On Tuesday, the Montgomery County School Board plans to discuss releasing the old Blacksburg Middle School property now that the transfer of land for a new elementary school in Prices Fork is official.

The deed for the land being swapped between the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors and the Virginia Tech Foundation was filed Nov. 5, according to county records.

Before that, the county had been waiting on the state to sign off on the plan, which involved the county, the university and its foundation.

In the deal, the supervisors spent $1 million to purchase 16 acres from the Virginia Tech Foundation. That land is near Plantation Road in Blacksburg. The county then exchanged the property for 20 acres of university-owned property on the south end of Prices Fork Road, near the current elementary school. The county plans to use the Prices Fork Road land to build a 600-student elementary school to replace a 55-year-old building.

Students and parents there have long bemoaned noisy heating systems, the need for portable classrooms and the lack of storage space.

Bids for construction are expected to be advertised this month, with an anticipated opening in December, said Dan Berenato, director of facilities for the school system.

Once built, the Prices Fork school should be nearly identical to the $18.6 million Eastern Montgomery Elementary School now under construction. It would house about 200 students when it opens, and it could accommodate redistricting to relieve other overcrowded elementary schools in Blacksburg.

Both the new schools are financed through a $77 million bond package.

Land for the new elementary school is the final piece of a nearly decade-long discussion over what to do with the former middle school.

The school was vacated in 2002, when the new middle school opened on Prices Fork Road. In 2005, the school board approved a resolution saying it would let go of the land -- if it wasn't needed -- once it received a new stadium and land for two new elementary schools, one in Elliston and one in Prices Fork.

The new Blacksburg High School stadium is complete, and Eastern Montgomery Elementary School is expected to open in the fall.

A draft of the board's resolution says the old middle school property will go to the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. If the supervisors opt to sell the land, the proceeds should be used to reduce school system debt or to fund future school construction projects, it says.

The resolution also says the school board wants to "be involved in the planning and work ... to maximize the benefit" of a sale. In the meantime, the school system plans to continue using the building for storage and using its athletic fields.

The future of the 20 acres has been a point of contention.

Many in Blacksburg have said they want the old school, located near downtown, preserved as a community center. Many county officials and many county residents have said they want to sell or lease the property, potentially for millions of dollars, to build schools.

The Blacksburg Town Council had discussed letting an international design competition help decide what happens to the site.

The board of supervisors has already adopted a resolution supporting the competition and pledging financial support. Fees for the competition could go as high as $150,000, to be split equally between the council and the supervisors.