There goes another million

The Kalamazoo Public Schools are going to build a new middle school in the Arcadia neighborhood. The land for the school is being purchased from the Western Michigan University Foundation. What struck me about this story was one small paragraph within the story.

KPS is buying the land for $1 million, although it was appraised for $2 million earlier this year, said Robert Beam, WMU vice president for business and finance.

So the WMU Foundation just decided to sell the land for a million dollars below market value. The foundation is a private entity, though the fact that it has a wmich.edu website suggests that it is not entirely private. The foundation is funded by private donations, so it can use its money how it wants. However, its stated mission is to support Western, not KPS. A million dollars not spent improving Western is a million dollars that will be demanded from the taxpayers.

I wonder if the people who donated this money know how it is being used?