To the Editor:

Alexandrians should be skeptical of the 2015-2024 Capital Improvement Program budget approved by the Alexandria School Board on Feb. 6. The board proposes to spend over $18 million of taxpayer money to fund the school system’s constantly changing capital priorities and the rationale is often questionable.

Having followed the budget process since Alexandria City Public Schools Interim Superintendent Alvin Crawley proposed his CIP budget on Dec. 5, 2013, I have not seen evidence of a well thought out long-term capital program or a meaningful review by the School Board. This was not a surprise given that the board’s Facilities Committee was disestablished in 2008 and their Budget Advisory Committee — analogous to the city’s Budget and Financial Affairs Advisory Committee — has only four members, far short of the 12 called for in board policy.

The 29 written questions posed by five board members and the associated staff responses read more like a softball game than an elected body carrying out its fiduciary responsibilities. The public work sessions were much the same.

The following are just three examples of why I am skeptical of the proposed CIP.

School buses (10 new buses - $890,000)

The interim superintendent’s Dec. 5 proposal states, “The average life expectancy of a conventional school bus is dependent on mileage, maintenance, and repairs, but is recommended to be 12 to 15 years for the conventional school bus. An alternative recommendation is replacement at over 250,000 miles.” Similar language is found in prior years’ CIP budget documents.

When Board Member Marc Williams asked in writing how many buses “are beyond their recommended useful life” the ACPS Director of Transportation responded, “The Virginia Department of Education recommends replacement of school buses when they reach 10 years old.” When justifying the school bus and vehicle line item at the Jan. 14 CIP work session the director of educational facilities said, “These school buses you know, hundreds of thousands of miles on them and they do need to be replaced.”

With a Freedom of Information Act request I obtained documentation of 105 active ACPS school buses. Four buses are listed as year 1999 and three year 2000 — 15 and 14 years old. The highest mileage bus — a 1999 model — has 143,000 miles.

So what is the ACPS criterion for replacing buses? Why has it suddenly shifted? Does the School Board really know the condition of their fleet? How much of the proposed $890,000 expenditure is truly essential?

Rowing Facility (Building Envelope Repairs - $420,000)

This project has been deferred from prior years due to lack of funds. In justifying the repairs to the wooden siding of the rowing facility in the 2015 budget the director of educational facilities said the building “takes a big beating being on the water. As an old Navy guy you know salt water — that kind of environment is a lot more corrosive than it is as you go further inland. So that’s why I worry about the siding.”

Really? Salt-water damage on the Upper Potomac River? No board member questioned this. Sea level must be rising much faster than I thought.

Parker-Gray Stadium Press Box (Replacement - $70,000)

This item received considerable attention in last year’s budget process and was not funded. There is no debate that the press box at T. C. Williams’ Parker-Gray Stadium is unsafe and needs to be replaced before it is used again.

I was astonished to listen to statements by ACPS staff at the Jan. 14 work session that the press box was used this past football season in spite of their belief that its mere presence posed a threat to human life. The director of educational facilities volunteered, “I think we took a huge, all capitals, underline, bold, italicized risk using the press box.”

This begs the question of why this press box is still standing. What is the real condition of the structure? What does it take to make a decision in ACPS to remove a hazard? What is ACPS’ and the city’s potential exposure for negligence?

The public has been led to believe that things have changed in the ACPS facilities and CIP program. I believe they have. They have gotten worse and now more than ever warrant greater public oversight. Unfortunately, if the public involvement in the 2015-2024 budget process so far is an indicator, this is probably wishful thinking.

Scott Newsham

Former Member Alexandria City School Board (2006-2009), chair of Facilities Committee (2006-2008)