HomeMy Public PortalAbout1973-03-05 School Bldg Needs Committee Report O. f ELOCR 6
Town n of Brewster ZREftc
QFFiCt OF:
TOWN CLERK
Brewster, Massachusetts TREASURER AND COLLECTOR
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REPORT OF THE BREWSTER SCHOOL BUILDING NEEDS COMMIttVE..
TO THE ANNUAL TOWN MEETING ON MARCH 5, 1973
Mr. Moderator and:Ahe residents of the Town of Brewster:
A Special Town Meeting convened on the `13th 'of November
197 - directed, by Article 4, that a School Building Needs
Committee be established "to project future school population
increases. and to explore all possible means df scY6ol building
expansion; .said- committee to be composed of three-,(3) members
of th*, Brewster School Committee selected by !the .Brewster School
Committee, and four (4) members at large to be appointed by
the Moderator, and said committee to report to the next annual
town meeting;" The following were selected by the school
committee : M's. Patricia Ramsay, Ms. Mary--Louise,,,;Eddy, and Mr.
Stephen Hopkins; the following were selected by� the Moderator:
Mr. He.nneth L Hall, Sr. , Mr. Wesley Hirons, Dir.. -Ci4aig Brinker,
and Mr. =:George Dunbar. At the organizational meeting on
November 26, 1972, Mr. Dunbar was elected Chairman', Ms Eddy,
Vice chairman and Mr. Hall, Secretary. Additional meetings of
the committee were held on December 11 and l$,, ,1972;`: January
8, 10; 19, 24, 29 and February 19, 1973, �F.. '
As a result of the working sessions and much homework the
committee has prepared this report and the- shorter summary of
important facts and figures which was mailed and/Or distributed
to the voters, prior to this town meeting.
}
This committee was authorized One Thousand Dollars ($1000)
for necessary expenses and has expended money as follows:
Printing the Summary $110. 00 ,
Mailing the Summary 107.40
Total 217.403:
The committee reports .a balance of Seven Hundred Eighty-
two Dollars and 60 cents ($782.60) , which is returned to the
town.
The elementary school building and the school poprilation
(present and pre-school) concerned the committee first. The
school was built in 1924, added to in 1952, and is of frame
construction. The building is clean, in good repair, with a new
heating plant, and mostly new lighting, and is all paid for.
The school has eight regular classrooms with five having capacities
of 25 pupils each, one having a capacity of 16 pupils, and two
having capacities of 20 pupils each. This represents a total
pupil capacity of 181 pupils in the main building at any one time.
The afternoon kindergarden of 25 pupils, and the portable build-
ing capacity of 25 pupils;. makes for a total school .facility
capacity of 231 pupils as long as you count up to 50 pupils for
kindergarden in one room. In different words the main building will
hold 181 pupils grades 1--4, and the portable buildingwill hold up
to 50 kindergardeners in two sessions. In 1969 the Massachusetts
State Department of Public Safety certified the main building for
200 pupils and staff. Other areas of the building are as follows:
a cafeteria and kitchen, a combination auditorium and gym, a small
remedial reading room, a health room, a library, a school office ,
a teachers room, a custodian's office-workroom-storer000m, the
boiler room, three small storerooms, two cleaners closets, and
eight, one or two stall lavatory spaces. The building has no
basement as it is generally defined.
The portable building is fairly new, in good shape, light,
airy, and heated electrically. It is a bit expensive to heat because
of the arrangement for constant ventilation.
The present school is old by todays pul.i,c school building
standards. The most serious handicap is the frame construction
without a sprinkler protection system. The building -is not fire-
proof. The plot on which the school stands consists of 7.9 acres=
by present day state recommendations for a school this size the
plot should be 12 acres (ten acres for the school plug one acre for
each 100 pupils) . Thus, the plot is too small even for the pre-
sent school. Therefor, an addition to the present school would not
qualify for state aid. In the words of the State School Building
Assistance Bureau the present school would not qualify for state
aid for the additional reason that "any amount invested would not
give the taxpayer an adequate return for his investment". The
end product would not be equivalent to a new facility of the same
capacity. The subject of the costs of an;laddition will be discussed
more fully later in this report.
A count of the pre-school children has been made. Two
sources have been used: a telephone survey conducted by members
of this committee and a questionaire sent home earlier by the
school. After duplications were systematically elimina-ted the
results were as followss
- 2 -
Aa,es in 1973 1 2 3 4 5 Total
Number of
Children 28 41 48 38 41 196
Thhse figures are repeated in the large chart of l-tg�4 .
