MLSD numbers don't add up

Moses Lake School District wants to you believe that a bigger high school will equal smarter students.

MLSD states they need 176 square feet for each student to socialize. California schools have about 74 square feet per student. Washington and California have low graduation rates and test scores. Maybe there is too much socializing?

However, Asian students rank the highest in education. Asian schools have about 25 sq ft per student. Asian students take education seriously they attend school to learn not just socialize.

MLSD wants 176 square feet per student times 1600 students, which equals a 218,600-square-foot building. OPSI construction cost varies across America but MLSD OPSI 2016 costs were $216 per square foot. MLSD OPSI 2017 costs were $220 but they magically jumped 60 percent to $370? This is just gouging the taxpayers. These are east coast OPSI costs, the highest in the nation, not Region 12 costs. The inflated costs and larger student space deliberately drives up the project cost. The real cost should be about $48 million. The extra revenue goes into the 2017 fund set up by Congress to 100 percent fund Washington schools in 2018. This is a scam. It’s not about the students. It’s about squeezing more money out of the taxpayers using school levies and higher property taxes. For 50 years Congress has thrown money at schools and we are still 39th in the world.

$370 is excessive per square foot? That equals $80.8 million, almost double the real cost of $48 million. MLSD states the cost even higher at $111.3 million. Is it fuzzy math or a license to steal?

Betsy DeVos is the new education sectary. That means more school choice and removing common core. Schools will be changing. Now all students will begin receiving a real education again.

Doug Brown

Moses Lake