Public School --- Private Money
LiberalMinded
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) -- Students arriving at the new Niagara
Falls High School will get a large dose of public education -- and a
lesson in the power of private money.
The $80 million institution is the first New York-run school to
be privately built in an arrangement that gives Niagara Falls a
state-of-the-art building without a penny's increase in the
property tax.
``It is a revolution in school financing, partnership,
programming, leadership and technology,'' a beaming Superintendent
Carmen Granto declared.
The kids are beaming, too: Each of the 2,400 students will be
issued a laptop computer, they will swim in an Olympic-sized pool,
run on an indoor track, and attend shows in a 1,700-square-foot
theater.
They also can study in the ``technology core,'' a 2.5-story
circular hub of glass that contains a library and high-tech
research equipment.
``My brother says I'm so lucky,'' said freshman Stephanie Wruck,
whose brother is in seventh grade. ``He can't wait to go here.''
Using a so-called ``lease-back'' deal, the Honeywell Corp. of
Minneapolis, with private investors, built the school and will
lease it to the school district for 30 years for about $4.8 million
a year.
Under the state's school construction formula, New York will
reimburse about 83 percent of the district's cost. After the 30
years, ownership transfers to Niagara Falls.
So unusual is the arrangement it required a special act of the
state Legislature in 1996 to skirt the bond process traditionally
used for school construction.
U.S. Undersecretary of Education Judith Winston called the
school ``a remarkable new beginning for education.'' Across
America, there are 3.5 million students in schools that need repair
or replacement, she said.
``This building is the direct result of your collecting and
harnessing the power of partnership,'' she said at the school's
opening earlier this month. ``You have provided one model that
other school districts may want to follow.''
Neighboring Buffalo, with the oldest collection of school
buildings in the state, is now pursuing a similar arrangement for a
handful of schools. The idea has yet to catch on outside New York,
authorities said.
``With all the attention and energy and money that goes toward
the physical facilities, sometimes that ends up taking away from
the true academic mission of the schools,'' said Joe Agron of
American School & University Magazine. ``This may be a way for
school districts to act as any other tenant.''
Honeywell called on J.P. Morgan to find private investors to
raise the money to finance the school's construction. Struggling
against a shrinking tax base and with two aging high schools in
disrepair, Niagara Falls embraced the concept.
A special entity, 4455 Porter Road Inc., was established to
serve as the financing vehicle for the project and will own the
building for 30 years.
In order to manage the large student body that resulted from
combining the two schools the new one replaces, the architects
designed four towers, each holding about 600 students and their own
principal.
Despite the school's motion sensors and 62 cameras, glass walls
give the building an open, welcoming feel but serve another purpose
in an era of school shootings.
``It's got to be an open, safe environment,'' said architect
William ``Mac'' Rawley of the Hillier Group, the Princeton, N.J.,
firm that designed the structure. ``No hidden corners.''
For Honeywell, the unusual arrangement made smart business
sense.
``It was appealing to Honeywell because the Niagara Falls School
District was a good customer of ours so it gave us the opportunity
to strengthen our customer relationship,'' company spokeswoman Kaye
Veazey said. ``It also gave us an opportunity to showcase some of
the most technologically advanced products that we have to offer to
school systems.''
To get the school built, the Legislature exempted the district
from a law which requires public projects to have separate
contractors for general construction, electrical work, plumbing and
heating.
That saved the district about $9 million, Granto said, and left
more room for extras, like terrazzo floor tiles, which cost $1
million more than vinyl tile.
``The technology is exciting,'' freshman Kim Hess said.
*------
On the Net:
Niagara Falls City School District: http://www.nfschools.net
Honeywell: http://www.honeywell.com
Education Department: http://www.ed.gov
--
How do you do Nothing?" asked Pooh. "Well, it's when people call out
at you just as you're going off to do it, `What are you going to do,
Christopher Robin?' and you say, `Oh, nothing' and then you go and do
it. It means just going along, listening to all the things you can't
hear, and not bothering."