Essentials Magazine Essentials Summer 2014 | Page 12

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION 520 students. Looking at middle schools, the median cost is $221.82 per square foot. Median spending per pupil was $38,718 and the median middle school provides 173.3 square feet per student. The median number of students in middle schools built in 2013 is 705 and the building size is 120,000 square feet. The cost is $29 million. The median high school cost $45.2 million and provided 162,500 square feet. It was designed to accommodate almost 1,000 students. The median high school provides 174.2 square feet per student at $47,500 for each student. The cost per square foot was $249.47. Trends since 1995 This is the 19th year that School Planning & Management has collected and published data on costs of new schools in the United States. Reporting is done based on medians. The number shown is more than what one-half of schools constructed cost and less than the cost for the other half. In 1995 the median school district was paying about $104 per square foot to construct high schools; $99 for middle schools and $93 per square foot for elementary. By 2003, high school construction costs had risen to $132 per sq ft, a 25% increase. Four years later, in 2007, the median high school was being constructed for $171 per sq. ft. In 2011 median costs for constructing a high school reached $219. Last year the cost of constructing a new high school was estimated at $249 per square foot, a significant jump. The middle school picture was similar. From 1999 (when costs were $108 per sq ft), the price rose steadily to $130 in 2003 and $162 in 2007. In 2009, the median cost for a new middle school was $187.50 per sq ft, a 73 percent increase over a decade. In 2010, reported costs surged to better than $215 per square foot but in 2011 and 2012 they fell back to $195. In 2013, based on reports from 94 middle school projects construction costs went way up to $221. The cost of constructing an elementary school has more than doubled since 1995, going from $93 to $202 today, but that figure represents a slight decline from one year earlier when the median elementary school cost was $204.79. This article is based on the 19th Annual School Construction Report published in the February 2014 issue of School Planning & Management magazine. The report was compiled and written by Paul Abramson, President of Intelligence for Education Inc. Mamaroneck NY (intelled@ aol.com). Table 4 - Profile of New Schools Completed in 2013 National Medians $/Sq. Ft. $/Student Sq. Ft./Student No. of Students Bulding Size (Sq.Ft) Building Cost ($000s) Elementary Schools $201.79 $30,551 149.6 520 79,623 $15,850,000 Middle Schools $221.82 $38,718 173.3 705 120,000 $29,000,000 High Schools $249.47 $47,500 174.2 992 162,500 $45,233,500 Low Quartile $/Sq. Ft. $/Student Sq. Ft./Student No. of Students Elementary Schools $165.38 $22,707 .128.0 372 59,680 $11,800,000 Middle Schools $187.50 $28,189 144.4 531 89,000 $19,600,000 High Schools $192.31 $33,333 150.9 565 118,500 $24,000,000 Bulding Size (Sq.Ft) Bulding Size (Sq.Ft) Building Cost ($000s) High Quartile $/Sq. Ft. $/Student Sq. Ft./Student No. of Students Building Cost ($000s) Elementary Schools $269.90 $35,714 174.7 682 100,000 $22,830,000 Middle Schools $290.60 $53,361 198.7 935 166,000 $35,000,000 High Schools $359.16 $65,597 214.3 1500 250,000 $75,000,000 To read this table: The national median cost per square foot for construction of an elementary school completed in 2013 was $201.79. Cost per student was $30,551 and the median school provides 149.6 square feet per student. One quarter of all school districts (the low 25%) spent $165.38 per square foot or less for its elementary school construction while one quarter of all districts spent $269.90 per square foot or more. The median high school completed in 2013 cost $45.2 million and the median middle school cost $29 million. 12 essentials | summer 2014