Concord School District Hosts 2 Meetings Concerning New Middle School

CONCORD, NH ? The Concord School District is hosting public forums on Tuesday and Wednesday on where to site a new middle school.

But taxpayers and parents in the SAU 8 district, as well as school board members, should, instead, take a deep and hard look as to whether now is the right time to consider the project, which has a final cost approaching $240 million, according to the latest financial figures or instead, delay it.

One forum will be in person at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at the Mill Brook School at 53 South Curtisville Road. A second meeting will be virtual via Zoom at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27. The Zoom meeting is linked here (Meeting ID: 828 0777 4305; Passcode: 281675).

Officials and board members will discuss whether a new Rundlett Middle School should be built on its current footprint in the South End or next to Broken Ground Elementary School on the Concord Heights where the school district has access to around 95 acres. The compound for the current Broken Ground Elementary and Mill Brook Primary schools is about 36 acres.

The current RMS property is a little less than 20 acres, with the building covering about 7 acres.

Both sites have pluses and minuses discussed by the board and the public. Recent forums by the Concord Greenspace Coalition heard complaints about traffic and many newcomers who do not know much about the city?s history.

One new resident on Pleasant Street at a mid-August forum said the best schools were neighborhood schools. But that boat sailed a decade ago, though they would not know. They just moved here.

A listening session in mid-August. Credit: Tony Schinella/Patch

Other residents complained about traffic around Broken Ground. But a spot review of surrounding streets during non-commute and school district travel hours found little-to-no traffic immediately around the school.

Others worried about wildlife being displaced if a new school was built on the east side. But the comments ignored the fact that only a fraction of the 95 acres would be developed ? while another 121 acres and other parcels sit idly by.

Admittedly, building a new middle school on the east side would be a major change.

If the district is going to build a new middle school, it should build one by maximizing its access to current holdings and selling off its remaining parcels to offset the expense. Building on the east side allows the district to sell prime real estate in the South End.

Also Read

• Concord Residents, Others Eye Design, Equity Of A New Middle School
• Concord's Rundlett Middle School 4th On NH School Building Aid List
• New Concord Middle School Costs? Around $176 Million, SAU 8 Docs Say
• CenterPoint Church Says No To Concord School District Land Sale
• Land Sale Negotiations For New Concord Middle School Reach An Impasse
• A Lot Of Unknowns With New Concord Middle School Project
• Concord's Middle School Could Be Sold After New Facility Built
• Concord School District To Buy Land For New Middle School
• Navigating The Sordid Past Of Concord's School District Charter

Taxpayers Were Promised No New RMS Until 2041

One of the major failings of the current school board and district is its refusal to abide by boards of the past and shelve this proposal for at least 15 more years.

During the $90.8 million elementary school consolidation project, which ran from 2004 to 2012 and shrunk the city?s nine elementary schools to five, taxpayers and the press were repeatedly told there would be no new middle school until that bonding for consolidation was paid off.

The bond, which is $3 million a year, will be fulfilled in 2041.

None of us who attended countless meetings and proposed a second, smaller middle school on the city's east side while keeping more neighborhood elementary schools believed it when we were told this. But this is what we were told.

Barbara Higgins was the only school board member who was around then. You can ask her; she can confirm it. Testifying against knocking down the Kimball Elementary School, a historic building, cost Higgins her job.

Ideally, the district and the board should shelve the idea due to this promise alone, but they probably won?t.

Middle School Price Tag More Than Doubles

One of the most astounding facts about this process is the more than doubling of the cost of a new school.

The last school project price released to the public was about a year ago and had the school priced at $176.2 million before state aid and interest on the debt.

In previous interviews, School Superintendent Kathleen Murphy called the price estimate ?crazy? and said there was a lot of work to do on the school's design. But since then, it has been full steam ahead (although considering another location like Broken Ground was a big breakthrough).

