You asked several questions about construction cost overruns at two Hartford interdistrict magnet schools. The questions and answers are listed individually below.

Which Hartford magnet schools are experiencing construction cost overruns and what are their special themes?

The two schools are the Breakthrough Magnet School and the Greater Hartford Classical Magnet School.

Breakthrough is a pre-kindergarten-to-grade-8 school with 200 students. According to a description published by the Hartford school district, Breakthrough has a character education theme designed around (1) problem-solving strategies (“Breakdowns to Breakthroughs”), (2) students taking responsibility for their own lives through how they choose to interpret things, (3) learning how a person keeping his word empowers relationships and goals, (4) creating opportunities for students to contribute in the classroom and community, and (5) engaging students to increase knowledge in all areas so they make better choices.

Breakthrough’s program includes:

Greater Hartford Classical Magnet is a grade-6-to-12 school with an enrollment of 700. It features:

Who are the project architects?

Breakthrough is a “design-build” project being constructed on the site of the former Rice Heights Public Housing Project. The architect is URS Corporation of Rocky Hill. Greater Hartford Classical Magnet is a “turnkey” project, located in the former Capitol Community-Technical College at 79 Woodland Street. The architect is Schoenhardt Architects of Simsbury.

According to the State Department of Education’s (SDE’s) list of architects for school construction projects authorized since July 1, 1995, neither architect appears to have much experience working on Connecticut school construction projects. URS is not listed as having worked on any other school construction project. Schoenhardt is listed as the architect for two projects: (1) renovation and extension of E. O. Smith High School in Regional School District 19 and (2) a new board of education facility in Granby. The E. O. Smith projects were authorized by the General Assembly on June 12, 1996 and cost $ 32. 3 million. The Granby project was authorized on June 8, 1998 and cost $ 850,000.

State law allows the SDE to approve up to two design-build school construction projects per year over three years (CGS § 10-285f). Because Breakthrough is a design-build and Classical a turnkey project (in turnkey projects, the new owner of a building does not take possession until the prior owner makes alterations to meet the new owner’s requirements), the SDE did not approve the plans and specifications for either project before construction as the law ordinarily requires.

What are the estimated cost overruns?

The excess costs are $ 5. 7 million for Breakthrough and $ 4. 4 million for Greater Hartford Classical.

The General Assembly approved the Breakthrough project in 2001 for $ 19. 6 million. Though Hartford later notified the SDE that project costs had risen to $ 35. 1 million, the legislature increased the authorization only to $ 26 million in 2002, based on an SDE analysis that a school site would cost $ 10 million and construction costs would be $ 16 million. Hartford currently estimates the project will cost $ 31. 7 million.

The legislature approved the Greater Hartford Classical Magnet in 2003 for $ 32 million. If it approved the cost increase, the total authorization will be $ 36. 4 million.

What are the reasons for the cost increases?

Breakthrough. In a November 5, 2004 letter on the Breakthrough cost increases (copy attached), Hartford School Superintendent Robert Henry attributes a portion of the cost overrun to the school site. The site requires expensive clean-up of soil contamination costing $ 6. 5 million. The site is also within a flood plain, which restricts where the building can be placed and how it must be constructed. Finally, Henry says, the building design, which is in keeping with the school’s theme, and the requirement that the building have two stories, makes it more expensive to build.

In addition, Henry points to expenses resulting from the school’s pre- K-8 grade configuration, which requires separate gyms and cafeterias for younger and older students. He also lists magnet school requirements for state-of-the-art technology in each teaching station and a full-service kitchen for each classroom.

Classical. According to a November 5, 2004 letter from Superintendent Henry (copy attached), most of the significant cost increases in the Classical Magnet project stem from requirements to add a science classroom, three computer labs, an “I Can Learn” math lab, a special project classroom, and an in-school suspension room. Henry’s letter also cites the following modifications and cost factors:

What is the average per-square-foot cost for a magnet school?

Because of the difficulty of comparing past with current and future magnet school construction costs, SDE could not immediately provide an average cost-per-square foot for magnet schools only. But according to David Wedge, manager of SDE’s School Facilities Unit, the average cost for all schools is $ 250 to $ 350 per square foot.

The requested amount for the Breakthrough Magnet works out to $ 425 per square foot. Three other requests for new magnet school facility projects currently under consideration for the 2005 school construction priority list are $ 386, $ 392, and $ 276 per square foot. (These requests are subject to change before the list is submitted to the legislature. ) All per-square-foot costs exclude site costs.

What is the State Department of Education’s position on the increased costs for the two projects?

In order to be reimbursed by the state, school construction project costs must be authorized by the General Assembly. SDE’s policy is to submit any cost increases in previously approved construction projects that equal 10% or more of the authorized amount to the General Assembly for its approval, but only if the department considers the cost increases to be justified.

The education commissioner notified Hartford on November 29, 2004 that she will include the requested cost increase for Classical on the 2005 school construction priority list due to be submitted to the General Assembly by December 15, 2004. But she does not consider the increases for Breakthrough to be justified and consequently does not plan to submit those.

According to the commissioner’s letter, the Breakthrough project as originally approved included $ 10 million for site acquisition costs and $ 16 million for construction. The state subsequently transferred the school site to the city for $ 1. The city then asked SDE for permission to reassign the $ 10 million for site acquisition to construction. The commissioner agrees that site clean-up costs are substantial and supports using the $ 10 million to cover the $ 6. 5 million in clean-up costs and reallocating the rest for increased construction costs. In sum, the commissioner supports allocating the entire $ 26 million already authorized for construction. But the she does not agree that siting the school on a flood plain or constructing a two-story building will necessarily cost more. And she says the school’s operating plan does not require full-service kitchens in all classrooms and two separate cafeterias and gyms. Consequently, she does not plan to include the new $ 31. 7 million estimate for Breakthrough on the 2005 SDE priority list (Letters from Education Commissioner Sternberg to Hartford Superintendent Robert Henry, November 29, 2004, copies attached).

If Hartford still seeks state reimbursement for the increased costs of the Breakthrough Magnet School, it could submit a request for a revised authorization to the legislature directly.

JL: ro