The city of Morro Bay will soon begin exclusive negotiations to buy the old Morro Elementary campus from San Luis Coastal Unified School District.
The school district unanimously voted last week to enter a six month negotiation, or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with the city.
Morro Bay City Council will vote on entering the memorandum, which would bind the city and district to negotiate exclusively, at their next meeting on Tuesday.
Ryan Pinkerton, an Assistant Superintendent with the school district, says the agreement is meant to inform community members of its “good faith negotiations” with the city.
“There [were] these back channel people talking, spreading rumors about what the district was doing and not doing,” Pinkerton said. “And we just wanted to make it really clear to the community that we're trying to work with the city of Morro Bay.”
Pinkerton stated that the city previously decided against the purchase in 2024, when the district first surplused the 10-acre Morro Elementary site.
Early KCBX reporting found that many Morro Bay residents rallied for the city to reconsider, due to concerns that the site would be sold to housing developers.
Once the city of Morro Bay expressed interest in the purchase again, the district was legally required by the Surplus Land Act to extend an MOU to them – just as they would with any other interested buyer, according to Pinkerton.
The city is currently the only group San Luis Coastal has worked with so far, Pinkerton also said.
“We're hopeful that we can pull something together that's a win for the school district as well as a win for the city,” Pinkerton said.