In late 2021, a new middle school had a rough estimate of between $60 and $80 million. By early 2022, the price tag for a new Rundlett was between $90 and $96 million, which was for a school for about 1,200 students, or much larger than the current school, with an unknown amount of money for a new YMCA, which was part of the proposal. But now, just two years later, it?s $176 million ? between two or three times the original cost.

This fact alone should have put the brakes on the project.

Final Cost? Probably $240M ? Or Maybe More

One of the most deceptive practices of municipal governments is they often never present the actual cost of projects, including interest, just the initial price tag of them.

While school district officials have not wanted to speak about specific financial figures for a new Rundlett because they said they did not have any, new data was provided recently when pressed.

Sticking with the price of $176.2 million, the state is expected to kick in 40 percent of the cost, or around $70.5 million. This leaves the district with about $106 million to finance.

Business Administrator Jack Dunn said $106 million across 30 years would have total interest payments of around $65.7 million ? presuming state aid and an interest rate of 4 percent with the district not refunding the bonds during the 30-year term.

So, the total final cost of the school is about $240 million (building cost, state aid, and interest).

This figure presumes Dunn can line up 4 percent municipal bonding for the project in a climate where interest rates are all over the place. While he has been able to do very good workaround financing in the past, and one could expect he would again with the project, there are no guarantees in this volatile economic climate.

Misstatements; Minor Repairs Needed

On the district?s website, it incorrectly states that Rundlett is more than 60 years old.

But only part of the school is that old. The main building was built in 1957. A decade later, a small wing was built on the north side of the building. Two other wings were added in 1990.

So, about half the school is 70 years old while the other half is between 33 and 56 years old.

While the district says, ?50 years is considered a reasonable lifespan for a building of this type,? before elementary school consolidation a decade ago, all but two of the city?s schools were more than 70 years old, without any major issues. Several other former school buildings are still in use today for private schools, programs, and state offices, with insignificant renovations.

The district is making the same talking points during elementary school consolidation to knock down structurally sound and safe school buildings, including Kimball and Conant schools.

?Rundlett is old and worn out,? the talking points state. ?The building?s layout is inefficient, and any major renovation or addition would require complete replacement of most existing systems (mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection).?

But even its documents challenge these statements.

To access SAU 8 documents about the project, visit this link: New Concord Middle School Project

According to HMFH Architects? existing conditions study, many problems with Rundlett are cosmetic in nature ? ceiling tiles and floors needing replacement, a gym floor needing refinishing, and other minor issues.

While there are serious issues, students have been attending classes at the school without any major problems since its second renovation in 1990.

The architects also said the minimum required upgrades, including a new roof, air conditioning, bathroom renovations, new flooring, door frames, and paving, would run between $4.3 million and $5.7 million.

If the district were to put off building a new middle school to 2041, as the taxpayers were promised during elementary school consolation, or even for 15 years, renovations would cost about $380,000 annually. It would be a bargain for beleaguered taxpayers and put the district in a better position for the future.

?Simply stated, the existing building is not conducive to a 21st-century middle school education,? the school?s website states.

But, in actuality, 21st-century learning is not about buildings or ?ideal learning spaces,? and many of us learned that during the coronavirus pandemic. Modern education is a myriad of programs and functionalities that no one can build or plan for due to the understanding that many students entering the district?s school system will be performing jobs that do not exist today. We don?t know how our schools will need to adapt to those challenges while spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fit them into a new middle school.

While sticking with misstatements for a moment, it is essential to remember that taxpayers were also promised during elementary school consolidation that there would be savings moving from nine schools to five. But there wasn?t. There was always a new fire to put out ? Concord Steam went under, and the district had to borrow millions to quickly convert several schools from steam to natural gas. The following year, full-day kindergarten was implemented. A couple of years later, chaos in the five elementary schools required nearly $1 million more in salaries and benefits to hire new assistant principals for all the schools.

