SCHOOL COSTS CLIMB; PROJECT ESTIMATES UP MORE THAN $5 MILLION

A gap of more than $5 million separates the Cape Girardeau School District's original cost estimates to complete a number of construction and renovation projects and the current best guess of costs put forth by school officials.

Nevertheless, the officials said ample funding will exist to cover the higher costs.

The district's master plan, which was released in 1996 five months before voters approved a $14 million bond issue for the projects, includes cost estimates totaling about $16.7 million to purchase property, renovate seven schools and build two schools. But with two schools yet unrenovated and one construction project barely started, the district already has spent $7.4 million and has committed more than $21 million to the projects.

That means 1999 estimates exceed those of 1996 by $5,013,134.

Despite the gap, school officials said nothing is wrong with either set of estimates.

School district business manger Dr. Steve Del Vecchio said: "You can look at it two ways: You can say, Here's our estimate so we stop here or you can say, This is our estimate and this is what we need."

The original estimates are "what we estimated back in 1995-'96," he said. "Since then we've done what was necessary to accommodate the education goals of the district."

The district plans to submit a second $14 million bond issue to voters in April for additional schools and school renovations. That proposal does not call for an additional tax levy increase. Voters approved a 69-cent levy increase for the first phase of the master plan now under way.

Del Vecchio said the master plan estimates shouldn't be compared to the revised estimates because they don't account for design changes.

For example, after renovations began at Jefferson Elementary School last year, school officials realized a cafeteria would be needed to accommodate enrollment growth and the resulting demand for more physical education classes, he said. To offset the problem, which also would appear at other elementary buildings, cafeterias were added to each school's design, he said.

Del Vecchio said estimates for the added cost of the cafeterias won't be available until next week.

Another reason the estimates differ is because committee members who helped create the master plan did so without benefit of design or financial consultants to give them true cost estimates, Del Vecchio said.

Master plan committees were asked to look at the academic needs and goals of the district, determine what type of buildings would be needed to support those goals and create a budget based on estimated construction costs per square foot of $65, he said.

Unfortunately, inflation, a construction boom and alterations to the original designs to fit curriculum, technology or safety needs since 1996 have caused price increases that put construction costs closer to $95 per square foot, said Del Vecchio.

"Part of it was just a general increase, and part of it was that we added cafeterias to all the elementary schools," Del Vecchio said.

Board of Education president Dr. Ferrell Ervin said school board members have requested a detailed update on the master plan expenditures and funding. However, people should realize the master plan is a working document that must be used as a starting point and revised as needs arise, he said.

The school board is set to reconvene committees to review and update the document during the next school year.

"Master plans are living documents," Ervin said. "Just as you have plans with what you're going to do with your household, you have to revamp and redesign that day to day and pay period to pay period.

"Some of the estimates are off-target, but they were practical at the time these estimates were made," he said. "I'm certainly no construction expert, but I do realize when there's a lot of construction going on in a certain area, the prices seem to come in higher."

Del Vecchio and Ervin said there is ample funding to cover the higher costs. Proceeds from the voter-approved bond issue, Proposition C rollback waiver and 30-cent debt service levy, which total over $24 million, have been invested and are earning interest at a rate of 6.7 percent, they said.

The $24 million isn't being spent quickly, and construction delays have allowed the district to benefit from investments, they said.

Of the delays Ervin said, "You hate to think about it as a help, but the truth is the longer it's invested the more money it earns."

Del Vecchio said he didn't know how much revenue the district has gained from investments. That information won't be available until after next week, he said.

Ervin said although the district is spending more money than originally planned, it is doing so responsibly with the long-term needs of the district in mind. Cape Girardeau students will benefit from the design changes, and a better ability to meet academic goals is the school board's main priority, he said.

"We have taken the money the citizens have given us and made what we think are sound investments to take care of what we think are necessary higher bid amounts and change orders to meet our educational needs," said Ervin.

"I think the public is getting more than they were promised," he said. "I don't think the board has done anything to move itself into doing projects without a good faith estimate that we're going to have the money to do those projects."