(The State) Lexington 1 school district officials are defending a decision to buy nearly 55 acres of land from a former school board member at a price that's seven times the property's assessed value.
The board voted May 15 to purchase the land off Fairview Road for $982,980. The land is valued at $144,440, according to county records. The land was purchased from former board member Jean Nichols Haggard, who also retired as principal of Pelion High School in 2012, and her brother, Hugh A. Nichols.
When the land was purchased by the Nichols family in 2001, they paid $162,000 for a little more than 81 acres. Seventeen years later, Lexington 1 paid nearly seven times that price for about 26 fewer acres.
Advertisement - story continues below