Pupil population growth is related quite closely to the gen-
eral growth of Brewstrr. The following table seeks to reveal the
increase in several related areasi
Year 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
Po-Dulation 1790 2220 2720
Births" 15 14 24 29 20 29 26
Building Per
wits-resi-
dence#* 52 81 90 112 125 188 202
K-4 school
population
^x 119 136 146 142 141 158 1.76
Estimated
These figures are repeated in the large chart w1tich follows.
K-4 means kindergarden through fourth grade.
Several factors have a bearing on the school population and
are not predictable in every circumstances the mobili4 of the
families renting over the winter, the large retired populatiihn,
the seasonal nature of the resort business, the social outldok
on the size of families, and the existence of additional service
related jobs, to name a few.
One more table casts light on the drlationship of the school
population to the capacity of the present elementary school plant.
Each vertical column represents the school enrollment for the
year noted. Each horizontal line shows the enrollment of that
particular class from kindergarden to its promotion to another
school. The symbols in the lower left of each box designate
the particular grades for example K means Kindergsrden, 1 means
first grade and so forth. All numbers on the left of the double
line are actual figures taken from official sources= all numbers
to the right of the double line are projections based on the
experience shown on the left side. The table followsa
- 3
PUP'I'L POPULLTI:ON PROJECTION
Actual pupil enrollment Projected pupil en-
bv rade rollment by ade
-u�chool :1965 66-' 7-° 68 69�. 70- 71� 72- 73 74.-r 75 79-
_4r 67 68 ` 69�j 70 71 ' 7 .,, 677
(�8) s
26
29 41 58
f
20 . . .. 48 4 �j2
2962;166
24 41 77x. 50 5 59
4251 !y�56
a5 35 37 2 7 291
2 '4
Births 12 __2_V__ 27 32 34 36 .72P,
2 4
24 . 2 3'� 36 235
4
21 23 24 23 31 20
2722 4-
2 25. 29 6 176
i 30 31 �5 ?�6 �a 15
31 2 2 27 3 5 Stka Grade attended
. , -�
31 2 `.'32 :_35-5 36 186. ping September 1971
22 ? 20 146 17" **
1-_a_4 6 Grades 6,7m & 8
1.3 15 . 136 2 — �� attended. in Orleans
4 6 7 1969-70 (79 pupils)
19 119 18 1 *11
& 1970-71 (96)
4 6 7 8 pupils at St Joan
K-•4 or 18 22 23 of Are
K-5 Total 116 i , 6 '781% .
.
2423 27 2G
17 2G 18
6 7 8
23 2�
7 8
14
8
-wilding
Tqta.l 194. 205 221 24 8186: 158 176
.chool 65- 66- 67- 9! "1 - 7 7 - 73- 7 -- 75- 76-
ear 66 67 68 69 70 1 2 74�. 75 76 77
School �Zlem E]. E1. : El El S� �1 ::� El El
e`d _ _...� oror°t Port Pori';
Bldg 87 52 8i 9Q i2 125 18$ 2b2
Permits r
There are several points to notice in this tables
1. Births have increased from a number in the teens to a
number in the twenties.
2. The entering kindergarden seems to be two to three times
the number of births for that class.
3. Each gntering kindergarden increased,^by at least one-third
by the time the class reaches the 4th grade.
4. In the 1972-73 school year no class has under 30 pupils.
5. When the pupil population reached 221 and 245 in 1968 and
1969 respectively, steps were taken to provide temporary space.
At that time the middle school idea offered the hope of relief.
6. When the Nausat Middle School opened in 1971, it did not
provide all the relief supposed and did not postpone a space pro-
blem indefinitely. It may have provided relief for four years
only because other growth factors were at work.
As a result of these trends, the projections (to the right
of the double line) of future school population have been made.
These projection figures indicate that the present school plant
can just provide for the next school year, and perhaps for the
one year that follows.
The committee explored four possible means of school building
expansions namely, rental space, portable buildings, an addition
to the present building and the construction of a new school.
There is no adequate rental space in Brewster. Two churchs
indicated that they might assis'ton a very temporary basis if
th-ere was an emergency, but that their facilities wurer of suit-
able for any long range rental situation.
A study of portable buildings has been made. Neighboring
towns such as Sandwich, Chatham and Harwich have resorted to
this tempprary solution as did Brewster. Any portable building
used can not be attached to the present school without invoking
state regulations which would require extensive and expensive
alterations to the present building, such as fireproofing and
ramps for the handicapped. Hence, portable buildings would have
to stand alone. The finished turnkey cost would be about $30
er square foot, or about $30,000 for each classroom unit used,
30,000 means about 40 cents per thousand on the tax rate. One
portable building which Brewster built in 1969 was a tax saving
at that time since vacant space could be forecast in the future
when the middle sehool opened. However, under present
circumstances with a continuing increase of some 20 to 30 pupils
each year, each portable building could only lead to another
until such time as a new school was built. At that time the
portable buildings would have only salvage value.
