thinking about the unthinkable alternatives

In which we think about the unthinkable.  

I’d like to examine  in some detail an alternative future scenario, one in which we don’t pass Issue 81.  

With funding only from the on-going capital improvements fund, what would the future look like for our schools?  At present, there is an ever-changing list of needed maintenance and repairs as systems and components in many of our buildings reach the end of their useful lives.  A steam pipe in a wall, for instance, lasts only so long before it succumbs to age and must be replaced.  (Apparently some people are under the impression that the list is static.  In fact, it is dynamic, with projects being completed daily, weekly, or monthly, while other projects join the list.  New projects may be prioritized over old ones, as well, so that, for instance, any immediate health or safety hazards become immediate action items.  To see what the “list” contains at any given moment, one has to follow our building custodians, the district tradespersons, and the grounds crew every day as they work their way through the day’s priorities at each building.)

If we fail to adopt and fund a truly comprehensive plan, we will be locked into a constant cycle of reactive repairs to our current systems and will be unable to upgrade to newer, more efficient systems designed to require less maintenance while reducing operational energy costs for heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, etc. In fact, we’ll wind up emulating our nation’s health care model, putting more and more of our dollars into squeezing the last drops of life out of our decaying systems.  This is, no mistake, a bad model for healthcare (Grandma will live just as long with hospice care, and a darned sight better, too, than she will with tubes and meaningless invasive procedures) and it’s an even worse model for mechanical repairs (as I have to remind my customers regularly.)  Meanwhile, money that could otherwise be used to pay for teachers will continue to be drained into the utilities’ coffers.