The decision to start with Central and Haverhill Elementary Schools was based on two key factors: increasing the capacity of Central Elementary and using Haverhill as a swing school. Increasing the capacity of Central allows us to make attendance boundary adjustments to relieve overcrowding at Moorsbridge and Amberly. Haverhill was chosen because it can serve as a swing school -- a place for students to attend school while their school is being constructed.
The other big factor in the sequence of construction is cash flow. We promised voters that the debt millage rate would not increase for this $175M bond. To do that, bonds need to be sold over a period of time.
The estimates for these projects were developed in 2019 and based on a relatively conservative escalation factor of 3-5% over a 10-year period. As we're all aware, inflation has far exceeded those rates making cash flow a challenge The upshot of this is that the $175M initially projected for these projects will not allow us to complete everything identified in the bond proposal.
Making Woodland our third school aligns with cash flow challenges, allows us to consider moving Curious Kids programming, and makes sure that Haverhill does not sit vacant for an extended period of time.
As we keep our pledge to voters to not increase the debt millage rate, we want to secure additional funding while not compromising on the quality we want and expect.
We’re very grateful to have so much community support for school facilities and all that happens in those facilities. We’re also fortunate to have a strong tax base that allows for our debt millage rate to remain at acceptable levels. Finally, we are fortunate to have a solid yet flexible plan in place that meets our students' needs and demonstrates good stewardship of the resources we’ve been provided.