State Moratorium Could Torpedo
$10M School Repair Project
By Sandy Vondrasek Cooch

As Randolph Union High School officials prepare for a vote later this spring on a $10-million school repair bond issue, they are keeping a wary eye on Montpelier, where legislators are lining up to support a moratorium on state funding for school construction.

And, while the RUHS/RTCC building committee finalizes its proposal for a new roof and other substantial repairs, the school’s maintenance staff has been working overtime to divert thousands of gallons of melting snow off the RUHS roof, before more of it leaks into the school. (See other article.)

A moratorium could have expensive consequences for RUHS.

School officials had been banking on 30% reimbursement from the state for work done in RUHS and up to 50% reimbursement in the Randolph Technical Career Center. It was understood that voters in Randolph, Brookfield, and Braintree would be asked to bond for the entire $10 million, because of a delay in reimbursements.

However, due to high demands and a limited capital fund, the state is several years in arrears in fulfilling commitments to pay its share of school construction costs. It is this $100-million backlog that has legislators eyeing a moratorium.

OSSU Supt. Brent Kay said this week that RUHS officials have been aware for several years that a moratorium was likely, and had been advised by the state to make sure that a bond issue was voted by July 1, which had been cited as a likely deadline.

A bill passed by the Vermont House earlier this month, however, moved that deadline forward to March 7 of this year, meaning that RUHS would have missed the deadline, if the measure gains full approval.

That action, Supt. Kay observed, "came as a total surprise to us."

"I know why they are doing it, but at the same time, it’s probably not fair to districts that have been doing a lot of work to get ready for the deadline," he said.

Rep. Patsy French this week noted that the House bill included exceptions, that would allow applications for projects that address health and safety issues, emergency problems, or "extend the useful life of the building, but which do not make extensive additions or alterations to existing school facilities."

At Braintree Town Meeting, Rep. Jim Hutchinson said he was "confident" that the RUHS project, which is for repairs rather than for new construction, would qualify under these exceptions.

Rep. French this week wasn’t so definite: The RUHS/RTCC project, she said "might fall under the exceptions."

The House bill is now before the Senate. Orange County Sen. Mark MacDonald said yesterday that his chamber is "struggling" with the issue and he doesn’t know how it will be resolved.

He advised that Randolph "do a vote on the merits" of the proposal, in the hopes that state reimbursement will be available.

However, MacDonald conceded it would not be prudent to proceed to borrow funds, without any guarantee of state support.

RUHS Principal John Holmes said this week that he hopes to get a clearer sense of the funding situation April 25, when he and the building committee meet with Cathy Hilgendorf of the Dept. of Education.

The April 25 date was chosen "in hopes that by then the Senate will have given some indication" of how it stands on the moratorium issue, Holmes said.

Meanwhile, the building committee continues to plow ahead on planning for the $10-million project and a bond vote, though a date has not yet been set for the latter. The committee will meet April 4 to prepare a final list of architects to interview, Holmes noted this week.

New Estimate

Committee member Andy Becker noted at the March 14 RUHS board meeting that a needed elevator replacement can be done for $70,000 to $80,000 (as opposed to the $1 million first estimated by a contractor). According to meeting minutes, Becker wondered whether this could be done over the summer, using money from the building maintenance fund, as it is a safety issue.

However, a decision on the elevator will have to wait until an electrical needs study is complete.

This week, Supt. Kay commented that the state currently has no way to prioritize requests from schools, and that applications for funding have been accepted in the past, in what amounts to a first-come, first-serve basis.

The adoption of a uniform "facility assessment system," Kay suggested, would allow the state "to compare needs and then the state could allocate the resources it has most effectively."

"Unfortunately, the current action (the proposed moratorium) is probably a reaction to the fact that they don’t have money," he said.