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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1956-03-01-SC Proposal for Franklin School Addition.pdf 1 PROPOSAL FOR FRANKLIN SCHOOL ADDITION INTRODUCTION The Lexington School Committee will present an article at the Annual Town Meeting in March 1956, requesting that the Town appoint a committee to supervise the construction of an addition to the Franklin School, that sufficient funds be voted, and that the committee consist of the 1956 School Committee. Recommendations of the Elementary School Facilities Committee The report of the Elementary School Facilities Committee, in 1953, named four possible building projects: An addition to the Fiske School; a new school on School Street; one at Maple and Lowell Streets; and an addition to the Franklin School. Of these, the Fiske addition and the Maria Hastings are now in operation; the Harrington School at Maple and Lowell Streets will be ready in the fall of 1956, and the Franklin Addition is planned for 1957. While the Elementary School Facilities Committee determined its enroll- ment projections by means of a formula which included a growth factor, it must be noted that the official school census of October 1955 showed 189 more elementary pupils enrolled than predicted by the Elementary School Facilities Committee in 1953. In a period of rapid growth accurate estimates are extremely difficult to make. To date all predictions have been low. Need for Addition to Franklin School Present enrollment at Franklin School is 238. However, there are now 228 children in the area which could be most logically served by the Franklin School, who are transported to Hancock and Maria Hastings. In the Maria Hastings area school population is increasing so rapidly that this school district must be reduced in size in 1956 and each year thereafter as long as population growth continues. Thus, more capacity is needed at Franklin both to serve its own area and to relieve other areas. In addition, the .expansion of certain real estate projects at the former Minute Man Golf Club and the Lexington Highlands area will further increase Franklin enrollment. Situation in Other Areas Maria Hastings is already overcrowded with 518 children compared to its ideal capacity of 450. There are no empty rooms anywhere in the elementary schools. The 97 existing elementary rooms include seven which are substandard. These seven include various basement and third-floor rooms as well as converted cafeteria space. Whereas 28 children per room is considered the "ideal" number, the elementary school system as 23 rooms with 34 children or more, of which five have 39 or more. 2. When Harrington School Opens In September of 1956 the Harrington School at Maple and Lowell Streets will open with 16 rooms. At an earlier date it was hoped that this would leave us with five "extra" rooms which would permit elimination of some sub- standard rooms and some of the overcrowding elsewhere, plus some spare capacity for ,the expected population growth in the area. The Harrington School will provide for the pupils from the Sun Valley development and for pupils who can no longer be accommodated at Fiske and Adams Schools. It now appears that the "extra" rooms to serve all these purposes will be reduced to three or less. Total Elementary School Needs in 1957 Present elementary school population is 2814. The estimate for 1957 is 3175. At 28 children per room the requirement will be for 113 rooms. On completion of the Harrington School we will have 106 standard rooms. With the planned addition to Franklin we will have 116. In considering the use of available classroom space, we need to keep in mind the following: 1. A number of the existing rooms in the system are too small to carry their proportionate share of the load; 2. It is not possible to assign exactly the "ideal" number of children to every available room because tIle children are not distributed evenly either in grades or in geographical areas. To divide them equally among all the rooms would require more than one grade in a number of rooms. This is not feasible; 3. While we have mentioned real estate developments in certain areas, we have considered in our estimates only those areas presently in active development. We are aware that a number of other large areas may be opened. Thus, the actual elementary school population in 1957 could be well above our estimates. All of this adds up to the fact that unless the Franklin addition is completed by 1957 we will have double sessions in one or two school districts. Why Not Double Sessions? Obviously the double dession program reduces the length of the school day for the children involved. It should be clearly understood that the boys and girls compelled to be on double sessions will suffer considerably in the instructional program because of the limited amount of time made available to them. There is no way of overcoming this situation. In addition, double sessions create inconvenience. Recent double session experiences at Fiske and Maria Hastings, while brief, emphasized to parents, children and teachers the undesirable features. Perhaps the townspeople would put up with the inconvenience if it could be shown that this would save an appreciable sum in taxes. 