COQUILLE — Winter may not be the season for selling a school — at least not for the Coquille School District.

The district’s first attempt to find someone to market the former Jefferson Elementary School netted only one interested company.

Jefferson, built in 1957, was closed five years ago and now is the location of the district’s administrative offices.

District Business Manager Eileen Harrington told the School Board the brokers who did show up to a property walk-through didn’t offer much encouragement.

“They had some interesting insights,” Harrington said of comments given by Bruce Parker and Lynn Kindred, brokers with the Coquille office of Century 21. “They said that there are no investors, developers or speculators showing interest in this area.”

The poor condition of the building may be another detriment to a sale. If a buyer wishes to remove the school off the approximately 4.3-acre site, the expense may decrease the final selling price, Harrington said.

Superintendent Diann Gillaspie said an updated appraisal of the building and property will not be finished until the end of the month. The last appraisal from 2001 valued the land and school at $915,000. Coos County’s current assessed value of the property is approximately $1.26 million.

“We have no crystal ball for this,” Chairman Tony Messerle said of the final price for the property. He added that he thought the board needed to move forward with the sale rather than do nothing.

Board member Steve Britton agreed, but thought the board should wait for better weather in May or June. With the nicer weather bringing in more visitors, there may be more interest in the property, he said.

“I don’t think we need to rush into trying to sell it,” Britton said. “If we do, we will undersell it.”

If Jefferson is sold, the district will have to move its administrative offices to another location. Harrington said that more money will have to be spent on maintenance of the building if the offices remain in the aging building much longer.

Harrington said Tuesday the district will look at the issue again after the new appraisal is finished.

In other business at this week’s meeting, the board:

n elected Robyn Johnson board vice chairwoman;

n heard price estimates from Technology Coordinator Walt Wilcox for installing security camera systems in the schools; and

n heard a presentation by Victor Musial, director of the Department of Field Operations for the Oregon School Employees Association, offering information about contracting with private companies for school services. Musial said that some school districts that contract out services don’t end up saving money. Gillaspie said the district is just exploring the option to determine if it could save money through contracting for bus service with a private firm.

“I hope everybody digs real deep into this issue,” Coquille School District Transportation Coordinator Susan Shepherd said.