$7 Million of Paralysis

Before I get started, there needs to be some disclosure.

1) I have never worked, either paid or unpaid, for any government body of any kind.

2) I understand that in a functioning republic, there must be a certain level of governing and therefore a certain level of accompanying bureaucracy.

3) I have been a soccer player all my life. (Next up for me is the Zimmer frame league!)

Okay, now I can begin.

The School Board has been sitting on $7 million of capital improvement money for a long time. When I started attending CCUSD meetings some 10 years ago, my memory serves that the amount in the fund back then was $6 million or so.

Congratulations on growing it that much.

The perennial challenge for the various school boards over those 10 years seems to be, how to actually spend the money! This is a classic case of the decision-making paralysis that begets the bureaucracies charged with making these decisions. Let me be clear, I cast no aspersions on the current or previous boards.

The fact is, CCUSD has been living through very challenging times for that last few years when it comes to the school budget, this has naturally taken up a lot of their focus.  And yet the various boards have consistently failed to utilize the potential income generating capabilities that sensible employment of $7 million could generate.

A case in point is the high school football field. This field is currently natural grass--and of course is used relatively sparingly--when you consider how many hours a day it is being used and how many days a year it lies completely unused.

To my knowledge, it is only a cost to the school because it doesn't generate any revenue at all. The cost to maintain a grass field is fairly high; it has to be nurtured constantly to maintain its playable status.

The board has been pursued vigorously over the years by athletic director Jerry Chabola--as well as many of his supporters and friends--to convert the HS field to artificial turf.

The Cost? Somewhere between $1 and $1.4 million.

Now, I understand there is a plethora of ways this money could be spent, so stay with me for a moment. Imagine how, with an artificial surface on that field, how much revenue could be generated for the school board coffers. This is revenue that could immediately be plunged back into the education of our children. The field could be used all year round, 364 days a year (let's all take a day off to open some presents around the tree with the kids).

When the school does not require the use of the field, it could be rented out at an hourly rate for hoards of different sports leagues around the city. The revenue would go directly into the general fund of the school.

 As a lifetime private sector member, this seems to be a very easy decision.

Now, in the private sector, if an investor were given a proposition that said, "give me $1 million today, and I'll give you $150,000 every year for the next 20 years," most of them would be rushing to sign the contract. It certainly wouldn't take 10 years to make a decision on whether to invest or not.  

Let's hope this school board is different. Let's hope that no matter what they decide to spend some of this money on, they will be able to cut through the "feasibility study" for this and the "committee to research that," and just once MAKE A DECISION.

Our kids deserve it. 

Mike King is an Associate Partner at Partners Trust Real Estate and Acquisitions. He is passionate about three things: Family, Real Estate, and McVities Chocolate Biscuits (or cookies to the uninitiated). You can connect with Mike on Twitter @mikeking4reand on Facebook