South Bend School Corporation considering relocation for their administrative offices

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Conversations are underway that entertain the sale of the South Bend Community School Corporation administration building to the City of South Bend.

Located at 215 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, officials say the sale of the current administrative building and moving to a smaller, more suitable location could open up financial avenues for educational improvement.

"Just as we continue to assess our school buildings' facilities and space needs, it only makes sense that we do the same for our administration building. If this building is not being used at full capacity, the financially responsible decision is to sell it and move to a more suitable space so we can put more money into classrooms and focus on academic gain,” said Dr. Todd Cummings, Superintendent of the South Bend School Corporation.

Mayor James Mueller commented that the acquirement of the administrative building would allow the City of South Bend to merge offices that are currently spread across downtown.

“As our partnership with South Bend Schools continues to grow, we are grateful for the collaboration to right-size both of our building footprints. This potential move would streamline operations and costs for our schools, while also consolidating City offices spread across multiple locations,” said Mayor Mueller.

The district’s Board of School Trustees approved a resolution of intent to sell the administrative building on Monday.

"The need to right-size the district was one of the primary goals we had with the passage of the referendum. We will continue to evaluate and assess the entire corporation with that in mind, and promote cost-savings wherever possible,” said Kareemah Fowler, Chief Financial Officer for South Bend Community School Corporation.

Negotiations are still underway for the financial considerations associated with the sale of the administration building.