By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
CALN — Elections, they say, have consequences.

That’s why it’s a little disturbing to see the Coatesville Area School District Board of Education in a seeming rush to buy a building for new administration offices.

You see, in little more than a couple of weeks at least three new school board members will be sworn in to office, so it seems a little strange that a deal that locks those folks into paying millions for a new building over the next few years won’t give them the opportunity to vote on the matter.

There’s a whole host of reasons why you could argue against the purchase, from the state of the district’s finances to reasonably questioning whether the district really has the managerial wherewithal to get into the health care business, when it is evident over the last few months, that this board and administration can’t manage education or even their own personal conduct, let alone new ventures totally outside of their expertise.

In their defense, they’ll tell you that the Benner Administration Building — the old high school — is a money pit. And that health care costs — which by the way, in neighboring districts have either held fairly steady or slightly decreased in the last year or so — are bankrupting the district. And yes, standing outside of the building Monday, it seems like a very nice building, not far from the high school campus.

Maybe that’s all true. And I have to say “maybe” because this board has slightly less credibility than the guy who makes the “Shamwow” commercials. Of course, that’s how it goes when you have a grand jury looking into your conduct.

And even with giving the board the benefit of the doubt that all these are legitimate issues, why the rush?

If this is the obviously right move, the new board members would — if shown the reasoning behind the deal — immediately jump at the chance, right? It’s not like commercial real estate is really selling right now — and Thorndale has been kind of a particularly struggling area — so it’s not like this building is going to be sold tomorrow if the district doesn’t leap. An extra downside: buying the building cuts the tax base of the district (and Caln Township), and it seems unlikely that Benner, if ever sold, will come close to replacing it, meaning a permanent loss of real estate tax income for the township, school district and county, some of which will have to be made up for with higher taxes.

This is an educated guess, but, I’m thinking that there aren’t five votes among the new board members to support this little venture, which makes the purchase highly suspect — and has already led to new expressions of public anger at this board.

Residents and parents have asked, rightly, how the district expects to pay for this building at a time when education programs are being cut — and the district faces a spike in pension costs in the coming years, without even the wiggle room to raise taxes much, thanks to the Act 1 Index.

We keep being told that capital expense money is different from operating expense money, which is more than a little disingenuous. Even if the money were sitting in an account from a previous bond issue, maybe it makes more sense to use it to pay down the ongoing debt service, rather than max out the credit card.

Whatever this is — and it’s not entirely clear — it is the exact opposite of being fiscally conservative. Or responsible. Or transparent.

It also strikes me (among others) as odd that a district that needed a tax anticipation note to open the 2013-14 school year (the school district equivalent of a payday loan) has the cash lying around to buy a building. And just out of curiosity: we’ve been looking for payments on that tax anticipation note, which comes due to PNC Bank on Dec. 15, and haven’t seen any in the check registry, which is a little worrisome.

As bad as things are, having the district run out of money in April — under the terms of the tax anticipation note, state funds automatically go to the bank until the note is repaid — and a state takeover of the school district would be an unmitigated disaster.

Add in the fact that starting its own health care facility is a spectacularly bad idea — partnering with any number of local providers who actually know what they’re doing would have been a smarter course — and once again it sure seems like the whole venture makes no sense whatsoever.

Combined with the rushed nature of this move and it’s hard to blame residents and parents for feeling like they’re being dumped on again, with no accountability from their elected officials.

This Board of Education needs to slow down, let its newly elected members take office, and start being frank about the financial shape of the district with residents, parents and taxpayers.

Tabling this purchase Tuesday night would be a good start.