by former Libby School Board member Gary Huntsberger to stop to the sale was denied by Judge Michael Prezeau. Prezeau declared the school board authorized to sell the property, according to Libby School District Superintendent Kirby Maki.

On April 17, the Libby School District passed a resolution to sell the building located at the intersection of Mineral Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard. According to Huntsberger's court petition, the property was not abandoned, obsolete or undesirable, as the school board's resolution reported. The resolution, according to Huntsberger's petition, also needed to include other information, such as the selling price of the building, Maki said."We didn't feel that was necessary," Maki explained. The school board must now "map out, come up with a plan and go from there," Maki said regarding the plans for the building. "They [the school board] could jump off the cliff and realize it's 100 feet down rather than five," he said. "We want to do what's best."

Huntsberger was unable to be reached by press time.