Comparison of School Building Age

> Why is it that Hollis-Brookline Schools are not suffering from leaky roofs, inadequate Heating Cooling and ventilation and are not in a state of general disrepair?

… AND their cost to educate kids is significantly less than ours?

I keep hearing from the ASD Board that our school building/s are at end-of-life; they need to be replaced…

> Hollis School buildings are as old or older than the Amherst Schools we’re considering replacing…

Hollis -Brookline Schools (SAU41)

Amherst Schools (SAU39)

Hollis-Brookline DID NOT replace old schools with new build versions, they upgraded (refurbished) their ‘old’ end-of-life schools to bring them up to current safety and operational levels.>> Why haven’t we done the same with our schools?

~30 % of our homes in Amherst are older than the Wilkins School.  They’re not being replaced with new build versions, they are repaired and maintained as the need arises.  Why don’t we do the same with our schools?

When I hear that roofs have been leaking for two+ years and there are buckets in the classrooms and halls, I ask the question, “Why wasn’t the roof repaired?”  “Why hasn’t the building been maintained?”  I don’t ask, “Why haven’t we replaced these shoddy buildings”.

It’s clear we have done a poor job of maintaining our school buildings in the past. If the appropriate repairs had been done when the needs arose, we would not be having this ‘new build’ discussion today.

Let’s get some new quotes from companies that specialize in refurbishing and upgrading. I’m not at all surprised that the quotes we received from the school architects favored building a new school.  That’s the business they are in.

Let’s use the same logic, analysis and frugality on school repairs and upgrades that we use on our homes.   We must separate Needs from Desires and act as if the money we’re proposing spending also must pay for our food. 

Moving forward, we need to conduct an honest evaluation of what needs to be done, and to truthfully cost the alternatives.  This will allow us to make an informed cost-driven decision. If the work has been done, as we hear repeatedly on Facebook, show the voters a 10-year cash flow analysis of build vs. refurbish.  It doesn’t exit.