Columbus City Schools is buying the former headquarters of the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow for $3.4 million.
The board agreed to buy the South Side headquarters when it won an online auction Tuesday for the old ECOT building and an accompanying 26 acres of land. The school board narrowly approved the bid on a 4-3 vote.
The property is valued at $6.65 million by the Franklin County Auditor's office.
The district suggests the site could help consolidate different offices, pointing to the possibility of selling a facility at 17th Avenue and Hudson Street.
ECOT closed earlier this year amid state efforts to claw back about $80 million in state funding that the Ohio Department of Education says never should have been paid out in the first place.
State officials say ECOT administrators inflated enrollment numbers to increase state funding. ECOT attorneys have denied any wrongdoing, but several court rulings sided with the state.
Ohio's auditor has since referred the case to prosecutors for consideration.
Since the school’s closure, ECOT has been liquidating many of its assets in online auctions.
