Waddell Elementary creates serious challenges for city
By Yujia Song
The daunting cost of replacing Lexington’s only elementary school has prompted the city council to contemplate two radical possibilities: stop taking tuition-paying students from outside the city, or revert to town status and dissolve the school system. If the city loses the school system, it could have broad implications for not only the students and teachers but employers and merchants as well.
Built in the 1920s, Waddell has neither disability accessible features
or a sprinkler system. The school still complies with today’s building
codes but the facilities are not up-to-date, said school board chair
Frank Friedman.
“School buildings typically have a lifespan of 50 years,” Friedman said.
Waddell has been around for over 80 years.
The process began in September 2004 when outside architects conducted a
facilities study. It showed the declining condition of the inside
of the building as a result of erosion. Visible signs of deterioration
included cracks in the walls. The architects estimated it would cost
$6.4 million to build a new school. Some are skeptical of this
estimate.
Superintendent Dan Lyons thinks the project could rise to $10 million by
the time the new school is built while City Manager Jon Ellestad thinks
the cost would be higher.
“My guess is that it will at least double,” said Ellestad. "Together
with renovation of the middle school, the whole project could cost $15
million in five years.”
One option to lower the costs is to build a smaller school, which admits
students from the city of Lexington only. Ellestad suggested that the
tuition-paying students, who constitute almost 25 percent of the
school’s student body, can go to schools in the county instead. Of 287
students currently enrolled at Waddell, 74 are from the
county.
Estimated costs for a downsized school would still amount to $5.2
million. Even though the families of county students do not pay city
taxes, tuition and state subsidies for county students currently amounts
to $500,000 a year.
City council member Jack Page questioned the amount of money that
tuition-paying students can contribute to the new school. It seems
better to have the students since they pay for the operating cost, he
said. But on the downside, they do not cover the cost of construction.
Lyons also fears alienating county employees and shoppers. Rejecting
tuition-paying students might deter potential employees from taking jobs
in the city, said Lyons. Fewer county students might also mean fewer
county dollars. As county residents move in search of a quality
education for their children, their spending dollars would move with
them.
"People who work in the city spend money in the city and in a roundabout
way contribute to the economy," said Lyons.
The city’s second option would be to revert to town status.
“Towns don’t have their own school systems,” Ellestad said. “The problem
of financing the new school will just go to the county,” if Lexington
chose town status.
But the financial burden on the city would not simply disappear. Even if
Rockbridge County takes over the schools, the county might still build a
new elementary school meaning Lexington residents would still have to
pay taxes to both the county and the town, Lyons said.
The city council faced the issue of reverting to
town status 20 years ago, while dealing with school system problems, noted council member Jim Gianniny.
The council chose to keep its city status.
Today, would the people of Lexington hand over their school system to
the county?
“City residents want control over the schools,” said Joseph Grasso,
former president of the Parent Teacher Association of Waddell
Elementary. “Economically it may not be very efficient, but politically,
it’s what they want.”
However, the longer the city waits to make a decision the higher costs
may rise. School renovation and construction costs in Virginia rose by
an average of 20 to 25 percent last year, according to Randy Jones, one
of the architects involved in the Lexington project. This year, costs
will likely increase another 15 percent. Financing within the city is
especially tight while another major project, the new courthouse, is in
its beginning stages.
Lyons said that the school board hoped to have the city finance the
construction over 20 years. In five years, when the city finishes paying
back loans for a previous renovation, the same debt service would
continue to pay for the new school, Lyons explained. This way, the
school will not incur substantial additional costs.
But before making any concrete decisions, the city council would like a
more accurate cost analysis of alternatives provided by a third party
consultant.
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Claudette Artwick
Reporting supervisor: Prof. Doug Cumming
Editing supervisor: Prof. Pamela Luecke
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd