Monday, December 14, 2009

RAS: To Build or not to Build

The Agenda from tonight's work session includes what to do with the Northport/Lakeview opportunity. Would a possible $39,000,000 to $48,000,000 bill get your attention and motivate you to read them ??? (14Dec09 Work Session Documents) (Meeting Notes)Thoughts or notes?

As usual, please send the link to your friends and neighbors....

4 comments:

CDO said...

As someone who has already read them I can say yes, it would. Reading them brought many questions to mind.
Why does it make sense to plan to use Pilgrim Lane and Olson as temporary facilities to house Northport and Lakeview students when, apparently, no investigation of transportation costs has been explored?
Why is it considered acceptable to bus students from one end of the District to the other even temporarily? How many hours of travel time will some of the youngest students in the District be required to endure?
How will a decision to implement such busing affect parent involvement in school activities?
Why when the actual number of students in classrooms is the basis for District funding did the work session quote at least three different totals?
Why is an alternative that eliminates at least one school that is located immediately adjacent to established residential areas with developed bike and walking paths even being considered?
Just a few of the questions that lept to mind.

John said...

While ZLE was updated, one of my daughters went to Olson for awhile. It was pretty painless for all involved.

The reality is something needs to be done about Lakeview and Northport. The question is what, how much will it cost and how will it be paid for ???

I am biased towards one new larger school so that operating costs can be reduced and the school boundary is larger. (ie help some with mobility challenge) Just wish it could be on a new site that would allow Northport to operate while it is being built.

If remodeling is the answer... Then transport to another building is a requirement and not an option. Since it simply can not be done during Summer...

Unless someone wants to call "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"... Then we'd be done in 1 week... However, even they have gone to knocking down the old house every time now days... The remodelling must have been too unpredictable.

R-Five said...

To me and my informal knowledge of accounting, additional costs from temporary relocation during a remodel are capital, non-recurring expenses directly related to the project. I'm sure this is on the order of 1% of the project, just should be sure it is included in any bond referendum so voters know the TOTAL cost.

Christine said...

Those remodel numbers are based upon figures from 281's previous renovations, on which they overspent. MDE says 281's renovation costs were 20% higher than regional averages. They should be coming up with new plans that are less expensive.
Beacon Academy had said that they wanted to build a K-8 building at a cost of $11-12 million. How can Beacon build a school for such a fraction of the cost of what 281 would build?