When the Seaside School District No. 10 Board decided to sell the Gearhart Elementary School property for $750,000, I thought: “What a horrible giveaway of taxpayer money!”

Then the offer was withdrawn and I wondered why. Now I read that the property was sold for $500,000.

I believe the Gearhart school property, the literal dirt alone, is worth more than the original asking price of $1.9 million. To me, $750,000 was a fire sale, a giveaway, and a slap in the face to district taxpayers. I keep asking myself why and I keep coming back to the same suspicions.

Are they desperate to plug budgetary holes created by the incompetent handling of the new school construction project? I know what I’m hearing from far too many trustworthy sources. The stories coming out of there of cost overruns, delays and repeated redos due to poor initial planning and design are extremely concerning.

I’ve grown tired of the local media’s “Kumbaya” approach to school district coverage. This is taxpayer money being wasted or given away in tough economic times.

I challenge local media to look into the construction project at the new school and the refurbishment of Seaside Heights Elementary School. Find out why the board seems so anxious to sell valuable district assets at what appear to be bargain basement prices.

Please, prove my suspicions wrong.

Bill Graffius

Gearhart