The North Central Consortium School is a place where troubled boys can be sent to get the education and services they need. The program serves third-graders through high school seniors.

Area schools pay a fee to be part of the consortium, which allows them to send students there. The students do not stay at the school.

The school is located on Lizard Creek Ranch, the property formerly known as Rabiner Treatment Center.

Rabiner Treatment Center recently sold the property, located at 762 Johnson Ave., to Lizard Creek Ranch LLC. Lizard Creek Ranch includes investors Jason Kahler, of Fort Dodge; Fred Weers, of Badger; and Jake Hilton, of Humboldt. That group closed on the property on June 30.

Rabiner decided to sell after budget issues forced the closure of the residential programming in January.

The assessed land value, according to the Webster County assessor’s website, is $939,070.

According to Stu Cochrane, a Fort Dodge attorney and FDCSD board president, there are no restrictions in Iowa for a nonprofit buying or selling assets.

“Iowa law has a statute that allows nonprofits to essentially dissolve and liquidate and get rid of any assets they have as long as they accept fair market value for their assets,” Cochrane said.

It’s not yet known how Rabiner will allocate the proceeds of the sale.

A call placed to Brad Klug, who served as Rabiner’s chief executive officer, was not immediately returned on Monday.

RTC was a nonprofit organization that served troubled boys. It was founded in 1961 by the Iowa State Police Association. It was known at the time as the Jerry Rabiner Memorial Boys Ranch. The site was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Louis Rabiner in memory of their son, Jerry, who was killed in an auto accident in 1953.

Cochrane said now that Lizard Creek Ranch has ownership of the property, they are not restricted on what the land can be used for.

The new owners have agreed to rent two buildings on the property to keep the North Central Consortium School open.

The consortium school was formed in August 2017 as a new way of funding the school that had existed at Rabiner for a long time.

Boys have been referred there with a wide range of diagnoses, social issues, and/or histories of criminal behaviors.

Manson Northwest Webster School District is the fiscal agent for the North Central Consortium School. The MNW board approved a $7,500 per month lease agreement with Lizard Creek Ranch on June 22.

MNW Superintendent Justin Daggett said at that time the consortium school would operate as it did last year. He said the only change is the consortium leasing the buildings from Lizard Creek Ranch instead of Rabiner Treatment Center.

The FDCSD will be billed an equal amount of estimated educational costs for the first half of the school year. The estimated total is $28,000, which provides for instructional costs and materials.

“They bill us for half of what our costs would be for the year, so they have some operating costs up front,” Brandon Hansel, FDCSD director of financial services said. “It comes out very close to what we spent last year.”

Each school’s final billing is determined by each school’s number of student days attended at the consortium school, according to the agreement.

For some schools that may result in additional payment above the upfront payment; for other schools sending fewer or no students, there may be a reimbursement of a portion or all of the initial educational payment.

Any reimbursements will be issued at the end of the school year. The costing method will take into account the student level, total number of student days, and program. This method will follow the same method of accounting for special education students in the 2017-18 school year.

The FDCSD will be billed an estimated $5,000 for utilities and insurance costs.

The agreement reads, “Lease payments will remain equal for all consortium schools; any school that drops out of the consortium will not be refunded the initial lease payment. If actual related costs (utilities and insurance) exceed the estimate, consortium schools will be billed equally to cover that cost. This lease payment may be paid from Physical Plant and Equipment Levy Fund (PPEL) or other legally authorized funds.”