Not Another Override?

I hear you, brother (0.00 / 0)

Time to start holding politicians responisble for the constant increases on tax burdens. Right now, they just seem to serve every interest group that wants to spend more.

The first grammar school I attended in Boston was built in 1849, and I don't remember any problem with it. Thirty kids in each class - at least - and I'm sure I would have coasted through the MCAS test.  

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by: MarkB @ Sat Jun 20, 2009 at 18:50:02 PM CDT

Go Back To One-Rooms (3.00 / 1)

The first grammar school I attended in Boston was built in 1849, and I don't remember any problem with it. Thirty kids in each class - at least - and I'm sure I would have coasted through the MCAS test.

I know that Abe Lincoln would have kicked serious tail on the MCAS and he didn't even have no 'lectricity.  Let's put 'em all in one big one-room school and just let natural selection sort 'em out.  

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by: stebivule @ Sat Jun 20, 2009 at 21:39:22 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

hmmmmmmm......... (0.00 / 0)

........ perhaps there is a connection between this & the sudden closing of the VNA Kids' Place (which is located in a former elementary school building)?  

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by: Easting @ Sat Jun 20, 2009 at 19:48:08 PM CDT

yes, again (4.00 / 1)

Great, let's just oppose every override that comes along without looking at the specifics of the situation.

THEN, when someone starts talking about the specifics cool their jets by accusing them of "scare tactics" before you start your own analysis of the specifics.

My favorite was "rehab it." Remember the Middle School? the costs of rehabbing it exceeded the costs of building a new one because a rehab above a certain valuation (25%) requires that the whole building be brought up to current code. Proposing more expensive alternatives isn't good use of our tax money.

We went years in this Town with an official policy of no  borrowing for capital expenditures. The result is that our roads and buildings slowly went deeper into disrepair. That deliberate lack of care has come home to roost.

So we will decide yes or no for a new Avery . . .  and whether you like it or not it will be done democratically, through Town Meeting and an election.

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by: kei-o-lei @ Sun Jun 21, 2009 at 09:52:13 AM CDT

Look at the whole picture... (3.00 / 1)

It is my understanding that if we do not take the opportunuties that are available right now we could be faced with losing the 40% reimbursement by the state for a new school. Would you rather have a debt override for the entire cost or 60% of the costs to build a new school? As for a rehab -- where would we get the $$ for that? Wouldn't that also be a debt override? So how is that 'better'?

The school is in such bad condition that if we continue use it we could be in danger(in a few years) of it being condemned. What would we do with the students then? What would be the transportation costs to bus all the Avery students to the other 3 elementary schools? Not to mention the class sizes in all the other schools would have to increase to unacceptable levels.

As for the senior not wanting to vote for it, I agree it is an extra burden we don't need now. Unfortunately life doesn't come in a neat package. When a town has good school it directly positively effects property values so this is not something just for families with children -- it will benefit the whole town. On the flip side us being listed as having one of the worst school buildings in the state is not helping property values expecially in East Dedham.

Support it or don't support it but at least look at the facts and remove the emotion. Recessions come and go and people still get married, have kids, retire, die and move -- life doesn't stop and it shouldn't stop here.

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by: dj @ Sun Jun 21, 2009 at 10:38:50 AM CDT

Again? (1.00 / 1)

It is my understanding that if we do not take the opportunuties that are available right now we could be faced with losing the 40% reimbursement by the state for a new school

I'm pretty sure I've been hearing the same thing in this town for 20 years.  

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by: MarkB @ Sun Jun 21, 2009 at 13:41:07 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

20 years? (0.00 / 0)

You've been hearing that the state has put the school on the list of one of the worst school buildings in the state for the last 20 years?

You must be psychic. The article about the funding appeared in the Globe in December 2007 and states "The funding is the first available for school construction in five years."

I can understand not wanting taxes to go up but look at the facts as they stand rather than lumping this in with all the other past overrides in Dedham.

Would you rather pay the 60% or the whole 100%?

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by: dj @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 08:14:48 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

good hearing (0.00 / 0)

yes, and it worked well for the middle school

we made it under the wire for 60%+ reimbursment

getting higher reimbursment isn't by itself a reason to do an override, but it's a good secondary consideration if you're thinking about "now" or "later"

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by: kei-o-lei @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 15:30:40 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Just What Seniors Want....Higher Property Values.... ????? (0.00 / 0)

Great....let's have an override vote, and ask the Seniors to dig into their piggy banks to help us pay for the cost to construct a new school...do they have any disposable savings left these days?  Let's even convince them that by doing so their property values will go up (and as a consequence, so will their taxes)....easy for voters to say who are receiving a steady pay check.  

