By Dan O’Brien
Re “Culver Crest Meeting Informative for Bond’s ‘No’ Voters, Too”
John Derevlany’s claims on school construction costs are way off. It is surprising he would make such inaccurate assertions, considering how easy it is to verify this information.
First, to address his claim that Santa Monica received a brand new Lincoln Middle School for only $16 million is debunked in the very source which he linked: http://fip.smmusd.org/lincolnmiddle.html
It clearly states that “20 existing classrooms were upgraded to the District’s new technology standards.” So, Santa Monica did not receive an entirely new middle school. I don't even think it was half of a new school… all for $16 million. This makes sense because if you do a little more research you can find out what it actually costs to build a new school in Los Angeles.
Statistics for school construction costs in 2012 are available at http://schoolplanning.epubxp.com/i/109254/16.
Looking at averages for schools in high-cost markets like L.A.: An elementary school for 574 students costs $20 million; a middle school for only 850 students costs $30 million; a high school for only 1,269 students costs $60 million. Our middle and high schools are much larger. These are construction costs only. They do not include demolition, relocation and other expenses.
It is irresponsible to suggest that our District could rebuild our campuses for the amounts Mr. Derevlany suggests — irresponsible and just plain wrong.
Next Tuesday, June 3, please vote Yes on Measure CC.
Mr. O’Brien may be contacted at beverlyanddan@icloud.com
