Well somebody had better stop these clowns-$141 million is NO laughing matter! here’s the story: the School Committee, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that Newton “nees” a new "state of the art’ highschool! Despite the fact that property taxes are at an all-time high, they(in effect) told the taxpayesr-“to heil with you, we’re gonna do it!”. The present Newton North HS is about 37 years old, and is in excellent shape-it is of adequte size, and is PAID FOR. So why do we need a new HS? Some possiblities;
friends of the mayor who own construction companies need contracts
-the present school is not “state of the art’
-the state government will loan us the money!
-the swimming pool is too short for competition (builder made a 1” mistake’
-the poor children need a “modern” educational experience
-big payoofs in offing for certain committtee mebers
So why tear down and replace a PERFECTLY good building? Once more, a totally arrogant decision, with huge consequences for the taxpayers-but who ever cared about them?
Oh, and this being Massachusetts-you can double that $141 million estimate-and plan on getting a shoddily-built , defective a,d danngerous building.
I hear ya. Towns in MA just love spending money on new stuff they don’t need. Newburyport and Amesbury are constantly putting in million dollar police stations, tennis courts and schools which simply replace the ones we already had and work just fine.
The NH border is just a bit to your north. I suggest you become a transplant like the rest of us in Southern NH while there’s still time. Just wait for what “Yes We Can” Duval has in store for you.
Bingo. The state is offering $46.5 million in state funds plus a loan at 2%. It’s an offer too good to refuse. Plus, you know, it’s Newton. The schools are what buttress property values there. Any sort of radical discrepancy between Newton North and Newton South will undercut property values in those neighborhoods served by Newton North. Can’t have that, you know.
From what I understand – and from what’s happened in my town – it’s a combination of both state funds and property tax. The former almost never pays for the entire project, so the town jacks up the property tax via Prop 2-1/2. If the Prop 2-1/2 override passes…well, there’s the rest of the $.
Unless you live in my town, that is. Our first override didn’t even begin paying for supposedly “unforeseen circumstances” involving the construction of a new elementary school complex, so they proposed a second. Second passed, the same thing happened. Ditto the third. If they so much as propose a fourth, I think every single homeowner without school-age kids are going to revolt loud and clear.
[sub]I personally cannot wait to move out of state. Our property tax went up 30% this year, and I have no idea how I’m going to pay it.[/sub]
For a thorough repudiation of the ‘state of the art’ ‘modern’ school nonsense you may want to check out Clifford Stoll’s High-Tech Heretic: Reflections of a Computer Contrarian. Some of the information is a little dated (it was written in 2000), but his observations remain sound. And, far from being a Luddite, Stoll is an old-school computer hacker.
For those of you from other places, Newton is a very wealthy suburb adjacent to Boston proper. Suggesting they need a tear-down and rebuild is like following an investigative reporter around Beverly Hills 90210 High where we are exposed to the harsh reality that the acoustics aren’t exactly right in places and the parking could be better situated in one corner of the lot. The conclusions are obvious. Rebuild another one from scratch that is more fitting and call the state while you are it because we have a crisis situation.
I haven’t read Furious_Marmot’s suggested book, but I’d say that what’s in the school is more important than the building itself. A building isn’t “state of the art” or not: it’s the equipment and teacher training that keeps up or not.
The state has just put in place a new agency to oversee the funding for reimbursement of school building costs and they are not going to be as lenient as in previous incarnations of the program. They have a clearer set of evaluation criteria in eight areas and a school system must provide a letter of intent that supports a serious need in those areas based on the state’s criteria. The State does their own evaluation and ranks the school’s needs. The school district can then try to provide documentation for appeal of the ranking. The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) will then rank the schools in the state that are seeking School Building funds and prioritize the distribution of the funds according to their rankings. Go armed with knowledge to your next School Committee meeting! It’s quite likely a lot of folks aren’t up on the newest regs. From the MSBA website :
The MBSA Board will fund grants for projects through a competitive process based upon the eight (8) statutory funding criteria establishing a potential project’s priority and need, as expressed by the community and validated by the MSBA.
