The 12th high school to be built in Prince William County will be the most expensive to date. Representatives of Prince William County Schools say the overall cost increase is due to inflation, not expensive design; but some citizens are doubtful.
The newest Prince William High School, which is scheduled to open in fall of 2016, will cost $110,943,000. This includes an indoor pool, which is estimated at $10.5 million.
This brings costs for the 12th high school almost $41 million above costs for Patriot High School, which was built for $72* million, and opened in fall of 2011.
Irene Cromer, supervisor of the Community Relations Office for Prince William County Schools, said increased costs are due to the increased cost of construction as the economy recovers.
“Costs rise for a variety of reasons. An inflation factor is included in costs of new schools. Other factors include design, easements, site adaptation and the economy. We bid Patriot High School when the economy was in a slump. The market environment is not comparable between the two schools,” Cromer said.
In fact, according to Cromer, the CIP projected cost for Patriot High School was $84,110,000, but with the economic conditions they were able to build the school below budget.
However, the cost for the 12th high school has risen by $3,000 since last year’s CIP projection, which Cromer also attributes to “inflation in the construction industry.”
Citizen blogger Kim Simons wrote a data-driven opinion piece on her Prince William County Schools Reform Blog, asking Prince William County Schools to be more frugal by using older architectural designs such as those used to construct Battlefield and Freedom high schools.
“Loudoun County has used the same design for new high schools since 1999. It’s been adapted for each site and revised as needed when state requirements for new school construction have changed, but it’s the same basic design,” wrote Simons.
Simons wrote that the lowest bid for Loudoun's sixth high school that is scheduled to open in 2014 came in just above $63.5 million. She surmised that PWCS can save money by electing a similar design.
“In Prince William we build schools for 2053 students – 253 more than this school in Loudoun. Ignoring site issues, if we used Loudoun’s design to house 2,053 students, we’d be looking at construction costs of $73 million; $78 million if you assume 4 percent inflation per year with a fall of 2016 opening date,” wrote Simons.
While Loudoun County spends less on construction of their schools, they have lower class sizes and Promethean Boards in every classroom.
However, Patriot High School won architectural awards, including the Outstanding Design – Libraries/Media Centers from American School & University magazine. It also met guidelines proposed by the U.S. Green Building Council and adheres to U.S. Green Building Council.
The 12th high school would follow the same green recommendations, and according to Cromer save the taxpayers money in the process.
“PWCS is committed to environmental responsibility in all projects, which can also result in significant financial savings,” said Cromer. “This can make project elements more cost-effective in the long and short term.”
U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines include utilizing recycled material or material that could be recycled, limiting distance for delivery to construction site and incorporating plenty of glass to allow for natural light, which should decreases energy costs.
Pleasing architectural elements may also affect how students learn, according to studies that link design to student achievement.
However, many citizens, like Simons, believe green schools should only be utilized if they are also cost effective, and Simons believes there is insufficient data to prove they are.
“In my opinion, installing more expensive materials simply because they meet an external organization's definition of 'green' is not justification enough to use more expensive materials. Recycled materials should only be used if they are approximately the same cost as non-recycled materials and have the same life expectancy," Simons wrote in response to follow up questions about her article.
While Simons realizes the difference between spending annual funds on needs such as reducing class sizes (an interest of many citizens) and issuing bonds to pay for new construction, she remains concerned about the long-term impact of accruing debt.
“Rising debt service costs will take away an increasing amount of money available to the school division for school operations,” Simons said.
*We had previously listed the cost of Patriot as $70 million until we found a more accurate number.
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