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Legislative policy began turning into bureaucratic reality Thursday with the first meeting of the brand-new state board that will administer the groundbreaking Build Excellent Schools Today program.
The new agency, the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Board (we promise never to use the acronym PSCCAB) likely will never become a household name for most Coloradans. But, it will be a high-profile group for school districts that need cash to build or renovate schools.
The BEST program, created by House Bill 08-1335, consolidates some existing construction money and adds about $30 million a year from the state school lands trust fund, plus voter-approved local district matches, to create a new fund.
That money will be used to pay off lease-purchase agreements that will provide the upfront construction money. The program won't divert existing tax revenues or require new state taxes. District schools, charter schools and boards of cooperative educational services can apply for the money.
The program is intended especially for smaller districts that don’t have adequate local bonding capacity for construction or renovation. Advocates estimate the program could generate up to $1 billion in five years for construction and renovation. (However, the total need statewide has been estimated at up to $5 billion.) The program is the first time state government has played a significant role in school construction.
Thursday’s inaugural meeting was primarily a get-to-know-you and orientation session for the nine members. Veteran school finance chief Vody Herrmann and Ted Hughes of the Colorado Department of Education laid out the task ahead – writing rules and regulations for awarding grants, overseeing a statewide assessment of needs and reviewing applicants for executive director, who actually will be appointed by education Commission Dwight Jones.
“The biggest task you’ll face is the statewide facilities assessment,” Hughes said, noting that the state has about 5,000 school building with some 140 million square feet of space. The assessment will be done by an outside contractor, and the about $14 million has been budgeted for that task.
“There’s a lot to do right away,” Hughes said, suggesting the board may even need to meet weekly for a while.
The board also has the task of awarding grants to districts that want to expand their kindergarten facilities. Another piece of legislation provided $34.5 million for such facilities as part of the effort to expand the number of Colorado children in full-day kindergarten. Some 46 applications totaling nearly $34 million already have been filed with CDE.
Unlike the multi-year BEST financing program, the kindergarten grants are meant to be one-time cash grants can use for construction, renting space or acquiring portable classrooms.
Herrmann noted that despite legislative interest in getting both programs started quickly, “We’re already behind the eight ball. Rather than make hurried decisions, we need to make good decisions.”
About $125 million in BEST projects can be funded in the 2008-09 fiscal year, with up to another $125 million in district-funded projects. There’s also about $29 million available for “emergency” needs.
Realistically, no construction probably will start until next summer.
The members selected as chair Mary Wickersham, an aide to state Treasurer Cary Kennedy who did some of the first comprehensive research on deteriorating schools and started to build the momentum that led to passage of the BEST bill. http://www.crumblingclassrooms.org/
Norwood Robb, board president of the Denver School of Science and Technology, was elected vice chair, and Michael Maloney was chosen as secretary. He’s facilities director of Colorado Springs District 11.
Other members are Tim Guiterman, an engineer in the Governor’s Energy Office; Greg Randall, superintendent of Plateau Valley schools; Tom Stone of Adolfson and Peterson Construction; Dave Van Sant, superintendent of the Strasburg schools; Tim White, Douglas County Schools board member, and Adele Wilson, principal architect of Slaterpaull Architects.
Qualifications for board membership are based on professional expertise and also are designed to balance representation from urban, suburban and rural school districts.
Given that virtually everyone on the board is either a theoretical recipient of BEST grants or a potential contractor, conflict-of-interest rules are an important issue. Assistant Attorney General John Sleeman briefed the board on the matter but, after members raised some interesting questions, he said he needed to do some more work on potential rules for the board.
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