More on airport-area high school
It just ocurred to me that, buried in a folder somewhere, I had a breakdown of the previous cost estimates for the proposed airport-area high school. The school was budgeted in the summer at $77.1 million (now $80.5 million if you factor in additonal inflation, and $88 million if add in the $6 million board members cut from the project early on). I expect to find out Saturday how the $88 million figure shakes out, but here is what I have so far on the $77.1 million version:
Building: $39.2 million (270,000 square feet X $145 per square foot)
Site development: $6.3 million (at $90,000 X 70 acres)
Public road improvements: $750,000
Total construction costs: $46.2 million (remember, Northern High was about $43 million)
Contingency: $2.3 million
Design: $4.6 million
Testing, surveys and other soft costs: $4.6 million
Total: $57.8 million
Furnishings and equipment: $2.8 million
Media center shelving and furniture: $140,000
Media center books and reference materials ($300 per student): $360,000
Technology: $1.8 million
Total: $5.1 million
Land purchase: $3.5 million (70 acres X $50,000)
Cumulative Total: $66.3 million
Inflation (0.75 percent X 28 months): $10.8 million
Overall total: $77.1 million
Sq ft per student: 225 (based on 1,200 classroom capacity)
Construction cost per sq ft: $168
Inflated cost per sq ft: $204
Anticipated bid date: January 2009
Hope that helps!
Comments (8)
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Morgan,
Airport High Proposed
Sq ft per student: 225 (based on 1,200 classroom capacity)
Construction cost per sq ft: $168
Inflated cost per sq ft: $204
According to your numbers above, the budget calls for Airport High to cost, at inflated cost, $45,900 per student. The DeJong/Summit study that I referenced in another strand shows that Charlotte, Fosyth Co., and Wake Co. average about $26,000 per student for their schools. This $45,900 would be about 77% more than the other districts. This is unbelievable that we would try to build a high school for 1,200 students at an average cost of almost $46,000 per student. This will ensure the defeat of the new school bond. GCS has to do something differently, if they want to get money to build new schools. Even those of us that are not parsimonious would find this a ludicrous expenditure of our tax dollars.
Posted on September 21, 2007 11:03 PM
Wally World,
I need to check and see if the other district numbers represented construction costs only or total costs. I don't have the materials in front of me right now. We need to make sure we are comparing apples to apples.
Posted on September 22, 2007 8:18 AM
The DeJong/Summit study referred to Total Project Cost per Student, so logically that includes total costs. When you consider that the budget allows for $46,000 per student in a high school for 1,200 students, you get to $88 million pretty fast and easy. As I suggested before, if we are going to spend this level of money for a school, perhaps we should consider building schools for 2,000 - 3,00 students.
Posted on September 22, 2007 9:23 AM
You'll find the cost figures at the end of this report:
http://www.johnlocke.org/acrobat/spotlights/spotlight_333-minorityreport.pdf
Posted on September 22, 2007 9:48 AM
That's a conversation that the public needs to have regarding capacities. I remember going to a high school in California that had a population of more than 2,000 students. I had a good experience but I recall a lot of gang/drug activity on campus. Question is, do the cost savings (and that would come from slowing the pace of high schools being built) offset the downsides of a larger school? And could GCS build a 3,000 high school for $88 million?
Keep in mind, the airport area school includes a facility for students with autism at a cost of about $7-$10 million. The board talked today at its retreat about possibly removing that part of the project, which amounts to 10 percent of the total costs.
Posted on September 22, 2007 5:05 PM
Morgan,
I'm sorry but I do not understand what drug/gang activity has to do with a high school of 2,000 students. Does a school of 1,200 students mean less gang/drug activity than a school of 2,000 students? Besides, we already have drug/gang activity in most, if not all, of our schools in Guilford already. How big are the downsides of a high school of 2,000 students compared to a school of 1,200 students?
Considering GCS' track record, I doubt that they could build a school for 3,000 students for $88 million, but looking at the Total Project Cost per Student in the DeJong/Summit Study, it appears that every district in the study has and could do it for less than $88 million. The study reports that the weighted average of all schools in the study (excluding Wake Co.) was $20,819.35 Total Project Cost per Student. If you multiply $20,819.35 X 3,000 students, you arrive at an average cost of $62,458..050, which is a whole lot less than $88 million. Remember, that is the average cost in the study, and Gwinnett County, GA, is doing it for much less. I know someone who lives very near the newest high school in Lawrenceville, and he says the school is first-class.
Posted on September 22, 2007 9:47 PM
Morgan, With his comment on green schools Garth said it all.
"I love the trend," said board member Garth Hébert. "But we don't have the resources for that. We're denying regular space to many kids to give green schools to a few. I can't do it."
That is green schools in a nutshell!
Posted on September 23, 2007 10:27 PM
Morgan,
I just reviewed the board's agenda for tomorrow night's meeting. In looking at the proposal for the Twilight School, I saw the following transportation costs:
Cost per year per magnet school student - State $ $91,356
Cost per year per magnet school student - Local $40,091
Total Transportation $131,447
Certainly this is a misprint?
Is GCS actually proposing transportation costs of $131,447 per student per year?????
Posted on September 24, 2007 10:29 AM