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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE REPORT TO THE NOVEMBER 2013 STM Article 4: Appropriate For Modular Funds Funding Committee Requested Source Recommendation Classrooms at the High School $7,700,000 GF Cash Approve (9 -0) GF Debt This article is a request from the Lexington Public Schools (LPS) to appropriate funds and approve bor- rowing for the purpose of adding modular classrooms and additional educational space at the Lexington High School. Enrollment at the high school has increased beyond expectations and now surpasses the current design capacity of 1,842 students. The high school FY2014 enrollment (as of September 3, 2013) was 2,030 stu- dents. Enrollment is projected to increase to about 2,154 students in FY2016, which is 17% above the current design capacity. The number of special needs students in the school system has also increased markedly, especially as in -house programs have enabled students (who had been attending more costly out -of- district programs) to receive services within the LPS system. The overcrowding problem at the high school has been compounded by the need to repurpose general education classrooms as space re- quirements have changed. Since the last major renovation project was completed more than ten years ago, approximately 12 general- education classrooms at the high school have been converted to administrative, special education, or special program uses. The trend of educating special needs students in the LPS system rather than in outside placements is con- tinuing. At present there are students in two Intensive Learning Programs (ILPs) located at the Clarke and Diamond Middle Schools who will be in the high school age cohort starting next school year. Therefore, the School Department plans on expanding the in -house ILPs to the high school to serve these students and future students through age 22 who require ILP services (as required by state law). These high school programs will function as extensions of the Clarke- and Diamond -based programs. The plan is to install two groups of modular units in the courtyard spaces adjacent to or between existing buildings. The units would comprise 12 general education classrooms as well as groups of 5 and 7 educa- tional spaces for, respectively, the extensions of the Clarke- and Diamond -based ILPs. The units have an expected life of 10 years and would act as a bridge to accommodate the educational needs of students un- til the high school can be renovated or replaced as discussed in the Lexington capital projects master planning effort. The installation of the modular units would be done in two phases. The first and larger phase would be done in the summer of 2014, and the second and smaller phase in the summer of 2015. Preliminary cost estimates indicate that modular units are less expensive than new construction; in Sep- tember, per square foot costs were estimated at approximately $261 /sq. ft. while new construction would be $350- $375/sq. ft. As a frame of reference, the cost of construction of the new Estabrook School is in the range of $450 /sq. ft. In October of 2013 a revised estimate of construction costs made using 90 %- complete construction doc- uments was released. A revised financing plan was then prepared by Town officials that takes into ac- count the total cost of both phases, including both construction and non - construction costs such as Furni- ture, Fixtures and Equipment (FF &E), wages and benefits for the owner's representatives, and contingen- cies. Based on the new outlines of the total program, the requested appropriation will be in the amount of $7,700,000. The project is proposed to be financed by non - exempt borrowing with portions of the debt service in fis- cal years 2015, 2016, and 2017 to be paid using approximately $2,812,000 from the Debt Service /Capital Projects /Building Renewal Stabilization Fund. This plan assumes approval of the appropriation of ap- proximately $1,800,000 into that Stabilization Fund as proposed under Article 3 of this Special Town Meeting. This financing plan smooths out the year -to -year increases in the amounts of tax levy funds needed for the non - exempt debt service budget including the debt service for previously approved pro- jects, debt service on unspecified new capital projects per typical capital budgets, and the debt service on El