My cost estimates for new Wise Co. High Schools

[imported_VHSLhelper]

warning/disclaimer : Kids - DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME !!!

The following calculations were performed by a highly trained, professional stunt mathematician.... DO NOT ATTEMPT - serious brain injury may occur.

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Here's info I found from LAST March on the 2 new high schools for Page Co. & Luray :

cost - $170 / sq. foot x 123,000+ = $21 mil for each 750 student building.

Site work - $7 M (total), + $2.5 M contingency, $3 M for furn., equip. & tech. stuff and $1.3 M for the Arch/Eng. fees for a total of $56 Mil. (This works out to about $7 Mil. extra per school. They'll be built on existing property adjacent to the current high schools, so a lot of the infrastructure is already nearby, similiar to 1 of the Wise Co. plans, so remember that number - $7 Mil. extra each.)

Both include plans to add another wing later on. It'll cost about $3 Mil for the aux. gym & 6 classrooms, which would push the student count up to near 900.

Their state loan came in at 4%.

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Roanoke is doing a new building for William Fleming.

The original plan was 1,450 students - 283,000 sq. ft. for $45 million ($160 per sq. ft.)
Last Fall, it changed to 1,750 students - 302,000 sq. ft. for $57 million ($188 per sq. ft.)
( http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/78689 )

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Alleghany Co. is talking about a $45M school or 1,100 students - their "talking" price a few weeks ago was $225 per sq. ft. ( http://www.alleghanyhighlands.com/Lo...News.index.htm )

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Clarke Co., which is still tied up on where to put it, was last told $240 / sq. foot (137K sq. ft = $33 Mil, + 7 M for the other stuff = $40 Mil) for an 800 student building.
(Again, that $7 Mil. number pops up.)

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Found an article from Jan. that says Va. requires a min. of 156 sq. ft. per HS student.
The avg. cost psf is about $184, or about $28,637 per student.
( http://www.winchesterstar.com/TheWin.../Area_more.asp )

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So, If the 6 schools have around 2000 kids in 9-12 (based on these VHSL numbers :
St. Paul-150, Coeburn-391, [550 combined], Pound-268, Kelly-506, [775 combined], PV-489, Appy-214, [700 combined] ), then 2000 @ $28,637 each = $57.3 mil. This is MINIMUM space (no aux. gym, etc.) and avg. price for construction ONLY - no infrastructure, land, furnishings, fees, etc. are included. (VDOT has already told Loudoun Co. that any road work [widening, straightening, turning lanes] associated with a new school has to be paid for by the county [I doubt VDOT could even do it, the way they're going now, 6-year plans, and all that].)

And 1 other thing - looks like Coe/SP is a solid A, PV/Appy would prob. be A, and Pound/Kelly could be either the largest A or the smallest AA.

If Coe/SP/Pound/Kelly combined, it could be the 2nd largest HS this side of Roanoke, a tad smaller than Pulaski and similar to B'burg & Magna Vista (which now holds students from 3 former schools : Drewry Mason, G.W. Carver & Laurel Park).

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overview - min. space (156 sq. ft. per student), avg. cost ($184 per sf = $28,637 per student)

x students

550 - $15.75 mil. - Coe/SP - 4 grades
700 - $20.05 mil. - PV/Appy - 4 grades
775 - $22.19 mil. - JJK/Pound - 4 grades

1325 - $37.95 mil. - Coe/SP/JJK/Pound - 4 grades

(NOTE : Page Co. is planning a 750 student bldg. for $21 Mil., so this looks do-able)

+ about $7 Mil. misc. per school/site

guestimate : $79 Mil. total for 3 new 9-12 schools ($72 Mil. for 2)


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HOWEVER, if costs are similar to Alleghany's $225 per sq. ft., then :

min. space (156 sq. ft. per student) @ $225 per sf = $35,100 per student

x students

550 - $19.31 mil. - Coe/SP - 4 grades
700 - $24.57 mil. - PV/Appy - 4 grades
775 - $27.20 mil. - JJK/Pound - 4 grades

1325 - $46.51 mil. - Coe/SP/JJK/Pound - 4 grades

guestimate : $92 Mil. for 3 new 9-12 schools ($85 Mil. for 2)

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So, looks like "building new" w/min. space should cost somewhere in the $72-92 Mil. range.

(NOTES: adding room for about 600 8th graders would increase the total by about $17.2 Mil ;
I don't think the numbers above include athletic facilities, like a new stadium or field house)

You ever been in one of these schools?

[imported_VHSLhelper]

nope - none of those mentioned are even started yet - that's why I used them as examples - current prices. Any that are open now were bid out at least 3-4 years ago, before Fla., Texas & La. hurricanes drove up construction prices.

.

[plantsman]

Good info. I think that is worthy of sharing with the Coalfield, even through a letter to the editor. This will be the first post on this forum that I've ever printed - want to keep this on hand.

[buck73]

Most of the schools in the county are for grades 8-12. Therefore the high schools would have to be for grades 8-12 because the elementary schools wouldn't have enough room to hold the extra students (not unless they remodel all 6 elementary schools)

If we are gonna combine , 2 schools are plenty. Might as well do it up right. One in PV and one between Wise and Pound. Send part of the kids that live near Guest River to the PV school and balance the numbers. And might as well set it up so you have to go to school in the school district in Wise County you live in. And since Flanary thinks the schools are the big problem with jobs, might as well get the severance tax back where it belongs. If they can't get anything from it, at least spend it where it comes from.

[greencrest1272]

I think the long-term transportaion costs involved with consolodation should be an added factor in this. Fuel prices are not going down.

[R0cketer]

Still think you're best to go to 3 schools. You keep them small, and you give room for growth if it happens. Your cost for 3 was only slightly (when dealing with millions) more than the cost for 2, and you would keep them closer, reduce transportation costs, etc.

[imported_VHSLhelper]

b73 - we've tossed that back & forth a little on another thread already, which is why I provided the 2 options
( see http://www.hostboard.com/LDPforum/ub...65&fpart=1 )

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Going with 3 schools keeps them kinda similar in size - they'll basically be competitive with the others. The way I combined them into 2 could leave the "A" kids feeling "disadvantaged" to the kids at the bigger school, which would prob. offer more things.

I can think of lots of "wild-cards" on unseen costs -
transportation, utilities, number of "support" employees (office staff/custodians/security), lots of insurance (buses, kids, buildings), extracurricular costs (buses/drivers to away contests), equipment/uniforms, stadiums/fields. Will a new AA school add sports, like soccer?

What about any recovery costs from the former school buildings? Will you have to pay to have them torn down? Will they be given to the community? Will they be sold to a private interest?

It's all very mind-boggling.

[NotSoSilentBob]

So what you're saying is that for the same $109 million, the county could have three nice new schools?