Submitted by Harry Fisher, Republican member of the Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation
On June 23, 2023, the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) was presented with a proposal to renovate and expand the Old Greenwich Elementary School (OGS). I write here to explain my vote of No.
As stated by various Republican members of the BET, the Board of Education (BOE) and the OGS Building Committee (OGSBC) were trying to short circuit the budget approval process in violation of our Town Charter in order to make a June 30th deadline to apply for state funding that might return up to 10% of the $ 42 million total proposed budget to the town. The BOE and OGSBC were trying to fill a void created by the Central Middle School Building Committee (CMSBC) that has failed to progress sufficiently to meet the same deadline.
While the originally anticipated cost to renovate OGS was estimated at about $ 24 million might have been an acceptable expenditure to renovate a 120-year-old building, spending an additional $ 40 million, over a previously approved $ 2 million, is questionable. It is also apparent from the presentations to the BET, that the $40 million is not the full cost of renovation as there is an additional $ 5-7 million in capital expenditures that will be required in the next few years. This means that the cost of continued ownership of the building over the next ten years is about $ 50 million, once inflation is taken into account. When you consider that an estimated cost of an entirely new school at $ 65-70 million, it was the tipping point for me as I believe that a new school should be seriously discussed as an alternative plan. It was apparent from the presentations made at both the June 21 st BOE meeting and from the OGSBC Chair on the 23rd to the full BET, that such a discussion was not held, breaking a long-established precedent by the BOE to at least compare the cost of a new build with the cost of renovation.
What would the town get for its ten year cost of $ 50 million? The school was built in 1902, and has a number of additions and renovations that result in a hodgepodge layout, serious ADA non-compliance, substandard classroom size, no A/C, inefficient energy use, and it is susceptible to flooding at the lowest classroom level. The latter two points are important as a democrat rallying cry is energy efficiency and climate resiliency. Why is it that call does not apply to OGS?
In comparison, what would the town get for a new school at an estimated 30-40 percent more in cost as compared to the cost of a renovation? Full efficiency of space and better energy use, full ADA compliance, modern implementation of technology for the students, climate resiliency, and a school that could last another 100 years plus.
We have heard that the community wants to preserve the architecture of the current school. But that only applies to the 1902 original façade. Subsequent additions have not adhered to that architecture. And if that is such an important aspect of what the community wants, the whole charm of OGS is the entrance, which will be totally dismantled in favor of a glass entry way. Additionally, the community as a whole, not just OG parents and residents, have not had a formal opportunity to weigh in on whether, for the amount of money requested for renovation, an alternative approach might be better. Far too much of the expressed dependence of the OGSBC on community opinion has rested on emotion, not architectural, educational and financial factors.
Democrats on the BET asked that the board rely on the ‘experts’, the OGSBC and the BOE. As I stated at the BET special meeting, BET members have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers of the town to spend their scarce tax dollars carefully. I do not believe a renovation without full alternative examination of a new build is fiscally responsible. Hence my no vote.
I also wish to remind State Representative Steve Meskers, whose repeated characterization of BET
Republicans is that “we hate our kids” and are “miserable human beings”, of the adage that many of us grew up with: “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it.”
The Republican led BET fully supports responsible expenditures of operating and capital funds for Greenwich Public Schools. In fact, we approved the BOE presented operating budget without any changes for FY24. Under Republican leadership of the BET, capital expenditures for our schools have risen at a faster rate, and are at a new high, relative to that which existed under democrat leadership of the BET and in town government.
Republican leadership in Greenwich has made our town the best place to live, work, and raise a family. Republicans on the BET remain committed to continuing that tradition for years to come.