Considering Options for Dealing with School Overcrowding

Sadly, perhaps one of the most common issues faced by many of our schools is overcrowding. As the amount of students enrolled in a district increases, efforts must be made in order accommodate the additional students without creating undue costs. For this particular case study, we are to find the appropriate solution for the Hazleton Area School District, which is faced with massive overcrowding in all of it's facilities. Three possible solutions have been proposed in order to solve the problem. The first solution is that a new high school should be built, which would ring in construction costs of about $25 million. The second option is to add two additions to the elementary school and one to the high school, the construction cots of this building would only be around $20 million. The third option is to rent several vacant Catholic schools and bus the students there, which would cost around $15 million. In figuring out the best option, perhaps the first thing to do is to figure out the present value of the construction and rental costs for each project using the cost stream formula.

In order to figure out the cost stream method we must use a simple formula in order to get the numbers that are needed to make these calculations. Essentially, we use a simple formula to figure out these costs. We take the cost per year and divide it by the discount rate. For the first option, which is $25 million overall, we divide by ten years, so the cost per year is $2.5 million. We then take that number and divide it by the given discount rate, which is 0.5. This should give us 50. We then take the quantity and use the formula [1-(1/1.05)^10]. This second part of the formula gives us the number .386 when we round it off. Therefore, in order to figure out the Present Value, we multiply these two values together. So, the present value for building a new school is 19.3 million. For the second option, we take 2 million (20 divided by 10) and then again divide it by .05, and multiply it by the .386, and the present value is 15.4 million. For the third option, we take 1.5 (15 divided by 10), divide it by .05, and multiply it by .386. Thus, the present value for the third option is 11.6 million.

However, very rarely are decisions made solely on costs alone, for that reason it is important that we consider the benefits of the three proposals. Even though the first option, building a new school, is easily the most expensive of the three, there are also many benefits that go along with it. For example, with a brand new school, students would be able to receive a better education, and we would better be able to distribute the students, making sure that everything goes very smoothly. However, adding additions to the existing buildings would negate the requirement to add different bus routes and to have to hire different teachers. If we look at the third option, we have many benefits of the first option, including saving construction costs and a better opportunity to educate more students. However, even though each of these proposals have different benefits, we also need to think about the other costs that may be related to the projects in addition to construction and rental.

First of all, the idea of building a new school would be expensive to begin with. However, we would also have to deal with spillover costs such as the cost of bussing students, possibly purchasing new busses, the costs associated with running those busses (fuel and maintenance), the new personnel that would have to be hired in order to make the new school functional. Also, there would be the matter of paying for land rights and getting the right permits. There would also be externalities such as the environmental pollution (noise, garbage, etc.), whether or not the new school would displace existing residents, and whether or not the new school would be an inconvenience to the families that have to send children to school. When talking about adding additions, the externalities are much less, and there would also be less personnel costs, as the existing staff would be used to run the new additions, and bussing routes and maintenance would be greatly cut down from what it would cost to maintain a brand new building. The third option would perhaps present a mix of what both the second and third options present as costs. There would not be outright construction costs, nor would there be noise pollution for the surrounding community. However, we would probably have to hire additional bus driver, and it is of yet unknown whether the Catholic schools would require revision or any sort of work before they are usable for education, remember that they are vacant and likely abandoned. Also, new staff would once again have to be hired in order to compensate for the new building and additional teachers and staff that would be needed to make the building effective.

However, each of the three choices presents its own benefits and other costs that keep their from being one single best answer. When all the options are put together though, perhaps the "best" choice would be adding the additions to the high school and the elementary school. True, this option is not perfect, and there are definitely flaws with it, such that it is only a temporary solution. However, for now, it would save money over building the new school, and new staff and workers would not have to be hired in order to keep everything running smoothly, or, at least less workers would have to be hired. Also, there would be virtually costs that the public would have to pay, as bus routes would not have to change, and there would be no displacement and little pollution associated with the project. Also, this would save the pressure of having to move students around to different buildings in order to make the new school work. Also, we not have to pay for the cost of renting another school or all of the costs that would be associated with that decision.

Of course, there are definitely costs that should be considered with the option of adding additions onto the schools. We would have construction costs, additional heating and cooling fees. Also, it is important to consider whether or not parents would be supportive of simply building an addition. It would have to be assessed what portion of the school's land was going to be used, and the loss from that. Also, we would have to ask if new staff would have to be hired. Even though the additions could likely be handled by most of the current faculty, more may have to be hired to handle the spillover from the additions. There would also be maintenance costs associated with the additions the same as the school has maintenance costs right now. Truly, there would definitely be additional costs associated with the building of new additions, although the overall costs would be significantly less than with the other options.