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MADISON COUNTY, Ala. – At Tuesday night’s board of education meeting, Madison County Schools leaders agreed to sell 58.55 acres of system-owned land on Pine Grove Road to a developer.

The board approved the sale to Jeff Benton Development for an undisclosed price. Leaders said the sale was not final, so they could not release that number just yet.

The district bought the land in 2014. The Pine Grove Road property was to be the site of a new high school serving the Monrovia area. That issue divided the community, and the school system leadership, for years.

The school system committed to funding a new school in that area in 2013. After squabbles at the Madison County Commission over the issue, rising construction costs, and debates over zone lines, this year the board voted to use the remaining $46 million in Base Realignment And Closure funds for something else. Instead, they went along with Superintendent Matt Massey’s plan to fund other capital projects around the district. Massey said at the time that this was best for students.

Even before he took office, Massey has questioned whether using the BRAC funds to build the school was the right thing to do.

Earlier this year, the Madison County Commission agreed to terminate the agreement with the school system over the new school’s construction. The commission had already contributed some money to the cause.

Now, the land will be out of the school system’s hands as the district moves on without the new school.

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