Explanation (again) of what we currently spend on facilities and why...

For those who missed it when I wrote before (click here), it is true that a school district may budget to put money into a capital reserve account, creating a fund that is accumulated for a “rainy day.” Our District established a capital reserve fund in 2000. We have funded it and, most recently, we used money from this account last year to do repairs on the 1919 roof at RHS. But in recent years, we have not been able to budget additional funds for capital reserve, nor have we been able to end the year with as much surplus as in the past.

Also, yes we are allowed to spend more on capital projects and maintenance within our operating budget. The only thing stopping us is...everything else. After paying our contractual obligations for salaries and benefits, and dealing with cost increases in transportation and other expenses, and staying within the state's budget growth cap of 4.0% of the tax levy (approx. 3.6% budget), the most we've been able to put toward the facilities is $2 million per year. That's a significant amount of money -- except when you consider that we have 11 old buildings to maintain totaling one million square feet. $2 million doesn't go very far. If the community wants to spend more on facilities, we will have to take the money from somewhere else. It's as simple (and as complicated) as that.

(Added 12/4/09 @ 10:50 AM)
What kind of capital and maintenance projects does the District undertake as part of our regular budget? As I wrote previously, here's a partial list of projects from this past summer/fall:

Ridgewood High School
Renovation of Guidance Suite and Grade Advisor area; Rooms 207, 211 & 112. (Note, the Guidance area had water damage, crumbling plaster, dingy paint...now it's a great showcase for visiting college admissions folks and parents.)
Renovation of North Stair Tower (the one I used to say looked like a ghetto movie set)
Repair of Lockers in Boys' Locker Room
Installed flooring in ancillary weight room
Installed 600+ new lockers
Locker room showers, more roof replacement and bathroom renovations going out to bid

Hawes
New fencing
New lighting in gym

Orchard
Fencing
New lighting in gym
Sidewalk (donated by HSA)

Willard
Renovation of art room
Outside lighting improvements

Travell
Gym renovation -- tile & lighting
Outside lighting improvement

GW
Replaced 4 classroom carpets with tile floors
Refinished Gym and Band Room floors
Roof repairs
Fencing
Bathroom renovations -- going to bid

Glen
Gym window wall replacement -- going to bid
Exterior door and electrical upgrades -- going to bid

BF
Roof repairs
Improved electrical in library and computer labs
Fencing
Roofing & door projects to be bid

Ridge
Renovated gym (floor and lighting)
Drainage in front of building
Door project -- going to bid

Somerville
Renovated cafeteria
Removed wall between 2 classrooms; replace with foldable wall
Fencing
Partial roof replacement (over gym)

Any questions, please comment or email me directly lauriegood@mac.com.