by winston » Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:38 pm
Boston Suburb's `Taj Mahal' Brings Ban on Luxury High Schools
By Michael McDonald
June 26 (Bloomberg) -- A $200 million high school scheduled to open in 2010 in the Boston suburb of Newton, Massachusetts, will be the state's most expensive. It may also be the last of its kind.
The 413,000-square-foot (33,368 square-meter) Newton North High, featuring an arts complex and an athletic wing with swimming pool and climbing wall, has become a symbol of excess in Massachusetts, where households bear the country's eighth-highest property-tax burden, according to the Washington-based Tax Foundation.
The project's estimated cost of $478 a square foot has doubled since Newton Mayor David Cohen proposed it in 2003. The price jump sparked a taxpayer revolt that kept him from seeking a fourth term next year. Massachusetts Treasurer Timothy Cahill, who called the building the ``Taj Mahal,'' wants to limit the price for future state-subsidized schools, including one proposed by the neighboring town of Wellesley, to $100 million.
``Someone has to say enough is enough, that we can't afford it,'' said Cahill, a 49-year-old Democrat. He is chairman of the Massachusetts School Building Authority, created in 2004 to manage finance and construction statewide. ``It's taxpayers' money we're spending here.''
Newton, a city of 83,000 located seven miles west of Boston, was settled in 1630 as part of Cambridge, the home of Harvard University. Residents enjoy two symphony orchestras and a median household income of $101,001, twice the national figure, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. At $112,875 a pupil, Newton North will be the most costly school in state history, according to the authority.
`Shellshocked by Prices'
Districts in the U.S. spent $14.7 billion on new construction last year, up from $13.7 billion in 2006, as the cost of at least 36 high schools in 10 states topped $100 million, according to a survey by American School & University magazine. The median cost for a new high school was $25 million last year, the survey found.
``Everybody is shellshocked by the prices,'' said Joe Agron, editor-in-chief of American School & University in Overland Park, Kansas. ``It's the rapidly rising cost of everything, from concrete to labor, in the last few years.''
Cohen, 60, proposed spending $104 million in 2003 to replace Newton North, built in 1972 and panned by students and faculty for poor ventilation and a lack of natural light. Voters approved the 1,850-student school in January 2007, when the estimated cost was $154 million. Construction started this year.
Gund Design
The city hired Gund Partnership, a Cambridge-based firm that designed buildings for Harvard and won the 2005 American Architecture Award for the National Association of Realtors' glass-enclosed headquarters in Washington. Its plan for the four- story brick school in Newton comprises four structures connected at different angles. An arts complex sits at one end of the complex and an athletic center at the other.
``It is very easy without knowing anything about the project to be critical about the cost,'' said Cohen. ``Where we did a bad job was guessing at the initial cost estimates.''
The mayor asked city legislators in March to approve up to $197.5 million in bonds for the project after estimates rose for the third time since 2003. At the time, the municipality was also completing a $60 million renovation of Newton South High School that was a year behind schedule and $2 million over budget.
Proposition 2 1/2
Public dissatisfaction with Newton North boiled over on May 20, when voters turned down the mayor's proposal to override a state cap on local property-tax increases, known as Proposition 2 1/2, to close a $12 million budget gap. Cohen, a former Democratic state legislator who became mayor in 1998, said afterward that he wouldn't run for re-election.
``It's just the excess, the unreasonableness of it that's infuriated so many people and made us look like a bunch of idiots,'' said Jeff Seideman, the 59-year-old president of the Newton Taxpayers Association, which fought the override and Cohen's plan for the new school. ``We are a wealthy community, but we're not irrational.''
The building authority that Cahill leads, created in 2004, couldn't revoke $46.5 million in state funding for Newton North because the state's Education Department had already approved it, the state treasurer said. Now, he says he will seek to bar amenities in newly proposed schools, including stand-alone theaters and student-run restaurants, and emphasize renovation over new construction.
Next Up: Wellesley
New schools getting state aid must keep construction costs under $100 million, Cahill said. The cap may spark a conflict with Wellesley, Newton's wealthier neighbor to the west, where the median income is $138,472.
The town wants to spend $159 million to replace its high school, ranked 70th in the nation on students' ``college readiness'' last year by U.S. News and World Report.
The project, designed to serve 1,600 students, would be the state's second most-expensive, at $99,375 a pupil, according to the School Building Authority. The school committee approved the project in May and applied for state support. The building authority hasn't reviewed the plan yet.
``One of the frustrating things is they've taken the focus away from core education and into more of the amenities,'' Cahill said. ``Just because a wealthy community can afford to pay doesn't mean they should get it.''
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"