Here's a better idea....how about freezing seniors' property taxes for life once they reach the age of 65, at the same time that their standard of living is heading south in many cases, both in terms of health and finances.... no more annual property tax increases for them....let the rest of us who have one, two or more incomes per household, and who want new schools, make up the difference by paying more! It's about time we did something positive in this town that directly improves the quality of life for all of our most elderly of citizens. They have paid their dues for a lifetime already, and then some.  Let's give them a break for once.      

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by: equalaccessforall @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 10:22:00 AM CDT

Does anyone actually want more taxes? (0.00 / 0)

I don't think I'm going out on a limb to say NO.

Most Senior do get a "steady" check - it's called social security. The issue is that it is a fixed income with no 'raises'. I agree that they will be hard hit and do not dispute that we might want to look at 'freezing' their property taxes but don't assume that a good chunk of residents in Dedham are getting a 'steady paycheck'. Even if they do get a steady check, not all have received raises in years.

I agree as a town we should make every effort to care for our seniors and our children - but the money aspect should be secondary. Safety should be the first issue and then other things like the reimbursement should factor into the equation. If your roof had a hole in it would you do what you needed to get it fixed or let it go because we are in a recession? If we don't take care of this now we will just have to deal with the fallout later while compromising the safety of the kids and risking losing any reimbursement on the costs.

Do you have an alternate solution?

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by: dj @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 11:52:43 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Actually social security does give raises..... (0.00 / 0)

.... annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs).  Meanwhile, lots of working people are sadly going without any pay increase at all this year, not to mention the sky-high unemployment figures.

I think the idea of exempting seniors from tax increases in lunacy.  If we'd done that 10-15 years ago, most property taxes around here would be based on less than 1/2 the value of the houses now.  There would either be a dramatic cut in infrastructure - bye bye libraries!! - or there would be a much, much bigger tax burden on younger working families.

We already have a very powerful means for seniors or anyone else to have their voice heard about raising property taxes - the override vote.

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by: Easting @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 13:47:52 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Voting ... (0.00 / 0)

I certainly agree with Easting here. And Dedham has always chosen well want and when to put an item on the ballot for an override. we should be proud that we have only had debt exclusion overided, and not operational one's that many towns are now pushing.

I think the town should really try and shed some additional debt prior to reaching for another one, but that is one persons opinion. The Schools have been fairly transparent on their plans to replace all the schools. So this should be of no surprise to anyone.

As a reminder to the good citizens of Dedham, every overrride but one has failed in Dedham. A pretty good success rate. And I'll certainly remind folks of which override failed.

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by: cebonvini @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 15:50:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

well, maybe, but . . . (0.00 / 0)

They have paid their dues for a lifetime already, and then some.

For long time residents, property tax rates in Dedham in the 70s and 80s were artificially lower in part because the Town did not do proper upkeep of its buildings and  roads

so folks saved money then by deferring replacement costs; if an override passes it will cost money now

That was a "break" that long term residents already had

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by: kei-o-lei @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 15:40:20 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

how about equal access to education? (0.00 / 0)

If you think about equal access how about the fact that in addition to cramped classrooms the Avery students don't have a patch of grass to play on at all at recess. Just blacktop without any shade! The other elementary schools have plenty. The 2 first grade classrooms at Avery have 23 and 24 enrolled students now not counting anyone who moves in. The classroom space is too small for the kids not to be tripping over each other. Not even counting all the peeling paint, water damage from leaks and other structural issues with the school.

Nobody wants new taxes but all Dedham students deserve equal access to a clean safe learning environment.  We pay now or we pay more later. It's up to the voters!

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by: maginnis @ Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 20:49:55 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I agree totally (0.00 / 0)

Also this past school year at the Greenlodge School, the fifth grade had only two teachers which left classrooms with 26 and 27 students. That is the worst grade to cut at an elementary school seeing that half the kids are pre-hormonal. Hats off to Greenlodge school staff. I believe they also had a student transfer into school system in the fifth grade mid year. Those numbers are inexcusable. A new Avery needs to be built to ensure a proper learning environment with enough space is provided.  

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by: GreenBandit @ Tue Jun 30, 2009 at 17:17:21 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Over ride (0.00 / 0)

The only over ride I would vote for is a new police or fire station. Why not use the 2 schools at Saint Mary's there sitting there empty. I think Mr. Lawlor puts in alot of time, research and dedication and a great person, but he also was the leader in the Dedham Middle School, you may remeber that one...many laws suits..over budget.. and and don't forget the field we still can't use. Lets clean up the mess there first. Avery is old I agree but as soon as we say yes to that every school in Dedham will need to be new. I would rather have a new fire station that can but out the fires in case a new school burns or police to protect me.

