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The Times Union's Jan. 23 editorial, "Asleep at
their desks," took the Albany Board of Education to task for financial
issues related to our $185.2 million facilities project. Undeniably, we
have faced both challenges and changes along the way, but the project is
still on solid ground. We are off budget by only six-tenths of one
percent, and we are about one full year ahead of schedule.
That
being said, our most difficult challenge lies ahead: How do we address
the needs of the remaining schools -- Arbor Hill, Giffen, Thomas O'Brien
and School 19 -- now that we've learned the original plan for Arbor Hill
will not be adequate?
Does
the board's decision to carefully review the plans for the remaining
buildings, re-evaluate our needs and dedicate the remaining money to our
priority problems amount to us being "asleep at our desks?" We don't
think so.
The
facilities plan is an unprecedented rebuild of the Albany school system
that will revitalize our city. The project was approved by voters in two
referendums. The first one in December 2001 authorized the district to
spend $176.4 million to renovate or reconstruct every building except
the Albany School of Humanities and Albany High School. After
encountering delays in siting a third middle school at Westland Hills
Park, the district went back to the voters in June 2003, seeking an
additional $8.7 million to relocate it to Kelton Court and to do other
work not included in the original project. That brought the total to
$185.2 million.
Shortly after the first referendum, we hired a facilities director who
suggested that some of our budgets for individual schools probably were
underestimated, particularly those involving renovations of old
structures. His experience had shown that it takes as much money to
remodel an old, historic building as it does to build a new one.
The
facilities staff developed more realistic budgets for each school, while
looking to save money wherever possible so we would not exceed the
$185.2 million. The staff, also at our request, found ways to expand the
plan without asking for more money -- such as adding pre-kindergarten
classrooms to as many neighborhood schools as possible.
In
September 2003, the board approved revised budgets for eight projects.
The bids for six of those projects -- the Kelton Court, Sheridan,
Schuyler and Montessori schools, a new roof at Arbor Hill and a new
track at the high school -- all came in as predicted.
The
bids for renovating schools 20 and 27 together came in about 6 percent
over our estimates. That's when we began to see potential issues brewing
for other school construction projects. Prices of everything from lumber
to cement and from fuel to steel are escalating. These increases stem
from events we couldn't have predicted, including the war in Iraq and
the rapidly rising demand in China for raw manufacturing materials.
Also,
the Capital Region bidding environment has become volatile in recent
months because of the large amount of construction in the area. As a
result, this past fall, we approved preliminary budget increases for
work at schools 16 and 18 of 15 percent and 28 percent, respectively.
The final costs will not be known until bids are back in March.
Last
August, shortly after beginning the design phase for Livingston and
Hackett, the facilities team confirmed there was not enough money to
make both schools "like new," as promised to voters. We also were
grappling with the fact that three new charter middle schools are coming
to Albany this September, and could very likely drive down our grade 6
to 8 enrollment. That's when we decided not to invest any money in
Livingston and to increase work at Hackett to put it on par with the new
middle school.
The
problems at the Arbor Hill school were laid out for the board at a
public facilities workshop last August. The school, once slated for $6.2
million of inside remodeling, has been found to be structurally
deficient. It took a new roof for the architects to discover that the
leaks in the building were coming not from above but from around the
walls and windows. The design techniques used to construct it in the
1970s have since been abandoned by the construction industry. A proposal
was made to replace Arbor Hill with a new, smaller building on the same
property.
The
board has decided not to cavalierly ask taxpayers for additional funds,
but rather to take the same careful approach of scrutinizing budgets and
prioritizing needs, as it has done all along.
We
have not delayed the project, and we are working very hard not to
shortchange any of our children and the schools they attend. At our
request, the architects are drawing up schematic plans for all four
schools in the final phase. We expect to receive more precise cost
figures, which will allow us to decide how to best dedicate the
remaining resources.
If
the board decides to ask voters for additional funding, it will only be
after we've determined that it's necessary to meet the original intent
of this project.
In
the final analysis, it's important to put this all in perspective.
School districts undertaking large, multiyear construction projects can
expect to come up against problems along the way. But we are clearing
every hurdle one by one, and we will end up with schools that will make
our community proud and will enhance Albany children's educational
environment.
Scott Wexler is president of the Albany Board of Education. This article
also reflects the views of board members Edward H. Brown Jr., Patricia
Fahy, Teneka Frost, Barbara Gaffuri and Susan Kushner.
The City School
District of Albany serves almost 9,400 students in 19
elementary, middle and high schools. The district includes several
magnet schools and programs, as well as other innovative academic
opportunities for students in addition to neighborhood schools. The
district is more than halfway through its comprehensive facilities
project to newly build and/or renovate nearly all of its elementary
and middle schools. The ultimate goal of the facilities project is
to provide schools with the resources necessary to help students
succeed in the 21st Century.
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