Joseph Dyll had plans to start a charter school when he bought the former Curtis Elementary on Stateline Road in Brookfield.

Now, more than three years later, the Sharon man is selling the building and giving up on the idea of a charter school.

Dyll said the 18,902-square-foot building will be sold to the highest bidder at an 11 a.m. April 6 auction at the school.

Dyll said he abandoned the idea of the school for financial and political reasons.

"I owe a lot of money right now ... I'm a few hundred thousand dollars in debt," Dyll said. He added that starting the school became "too political, too difficult."

In 1998 Dyll announced plans to start a Shenango Valley Regional Charter School. After his request was denied by Sharon, Hermitage and Farrell school boards in February 1999, Dyll went to the Charter School Appeals Board in Harrisburg, which upheld the school boards' decision.

Charter schools are independently run, usually organized around a theme and funded with tax dollars, yet are exempt from some state regulations. Charter schools are, by law, supposed to offer students something public schools cannot.

Local school boards denied the charter school application for a variety of reasons including financing, administrative roles, salaries and buildings that were not handicapped accessible.

Dyll took his case before Commonwealth Court and lost.

"It wasn't to be," Dyll, a self-described public development consultant, said of his failed venture. "There was a lot of opposition except for private people in town."

Dyll said thousands of people signed a petition in favor of the school but school director, teachers and administrators didn't support it.

Dyll said he knows of at least two people who are interested in buying the building for use as a school. He said he also believes the building could be renovated to hold 17 apartments.

Dyll, who also owns Stevenson Manor in Sharon, said he has plans to start a cyber sports college where people can learn online about adventure sports, such as skydiving, rock climbing or surfing.