Monthly Archives: April 2017

Game On Capital Campaign – Dunwoody High School

Posted on April 22, 2017 by | 3 comments

“Game On” is a campaign by the Dunwoody High School Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO), School Council, and Community Association, to originally raise $2 million for capital improvements to the DHS athletic facilities including

  • Artificial turf for multi-purpose field
  • Running track replacement
  • Outdoor lighting for multi-purpose field
  • Spectator seating/bleachers
  • Field house with concessions and restrooms

Coordination with DCSD
E-SPLOST V  projects for Dunwoody High School include a 600 seat classroom addition, artificial turf installation and covering the retention pond/swamp.  In March, the Board received and approved the administration’s plan for the timing of all E-SPLOST V projects. I voted against accepting this timeline but it was passed on a 5-2 vote. The projects at DHS aren’t scheduled to begin planning and procurement until February of 2019. Construction isn’t scheduled to begin until October 2020. The expected completion date is between June and September 2022 (at the earliest).
The Game On Capital Campaign would like to decouple the athletic facility improvements from the E-SPLOST projects. The Capital Campaign would like to accelerate the schedule of the athletic field improvement component of E-SPLOST V. The district said they will investigate the feasibility of accommodating this accelerated schedule as they proceed with overall planning and design work.
Investigation of Accelerated Schedule
The school district must consider how at least 2 key variables will affect all of the E-SPLOST projects at DHS, not just the athletic field improvements. Those variables are the location of a sufficient water retention pond and the location of the 600 seat addition.
DCSD has indicated their intention is to put out RFPs, make awards, and then begin each E-SPLOST V project according to the approved scheduling plan. Once the awards have been made, the school district will understand how the key variables for DHS addition and improvements interplay. At that point they will know if the current retention pond location will be sufficient for the site or if another retention area must be created and placed under the athletic fields.
If the current retention infrastructure is sufficient and if the building addition doesn’t require the reconfiguration of the athletic fields, then it is more likely DCSD can decouple the athletic field improvements from the overall project. If that happens then the Game On Capital Campaign can move sooner to accomplish its goals.
If another retention pond must be constructed or if the building addition will impede on the current athletic field areas, the Game On Capital Campaign may face a delay in starting their projects.
The RFPs have not yet been released by the school district. This is still several months out. Once they go out, it will take some time to gather the responses and determine the award. From that point, it will likely take another year to perform preliminary designs and conduct a feasibility study to determine the impact of the addition and field work. Based on the data and feedback from the school district, and if the athletic field improvements are able to be decoupled from the whole project, the best case scenario is that the capital field improvements breaks ground the Summer of 2019.
What is a matching fund?
The Dunwoody School Council and school administration have been told by DCSD that the district would match any funds the community raised. One of the items included in E-SPLOST V’s project list is an upgrade to artificial turf fields for all of the high schools. The budget for field improvements is the same for all high schools. Regardless of the amount of money Dunwoody raised, the school district has budgeted the same for Dunwoody.

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Portable Classroom Lease vs. Purchase Analysis

Posted on April 19, 2017 by | 29 comments

Single-wide Portable Classroom Calculations
The approximate cost of leasing a single-wide portable classroom ($31,300) would exceed the cost to purchase ($31,251) the same unit in 8.3 years (or 100 months).
Calculations & Assumptions (based on 2017 pricing):

  1. The cost to purchase a new single-wide portable classroom is $31,251.
  2. Annual cost to lease a new single-wide portable classroom is $3,240 (or $270 per month).
  3. The one-time cost to return a leased single-wide portable classroom is approximately $4,300. (This includes a return fee [$300 per unit] plus an average cost to repair unit when returned.)

Quad Classroom Unit (with Restrooms) Calculations
The cost of leasing a quad classroom unit ($208,145) would exceed the cost of purchase ($204,830) the same unit in 4.5 years (or 54 months).
Calculations & Assumptions (based on 2017 pricing):

  1. Cost to purchase a new quad classroom unit with restrooms is $204,830
  2. Annual cost to lease a new quad classroom unit with restrooms is $44,160 ($3,680 per month)
  3. One-time cost to return a leased quad portable with restrooms is approximately $9,425 (This includes a return fee [$825 per unit] plus an average cost to repair unit when returned.)

Estimated Savings Calculations
200 single-wide portable classrooms leased for 15 years (including return fees) will cost the District $10,592,000 (or $52,960 per unit).
200 single-wide portable classrooms purchased (based on 2017 pricing) will cost the District $6,250,200 (or $31,251 per unit).
Portable Classrooms in DeKalb Schools
The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) will need to obtain additional portable classrooms to address the following over the next several years:

  • 267 out of 413 will are over or are approaching their recommended service life –
    between 15 and 20 years.
  • Projected increase in student enrollment
  • Portable classrooms will be used as swing space for displaced classrooms at schools under partial construction.

Over the past three years, the Board of Education has approved the purchase of 146 portable classrooms in support of the concerns mentioned above. The Return on Investment (ROI) for purchasing these portable classrooms versus leasing them is approximately eight to nine years for single-wide portable classrooms and four to five years for a “quad classroom” (four instructional units). In other words, the cost of leasing these units will exceed the cost of purchasing the same unit over the recommended service life of 15 to 20 years.
After this summer’s portable classroom deployments and replacements, the District will have approximately 413 portable classrooms in use, of which 146 are new, and 267 are old.

At a minimum, based on current enrollment projections DeKalb Schools will need approximately 200 new portable classrooms once all planned E-SPLOST IV and V capacity additions are complete in 2023. If additional capacity is constructed beyond 2023 (E-SPLOST VI and beyond), the number of portable classrooms needed will decrease over time.

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