DERRY — The Derry Cooperative School District is moving ahead with plans to sell its longtime administrative building at 18 South Main St., following the relocation of district offices to the former Derry Village School just down the street.
The School Board is now seeking a commercial real estate broker to handle the sale of the building, which until recently housed the district’s SAU offices and previously served as a school.
Derry voters authorized the district to sell the property in March. Proceeds from the sale are expected to help offset the cost of converting the former Derry Village School at 28 South Main St. into the district’s new administrative headquarters.
The decision followed months of discussion about what to do with Derry Village School, which closed as an elementary school in 2024. When Superintendent Michael Flynn took over the district in early 2025, the School Board asked him to oversee the process of determining a new use for the property.
A committee appointed by the board considered several possibilities, including selling the former school or transferring it to the town for use as a police station. The board ultimately decided in late 2025 to retain the property and renovate it for district offices, concluding that its long-term value to the school district outweighed the benefits of selling it.
The School Board subsequently approved spending up to $400,000 from its contingency fund for the relocation. Money received from the sale of 18 South Main St. will be recorded as unanticipated revenue, helping replenish the funds used for the project.
At its Sept. 9 meeting, the board voted 6-0 to approve a Request for Qualifications, or RFQ, prepared by Flynn to solicit proposals from commercial real estate brokers interested in marketing the property.
Under the RFQ, brokers have until Oct. 9 to submit a letter of interest along with their qualifications, relevant experience, proposed marketing plan, references and disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest.
The board will review the submissions and, if necessary, interview candidates during the week of Oct. 12 before selecting a broker.
Once selected, the broker will market the property, identify prospective buyers and bring offers to the School Board. Flynn indicated the board will retain discretion over the eventual buyer rather than simply accepting the highest offer.
“One of the Requests for Qualification is that the board gets to decide who purchases,” Flynn said.
The move from 18 South Main St. began in August and took about four and a half weeks. Employees in the business department, located near the rear of the building, moved first, followed by other departments in stages.
By handling much of the move with district facilities staff and trucks, the district was able to avoid the expense of hiring an outside moving company.
“We are 95% out of the old building,” Flynn said. “What’s left is the heavy file cabinets and records.”
Human resources, curriculum, business, special education and administrative staff now have dedicated space in the renovated Derry Village School building. School Board meetings are also expected to move there in October.
The former school library is being converted into a professional learning center for teacher training and other programs. The gymnasium, which had gone unused for approximately two years, will again be put to use, with plans to lease it for recreational basketball and baseball activities.
“It became another usable space for the community,” Flynn said.