posted by Joe Polk at 12:10 AM /
It will cost the Mt. Lebanon School District close to $132 million in construction costs alone to build a high school, project architects said Tuesday night.
A new building is one of four options the district can consider for a high school building project, the architects told about 300 residents who attended a special meeting to hear the possibilities.
The district needs at minimum $79.8 million to pay the cost of renovations to the building, including a new roof, asbestos abatement and facilities improvements, said Kerry Leonard of the OWP/P design firm in Chicago.
Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_578927.html
Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/08206/899055-55.stm
A new building is one of four options the district can consider for a high school building project, the architects told about 300 residents who attended a special meeting to hear the possibilities.
The district needs at minimum $79.8 million to pay the cost of renovations to the building, including a new roof, asbestos abatement and facilities improvements, said Kerry Leonard of the OWP/P design firm in Chicago.
Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_578927.html
Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/08206/899055-55.stm
Labels: high school renovation, school district
8 Comments:
This is an enormous undertaking. I would like to express my gratitude to the Mt Lebanon School Directors for the extensive amount of time they have dedicated to this as well as to our school district in general. They receive no monetary reimbursement and I suspect they are subject to much criticism. To all the Mt. Lebanon School Directors: thank you for your caring and commitment to our school district and the community.
Great, another tax hike. $65 a month in additional taxes? Are you kidding me? Learn to spend within your means. School districts overall need better fiscal management. Want a new high school... that's fine. Just fine the money from your current budget. Don't keep raising taxes and making it a burden on the taxpayers.
Although there are a couple of fiscally responsible members of the school board, most of them feel very free to spend the taxpayers money as they see fit. The school board members are paid a few thousand dollars a year and if they continue to disregard the wishes of those paying them, I fear that many residents will be taxed out of their homes in a few years. Our loss will be the gain of Peters Township, Upper St. Clair and Bethel Park.
I agree with liz huston's comments, however I must correct one thing. School board members are not paid anything.
As the pendulum swings back and forth regarding the wisdom and dedication of School Board members, I'll jump in with a measured defense:
The Board is *supposed* to spend taxpayer money. That's why we elect them.
The question is always whether the Board is spending that money *wisely.* Is every last dollar spent wisely? Probably not; my priorities and your priorities and the Board's priorities probably differ -- sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. If your answer is "a lot" the sure, vote out the old and vote in the new. But the new members, too, will be spending your money.
Is there evidence that the current Board is writing blank checks, without a care as to the ultimate disposition of the cash? Show me the evidence. No name calling. Put details on the table.
As to the high school, I don't have time to scrutinize the reports to date; thanks very much to those who do. Am I enthusiastic about the possibility that the Board might pull the trigger on a new, $130 million building? (That's closer to $160 million or more when design fees, extras, and overruns are added in.) Absolutely not. But something significant has to be done with the facility. That much is clear to anyone with a child at the high school, or who works at the high school, or who has set foot in the high school in the last five years.
The challenge is to put enough money into the facility so that students and teachers continue to produce high quality education, and can do so -- for decades to come, but without breaking the backs of those of us who will be writing the tax checks -- for decades to come. Mt. Lebanon doesn't need a showpiece facility; it doesn't need every bell-and-whistle that an arts teacher or science teacher or athletic coach thinks would put the cherry on top of the curricular or extracurricular sundae. Some might fancy that we need such a building to attract new families. But what new families would be willing to move here if they have to pay killer tax bills to pay for it? Sometimes, vanilla is a great flavor. You can pay for extra toppings on your own.
And ... if the Community could get to the point where it wanted to raise property taxes 3.5 mills ($65/month on $225K Home), this would generate just over $7,000,000 per year for the school budget.
It is a "values" decision as to how best to spend all or some of $7,000,000 per year: Bricks & Mortar, Technology, Instruction, Instructional Support, Books, Activities ...
What will "move the dial" and what will return the status quo?
Something does need to be done at the high school - but what?
Something needs to be done indeed! As Mr. Matthews, and so many other alum can attest, the high school has not changed much since our days there. At least I am able to empathize with my own children on the trek from fine arts to the 6th floor! The District has been investigating what to do even before the formation of the Ed. Spec Committee in the fall of 2006. This committee had representative members from every demographic within the community. It was clear that the community supports education, but demands fiscal responsibility. All members realized that compromise would be important in this project.
What I found most interesting during the presentation on the
22nd, was how similar the #2 option was to one of the drawings from several groups within the Ed. Spec committee. Clearly, these architects studied the reports from the ES Committee. That was a relief. One of the other parts of the presentation I found interesting, was comparing our options to a loaf of bread, with doing the bare minimum at one end, building new at the other. Which end of the loaf we choose, and how many slices in, will be determined by discussion from our community members and votes by the board.
I urge all community members to go to the district site, get on the HS Renovation page, and really read what's going on.
Mr. Remely and Mrs. Cappucci, the Board members on the Building Committee, did a wonderful job in their presentations and explaining why we need to pursue this project. But the Board needs to hear from everyone. As great as it was to see 400 people at the big meeting, people need to come to the Board meetings as well. This will be a crown jewel for the community, supporting our vision for education, but also attracting community groups for meetings, arts & athletics. Everyone needs to have a voice.
Stay informed and keep an open mind; compromise will indeed be key.
Everyone also needs to remember that if we do nothing with the high school, all of our property values will continue to decline. No one moving to this region with a family will be interested in a Mt. Lebanon that has an out-dated, inefficient high school. On the other hand, with a new or fully renovated high school, Mt. Lebanon will be competitive again and increased property values will presumably follow. Those concerned solely with the higher taxes attributable to the high school project need to understand that their property values will continue to drop with this improvement. Over the long term, that's a much bigger problem.
Let's face it, folks in Mt. Lebanon have been paying higher taxes for decades for the opportunity to take advantage of better than average services, great facilities and a first rate education. I, for one, plan to stay here for a long time and I hope my kids do too. I also hope that the value of my home and home values generally continue to increase over that same period. Without an improved high school, that is unlikely.
Lastly, we are blessed in this community to have a vast array of intelligent residents, who have a variety of different skill sets. However, being an architect, an accountant, a lawyer, an HVAC contractor, etc. living in Mt. Lebanon does not give any of us the right to be too deeply and personally involved in the school project. I'm already concerned that by giving the community too much of a say in the process, the whole thing will drag to halt. I give you the pool project as an example - everyone and their mother had an opinion about the pool and we ended up getting no where. We elected the school board to make decisions and, as Mike put it, spend our money. Absent some specific, material failing on their part, let's let them do their job. Will the end result (including the cost) satisfy everyone - probably not - but I suspect it will satisfy most of us and we need to keep moving forward.
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