Gloucester Public Schools superintendent Ben Kiser is appealing a proposed insurance payout of $5.3 million to replace the rear wing (39,000 square feet) of Page Middle School that was completely destroyed by a tornado in April.

In his letter to the Virginia Municipal League, Kiser said the proposed amount, representing a replacement cost of $122.46 per square foot, is not in line with costs of school projects completed in recent years. Consultants working with the school division have calculated the minimum acceptable cost to be $155 per square foot.

Kiser specifically cited "building only" school projects in Norfolk, Henrico, Williamsburg and Virginia completed over the last four years at a cost of between $128 and $178 per square foot. The most recent work cited was a Virginia Beach high school project at a cost of $174 per square foot.

Kiser states that the itemized methodology used by the insurance carrier to calculate the replacement cost produced "a propos...