CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland School District plan for 30 closed buildings calls for slightly less than half to be torn down or used as storage. The rest would land in a classification that could be labeled "miscellaneous."

By using vague designations or declaring that buildings are unusable, Cleveland can avoid Ohio's requirement that the schools be offered to charter-school operators at fair market value. District-sponsored charters may eventually end up in some of the buildings, but an advocate for charters, including those that fall outside the system's aegis, is not happy.

School districts in the state typically resist providing charters with desperately needed facilities, said Ron Adler, president of the Ohio Coalition for Quality Education. He noted that the Cleveland schools face a $47.5 million deficit next school year, so cash from a sale would come in handy.

"It's despicable -- and we'll stop at that word -- that they sit on these taxpayer assets," Adler said.

Adler's group joined a lawsuit against the Cincinnati district after officials sold nine buildings, stipulating that the structures not be used for schools. The plaintiffs prevailed, and the decision is under appeal.

Buildings are key for charters, which receive no local tax money and rely heavily on philanthropy.

A plan for closed schools

Source: Cleveland school district

The Cleveland school board received the plan for the buildings Tuesday and could vote on it March 22. Ohio law requires the district to state intentions for the property.

The district isn't simply hoarding old schools, said Chief Operating Officer Patrick Zohn. Many of the buildings will be needed when other schools are replaced under a state-funded construction program.

One of the demolished schools would give way to green space for a nearby elementary school. The others "truly are in bad shape," said Gary Sautter, the district's deputy chief of capital projects.

Nine more would be tabbed for storage, a need that Zohn said grew when the district closed 15 buildings last year.

Some of the closed buildings could house three charter schools that the school board agreed Tuesday to sponsor. The board also gave preliminary approval to sponsoring two additional schools in 2012.

All the charters are affiliated with Breakthrough Schools, a local nonprofit management group. Cleveland already sponsors three Breakthrough schools.

The district has viewed the publicly funded but privately run charters as competition for students and state aid but says it wants to provide options for families. The district cannot count charter students among its population but receives a small portion of the schools' aid and can claim the students' test scores.

The charters would pay little or no rent but pick up the cost of utilities and maintenance.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: tott@plaind.com, 216-999-5739