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by: b & b @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 13:17:40 PM CDT

Middle School (0.00 / 0)

It's a fantastic facility that was constructed at a bargain price for the town after reimbursement. If Andy Lawlor were standing in front of me I would kiss him.

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by: stebivule @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 15:35:03 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

New Avery School (4.00 / 2)

A number of bloggers have raised questions and concerns about the proposed new Avery School, and about the new Middle School.  Let me address these concerns in the order that they were presented.

1) Timing of proposed election:

According to our Town clerk, the approximate cost of a single ballot question special election is approximately $16,000.

The School Building Rehabilitation Committee (SBRC) is on track to complete the preliminary design of the new Avery School by August.  Consequently, the state's School Building Authority (SBA) has scheduled us for a September 2009 financing meeting, at which time we they will advise us what portion of the school the state will fund.  That puts the Town on track to put the Avery School project before Town Meeting members at the usually held special Town Meeting in November.  Election rules require the Town to conduct the town-wide debt exclusion vote within 45 days of the Town Meeting vote.  Also, SBA rules require that the Town obtain all of its authorization votes within 120 days of the date of the financing meeting.  Thus, to comply with these rules, we are recommending a January 2010 town-wide debt exclusion vote.

In the interest of saving money (approximately $16,000), a few residents have suggested delaying the debt exclusion vote until the regular Town election in April.  For two reasons, the SBRC disfavors this recommendation.  First, a delay would likely cost the Town far more than $16,000.  By delaying the vote by nearly four months, we would also necessarily delay the bidding of the project by four months.  Our project manager has pointed out to us that such a delay would change the construction schedule by adding a second winter into the schedule, a factor that would undoubtedly increase contractor bid prices.  Also, the SBA is set to fund a nmber of projects next Spring.  Therefore, many contractors who won't have work lined up next Spring, will have such work by August/September, and these contractors with new school jobs will have far less incentive to submit their most competitive bids in August/September.  While nobody knows for sure when this recession will end,(and when the cost of materials will start increasing again), our sense is that the recovery will probably take place before August/September 2010.  If so, it would be in the Town's financial advantage to bid the project before the recession ends, or as early as possible in the recovery.  Given these factors, our Project Manager (CMS/Jim Byrne) opines that if we delay the election and bid by four months, we very well may see an increase of our construction costs by 15%.  On a project of $16-20 million, that would represent an extra cost to the Town of $2.25-3.00 million.

Second, the SBA is pushing all projects currently in their pipeline towards construction.  The SBA is effectively sitting on $500 million that was dedicated by the legislature from the sales tax collected several years ago.  Our Avery project is one of the few that already has dedicated state funding from this earlier collected sales tax.  Because of the state's fiscal problems, there has been a legislative effort to change(reduce) the funding for follow-on SBA projects.  We on the SBRC are reluctant to do anything that puts at risk our current approved place in  the SBA line, a place that has Dedham on track for state funding at a 50-52% rate.

For these two reasons, we think the risks associated with delaying the bids for the Avery project by four months far outweigh the $16,000 cost of an extra election.

2) Apparent extra transportation costs

The new Avery will be designed for 309 students (assuming 20 students per class for regular education classrooms).  Currently, there are about 230-235 students at Avery.  The superintendent anticipates tweaking the districting lines so that approximately 30-35 students who would otherwise go to Oakdale in the future (under her anticipated plan, the change would not affect any student already at Oakdale, unless he or she wanted to transfer to the new school) would go to the new Avery.  Several special education classrooms now at Greenlodge and Riverdale (servicing students from throughout the town) would also be relocated to Avery.  Greenlodge and Riverdale would then be able to use the freed up space for dedicated art and music classrooms.

The 30-35 children who will go to the new Avery instead of Oakdale will undoubtedly come from streets closest to the new Avery, and from locations well within the busing distances.  Since the children who will be going to school in the new special education classrooms will come from throughout the town, there should be no net change in their transportation costs, as many of those students will have to be transported whether their classes are at the new Avery, or at older classrooms in Greenlodge or Riverdale.  Bottom line, there should be no appreciable increase in transportation costs as a result of educating 309 Dedham students at the new Avery.

3) Costs over State reimbursment

We expect the State to pay approximately 50-52% of the cost for a building to house 309 students.  The SBA allocates 180 square feet per student.  Thus, we anticipate that the state will pay for 50-52% of a 55,620 square foot building.  We are designing, however, a building of approximately 60,000-61,000 square feet.  At a total project cost of $300 per square foot (Norwood just bid out their new High School at around $275 sq ft for total project cost), this is an extra cost of about $1,500,000.  

