Lexington 1 votes to purchase Gilbert land for new elementary school

The Lexington 1 school board voted Tuesday night to purchase land in Gilbert to complete the plot it will use for a new elementary school.

The piece of land is 0.84 acres adjacent to the 20 acres purchased last year for the school, and it completes the road frontage for the project. The school district will pay $125,000 for the latest piece of land.

Lexington 1 will begin breaking ground on its building plan in the new year. The $365 million plan was approved by voters in the November election. Construction of new schools and renovations to others would help accommodate a student population that is spreading westward and growing by more than 500 students a year.

Board members Cynthia Smith, Anne Marie Green, Brent Powers, Michael Anderson, Kyle Guyton and Tim Oswald voted to approve the purchase. Board member Jada Garris, who is from Gilbert and has been vocal in her opposition to district spending decisions, voted against it.

Tuesday night’s meeting was the first with new members Garris, Oswald and Guyton.

Smith was elected chair, Green was elected vice chair and Powers was elected secretary. All three were uncontested. District officials also announced a new web tracker residents can use to follow the progress on all of the building plan projects. It can be accessed under “About” and “Building Plan” on lexington1.net.