Finance committee members say building will save district $500k a year
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
This Sadsbury building is proposed to replace the Benner Education Center as the base for Coatesville Area School District administration as well as housing a healthcare center
CALN – Coatesville Area School District finance committee members addressed concerns over last month’s decision to negotiate the purchase of the Cumberland Insurance Group building, at the monthly Finance and Personnel Committee meeting of Board of Education, Tuesday night. At the meeting held in the 9/10 Center auditorium, committee members said that purchasing the building would save the district money in the long run.
Last month’s decision to open up negotiations for the building, which will be used for administrative and healthcare purposes, sparked controversy among some residents who said that money could be better used toward hiring new teachers or funding the Air Force Junior ROTC program, which is currently relying on independent fundraisers to continue operations.
Board member Joseph Dunn said that legally the district could not use the money for these things. The money used to purchase the building came from a bond fund, which the district is only allowed to use in certain capacities.
“It’s important to understand that bond funds can only be used for capital assets or to retire other bonds,” he said. “They can’t be used for operating expenses.”
Dunn said that expenses such as teacher salaries or paying for costs to run scholastic programs would be considered operating expenses.
Purchasing the building allows the district, in a partnership with Integrity Healthcare, to open up its own health facility, which will save an estimated $500,000 per year in healthcare costs, money which would usually go to hospitals and other facilities not run by the district or Integrity Healthcare.
“If the medical center doesn’t come, there are $500,000 of teacher cuts that have to occur,” said Dunn.
He also said that the district considered renting but could not afford to. Buying the Cumberland Insurance building seems like the best option because of how up-to-date it is and the building is, “so far below market value.”
Another factor that played into the decision was the status of Benner, which the new building is slated to replace. Benner is the district’s most expensive building to run — the Lincoln Highway building, built in 1915 was the original site of Coatesville High School — and the board said they it was trying to find sources of income other than taxpayers.
“One of the things we’ve been trying to do for the past couple of years is look at the older buildings, look at the buildings that are more expensive to run and replace them and bring in revenue,” said School Board President J. Neil Campbell. “It’s a business decision.”
Campbell added that once operations are switched to the new building, they can then sell Benner. He cited the potential of selling Gordon to Lincoln University in the future as another example of buildings generating revenue.
This is typical. Their priorities are not on how to better educate our children. Or how to save money. You can’t give funds for ROTC but you have a state of the art football field, everything at that school is all about sports. So much is lost on education the children. Explain why you have a coach that is also being paid to teach development classs? Who pays for entry fees, buses, rooming, when the athletic teams go out to compete? I am not a hater against the sports programs its a positive thing for the kids, but when you have a state of the art weight lifting room and kids sitting 30+ to a classroom, something is wrong with this picture.
I agree. stay focused on the students and teaching. Mr. Dunn has a way with words, I often wondered if he was a used car salesman at one time.
Coatesville city can’t afford any more higher taxes. People are struggling now. I don’t even go out of my way but I see a lot of waste, like all the lights that stay on in the school buildings at night, the security vehicles that are not being used parked behind the fence at 11th ave. etc. etc. I don’t think they will have a problem selling Benner, that can be the next high rise senior apartments.
Ask Mr. Dunn how the funds obtained through bonds for South Brandywine have been used. The building was originally set to be replaced but will now be renovated, with North Brandywine still slated to be replaced. Those plans have obviously been delayed. Many sets of blueprints for new schools have been created with bonds that have never come to fruition.
Healthcare facility? They are spreading their wings too wide. Pandora’s box is what this is. The school board must stay focused on educating the children of Coatesville. Employee healthcare is expensive. This I understand. There are too many variables that come with this option. Maintenance of the health facility? Medical waste? Staffing of the med. facility? Can students and family use the health center? Will the board spend its time dealing with healthcare facility issues in the future, in addition to education? Selling Benner? Who will buy it? How long will it sit on the market while the district continues to lay off employees and curb spending? It sounds like the school board wants to open a healthcare business to bring in more revenue. That is outside of what they were elected to do.