Idaho Conference delegates met Sept. 15, 2024 for a special constituency session to process an unsolicited offer for land surrounding Gem State Adventist Academy.
In additional actions, 286 delegates also reaffirmed guidelines for the GSAA Operating Endowment and reallocated 4 acres of land for a new Caldwell Adventist Elementary School.
“We believe these actions will help maintain a strong GSAA and Adventist Christian education system for our youth throughout the conference for the foreseeable future,” said David Prest Jr., Idaho Conference president.
Back in the 1950s, two visionaries, C.M. Munsey and Dean Dennis, bought a sagebrush turkey farm that would become what is today known as the current GSAA campus.
“The original donors of this land intended it for farming [as an industry to support Adventist education] — a vision that made sense in its time,” said David Salazar, Idaho Conference vice president for administration. “While we are no longer positioned to compete in the agricultural world, we are still called to steward this land faithfully for the benefit of our students.”
Through the years, GSAA stakeholders have held ongoing conversations about how to best steward the GSAA legacy, including exploring a K-12 program located on GSAA’s campus, upgrading school facilities, investing in well-functioning endowments and retaining sufficient real property.
A land use committee was established to explore, within defined parameters, how to best utilize GSAA land assets of 385 acres. Among other activities, the committee negotiated farm leases, commissioned a variety of studies and cooperated with a sale of 4 acres to the City of Caldwell for a pathway project and 24 acres to Vallivue School District.
Previously, GSAA sought to retain enough land for present and future academy needs and sought to solicit potential buyer(s). Constituents were favorable to this recommendation at a special session on May 21, 2006, and interest remained at 2011 and 2015 constituency gatherings to seek enhanced revenue-producing options.
The intervening years were spent preparing the land for sale and taking care of any problems prior to offering the property for sale. When market conditions changed dramatically in 2015, the property was taken off the market. Offers continued to come in and were reviewed. Most were ultimately rejected as not being in the best interest of the school.
In May 2021, Idaho Conference received an unsolicited offer for approximately 288 acres of academy land. Leaders noted how in the three-year negotiating process how much prayer was involved and how God never shut the doors.
“The Idaho Conference secondary education program was begun with vision and continued with vision, and we are faced with another opportunity to continue that vision,” said Eve Rusk, Idaho Conference planned giving and communication director. “When we go with God, we have no fear of going forward in the future.”
Delegates received detailed reports from one of five attorneys involved in the complex Purchase and Sale Agreement, a commercial real estate broker with 18 years of experience representing Idaho Conference and a representative from M3 Companies who outlined the developer’s vision for creating master-planned communities to support the rapid growth in Caldwell and beyond.
Delegates had ample opportunity to ask questions of the buyer’s representative, the attorney, the broker and conference leaders. Their inquiries covered topics such as the project timeline, upcoming public hearings, school boundaries, benefits outlined in the master plan, definitions of key terms, the profitability of the current lease, feasibility studies and specifics about the endowment fund.
The buyer intends to purchase the land in phases over an approximate six-year period — a standard arrangement for large land sales. The buyer could also accelerate the purchases or extend one extra year.
Proceeds from the sale will be placed in a carefully managed endowment fund overseen by a committee of conference and school leaders, along with members with strong financial expertise. The committee will interview professional wealth management firms and select one to invest the funds, ensuring annual oversight.
“The creation of the endowment fund represents a transformative opportunity for GSAA,” said Oscar “Michael” Sanchez, Idaho Conference vice president for finance. “This fund will provide a stable, long-term source of financial support, allowing GSAA to enhance its educational offerings, maintain and improve facilities, and potentially increase scholarship opportunities for students.”
Throughout the day, delegates voted using red cards for "no" and green cards for "yes," but when it came time to vote on the land sale, a secret ballot was used. The motion to sell passed with 236 votes in favor, 36 opposed and one abstention.
“It's important to note that this decision, while representing a significant change, aligns closely with the original vision of the land donors,” Sanchez said. “They intended this property to benefit Adventist education in our region. By converting this asset into a robust endowment, we're adapting to current needs while honoring and amplifying the donors' original intent.”
In the final action of this special constituency meeting, delegates from southern Idaho and eastern Oregon voted to allocate land so that 69-year-old CAES could move to a newly designated 4-acre plot adjacent to the existing GSAA campus. This move will create a unified K-12 environment, where the distinct schools can collaborate to share resources, reduce costs and provide academy students with opportunities to work and volunteer.
“This land has not been used for anything productive for some time and is a piece that if not used for a school would probably remain vacant,” said Patrick Frey, Idaho Conference superintendent.
“We believe that this is God’s school,” said John Soulé, GSAA principal. “He has performed miracle after miracle, keeping the academy functioning in the midst of many challenges. Resources matter, but nothing matters more than our young people making it to the kingdom. GSAA is a school of prayer, and we pray that God will be ever present in our school.”
