BY JENN McDOWELL

Auburn and Candia school boards say a new joint joint middle school will cost taxpayers $14.8 million, a figure residents in both towns have been waiting for as School District Meetings approach.

In March, voters in Candia will be asked to approve a tuition agreement for the school,  which will include their contributions to building and operating costs. Just a few days later, Auburn voters will weigh in on obtaining a general obligation bond for their portion of the costs.

If the tuition agreement fails in Candia, the warrant article calling for a general obligation bond will be removed from Auburn’s school district warrant.

The two towns have hosted several public forums to get input on the site and building plans for the proposed 102,000- square-foot school as well as the tuition agreement. The latest forum will focus on the financial projections on Thursday, Oct. 18, at Auburn Village School.

Dan Bisson, president of Team Design Inc., said there are great engineers behind the building construction, which will include cost-saving efficiencies, a high school-sized gymnasium and sports fields and various common spaces for community use.

Construction costs

The total cost estimate comes to a little over $25.7 million, which includes all the building and site costs, water and sewer installation, and fire protection.

Improvements to the 58-acre site are estimated at about $5.4 million. Building cost projections were calculated using the state’s average figure of $145 per square foot, and came out to just under $14.8 million.

“Soft costs,” which include things such as consultant’s fees, the school’s furnishings and other additional fees, come to just over $4 million.

An additional $745,000 was calculated into the estimates to account for the upfront costs of sustainablity construction aid, which would be rebated, minus $120,000 in administration costs, back to the district.

State construction aid, another rebate factored into the bottom line, amounts to almost $10.3 million.

When all is said and done, the total cost to taxpayers of building the school is estimated at a little over $14.8 million.

According to the proposed tuition agreement with Candia, which states the cost percentages for the two towns, based on this year’s average daily membership in both schools, Candia will pay 38 percent of that figure and Auburn will pay 62 percent.

This brings Candia’s contribution to just over $5.8 million to be paid out over the course of the 20-year tuition agreement and Auburn’s portion to about $8.9 million.

Operating costs

SAU 15 Superintendant Phil Littlefield and Business Administrator Karen Lessard calculated the projected operating costs, totaling just over $3.6 million per year.

Using the 38-62 percent cost division used for the construction costs, Candia will spend an estimated $1.4 million per year and Auburn $2.2 million to run the school.

Lessard pointed out that these figures are only estimations, and that some of the costs would change by 2010. She also pointed out that the average daily membership of both schools would likely fluctuate between now and then.

Some of the factors that went into the operating costs include estimated salaries, student population and class size, additional educational opportunities, and energy-saving measures built into the plans.

“There are a lot of unknowns. This does not represent a budget for the new school,” said Littlefield. “If this school becomes a reality, we’re going to have to recode some of our line items.”

He pointed out that the costs were calculated using the current square foot figure for Auburn Village School and multiplying it to account for the larger facility in the works. Costs associated with educational materials were also based on Auburn Village per student expenditures.

Enrollment for the new school was calculated using current combined number of students in the schools and moving the students up to the grade levels they will be in for the 2010–11 school year.

He added that they expect private schoolers to move to the “state of the art educational facility.”
Projected class sizes for the middle school and the remaining grades at both Auburn Village and Henry Moore were included in the study. For sixth grade, the teacher-student ratio is estimated at 1:21.5; for seventh, 1:21.3; and for eighth grade, 1:23.8.

School Board members who attended, including Auburn member Bob Hayes,  were pleased to see these estimates produced.

Hayes said the school district had done its “due diligence” in calculating the costs. “It isn’t a budget, but it’s the best predictor we’ve got,” he said, adding that tax impact studies still needed to be presented to the public.

The next steps

In November, both school boards will vote on the tuition agreement, and it will then go to the state Department of Education for approval.

With both boards working so closely on the plans, said Auburn School Board member Elaine Hobbs, there is no reason to assume that the agreement would not pass. Candia’s board will vote first.

“If there’s not agreement, this whole thing is dead in the water,” said Hobbs. “I would hope that at a point, all the things within the contract have been gone over with the board and they’re comfortable with it. I don’t have any indication that this would not pass by both boards.”

Auburn School Board Vice Chairman Kathleen Porter agreed, but said the plans still need to pass with voters in March. Porter said she is not yet sure whether the two boards would consider coming up with a new plan to submit to voters again next year if Candia does not pass the tuition agreement. “We have not discussed that as a board yet,” she said.

The two school boards will host more public forums in the next couple weeks, the next one at the Moore School on Thursday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m., to go through the updated construction plans, tuition agreement, and the building and operating costs.

Kimberly Smith of Auburn’s State of Our School Committee said they are trying to inform residents in both towns of the importance of voting on the issue.

“People are skeptical. People always want to get as much information as they can,” Smith said. “We want you to vote yes or no because you have information.”