Vote No on Question 2 - Devotion Debt Exclusion 

The Train has NOT left the Station
 until you buy the ticket

While Devotion could use a renovation, this is not the time to renovate classrooms. 
    This is the time to add classrooms to Brookline.

In the May 2015 Town Election in Brookline, Question 2 asks you to let the Town borrow funds to replace and expand the Devotion School.  Please consider the Devotion Plan, the State of Classroom Space in Brookline, and the Actual Needs of Capital Spending, and read the FAQ.

The Devotion Plan

Through a lack of leadership, the resulting plan for Devotion has little to recommend it and much to be very concerned about.  The result for Devotion and Brookline would be:

• One of the 10 largest schools in the State, at over 1,000 students;
  
• The most expensive elementary school building project in the State;
  
• The renovation and upgrading of 40 existing classrooms with the addition of only 5 new ones;
  
• Current cost estimate is over $120,000,000. Final project cost is not yet knowable.
  
• There is no cap on the final project costs that is approved by this Debt Exclusion - rising costs have to be covered.
  
• Design choices result in the historically low reimbursement rate below of 23% from the State – the state reimbursed 41% for Heath and Runkle
  
• It increases taxes for 25 years.
  
• Preserving the 1913 Wing of the building and not moving the Edward Devotion house were choices that drove, conservatively, $20,000,000 in project costs. 
• Kids left onsite during construction – no matter what they say, you know it will not be good for the kids to go to school on a construction site. It conservatively adds 1 year and $8,000,000 to the project cost. The Schools should have  declared that kids will be moved off and figured it out from there.  No-one is looking at modulars in front of the High School like Belmont did, as an example.

State of Classroom Space in Brookline

To understand the magnitude of the failure of how the enrollment growth has been handled, consider the following situation:

• The Pre-K BEEPS classrooms have been moved out of the schools and into rented spaces;
  
• Baker School is hoping to get temporary, modular classrooms to handle pending enrollment growth;
  
• Construction on Lawrence School to add 4 classrooms will finish this summer, 1 year late and 70% over budget;
  
• Devotion School 7th and 8th graders are going to the Old Lincoln School in Fall 2015, not because of construction but because Devotion is out of space;
  
• Pierce School is being expanded into rented commercial space adjacent to the school;
  
• Belatedly, the Schools started a study in late 2014  to identify possible private land for a K-8 elementary project, either new or expanded;
  
• A concept study for an updated Brookline High School to handle the projected extra 800 kids by 2024 is wrapping up now. 
• No Town plan contemplates handling enrollment from Hancock Village.   

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Where Capital Is Needed

The Town needs classrooms for kids. If we don't build classrooms:

• Old Lincoln  School (OLS) will stay in use forever as a school because it has 20+ classrooms. 
  
• Classroom sizes may go up beyond 25 kids per classroom. 
  
• We won't have space to preserve non-resident programs like METCO and Materials Fees.

Instead of spending our limited dollars on renovating Devotion, the K-8 and High School are where we need to spend. Compare the costs of the next projects with what the Town has planned. Look at the Town's 2016-2020 CIP Budget Memo from the Town Administrator and compare that with likely costs.

Brookline High School

• At per-square-foot costs of Devotion, the High School could be $250,000,000 – a quarter of a billion dollars.
  
• If only new space is added in adjacent buildings, the cost might get down to $100,000,000.
  
• The High School was renovated in 1995 to handle 2200 kids - investments for renovations should last more then 20 years. Only new space should be added to handle new enrollment. 
• There is plenty of space around BHS to add  more classrooms - Tappan Gym, Unified Arts, the adjacent parking spaces; 
• What has the Town budgeted:

• “This Preliminary CIP allocates up to $35.1 million in funding in FY19 for a portion of a Brookline High School (BHS)”
  
• Paying for it:  hoped for MSBA partnership and a 2019 Debt Exclusion:
  

• “the remainder of the Town’s costs for this project (net of MSBA funding) would also have to be funded via a Debt Exclusion Override.”

New K-8 Elementary School

• Rough estimates for a new 3 section, 27 classroom K-8 school are between $60,000,000-$70,000,000
  
• That includes $10,000,000 to acquire land through eminent domain.
  
• What has the Town budgeted for? The 2016 Capital Improvement Plan Overview is incredibly blunt:
  
  “It should also be clearly stated that no CIP funding capacity exists for future major elementary school project(s), whether it be an expansion at an existing elementary school or the construction of an additional K-8 school”

• So that means another Debt Exclusion before 2020.