What to do with the empty Lindbergh School building, the brick facility that used to house the Manteca Adult School, some of Manteca Unified ROP classes and other programs, is an issue that will be rehashed for the next several months and, perhaps, for the next few years by the district Board of Education.

The board in a unanimous vote Tuesday night, gave district officials the green light to explore more concrete ways to utilize the building which was shut down some three years ago when the Adult School was moved to portable buildings on the district compound on West Louise Avenue.

“We moved the Adult School as a budget cut issue,” said Superintendent Jason Messer during the discussion.

Along with that move was the relocation of many ROP programs as well as the Independent Study program.

In the last couple of years, several options on what to do with the shuttered Lindbergh School building were explored, Messer said. They have worked with local agencies as well as with the California State University, Stanislaus about their possible use of the site.

“But none of those have come to pass,” and no agreements were reached, Messer explained, mostly due to governmental restrictions that the school district had to work with.

At this point, district staff is looking for direction from the board on how and where to proceed from here regarding the future use of Lindbergh, Messer said.

One suggestion that was made involved moving the district’s Health Services department to the brick building located between North Sherman and North Lincoln avenues on East North Street. Another possibility is to relocate some of the district’s operations to the old building and use all that space to expand the Manteca Unified Vocational Academy which has proven to be an overwhelming success with the opening of the Culinary Arts program in the 2012-2013 school year.

After exploring a number of options for the last two years, “We have not found a perfect solution,” Messer said.

While the main brick building at Lindbergh School has been essentially shuttered, a handful of programs are still taking place at the one city-block property of the school district bordered by East North Street, Sherman and Lincoln avenues, and Sutter Street. The Automotive ROP program is still occupying one of the warehouse buildings on the east side of the back parking lot. A child care program is also still being held in a couple of classrooms facing Lincoln Avenue.

As things develop as far as the possible utilization of the Lindbergh property, these will be brought back to the board for further discussion and consideration, Messer said.