Investigators: Green school claims oversold

TACOMA, Wash. - The new Gray Middle School in Tacoma isn't really gray, it's green.

It has impressive environmentally friendly features everywhere you look. Some of them include banks of windows for lots of natural light, recycled beams from an old high school, rubber flooring that doesn't require chemicals, drought tolerant landscaping, and a filtration system that circulates fresh air all day long.

Pete Wall, director of planning and construction for Tacoma Public Schools, says Gray Middle School is a success in terms of providing a great learning environment for students.

"This building I think is our best effort to date," said Wall.

Gray is one of about 35 schools under construction or built in the state so far using new guidelines.

When the green schools law passed four years ago, supporters touted the small costs and big benefits of the program.

Many of the positive aspects of the green schools initiative are detailed in a video produced by the Washington state Department of Ecology and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The video can be accessed by anyone by going to the Superintendent of Public Schools' website.

One of the lines in the 15-minute video is: "Green: The color of clean, high performance, money-saving schools."

The KING 5 Investigators looked into the claims and found the state oversold some parts of the program.

For example, the video says it's a "fact" that green buildings are "a wise business choice for cost conscious schools. Relatively small increases in design and construction costs, usually less than 2 percent, ultimately bring 10 to 15 percent reductions in long term operating costs."

KING 5 found that's not true.

Large districts in the state tell us it's between 3 and 7 percent more expensive. That adds up.

Half a billion dollars will be spent on school construction in the state this year.

If green mandates cost 5 percent more, that's $25,000,000 additional dollars. All that money comes from local school district tax dollars.

After the first year, the legislature pulled all funding for the green schools mandate.

Todd Myers is the leading critic of forcing districts to fund green schools. He works as director of environmental policy for the Washington Policy Center, a local conservative think tank.

"We're spending lots of money and getting very little back," said Myers. "At a time when our budgets are so tight, and things are being cut, teachers are being cut, education is being cut, environmental projects are being cut, wasting that money does real damage to the environment, to education and to other things."

Advocates promised savings over time in the form of lower energy bills.

In the state video a Spokane School District official says Lincoln Heights Elementary School should save thousands right away.

"We're probably going to save about $40,000 a year in utility costs in operating this building," said Greg Brown in the video.

That's not right. Brown tells KING that was an incorrect projection from an engineering study. He says they're saving about $15,000 a year in utility costs and that Lincoln Heights is their best performing school.

Pete Wall of Tacoma says green schools cost more to operate, not less, but they have great value in many other ways.

"High performance schools are not cheaper to operate than a 1920, 1930s building, but from an occupant comfort, safety, performance, they're much (better),"said Wall.

State officials in charge of the green schools program say the buildings have many benefits, but no one from the Department of Ecology or the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction would go on camera to answer the tough questions about the claims regarding saving money, or about students doing better on test scores.

Their video states: "One California district has seen scores increase close to 30 percent in buildings with abundant daylight. While other districts may see increases of lesser magnitude, the conclusion is still the same: Better light equals better scores."

KING 5 found that claim is based on just one study done by a California architecture consulting firm, 10 years ago.

WASL scores we looked at from three local schools didn't show any noticeable improvement once the students moved into a green building.

Gray Middle School principal Yvonne Bullock says staff and students love their new school.

There's not enough data to show if the buildings will mean the students are healthier, but she's already seen a different kind of payoff.

"Just coming in and the newness of it, the openness of it, the light. All of that plays a big part in them wanting to be at school. So they're excited about coming in every day," said Bullock.