The extra space will be dedicated to special education programs.  Because of special education rules, three of the special education classrooms will handle only up to ten students each, and two will handle only up to 15 students (as opposed to approximately 20 students per classroom for the regular education programs.  Even though special education rules require greater space per special education student, the SBA does not provide additional funding.

In other words, since we are planning new facilities for most of the elementary school special education programs at Avery, we will have about 5,000 sq ft of unreimbursed space.

Presently, we are education about 70-80 Dedham students out of district.  The tuition and transportation costs for this out of district education is about $4 million.  Superintedent Doe firmly believes that for many of these children, our already in-place (and staffed) programs are as good, if not better than what is obtained out of district.  These in house programs at the elementary school have the capacity to handle another 10-12 students.  With brand new facilities, Superintendent Doe believes that we can convince the parents of 7 or 8 of these children to keep their children in Dedham.  Thus, the intent is to save 10% of the annual special education budget(approximately $400,000) with the new facilities.
Out of district special education costs are one of our most problematic operating budget busters.  Even if we are only half as successful as we hope to be, we would still recapture our extra cost for the building in 7-8 years.  thus, we think the extra 5,000 square feet is fiscally prudent.

Also, if operating budget concerns and declining enrollments force the school department to close an elementary school (or the Curran School) in the future, having the five extra special education classrooms at Avery will greatly increase our ability to consolidate our kindergarten and elementary school programs into four schools.

4) Perceived Savings from rehabilitation instead of new  construction.

We have not priced out the cost of renovating the Avery, instead of building a new school, as the school could not be renovated into one that conforms to current educational standards at its current site.  

Independent of the SBRC's assessment of the current Avery site, the SBA hired independent architects to evaluate all of the public schools in Massachusetts in, including the Avery.  The three member team that evaluated Avery on August 2, 2007 concluded "The site can not accomodate a replacement school building."  Simply put, the 3.5 acre current Avery site is too small to fit a 55,000-60,000 square foot school, the requisite parking and bus/vehicle dropoffs, and the required outdoor play space.

Even if the site were big enough, it is far from clear that a renovation would be less expensive. The three member SBA assessment team found that the windows, veneer walls, building finishes and exterior doors must be replaced, along with the plumbing, heating, lighting and electrical systems.  (The roof is only 15 years old, though, and is in acceptable condition)  Plus, the interior would have to be gutted, as the current 600 square foot class rooms must transformed into conforming 900 square foot class rooms, and bathroms must be installed on each floor.  Finally, a conforming gymnasium, cafeteria and kitchen would have to be added to the building. The old middle school had many of these same issues, and by way of comparison, the estimates for renovating the old middle school was more expensive than building a new one.

In sum, rehabilitation is not an option under the SBA grant program; and even if it were, it is not clear that it would be a less expensive option.

5) Status of the new middle school

The new middle school has been completed since September 2006; and the first class to complete their entire three years at the school had a promotion ceremony today.  Before taking the project to Town Meeting and the voters at large, the SBRC estimated the project to cost $26.3 million.  Even though bids came in higher than expected, the final cost will be $28.2 million, or about 6% over the initial project estimate.  I will leave for others the determination whether 6% was a good job, but when making a determination, I would just ask that people consider the cost overruns for other public construction jobs in this town, neighboring towns, and in the state before passing judgment on the SBRC's work.

There have been two law suits to date.  One brought by the roofing subcontractor, who alleged that he had not been paid in full by the General Contractor.  That suit has been settled and dismissed.  A second suit was brought by the technology subcontractor, who claims that he should be paid an additional $80,000 for work in the distance learning lab.  Our position is that this work was clearly part of the contract drawings and specifications.  We expect the matter to be resolved at the summary judgment stage.  Bottom line, public construction can be a contact sport, and is not for the faint hearted.  Law suits, and threatened law suits are part of the deal if you intend to build public buildings. If we on the SBRC think we are wrong, or that there is an appreciable chance we could be proved wrong in court, we will enter into a reasonable settlement agreement.  Otherwise, we won't be rolled and we won't hand over the Town's check book just to keep the peace with contractors.

With respect to the ballfield, about $6,300 worth of work remains to be completed.  We concede that it has taken far too long for the contractor to complete this work, and for reasons I have outlined earlier in this blog, we have not yet terminated the contract and taken over the work ourselves.  Last week, however, the SBRC issued a 7 day notice of default to the General Contractor, and it is intent to finish this work with another contractor.

