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Watauga County School Board Votes to Extend Due Diligence Period to July 30 for Potential Valle Crucis School Property

By Nathan Ham

At Monday’s Watauga County Board of Education meeting, the board voted to extend the due diligence period for the possible property for a new Valle Crucis School. This is the third time that the due diligence period has been extended. Previously on March 12, the board extended the due diligence period for 45 days.

“We are waiting on test results to come back from the state. The board is dedicated to totally vetting the Hodges Property’s suitability for a new Valle Crucis School, so they voted to extend the due diligence period until we can get all the results back from the state,” said Garrett Price, the Director of Communications for Watauga County Schools.

The 14.4-acre area of land near where the current Valle Crucis School sits has been viewed as most likely the best fit to construct the new school. The current school is over 80 years old and has had numerous flooding issues over the years.

The Hodges Property was purchased for $1.1 million and has already had numerous tests conducted on the property ranging from environmental assessments, wetland evaluation and well-drilling assessments to soil and septic permit assessments.

According to Watauga County Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Elliott, the county is still waiting to hear results on soil testing around the property.

The due diligence period will now extend 90 days until July 30 with a closing date to happen within 30 days following the end of that period.

“The soil investigation is complete, we just continue to wait on a report from the state for that,” Dr. Elliott said.