Sep 19, 2008 4:46 pm US/Eastern
'Model Schools' Could Save Mass. Towns Millions
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
They are called "model schools" and they are coming to a town near you. The idea is to save money by building essentially the same structure over and over again.
Cash strapped communities are already lining up.
"It has a stunning appeal when you first walk in the building," said Whitman-Hanson Principal Ed Lee as he showed Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve around the property Friday.
"Stunning" is a good way to describe Whitman-Hanson High school.
Built for $45 million four years ago, the "model school" will be showing up in other neighborhoods across the state as a way to save money, meaning the exact same design will be used in other towns -- at the elementary, middle and high school level.
State Treasurer Tim Cahill oversees the program.
"So we can take the model school program and run it throughout the whole state, at all three levels, and save hundreds of million of dollars," Cahill said.
The "model school" was not used to design the new
Newton North High School which is taking shape.
At a cost of roughly $200 million, it is now the poster child for cost overruns.
Compare Newton's cost to plans for the new Norwood high school.
The old Norwood High is crumbling, so very soon Norwood students may get a replica of Whitman-Hanson and tax payers will not even spend half what they are spending in Newton.
Dick Kief is on the Norwood School Committee.
"We are making a few tweak changes to build in some of Norwood's things and there is substantial savings in there," Kief said.
In Norwood, they are delighted. They are not only saving money, they are saving time. They are knocking a year off the construction schedule and $15 million off the price tag.
At Whitman-Hanson, they saved more money by incorporating solar panels and an energy efficient heating system, which knows when to shut itself off. They don't ever set the thermostat.
Ed Lee added, "We do not. It does it by itself, and it is all computer operated."
The classrooms look the same. So do the Hallways. But the adults are a lot happier.
Seven other school systems are now in line to use the Whitman-Hanson design package and save millions.
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