The future of a long-vacant school sitting on prime downtown real estate is now incoming Mayor Vincent Gray’s problem after the D.C. Council decided not to deal with the controversial building on the outgoing mayor’s watch. A bill submitted by Mayor Adrian Fenty earlier this month proposing to surplus the historic Franklin School at 13th and K streets will expire at the end of this week, according to a staff member in Councilwoman Mary Cheh’s office. Cheh is chairwoman of the committee to which Fenty’s bill was submitted. Declaring a city-owned property “surplus” allows the District to sell it to a private entity.

All pending legislation not addressed in committee automatically expires at the end of the session and requires resubmission the following year, said Drew Newman, legislative counsel for Cheh.