Referendum Comments, Questions & Answers

At the Board of Education meeting on 12/8, Business Administrator Angelo DeSimone presented a large spreadsheet listing all of the proposed projects to tentatively be included in a bond referendum later this year. You can download a PDF of the spreadsheet by clicking here. I'd like to comment a bit on the list.

First, a little background. This list was compiled by the Facilities Committee over several months. We met with principals and asked them what their buildings need. We reviewed the comprehensive facilities evaluation done at the high school in 2007. We walked properties with architects. What we came up with is not a "wish list" of everything we could possibly dream of. It is a very serious list of necessities. There is nothing purely cosmetic or aesthetic. For the buildings, we focused on 1) health and safety; 2) building envelope (protecting from water infiltration, etc.); 3) instructional space needs. Every school's list started out much larger, and we deleted many, many projects.

I encourage you to look at the spreadsheet. If you have questions, please ask. Here are some of the questions I would ask, if I were a taxpayer seeing this for the first time:

Why is the number so large?
With 11 buildings built between 1919 and 1965, our buildings are old. Old buildings require maintenance. As many of us with old houses know, you do vital repairs as they come up, but eventually you need a new roof. Or a lifetime of basement water requires repairs to the foundation. And when that happens, most of us can't finance it with our savings or our monthly cash flow. Instead, we take out home improvement loans to make repairs that will carry our homes through a few more generations.

Is the Board crazy to be asking to raise taxes when the economy is such a mess?
Arguably, we're not crazy. We don't know what's going to happen to the economy this year any more than the so-called experts. But we can't sit back and wait. If we want to go forward with a referendum in September or December, we have to submit our plans to the state by February 2. BUT -- and this is important -- submitting the plans now doesn't lock us in to anything. We can wait to formulate the final project list and ballot question later, when we do know what's happening economy-wise. We can even decide not to do it. (Theoretically, although the buildings need what they need.) But by submitting plans to the state now, we make ourselves eligible for the maximum possible grant funds and debt service from the state -- and we definitely want to get all the help we can.

Why do we need to add-on to any schools? Is our enrollment growing that much?
Right now, the plans include additions at four schools: GW, Ridge, Willard and Hawes. GW is extremely overcrowded. There are teachers who don't have classrooms, instead they wheel their materials on carts to any available space. The Principal, Dr. Kashmanian, gives up her office for teaching on parts of some days. The library and computer lab are tiny. And the gym is terribly small. In addition, there is no place where Dr. Kashmanian can gather the entire student body for an assembly. The renovation will address these issues. As for Ridge, Willard and Hawes, the additions are primarily for small group instruction, special ed, OT/PT, resource rooms, ESL, etc. All these schools currently have instruction taking place in hallways or in divided classrooms which would not meet state requirements if inspected. In addition, the additions will allow us to consolidate special ed classes in stable, long-term environments, rather than moving students from year to year in a disruptive process.

What about adding solar panels or other "green" projects?
We have studied green issues extensively. First, all construction will follow green practices as much as possible. As for solar panels or alternative energy creation, currently those projects have very long payback cycles, especially since the government incentives and grants have disappeared. As of now, solar panels would be a large expense that would not pay for itself for decades. However, we are looking at incorporating projects that will reduce our energy usage and get us the most "bang for our buck." Things like digital temperature controls and motion sensing light switches are relatively low cost and can dramatically reduce energy use. We are still working on this list, with the goal to balance cost with benefits. I expect more info to come on this topic.

That's all I have time for right now. Please post any additional questions here, or email me. Or come to the next public meeting on January 12.