District: 'Won't Be A Better Time' to Upgrade Salem High

The Salem School District and local residents made a heartfelt plea for voter support Wednesday night while breaking down the Salem High School renovation project during the first of two community forums.

Jamie Santo, a resident who has been involved in the planning process for the project, led a presentation that outlined various pros for why he and others believe the $74.75 million high school transformation is the cheapest and most effective plan in the long run for the high school and its Career Technical Center.

Santo, a parent and owner of the Salem-based Santo Insurance and Financial Services, Inc., said the decision extends beyond just the monetary reasons, though.

He said it's about what "an almost new school" can do for the students, and that town meeting voters need to see that "critical" changes are needed to a "facility that has outlived its usefulness" and no longer does enough to create an environment that "inspir[es] great leaders" and makes "students hold their heads high."

"We must give our students more, not less," said Santo, who got choked up multiple times while reflecting on the importance of the high school experience. "It's not about the school. It's about the experience. There won't be a better time."

Wednesday's detailed forum featured a variety of information about the project as well as a public question-and-answer period with individuals associated with the project.

The idea of Salem Blue Devil "pride" is one that has been a focal point during the discussions about the project, the cost of which will be offset by a $10,775,000 million state grant. A video has been put together to showcase some of that pride.

Santo said the limited availability of the grant makes it an easy decision for him to support the project, for which $64.9 million would be bonded in three separate bonds that would carry an interest rate of between 3 and 3.5 percent over 25 years.

He said the cost of the other options available for the nearly-50-year-old building also made the decision easy for him. The district explored building a completely new high school as well as the idea of performing a series of "Band-Aid" fixes to current problems over the next 10 years, although it ruled those approaches would be too costly for what they provide.

Constructing a new high school would reportedly cost around $111,625,000, while the "Band-Aid" approach would cost $34,568,137 to upgrade failing features and wouldn't include any of the career technical center program upgrades.

Santo said the "Band-Aid" approach would also represent a $233 increase on the average $300,000 home's tax bill for the next decade, and at the end of that increase the town and school district would still be left with an aging building that can't fully meet the needs of the district and town.

"It doesn't make any sense," said Santo, likening the "Band-Aid" approach to purchasing a 10-to-20 year old car and pouring thousands of dollars into it to upgrade it despite the fact that "you're still left with the same infrastructure" at the end.

In comparison, the plan to transform and expand the existing school would represent a tax bill increase of $24.81 for the average homeowner in the first year and less than $100 in most of the years of the bond. The greatest impact comes in 2016-2017, when the average tax bill increase would be about $118.92.

[Editor's note: Images of charts breaking down the projected tax bill impacts for the next several years are posted above.]

Santos said the renovation plan's increases are more palatable than the shorter-term "Band-Aid" tax bill increase because unlike the "Band-Aid" approach, renovating the high school would bring a 6 percent increase in local homes' values.

"That's $18,000 for a $300,000 home, and that value increase is expected to persist for a decade," said Santo. "This is very important. There are people in this community that have put their kids through school and don't have kids in school... It's important to let them know there's a likely possibility [that passing this project will get them] a good rate of return [on their tax dollars]."

The decision is ultimately in the hands of the voters, though, and Santos urged local residents to consider how spending a few hundred dollars a year makes sense for a project that would enhance their students' education and safety, in addition to local home values. 

"It's not about the money," said Santos. "How can I say to [my own son], 'You're not worth $300?'"

More information about the high school renovation project can be found here.

Another presentation about the project will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 3, in the Salem High School TV Studio. 

The project will go to the school's annual deliberative session at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6, at the high school before voters decide the project's fate at the town meeting polls on Tuesday, March 11.