Clayton School District Contracts to Sell Maryland School to Centene

“The following is a public message that was emailed to Clayton School District subscribers. This information is also available at http://www.claytonschools.net

July 28, 2017: The School District of Clayton has entered into a contract to sell the Maryland School property to Centene Corporation (NYSC: CNC). The agreement was finalized earlier this week. Centene is planning to use the building to house its Centene University, which will offer its flagship leadership development program to Centene employees. It will also house its early childhood development center for employees’ children. While significant rehabilitation of the building is needed, Centene is committed to minimizing disruption to the extent possible to the immediate community.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to preserve this historic building and maintain it as a place for education for our employees and their children,” said Michael F. Neidorff, Chairman, President and CEO for Centene. “This site has been vacant for many years and is in decay. We look forward to bringing life back into the building.”

The District recently put the Maryland School back on the market and received seven offers to buy and one offer to lease the property. The Board of Education voted unanimously to move forward with Centene’s proposal.

“Preserving the historic William B. Ittner building was something we knew was important to the surrounding community,” explained Board of Education President Kristin Redington. “Centene’s proposal not only preserves the building but their vision also maintains the overall character of the site. Furthermore, their offer allowed the Board to make a fiscally-responsible decision that will provide both short- and long-term revenue to support our schools.”

The District last used Maryland School as an elementary school in 1980. Since being closed as an elementary school, the school has been rented to a private pre-school/elementary school and used as a temporary site for both District’s early childhood program and The Wilson School. Terms of the contract (including sale price) cannot be disclosed until both parties have closed on the sale and the transaction is final.

About Centene Corporation
Centene Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that provides a portfolio of services to government sponsored healthcare programs, focusing on under-insured and uninsured individuals. Many receive benefits provided under Medicaid, including the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as well as Aged, Blind or Disabled (ABD), Foster Care and Long Term Care (LTC), in addition to other state-sponsored programs, Medicare (including the Medicare prescription drug benefit commonly known as "Part D"), as well as programs with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Centene operates local health plans and offers a range of health insurance solutions. It also contracts with other healthcare and commercial organizations to provide specialty services including behavioral health management, care management software, correctional healthcare services, dental benefits management, in-home health services, life and health management, managed vision, pharmacy benefits management, specialty pharmacy and telehealth services.

About the School District of Clayton
As a public school system dedicated to the education of all children who come to its schools, the School District of Clayton inspires each of its students to love learning and embrace challenge within a rich and rigorous academic culture. The District’s early childhood center, three elementary schools, middle school and high school serve a diverse student body of approximately 2,600.”

Kol Rinah Maryland Avenue Project Update Meeting

Thursday, August 3rd at 7:00 pm

7701 Maryland Avenue
Lower Level Conference Room
 Clayton MO 63105

Dave Cooperstein would like to update our neighborhood regarding the property renovation at 7701 Maryland. New architects from Clayton's Patterhn-Ives, llc have been hired to help meet the project's budget. They have come up with a fantastic, potentially beautiful new scheme, that handles the site in a slightly different way. It is believed that there are a number of elements of the site design that will be even MORE appealing to the adjacent neighbors.
There will be coffee and dessert available, and a question/answer session will follow the presentation. Mark your calendars and bring your neighbors on August 3rd.