I Looked Like a Fool and Cried

This is sort of a complicated story, but I can hit the highlights, cover the key points and explain how things got to last night, me looking like a fool and then crying.   Things started back in 2011 when my son started at the Montessori school he still attends.

I was asked to join the Board of Trustees a few months later and at the first board meeting I attended we were presented with a pivotal decision, one that would change forever the future of the school.   We had outgrown the current school we’d been renting since the school had been started some eleven years prior.   We had not just minorly outgrown the location, we had majorly overrun the space.

There had been a search for a location on which to build our own school so we could escape both the small space and the rental situation we were in.   The search had taken six years.   There were reasons it took that long, much of which had been finding a good location which continued to change as the search drug on while the school grew in enrollment.

At that first board meeting I attended, we were asked to vote on moving forward with one of two sites and builders, each finalists in the search, based on information they presented to us that evening.   We were unable to make a decision that night because the pros and cons of each option made it so there was no clear winner.

After many phone calls over the spring break week that ensued, we made our decision and today, several years after the completion of the new school, we’re in that very location.   It was back then that we noticed there were two adjacent properties beside the plot we were purchasing and developing.   Those two lots had houses circa the late 1950’s that might be possible to acquire for future expansion.   And given how the school had grown thus far, we might need those properties sooner than later.

At the time, our board Vice Chair told me, “you’re in Real Estate, see if you can find someone to buy the properties to hold them for the school.”  This was before we’d even closed on the primary location, something we were just starting to raise capital for.   Expansion seemed a long way off.

But those words never left my mind and ever since that time I’ve been trying to see if we could come up with a way to do just that, have the properties in safe hands that would be willing to sell to the school when the time was right.   There were complexities of course.  Were the current property owners interested in selling?   Was the price workable with what the school would ultimately be able to afford?   Who could we find that would be willing to buy and hold the properties?  Would it need to be a group of investor families who would together rent the home(s) until such time as the school wanted to expand?

That’s a very, very short list of all the questions that needed answering.   The number of meetings, potential buyers, discussions with property owners, offers that fell through, middle men that were involved, rezoning meetings that were attended, property that changed hands to a new owner that didn’t have anything to do with the school and wasn’t interested in selling to the school.   Panic.   Worry.   But ultimately, after years of work, both properties were acquired by new owners who did indeed want to hold them for the school.

We then needed to come up with a legal way to both protect the new owners while at the same time giving the school the option to purchase the properties at a fair price in the what was now turning out to be much sooner time frame than we had originally thought.   The school, having just finished a capital campaign to build the main campus, may need to launch into another campaign to expand sideways to those two properties.

We came up with the idea to put in place an Option Contract.   This is a legal document that in this case gives the school the option to exclusively purchase the properties at a pre-determined price at any point in the next five years.   To reserve this right, the school pays a fee to the owners, while letting the owners retain full use of the property until such time as the school decides to exercise their right to purchase.

My husband and I have been knee deep in this entire process from the very beginning in 2011.   We worked with our real estate lawyer to draw up the option contract and the school had their counsel review the contract.   At the board meeting last night the board discussed the contract and, if approved, have it be the first thing our new head of school signs when she starts in August.

Because of my involvement, I wasn’t part of the discussion or any potential vote from the board.   I wasn’t concerned though as I knew the contract had been sent to the school’s council only a week before.   I fully expected multiple rounds of changes on both sides before the contract was approved to be signed.

So when I was called back into the board room last night (at a restaurant, celebrating our last board meeting of the year), everyone cheered, held up their glasses and wanted to toast.   I was confused.   I must admit, I looked like a fool, asking if this meant the board approved?   It turns out, there was only one change in the contract being a small discrepancy in one number that was to the schools advantage, but they wanted to let the owners know so they could have the contract corrected (didn’t I tell you this was a great board?)    The board had approved it to be signed though, pending the one change.   The long, arduous haul to secure the properties was effectively over.   The properties had been acquired and the school would be able to buy them easily now.

I did feel rather foolish at the time, but the board meeting went on and we celebrated those members leaving the board and toasted to our Head of School given that it was her last board meeting before retiring.   It was a fun and relaxing evening.   Our board meetings always are.   When I got in the car to go home I suddenly started crying.   Relief?  Happiness?  Both I think.   I am very happy for the school.   I’m so grateful for everyone who played a part in making this happen.   The future expansion of our school has been secured.

The Big Boy Update:  My son didn’t want to do anything fun Blake suggested today.  Not trampling, not going to play mini golf, not going to Dave & Busters, not go cart racing, not even batting in the batting cages.  Until Blake drug him off.   Guess what?   He had fun.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter’s end of year party at school was today.   Each child got some candy from their teacher, the name describing one of their characteristics.   My daughter got Gobstoppers—because she types gobs and gobs on her braillewriter.