GREENE — SAD 52 Superintendent Kimberly Brandt announced Thursday night that the controversial sale of 73 acres of school property in Greene is complete.

She said she met with Greene Town Manager Charles Noonan earlier in the day to sign papers finalizing the deal.

The sale was delayed when Turner officials brought a suit against the district, which includes Greene, Leeds and Turner. 

Turner officials said the $40,000 sale price to Greene was too low, because the land was assessed at $73,000 and originally purchased for around $83,000. The district bought the property to build a school but never did.

Turner reluctantly dropped the lawsuit July 20.

Greene plans to use the property for recreational fields.

In other business:

* Brandt and the school board welcomed Mark McDonough as new Greene Central School principal. 

McDonough, of Portland, has 17 years of experience teaching and more recently two years as assistant principal in Saco. He taught middle school science in Damariscotta for 11 years.

McDonough said he looks forward to “building a strong administrative team.”

* Work has begun to refurbish the track at Leavitt Area High School in Turner. SAD 52 Business Manager Deb Roberts said the track committee met Monday and discovered it would be able to save $10,000 by purchasing a portable scoreboard rather than a fixed one. The move will ensure money for irrigation and increase the lifespan of the new surface.

The track is used by over 100 high school students, 75 middle school students, physical education classes and residents of all three towns.

* The board voted May 27 to offer special education teachers full family insurance coverage. However, at Thursday’s meeting the board voted against giving them a 2 percent raise because of the cost of that insurance.

Board Chairwoman Betsy Bullard said she was concerned that the district is struggling to hire special education teachers, but agreed that more information was needed.

Deb Alden, director of special education, agreed to bring the board the numbers they need to make sure they are offering appropriate wages and benefits to attract teachers.