Finance Parley Produces Figure

The complete cost of the third senior high school, the first stage of which is slated to open in the fall of 1971, is estimated to total $9 mülion. This estímate was revealed for the first time last night during the third and final informational meeting on the Jan. 8 bonding election, staged for the 'public by the Board of Education. Approximately 20 persons ;(135 formal invitations had ibeen issued to civic group mem3ers) attended the two-hour sesjsion. . Acting Supt. W. Scott Westerr. said thát the cost of ilhe high school's first stage - $6,910,000- is considerably more expensive thaii the second, which will be opened in the fall of 1975. fbrlhe first stage (an iféfri itfitfèJan. 8, $15.5 million. boöding proposal) are higher because it will contain the non-instructional units, 1 i k e gymnasiums and auditoriums, he said. The secónd stage, which will consist mainly .oi classrooms additions, is considerably cheaper, Westerman said, and can be built at an estimated additional cost of $2,090,000. The third high school will be located at Maple Road and M14. The first stage will house 1200 students, the second stage an additional 800. Probing questions on the $25 per square foot budget for the construction costs of the bonding proposal also highlighted the meeting. This figure repeatedly carne under fire by members of the Millage S t u d y Group, a group which opposed the 1967 millage elections. Westerman replied that the $25 overall square foot budget is considered an appropriate figure "as a total package." In the light of the actual square foot costs of 15 building projects which were bid between November of 1965 and December of 1967, he said, the $25 figure is not inadequate. The costs to which he referred were $15-$20 for five projects, including Scarlett Junior High; $20-$22.50 for four projects; $22,50-$25, for three projects; $25-$26 for two projects and $30.63 for Huron High School. xne $20 per square foot figure refers to construction cpsts only (of the general, mechanical and electrical contractors) and not the total project cost The estimated figures for al of the bonding items, however include all costs. Another member of the audience suggested that voters be asked to approve various projects individually, thus insuring that funds would be specifically allocated to the proposed items. His suggestion, he said, was based on past experience with Huron High, when the voters had no control over the money allocated for construction. (Over $5 million was approved for the high school; actual costs totaled more than $11 million.) Other questions from the audience included the subjects of predicted enrollment figures and alle ge d discrimination against Negroes in the apprentice-training program. One item of the bonding issue includes a neV apprentice-training íacility- Westerman explained that a forecast sharp decline in the birth rate was a major factor in estimating the bonding proposal'. IL enrollments develop as projected, he said, only one additional bonding election in 1972 will be needed during the next decade, to fund the second stage of the third high school and the sixth junior high. This bond issue will total approximately $7 million, he stated. A s k e d whether the enrollment statistics took into consideration the possible future enrollment of private and parochial students, various trustees respond that this was a variable that is extremëly hard to measure. Trustee Joseph R. Julin addLd, however, that the 25 portable classrooms owned by the school district are an insurance against inaccurate enrollment predictions. In response tb the aUegai.i"i that there is racial discrimination in the apprehtice-traimng program, it was statéd that federal regulatiohs prohibit discrimination. School Board President Hazen J. Schumacher that the board .is concêrned about the issue,, but that they are assured by the program's administrators that no discrimination is practiced.