What’s “Responsible and Manageable” About That?
Scott McCaffrey reports today at the online Arlington Sun-Gazette:
“(Arlington) County school officials will need to secure nearly $260 million from county voters, in three referendums over six years, to fund reconstruction projects at Yorktown and Wakefield high schools.”
“In a “conceptual” proposal being forwarded by school staff to School Board members, school bond referendums of $88.7 million in 2008, $14.1 million in 2010 and $156.7 million in 2012 would provide the funds needed for those two schools, and provide $8.7 million to maintain deteriorating facilities until facelifts can be completed.
“Acknowledging the staggering costs involved, Superintendent Robert Smith told School Board members that the plan was “responsible and manageable.”
McCaffrey went on to explain that even with that kind of spending, the school system would still be spending just 8% of its operating budget on debt service, less than the 10% figure that would put the county in risk of losing their vaunted Triple A bond rating.
We’ve growled before about the school district’s spending on school construction, most recently October 6, 2007, when we compared the cost of the newly constructed Washington-Lee High School with other Virginia high schools constructed at the same time. For example, we pointed out that the cost per square foot for W-L was $213 while the comparable cost for the new high school in Culpeper County is $159. Not only that, but the square footage per student at W-L is 227 while it is 141 square feet per student for Dinwiddie County’s new high school. Now, let's talk responsibility!
To read the Superintendent’s entire memo, and attachment, on debt capacity, see agenda item F.3. of the School Board’s April 17, 2008 meeting.