Votes will be cast for the first time Tuesday night on whether to fund the city administration’s plans to rebuild five Stamford public schools by 2024 using a public-private partnership model, in which private contractors would construct and maintain new school buildings. Under the proposed plan, the city would sell its school land for the specific sites to a private party for one dollar. The private developer would in turn demolish the existing school, build a new one to the city’s design and then lease it back to the city for a 45- to 90-year lease, after which ownership of the land and buildings would revert back to the city. According to the Stamford Asset Management Group, the traditional model for school construction and operations is 70 percent more expensive than the “public-private partnership” plan, which puts the annual cost of the traditional model at $19 million compared to an estimated $11 million annual cost for the sale-leaseback plan.
https://www.ctinsider.com/local/stamfordadvocate/article/1M-sought-to-embark-on-plan-to-remake-Stamford-14972243.php?src=sthpcp&_ga=2.168412705.1223282501.1578999727-1033831744.1572817739