3. Actually the savings in taxes would be very small, In the first place, the cost of paying for the schools we build is only about one-quarter as much as the cost of paying for teachers and other operating costs. Double sessions do not eliminate the need for additional teachers, administrative personnel and many types of supplies. In addition, double sessions prevent adequate maintenance and proper daily housekeeping of school property, all of which leads to greater expense both currently and later on. Besides this, with the town continuing to grow, double sessions would only defer construction for a very brief period. Meanwhile education would suffer. Description of Proposed Addition The preliminary plans have been drawn up by the firm of Kilham, Hopkins, Greeley and Brodie, the architects for the original Franklin building. The proposed addition will contain eight regular-sized classrooms and two kindergarten rooms. The latter will be used as regular classrooms until the town decides to use them as kindergartens. In addition to the classrooms, there will be an all-purpose room (combination gymnasium-auditorium) with a stage and movable seating facilities for about 500 people. The present large room will be converted into a cafeteria and added to it will be a kitchen and serving area. There will also be a small health room and an adequate school library. The outside play area will be enlarged and improved. The town has already acquired the additional land required for this purpose. Costs Based on the estimates of the architect, the entire cost of the school including all furnishings, architect's fee and grading, will be as follows: General Contract, including new construction, grading and all alterations to old building $430,000. Architect's Fees 29,015. Equipment 31,000. Clerk of the Works 5,000. Contingencies 20,000. Total Estimate $515,015. Less Approximate State Aid 171,671. Net (Approximate) Cost $343,344. Financing and Effect on Tax Rate The School Committee will recommend the following method of financing the Franklin Addition: To Be Raised in 1956 $ 30,015. Bond Issue - 20 years @ 2.5% 485,000. Yearly payments On Principal - by Lexington 24,250 Less State Bldg. Assistance 8,083. Net principal payments $16,167. Initial interest payment - decreasing yearly 12,125. Net first-year payment by Lexington $28,292. - 4. Based on estimated property valuation of $55,000,00() in 1957 the financing cost of $28,292 for the first year will be 51¢ on the tax rate. Thereafter the annual effect on the- tax rate will decline as principal payments reduce interest cost and higher valuations spread the remaining costs over a larger tax base. Thus, by the twentieth year, even if we assume Lexington grows only half as fast as the recent rate, the annual cost will have declined to about 19¢ on the tax rate. Conclusion There is little chance that the estimates regarding the number of children in the Franklin area or in the entire elementary system are too high. They are based simply upon the children now in the schools, plus those now living in town of pre-school age,with an allowance factor for anticipated growth. The Lexington School Committee has carefully followed from month to month the growth of the school population and has been alert to the number of classrooms available to accommodate the school population on all levels. It has been constantly realized that the building program as outlined has barely managed to keep pace with the growth and that it has not permitted reduction in class size, elimination of substandard rooms nor the expansion of the educational program. It is therefore of great concern to the School Committee that the addition to the Franklin School be ready in 1957 when it will be needed. It should perhaps be pointed out that for several years it has been the policy of the School Committee and the Capital Expenditures Committee to maintain plans for five years ahead. The Franklin Addition has been an integral part of these plans. As listed in the 1955 report of the Capital Expenditures Committee, the School Department's five-year plans were as follows (years shown are those in which the Town Meeting would be asked to vote the appropriation) : 1955 Completion of High School Auditorium and Shops, plus 16 classrooms 1956 Addition to Franklin School 1957 Renovation of Junior High School 1958 New Junior High School 1959 New Elementary School In the light of Lexington's continuing rapid growth and increasing school enrollment, it is apparent that any postponement of construction will merely intensify problems and increase costs in the future. Lexington School Committee Mildred B. Marek, Chairman George P. Wadsworth Richard P. Cromwell W. Neil Chapman Edward T. Martin, Secretary March 1,1956 5. STATISTICAL DATA - LEXINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT Conservative Prediction Revised Possible Year (E. S. F. C. ) Actual Estimates (1954) Enrollment 1953 2325 2336 1954 2400 2776 1955 2625 2814 1956 2750 2932 3M50 1957 2875 3175 3200 1958 3275 3290 3415 1959 3250 3450 3500 Note: The above figures indicate that in spite of constant census-taking and the use of formerly accepted formulae, the actual enrollment figures exceed the estimated. Accurate predictions are very difficult in a rapidly-growing community prir.arily bacaase of the uncertainty of the exact time at which real estate dv4elopments will begin and the rate at which they will proceed. INVENTORY OF ELEMENTARYSCHOO_L CLASSROOMS Recommended Capacity rd of ` Standar Total School Roomsd Roomsrd of Stand Standad �ooms „��' Enrollment Adams 16 1 17 450 489 Fiske 19 1 20 550 578 Franklin 8 0 8 225 235 Hancock 8 3 11 225 ;52 Hastings 16 0 16 450 502 Munroe 10 1 11 290) 281 Parker 13 1 14 365 401 ' Total 90 7 97 2555 2858 Harrington 16 0 16 450 Total standard rooms in 1956 106 CORRELATION Capacity of standard classrooms 1956 (28 per room) 2968 Estimated enrollment 1956 (Recent estimate) 3050 1957 " n ) 320 Classrooms neocad 1957 (28 per room) 115 FRANKLIN DISTRICT ENROLL ENT Children attending Franklin at present 238 Children who would logically attend Franklin, but who now attend Hancock (94) and Maria Hastincs (134) because there is no room for them at Frnrklin 223 Children now living in the Franklin School district who now attend elementary school 466 Classrooms needed (28 per room) 16 Classrooms available after 10 room addition 18