Last week I discussed the declining school population at MSAD 1, the cost of present infrastructure and steps taken in the past to reduce infrastructure to address the lower student population. For instance, the high school once had over 1,200 students in 1975 but is now down to 540, yet the high school has the same building footprint. The district has far less students and they are in the wrong places.
This week I will discuss the effort to “rightsize” our infrastructure to match our student needs.
Pine Street and Zippel schools are our oldest schools and have never had major renovations. They are designed for younger/smaller students and would require the most modifications if they were repurposed for older/larger students. Pine Street is overdue for a roof project with an estimated cost of $2 million. The total capital budget for Pine Street is $4 million over the next five years and Zippel’s is just under $1 million.
The Strategic Planning Committee made up of involved citizens, teachers and school board members recommended closing Pine Street and Zippel schools and accommodating the students into a repurposed and renovated PIMS and PIHS. Closing these schools would require changing the current education model to a pre-K through 5 school at the present PIMS, a pre-K through 5 school at Mapleton and a middle and a high school as two separate wings within the present PIHS. This rightsizing approach, at a minimum, will reduce the annual facility non-education staff costs from $2.5 million down to $2 million. This is a reduction from $1,439 per student to $1,151 per student.
The savings from rightsizing and the 5-year capital expenditures for Zippel and Pine Street need to be balanced against the capital cost to make the changes to PIMS and PIHS. Renovations at PIMS are estimated at $1.4 million and renovations at PIHS are estimated at $10.4 million. Estimates to renovate Zippel to office space and adult education are about $500,000. These estimates should be rigorously evaluated balancing the cost and the needs of students.
It appears the annual savings of the rightsizing approach will offset the debt service on the bonds necessary for renovations. It also will result in renovations to the high school which will extend its usable life. Once the bond is retired, the district will have money available for future challenges.
Rightsizing will require a large investment, but it will lower operation costs each year and eliminate other capital expenses that will offset the bond investment. The alternative to this investment is more money spent on buildings and less money applied to educate our students.
Our district and the citizens have no choice but to make unpleasant and difficult decisions. Doing nothing will only put more and more pressure on a budget that will provide less and less in direct funding for education for our students. The meetings are open to the public and the district has posted the data and presentations online. It is up to all of us to get educated on the issues, get involved, and vote for the wisest choices for our community.
Frank Bemis
Presque Isle