* The eight (8) statutory funding priorities are listed on the first page of the Statement of Interest. They are:
Replacement or renovation of a building which is structurally unsound or otherwise in a condition seriously jeopardizing the health and safety of school children, where no alternative exists, as determined in the judgment of the Authority;
Elimination of existing severe overcrowding, as determined in the judgment of the Authority;
Prevention of loss of accreditation, as determined in the judgment of the Authority;
Prevention of severe overcrowding expected to result from increased enrollments, which must be substantiated, as determined in the judgment of the Authority;
Replacement, renovation or modernization of the heating system in any schoolhouse to increase energy conservation and decrease energy related costs in the schoolhouse, as determined in the judgment of the Authority;
Short term enrollment growth, as determined in the judgment of the Authority;
Replacement or addition to obsolete buildings in order to provide a full range of programs consistent with state and approved local requirements, as determined in the judgment of the Authority; and
Transition from court-ordered and approved racial balance school districts to walk-to, so-called, or other school districts, as determined in the judgment of the Authority.
I don’t know about Newton, but I do know that two of the largest elementary schools in my town meets at least 3 of the above without the new construction. One of the schools – the original building circa early 1900s – had been condemned because of a longstanding termite infestation, according to the official documents. My question: If it was longstanding, when why the hell wasn’t anything done beforehand? And don’t tell me there weren’t enough funds. My town, although not at wealthy as Newton, is up there. Our board of selectmen were cited by the state for misappropriating funds a few years ago. WT f-ing F?!?
I’ve never heard of the book Furious_Marmot mentioned, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the book’s premise was indeed the case. Gotta keep up with the wealthier prep schools and getting into Harvard, y’know :rolleyes:
This whole episode made me realize that it doesn’t matter how much taxes you pay-it is NEVER enough! The politicians will always find ways to spend your money. What really t’s me off-the old school is much better than the highschool building i went to. A few years back, I was on a business trip to Hamburg, Germany. While stopped at a light, I saw a bunch of younf kids hanging aound a rather shabby building-then noticed it was break time at a highschool. the building looked old and decrepit-but those kids were probably receiving a MUCH more rigorous education than any student at Newton North. Which leads to my theory of government; the more you pay, the more you pay!
Damn, I wish we had your problems – our Boston-area town is in desperate need of renovating or replacing the schools, which are NOT fine. They’re aged and too damned small and one of them is in a swamp and has a mold infestation. Far from fixing up or replacing the schools, they ca’t even pay the teachjers a decent wage, and are contemplating letting several of them go.
This is actually why my parents moved out of Lexington. I actually attended Lexington High School and I won’t knock it-it IS the reason people move there, no other really, since the houses are pretty shitty. But they waste a ton of money and they did exactly the same knock down and build up a few years ago that Newton is doing now.
The kids went to school in trailers!!!
They also pretty much gutted and then rebuilt the library over 4 or 5 years, to the tune of several millions of dollars. We couldn’t even check books out for about 5 years. I won’t complain about what they 've done with it, but was the expensive hardwood and leather-stuffed chairs really really necessary?
Lately it’s been coming to light that teachers at the high school have been embezzling funds, all sorts of financial hoo-ha for years and years.
The thing is that in most of these towns the parents are sort of the education-obsessed type and they won’t stop and think about whether or not it’s really needed-you say the word “override” and it’s bound to pass. Either because your kids are at the high school or your 700,000 dollar cape home’s market value is based on the local school’s reputation.
Of course, my parents then managed to move to another town exactly like Lexington so I don’t know what was going on in their heads…but they claim it’s because they couldn’t find a house with a garage.
This is depressing. The high school I went to (in NJ, in a not-rich town) was nearly a hundred years old when I went (and as since passed the century mark). The old oil-fired boiler could not keep up with any outside temperature much under 30. Poor insulation, double hung windows that either didn’t close right, or didn’t open. Could have passed 4 items on that list. . . and yet it still stands today. We could have used a new building.
Hell tes! But the main point: nobody seems to care?? I calculate that this boondoggle will raise the average home taxes by at least $500/year, which is a lot of money. then, throw in the usual Massachusetts corruption (you can double the original estimate), plus the litigation costs (for prosecuting the corrupt officials0, and the inevitable fix-its (like the original High School had to have its asbestos insulation removed, 16 years after it was built. all in all, a financial disaster-and totaly unnecessary!
I was gonna say, I grew up in Needham and had several friends who went to Newton North, and was in the building for various purposes any number of times. That rattrap was in need of tearing down 25 years ago, I can’t IMAGINE what a rotten hellhole it must have deteriorated into by now.
Even by Massachusetts corruption standards, $212 million is a “bit much”. OK, I realize that corrupt officiasls need graft, but does this make any sense at all?
Some people are actually calling for a review? silly people-you wait till the money has been spent!