An addition to the present school has had the apparent
attraction of avoiding state requirements inasmuch as no state aid
would be involved. This is true only to a limited degree since
the State Department of Public Health would be involved to
approve or disapprove of additional sanitary facilities, and.3the
State Department of Public Safety would be involved regarding
the non-fireproof status. As an example, an eight classroom
addition to serge an additional 200 pupils has been priced out.
The cost would be about $45 per square foot with a total cost
of $9009000. If this were financed with a 20 year bond issue
the total cost would be once and a half, none of which would be
assumdd by the state. A payment of 90,000 Sloltigs yearly would
work out to about $1.13 per thousand of assessed valuation. This
would be in addition to another cost to renovate thk present
building to meet standards established by the State Department
of Public Safety. For example, this latter cost might be financed
on a pap-as-you-go basis in one year adding dnother dollar per
thousand to the tax rate for that one year. This addition would
give the school a total of lb classrooms for about 400 pupils.
The present support facilities (auditorium-gym, kitchen-cafeteria,
library) would serve the neer addition to a minimum degree. A
hew and larger heating plant would be required.
The fourth solution to the space problem involves a completely
new school. The following table gives comparative costs for two
sampless a school to serve 400 pupils and a school to serve
500 pupils,
.. 6 -
A school built with state reimbursement must meet specif-
ications set forth by the School Building Assistance Bureau. The
50% state reimbursement applies to the capital cost, the interest
on the bonds, architect's fees, test borings, engineering tests,
road construction on the site, improvement of the site, grading,
landscaping, playground equipment and fencing, audio-visual equip-
ment, desks, chairs, office equipment, kitchen equipment, text-
books library books, and any other items with a minimum of a two
year life expectancy.
The State Departments of Public Health, Public Safety, and
Pollution Control are involved as mentioned above to approve
sanitary arrangements, public safety and environmental cleanli-
ness respectively.
One final word about costs is necessary. Experience has
shown that school building costs are rising an average of 12% per year.
The town owns a 51 acre tract of land west of Underpass Road.
This tract was recommended by the Englehardt report as a site for
a new Brewster Elementary School, The rear, or southerly 25 acres
will meet the requirements for a new school and &re large enough
for any possible expansion in the future.
The Committee ]+as come to several conclusions.-
1.
onclusions°1. The school population will climb slowly but steadily for the
next several years. The present school will be just barely adequate
for the next school year and possibly for the school year following.
Space must be provided for September 1975 ( a year from next September. )
2. , Any short-term solution such as renting or building,..port--
ables only wastes money twice by postponing new construction at a cost
of over $200,000 for each year lost and by the very extra expenses
of renting}�:or building portables.
3. An addition to the present building of eight classrooms
would be just as expensive as building a new 16 classroom school
for 400 pupils.
4. The committee unanimously recommends to the Town Meeting
that the Town of Brewster plan to build a new elementary school to
accommodate 400 pupils on the southerly half of the town owned
Atwood tract off 6A near Underpass Road, with a target date for
occupancy of September 1975•
Respectfully submitted,
rJ GEORGE A DUNBAR
Ms ' MARY-LOUISE EDDY Chairman NNETH L HALL SR
Vice Chairman ecretary
STEPHEN T HO NS PATRICIA A RAMSAY CRAIG`A BRINKER
Member Member Tolember
�- WESLEY !J/HIRONS
Member
New Construction Costs If Start Is Made In 197'3
(Add 127 for each year beyond 1973)
1. Pupils 400 500
2. Square foot
per pupil 100 100
3. Total Square Feet
Building size 40x000 50000
4. Cost per
square foot $45 $45
5. Total boat--bonze $1,800,000 $2,250, 000
6. State Aid on 50% or 50% or
Capital part $900, 000 $1,125, 000
7. Brewster Share
of Capital part $900,000 $1,125,000
8. . 20 year bonds an- 4*
nual amortization $45,000 $56,250
9. Bond Interest
Total $945,000 $1,181,250
10. Brewster*s share 50% of $90,000 50% of $112,500
of interest per $45,000 $56,250 �
year
11. Total Annual cost
to Brewster $90,000 $112,500
#8 ;,d #10
12. Cost per thousand
of assessed val- #1.13 $1.40
uation
Notes A school to serve 500 pupils would cost 27 cents more
per thousand of assessed valuation. CThe interest amount
will decrease each year for town and state.
State pays an equal amount.
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