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Once again, the Montgomery County School Board is the last to know.

This time, it learned by accident that Del. Dave Nutter, R-Christiansburg, introduced a bill that would force school boards to transfer property to the local governing body after six months of vacancy or lack of educational use.

The school board chairwoman bumped into the bill on a legislative Web site, two weeks after meeting Nutter, when he didn't mention the proposal. This fall, the school board was left in the dark when developers began courting Blacksburg and county officials about the old Blacksburg Middle School.

Nutter's bill is notable because some people would like to see the school board dump the old school and make way for upscale development. Developers have already pitched a 620,000-square-foot shopping mall and luxury housing project for the site.

House Bill 2157 proposes changes to surplus school property procedures. The bill was discussed in a "general laws" subcommittee Tuesday, but several members had questions or suggested changes, so Nutter recommended to the subcommittee to wait until Feb. 1 to vote on whether to bring the bill to the full committee.

"Quite frankly, it's probably gonna be an uphill battle to get this bill out of committee," Nutter said Tuesday.

The delegate introduced the legislation Jan. 12 based on issues he observed in his own community of Montgomery County.

"An empty building is an asset," Nutter said. "It has value. If it's not being used for educational purposes, who should have control over that? I know school boards aren't gonna like this because it's a diminution of their powers ... but the question becomes, in my mind, which body is responsible to the taxpayers. Because I don't believe school boards should have taxing authority."

The proposed legislation was met Tuesday with fierce opposition from lobbyists for the Virginia School Boards Association.

"That should be a local school board decision - to sell it or not to sell it," said Frank Barham, executive director of the association. "I would applaud the [Montgomery County] school board for holding onto that building and putting the needs of those children above the needs of any developers."

Officers with the school board and the board of supervisors said they didn't ask Nutter to propose changing surplus school property laws, but two Republican supervisors, Steve Spradlin and Gary Creed, said they have bent Nutter's ear over the past few months about empty school sites.

On Jan. 7, Tacy Newell-Foutz, chairwoman of the school board, and four school officials met Nutter to discuss the board's legislative priorities. The bill never came up.

"Given the debate and interest in certain school properties, it's just interesting, the timing," Newell-Foutz said.

Nutter admitted that he didn't say anything because he wasn't "100 percent" sure he was going to go ahead with the proposal.

Several supervisors have been pushing the board for nearly two years to sell the old school, which closed to students in 2002.

"Anything that we can do on the local level to open up possibilities to gain revenue on the local level, I would certainly be happy for us to look at," Spradlin, vice chairman of the supervisors board, said.

The old school cost $134,200 to operate in 2003, although tenants such as an independent Catholic academy and other organizations help offset costs. Officials at YMCA at Virginia Tech have also talked about buying the building and part of the property for their operations.

Some people see a power struggle taking place over the property.

The Montgomery County School Board holds the title to the old school and must declare it as surplus before supervisors can move forward with development. Supervisors control the school system's budget and would like to see additional tax revenue from the property, although the law requires them to use proceeds from the property's sale to pay school debt or fund school building projects.

But even after such a sale, Barham, executive director of the school boards association, said supervisors have been known to reduce their local appropriation to school boards.

Nutter said part of the reason he proposed his bill was to deal with a "broader issue of a balance of power between two bodies."

Tensions between supervisors and the school board reached a climax at a November meeting between the two boards.

"Gary Creed was beside himself that we wouldn't surplus right then the old Blacksburg Middle School," school board member Mary Hayne North said.

She said the board needs the athletic fields for Blacksburg High School and future temporary space for students at Prices Fork Elementary School when money is available to renovate the 52-year-old building.

"It is our job as the school board to look at the educational needs of the whole county now and in the future," North said.

However, some school board members say they want to get out of "the economic development business." And in January, the board approved a resolution, agreeing to relinquish the old Blacksburg Middle School if supervisors meet conditions related to finding new athletic fields and space for displaced students.

North isn't sure why Nutter is bringing his bill forward "behind our backs," especially now that the board is heading toward giving up the old school property.

Nutter said the issue of vacant school buildings is becoming more prevalent across the country as institutions age and school boards build new schools.

"You look at issues unfolding in your community," he said. "You craft legislation to meet those needs."