Straight Talk: The Cost for Region 12’s Consolidated Elementary School

By Julie Stuart, Co-Chair SOS Group (Hearing Meeting March 13, 2014)

At the Region 12 hearing regarding the proposed consolidated elementary school there were bankers, lawyers, and architects all of whom have a lot to gain from the construction of a new consolidated school and very little to gain if voters say no. 

They, along with our Region 12 Administration and those representing them, told the public that it will save taxpayers money to bond $35M to pay for the new school and repairs to the Middle/High School plus another $15M in interest. People wondered how it would be possible take on $50M of new debt and at the same time, lower our taxes! 

Here is the straight talk. The vast majority of the alleged “savings” are based on staff reductions – cutting our teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators etc. These proposed cuts are based on predictions by Dr. Prowda, who the Region hired to predict the region’s future student enrollment out to year 2023. His latest report is available on the Region 12 website. 

Here is a quote from Dr. Prowda’s report summary: “This remains a difficult time to predict future enrollment…It is critical to remember that a projection is just a moving forward of recent trends… This projection should be used as a starting point for local planning.” 

The Region 12 Administration is not using these projections as a starting point, they are hanging their hat on them! Dr. Prowda predicts that the number of elementary students in 2023 will drop nearly 50% to 221 students. Thus, the administration can cut loads of teachers and staff and claim this will result in $79M in savings. 

Enrollment numbers tend to be cyclical over time – they go up and go down. If this happens, there will be no $79M in staff savings to justify this $50M expenditure! 

More importantly, in order for the Region 12 administration to show such extreme savings, it has compared the consolidated configuration to the current three home town schools without any staff reductions through 2023. 

Just last Tuesday night Dr. Cosentino presented her budget for next year and showed a reduction of a kindergarten teacher at Burnham as her plan is to combine this small class with Booths, therefore eliminating a teacher. Makes sense – but wait the $79M in savings assumes 2 teachers in these classes (not 1) every year forward, thus 
making the pitch for consolidation look all the better. 

In fact, all the projected savings for consolidation are based on assumptions that the region doesn’t implement any other remedies for the next 30 years! None! Not one other solution, not one plan to bring in more students, not one plan to combine classes between schools, nothing at all! This simply is not reality! When this vote fails, new cost savings and enrollment solutions that meet the needs of all the towns must be considered! 

In addition, repairs to the Middle High School only address the next 5 years. As a member of the Long Range Planning Committee, I heard time and time again from Board of Ed members and Administration that the Shepaug Middle High was “crumbling under our feet”. Significant improvements and repairs must be done in years 5-25. This will involve more bonds, more debt, more cost to taxpayers. 

Also each town will be saddled with the cost of the existing elementary school buildings. Whether the buildings are repurposed or razed, there will be costs associated that will be the responsibility of the taxpayers. In addition, studies confirm what we all suspect, that a town without a school will see a drop in real estate values. 

For Roxbury and Bridgewater, who would be the first two towns in Connecticut without a school, this is a serious and costly implication. 

In summary, this new consolidated school will raise taxes. The cost savings projections are false and are based on assumptions that no one in this region should accept. Who wins in this scenario: the bankers, the architects, the builders… who loses: the students, the teachers, the taxpayers and the communities left without their high performing schools.