The Sciotoville Community School will vote on whether to approve the acquisition of about three acres of land Monday night.

The board of education authorized governing board President Bill Shope to bid on the property, which was $151,000.

The land is across the street from the new East Portsmouth Elementary School, next to Allard Park. It came up for sale during a sheriff's auction and was purchased from Weong Chan Keong, of Sciotoville.

Sciotoville Community School principal Dennis DeCamp said the school's band has practiced on the land for several years and administrators wanted to secure the property to make sure it could continue to be used. He also said the school is looking to expand.

“It's an investment for the future of our school,” he said. “We're thinking about the future of our school and of our community.”

The land has four buildings on it, including a dairy bar and a two-story house, he said.

Shope said the land and buildings will be used for development, storage needs and to meet future educational needs.

“This is a unique opportunity because there is not that much flat land in Sciotoville that does not have homes sitting on it,” Shope said.

“There are a lot of possibilities with the land,” he added. “This is a great opportunity because it's close to our facilities.”

DeCamp said the district still has some work to do to clean up the property. The district is still deciding what to do with the buildings, and he said renovation is a possibility.

Shope said he didn't think the opportunity for the property would come up again.

“I can tell you this, our community is very happy with the purchase,” he said.

The board will vote on approving the purchase at the next board meeting, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the school.

EMILY SALMON can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 232.