Cost:

We do not have sound cost estimates yet.  Last spring total construction costs were running at about $350 per square foot, and we feared they were heading to the $400 range.  Today, the same costs are in the $275 per sq ft range.  Where they will be in April of 2010 (when we would like to bid the project) is hard to tell.  It is also near impossible to predict at this point where interest rates will be on the bond that we purchase to fund our half of the project.  We will make our best informed estimates in November.  At that time, we will also calculate the projected impact on the average homeowner.

I should point out that one debt exclusion project rolled off the Town's books last year (storm drain work), the Striar bond expires next year, the science lab debt expires in FY 2012, some East Street debt retires in 2014 and the balance of the East Street debt exclusion gets paid off in 2015.  Thus, it is clear that over the next few years, more debt will roll off the books than would be added by the Avery project even under the most dire estimates.

Conclusion:

The SBRC, the School Committee and the Board of Selectmen are committed to providing the taxpayers with all of the information necessary to make an informed choice about the Avery Project.  

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by: andrew.lawlor @ Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 21:49:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Well-built (0.00 / 0)

The Avery school building is well built

Hmmm...

The building authority determined after conducting a study in August that, among other things, the Avery, a grades 1-5 building that was built in 1921, is outdated. The authority considers the school's infrastructure too old and its classes too small. The authority study noted that the building does not comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act and it has no cafeteria and kitchen. Food service is provided from the corridors, and students eat breakfast and lunch at their desks.

About 285 students attend the Avery.

Among other problems, "Dedham's Avery Elementary School has some structural deficiencies that this proposed new school will help remedy," said School Building Authority Executive Director Katherine Craven.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/ded...

"I am glad we put (Avery) on the list," School Building Authority Executive Director Katherine Craven said during a tour of Avery yesterday morning. "There is dire need for improvement of the facilities here."

http://www.wickedlocal.com/ded...

It doesn't seem like people who have actually looked at the building agree that it's "well-built."

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by: stebivule @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 09:03:58 AM CDT

As a property owner... (0.00 / 0)

and a parent of an Avery student, I understand both sides of the debate on whether to build a new Avery school...

No one wants higher property taxes, especially in a recession...

But...

I'm in total agreement with Stebivule, and wish most of you could tour the present Avery school, before judging whether or not it should be rebuilt.

Before being invited to the school for a parent orientation at the end of the (2008) school year, I had only been in the gym on election days. Please allow me to tell you, the gym and the library are clearly the best sections of the school. Students eat lunch in their small classrooms at their desks. The bathrooms are in the basement, guess where students eat breakfast? At a table in the dark, narrow corridor right outside the boy's bathroom (in the basement) I was told this is where the kids eat breakfast. (at the 2008 orientaton)

I had heard the the building was in poor condition, and I didn't realize how poor it was until I had the opportunity to see it for myself. My first instinct was to take my kid and run. Thinking back, I probably should have trusted my motherly instincts, but that in itself is another story...

I drove by the Avery tonight, and glanced up...being situated in a populated area and on a hill, it appears to be in better condition than it actually is. I can understand why some believe a rehab is the best solution. It clearly is not, I hope we don't miss an excellent opportunity to receive state funding for a new building the town is in need of.

I'd like to know what plans the town has in place, if the plans for a new Avery school fall through, and the current building is condemned. Where will we be then? I hope that never happens, but as a parent of a child at the Avery, it's a concern to me.

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by: Madison @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 18:04:04 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

One-More (0.00 / 0)

Dedham sent a letter expressing its interest in building a new Avery School to the school building authority last January. In the letter officials called the current building, built in 1921, "functionally obsolete" with water leaks, crumbling concrete, warped doors, poor ventilation and insufficient space to accommodate enrollment.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/ded...

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by: stebivule @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 09:20:40 AM CDT

no cafeteria? (0.00 / 0)

One of these posts states that "The authority study noted that the building does not comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act and it has no cafeteria and kitchen. Food service is provided from the corridors, and students eat breakfast and lunch at their desks."

In case anyone was wondering, NONE of the elementary schools in Dedham have cafeterias. All of the students eat at their desks.  I know that the issues with the  Avery School are way beyond having no cafeteria, but I just wanted to point this out.  

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by: sullypat66 @ Sat Jul 11, 2009 at 21:39:11 PM CDT

cafeteria (0.00 / 0)

sullypat66 is right . . .

and if the cafeteria were the only deficiency of the Avery school we'd all be having a very different discussion

unfortunately, the lack of cafeteria is a fairly minor item on along list of major unfixable structural problems at the Avery school that - taken together - get in the way of educating the kids at Avery

Bring on the voting process!!!!

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by: kei-o-lei @ Mon Jul 13, 2009 at 09:04:57 AM CDT

[ Parent ]