Report: Consolidated schools cheaper

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CHARLESTON – One large school is more economical to build than several smaller ones for the same number of students, according to a report presented to the state Board of Education on Wednesday.

As enrollment decreases, the square-footage cost per student increases, according to the analysis which is the first of its kind in recent history for Maine.

“With limited state resources available for capital construction, encouraging consolidation in order to build larger schools is in the best interest of the state’s expenditure for capital construction projects,” the report states.

It confirms what state construction experts have known intuitively for a long time: Schools with smaller enrollment require more square feet per student because core areas such as gymnasiums, hallways, libraries and bathrooms don’t decrease at the same proportional rate as the number of students.

Written by two architects from firms in Portland and Auburn and two former superintendents who are consultants for the Maine Department of Education, the report includes data from recently built school projects in the state as well as national information.

“We have known that it’s more economical to build bigger schools, but this study clearly documents that because it’s based on factual data,” said Scott Brown, director of school facilities programs for the Maine Department of Education.

The report also concludes that:

. A school with an enrollment of less than 450 requires more space per student.

. Elementary schools smaller than 250 pupils require dramatically more space per pupil.

Cutting down on square footage could yield considerable savings since school construction costs typically run $150 per square foot, according to the report.

The state Board of Education on Wednesday was clearly impressed.

“This is some of the most important data we’ve ever received,” Chairman James Carignan said during the board meeting at the Mountain View Youth Development Center in Charleston.

The board will use the new information as it apportions money for school construction projects.

“It’s another piece of evidence that needs to be considered,” said Ellie Multer, chairwoman of the state Board of Education’s construction committee.

Officials called the report “a business model” that has nothing to do with the quality of education.

Included are studies done by PDT Architects in Portland for three Maine communities involved in school construction over the last 15 years.

According to a report for Scarborough, a single consolidated school for 630 students would result in a building requiring 25 square feet per student less than if three smaller schools were built.

A study for Old Town showed that building one consolidated school of 550 students versus two schools at 275 would result in a savings of more than 15 square feet per student.

And in Augusta, decreasing the number elementary schools from four to three would save 12 square feet per student.

The new information will be shared with the state’s policy-makers and will engender further discussion among board members, Multer said Thursday.

“We really want to look at how we preserve the values of small schools while still implementing a program that’s economically sound,” she said.

“There’s an understandable desire in small towns to have their own school, but people … need to realize we’re paying a premium to do this.”

In an interview on Thursday, Keith Cook, coordinator for the Small Schools Coalition, called the study questionable.

“You need to look at the effectiveness side as well as the cost,” said Cook, whose group of administrators and teachers aims to strengthen and support small schools and their communities around the state.

Noting that studies show small schools are especially beneficial for students from low-income families, Cook said small schools have a lower drop out rate which means fewer people end up unemployed, on welfare, in prison or on Medicaid.

“I hope government policy-makers would look at both school construction and Medicaid expenses and begin to understand the relationship between the two,” said Cook.

Referring to the report on Thursday, state board member Jean Gulliver said that since about 70 percent of all school construction is borne by the state, “when taxpayers say we want to know that our tax dollars are being spent efficiently, it’s right here.”

She stressed that cost is only one of the factors that the state board looks at when determining the construction list that comes out approximately every two years. The effectiveness of the educational program and the distances between schools also play a part in allotting state construction funds.

But Gulliver added that the state has a tremendous unmet need for new school buildings. “If we keep building small schools we know are more costly, it limits the number of communities that can get new schools.”

She also pointed out that all Maine’s schools are small compared to national standards and that because of the state’s large number of remote areas, “we’ll always have to build small schools.”