Let's get back to the issues of local schools.

According to industry analysts the cost for building an elementary school, on average in the Dallas area, runs about $93 for each square foot. ($/sq.ft.)

What did ours cost?

It's difficult to know. This district doesn't disclose detailed construction statistics. But we can easily see Texas standards for school size and estimate, based on the student capacity, what size the buildings SHOULD
be.

Texas standards for elementary school classrooms call for 36 sq. ft per student for grades pre-K thru first and 30 sq ft per student in higher elementary grades. Assume the more generous allowance for all grades of the Houston Elementary and stipulate the 660 “seat” capacity for that building. Then HSE should have 23,760 square feet in classroom area. Add the computer lab, science lab and library requirements of 40, 50, and 3 sq ft per student. That adds 61,380 sq. ft to the building. Add a gym for about 5000 sq ft. Add space for janitors, storage and miscellaneous, about another 10%. Round up. The building by standard ought to be about 100,000 sq ft. The cost of the building was about $11 Million. That’s $110 per square foot, or about 17 dollars per sq ft. higher than average for this area.




Or, if you follow the links you'll see that LISD schools cost more, by about 17 dollars per sq ft., than is average for this area.

Am I wrong? Prove it. Get the figures from Gallagher regarding actual costs and actual square footage, and do the math. Publish. "Get the facts," as Ellen Clark says.

You may have to file an Open Records Request, following up with the Attorney General, to get those facts. But go ahead. Facts are good things to get.

But onward! The industry source cited also reports average construction costs around DFW for a high school run about $100 sq. foot. The standards for a high school are 28 sq ft per student in classrooms, 36 sq ft per student in computer labs, 50 sq ft per student in science labs, a 7500 sq foot gym, and 3 sq ft per student for libraries, (with a 2800 sq ft minimum) The new high school is claimed to have infrastructure for 2800 students and classroom space for 2200. Do the math. Then add in another 10% space allowance again for the mop closets, etc. Round up to some convenient figure. Say 325, 000 sq ft for the high school.

Now, to obtain the costs. How do we distinguish the costs of the academic facilities from the sports arena deal in Lancaster? I propose we start by looking at DISD’s Jesse Owens Athletic complex on Polk Avenue. (The Dallas ISD, unlike Lancaster ISD, actually publishes their costs and facility statistics.) The Owens sports complex, designed by HKS architectural group and constructed by Turner Construction company, seats 12,000 in the stadium and 7500 in the fieldhouse. In other words, it's bigger than Lancaster's. The costs of the Owens complex were $38.7 Million. If ours cost the same, (meaning LISD spent more on the stadium than the school, which they have so far been unwilling to admit) and since the overall LISD HS project cost $73 million; then our high school building itself cost $34.3 million. Round down. Do the math. $34 Million into 325,000 square foot is $104.6 dollars per square foot.

By this estimate our High School costs are 4 percent higher than average for our market. Am I wrong? Prove it. Get the facts.

Let me point out something else. If I AM wrong about the cost of the stadium -- if our new Tiger Stadium cost less than $38 million -- then the cost per square foot of our school building is even more exorbitant. But I'm estimating too much for the cost of the high school; then it follows that the district DID choose to spend more and place a higher priority on their athletic facilities than academics. (the stadium was built one year faster than the school, too.

Which error of mine puts the district's planning and priorities into anything resembling a positive light? That they spent too much? Or that they put sports first? I cheerfully admit one or another of my own errors. What does the district confess to?