No one would suggest the district not shift from steam to gas at the time ? it was an emergency, and winter was coming. The district put full-day K on hold for a year to deal with the emergency, and it led to school board members being ousted due to a political campaign by special interest groups who were upset that taxes were not raised by 9 percent that year.

Considering a quarter of a billion dollars for a new school in this economic climate is irresponsible.

Selling Off Assets, Redeveloping Rundlett

One of the biggest considerations for moving a new middle school to the east side is to sell the Rundlett site.

When one looks at the RMS parcel and compares it to the current building being constructed at the former employment security site, being developed by Flatley, any developer will see dollar signs as well as a potentially major increase in the city?s tax base.

The former employment security site. Source: City of Concord

The former employment security building site is about eight-tenths of an acre. More than 60 market-rate apartments are being built on the site with a building value of around $33 million.

While none of the residents of the South End want ?Cabrini-Green? projects in their backyards, a few similar-sized apartment buildings, with proper grounds and parking, right across the street from an elementary school, could quickly raise millions and millions of dollars in a land sale and potentially $100 million in new value to the taxable land holdings ? leading to more revenue for both the city and school system.

The Rundlett Middle School site. Source: City of Concord

It would also assist in dealing with an insurmountable housing crisis the city has been experiencing for at least a decade. Much larger buildings than the Flatley building exist blocks away on Pillsbury Street.

And this does not include revenue from selling off other landholdings owned by the district, which should be done to lower the cost of the principal and interest.

Merging SAUs

Another proposal that could negate the need for a new middle school is merging SAU 8 and SAU 46, the Merrimack Valley School District.

While the idea has been proposed numerous times, it came to light again recently by Penacook educator Carisa Corrow of Education for Good in late 2021 in a newspaper column she wrote.

?Penacook would fully benefit from being part of Concord. No longer would we have two different tax rates in the same city,? she wrote. ?Learners would have access to higher-quality programming ? in Penacook, we literally pay more money for less. Additionally, most MVSD residents spend big money in Concord, which only helps Concord learners get more.?

Corrow also pointed out the merger would lead to two high schools and two middle schools, allowing for diversity in programming, a different mix of students, and other benefits.

?I think this is the time we have a serious conversation about the future of our relationship. Is it even worth fighting for, or is one city, one district a better future for the Capital area?,? she said.

Corrow is correct. The proposal is worthy and should be exhaustively studied before a new middle school is built since a new school would be based on different student numbers, bus routes, programming, and other factors.

The merger could save all taxpayers in the city millions of dollars if not tens of millions.

Why would our elected officials not even consider this for us?

The Highest Property Taxes In The City?s History

Due to limited available inventory and little-to-no accessible housing being built, assessments are at some of the highest levels in the city?s history.

And, because of this and increases in property taxes each year from both the municipal side of government and school systems, property taxpayers are paying the highest property taxes in history (and, along with this, the highest rents in the city?s history, too).

Each year, the school district sets aside 5 percent of the budget for capital reserve funds. Because of this, bonding for other projects that have long been paid off was never removed from the tax bill. In nearly every other community in New Hampshire, school boards and boards of selectmen have to go to the voters and ask to raise or re-raise property taxes to pay for employee raises, capital projects, equipment, and other expenditures every year.

So, while property taxpayers have the highest property tax bills in history, they are artificially higher than they should be due to officials banking the prior bonding rates. None of the communities surrounding Concord can do this. The Merrimack Valley School District, where Penacook students attend, cannot do this. Only Concord.

Dunn estimated that the first year of bonding for a new middle school would be around 61 cents per thousand or about $215 for a $350,000 home (the current assessed average in Concord).

?This is very preliminary,? he said, hoping additional amounts raised would be lower each year after the first.

Ultimately, there are too many factors and genuine concerns about exploding costs to consider building a new middle school without more study and exhausting every opportunity to save besieged property taxpayers tens of millions of dollars first.

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