OPINION: Response to Hall on school modernization", By Kathryn Reith

OPINION:  In response to a recent letter: Paul Hall is correct that the school board could hold a hearing to determine if it should use money approved by voters in 2006 to do modernization projects and instead use it to provide additional secondary classroom space in Redmond and Sammamish. The schools remaining in the second phase of the modernization program are Muir, Sandburg, Keller, Rush, Bell elementary schools, International Community School and Rose Hill Junior High. Only Rush Elementary does not serve any Kirkland students. Mr. Hall proposes that the district take money for promised projects affecting Kirkland and instead provide more space in Redmond and Sammamish.

He incorrectly assumes that LWSD could have saved millions in its modernization program by not building any new buildings. The state recommends building new if the cost of a remodel is more than 40 percent of a new building. The projected life span for a new building is considerably longer than for a remodeled older building. The district’s threshold for determining if a new building would be more cost effective generally is if the remodel costs more than 80 percent of the cost of a new building, so our hurdle is twice as high. The district commissions a study that provides a cost estimate for new building versus remodel for each project. The board of directors votes on the plan for each building after receiving this information. We will post the information on the completed projects at www.lwsd.org so taxpayers can see how these decisions were made.

Kathryn Reith, LWSD

Source:  Kirkland Reporter,  12/28/2010