Governor signs bill to allow state grants for demolishing abandoned school buildings
Miranda Cyr
LAS CRUCES - A new opportunity to save on insurance and maintenance costs in New Mexico schools has arisen with the passage of Senate Bill 43.
Last week, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the bill, which allows the Public School Capital Outlay Council to provide grant assistance from the public school capital outlay fund to fully fund the demolition of abandoned school district facilities.
State Sen. Bill Soules, D-Las Cruces, sponsored the bill.
"We've got a number of buildings that are still on the rolls that you still have to pay insurance on and other things, but it's very difficult for a community to ... tear things down," Soules said. "It's a win-win for everyone. The districts can get buildings that have no more useful life off of the insurance rolls ... and not have to pay for them."
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Soules said the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority approached him with the idea.
In the past, the PSCOC was able to provide partial or full demolition cost reimbursements, but these grants come in advance.
According to the bill, approximately one-quarter of the 89 school districts in New Mexico have vacant, unnecessary or underutilized school or district buildings.
Soules explained that this bill will not be allowing districts to "jump the line" in getting funding. As always, the PSCOC will evaluate projects based on readiness and need, he said.
"It makes it so that buildings are eligible for demolition — if it's appropriate and the district needs it and the council agrees," Soules said. "Most demolition is not expensive, but it's stuff that needs to get done."
The bill estimates a demolition cost of $15 to $25 per square foot. In total, there is about 750,000 square feet of abandoned or underutilized school space across the state, which could total $11.3 million to $18.8 million in demolition expenses over time.
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"Las Cruces has a few buildings that would fall on that list," Soules said. "It really is up to the school board and their facilities people to determine that this warehouse needs to just be demolished, so we can get it off the insurance rolls and then make application as they would for any new buildings or for system changes."
The demolition and rebuilding of Columbia Elementary School has been a project that Las Cruces Public Schools has been pursuing for a while. Columbia, which was shut down in September 2018 due to persistent and severe mold infestations, has sat vacant for two and a half years.
The PSCOC recently approved LCPS's plans for demolition and reconstruction, and the district is currently in the process of finding an architecture firm to take on the project.
In the district's proposed budget from November, demolition alone would cost $2,406,657. The PSCOC would pay $1,371,795 — 57 percent — and LCPS would pay $1,034,863.
Soules said the bill doesn't work retroactively and the Columbia project likely wouldn't be affected.
The bill will go into effect on July 1, making PSCOC grants for demolishing abandoned school structures available to districts.
Miranda Cyr, a Report for America corps member, can be reached at mcyr@lcsun-news.com or @mirandabcyr on Twitter. Show your support for the Report for America program at https://bit.ly/LCSNRFA.
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