This internal committee comprised of school district staff directs the process and is involved in decision-making at critical steps. The committee also manages the entire master planning process and the district’s consultants. Depending on the size of the school district, it usually includes:
Superintendent/CEO Assistant Superintendents for Curriculum & Instruction Operations Finance Director of Facilities Public Information Officer This external committee ensures that equity and fairness are maintained throughout the planning process and across planning areas. The committee reviews and confirms decisions at critical junctures and assists in resolving conflicting recommendations before the master plan is submitted for approval. It usually includes representatives from the following:
Community at Large Parent Teacher Association School Board City Planning Department District Planning Office City/County Government Students [Middle/High School Teachers’ Union Clergy Business Community Step 2: Development of Data and Documents The following is developed concurrently:
Enrollment Projections/GIS The facility planning firm develops five to 10-year enrollment projections per school and sets up a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database to overlay the following:
Present school locations Student attributes, such as address, lunch code, ethnicity, special needs, attending school, and overall graduation rate Land use data from local agencies to determine planned and approved housing developments, plans for road expansion, and community expansion GIS is extremely valuable in facility planning. Before GIS, district administrators spent days locating available and affordable land for a new school. They also spent weeks determining the student population in the vicinity of the property. Thanks to technology, educational facility planners can now use GIS to show district administrators aerial photographs to determine suitable land for a new school, assess information about acreage and current appraised values of the land, and retrieve student population relative to the property – in a matter of seconds.
Educational Framework This is developed with input from the school community. For each school level (elementary, middle and high), program requirements are compared to existing buildings to district desired“standards” for new school facilities. Issues included in the educational framework are:
School Size Class Size Grade Configuration Universal Pre-K Community Uses of Schools Magnet Programs Year-Round Schools Renovation Standards The educational framework is set by holding community dialogues in each planning area, to which the entire school district and community are invited to participate. Those who are unable to attend a meeting often fill out a Web-based questionnaire. After the dialogues, a work session is held to review all findings and merge the results into one.
Educational Specifications Educational specifications address the delivery of educational programs in the facilities. They address the layout of the facility, sizes of instruction and support areas, as well as plans for flexible spaces now and in the future. The educational specifications are often developed by a committee for each level: PK-5; 6-8, 9-12. The committee is made up mostly of teachers and staff but also includes students, parents, administrators and community members. The committee usually meets for two two-day lab sessions.
Lab #1 is an intensive, two-day work session examining future trends and determining program direction. Participants discuss programmatic and space needs and draft a report. Lab #2 is another intensive, two-day work session to further edit and refine the draft report. This lab incorporates large group work, as well as smaller, breakout group work. Participants resolve space requirements and area descriptions with programming guidelines.
Facility Assessments Information regarding the condition of each building is critical to the development of a master plan. Many building are in need of roofs, windows, HVAC and electrical upgrades, among many other systems. An evaluation of each school building needs to be conducted to determine the level of renovation needed or if the building should be replaced.
Educational Adequacy and capacity studies should also be conducted. A facility planner must consider how each building fits a district’s need for educational programs now and in the future. Therefore, planners look at not only a building’s physical capacity and layout, but also at how many students it presently serves and how many students it can serve in five to 10 years.
Design/Construction Standards These are overlaid on existing facilities to gauge adequacies and deficiencies. The standards also are used to guide new construction, include design and material selection.
Step 3: Development of Facility Options and Priorities Options Work Sessions
Facility options are developed from the data collected and input gathered from the facility condition review, educational framework work session, Geographic Information Systems, cost estimates and community dialogues. Appropriate costs associated with options are also developed and are based on cost estimates of the scope of work determined by the needs assessment. All options are developed by the facility planner, the district and the planning area committees before being presented to the community. These options identify the basic scope of the following, as well as macro costs:
Renovations Replacements Additions New Construction Closures/Consolidations Step 4: Community Input Planning Area Committee, In smaller districts, the district Steering Committee and the Area Committees may be one in the same. In larger districts, it is recommended the district be divided into areas for planning purposes. Each Planning Area Committee includes representatives from each school within the area as well as community representatives. Each committee is responsible for developing recommendations for an area plan, which serves as a basis for the facility master plan.
Community Dialogue Community dialogues are structured to share information with the community and gain maximum input and consensus on future direction. Attendees are given a blank name tag with a number on it. The number corresponds to a table number, telling them where to sit. An attempt is made to split people who know each other, such as husband and wife or neighbors because they are familiar with each other’s educational views.
After opening remarks and presentations, attendees respond to critical questions individually and in small groups. Small groups record their questionnaire responses on large wall charts. A quick overview of how small groups responded to questions is given as part of closing remarks. Everyone who attends the community dialogue and provides an accurate mailing address receives a copy of the results. To ensure that the entire community has an opportunity to provide input, an electronic version of the community dialogue questionnaire is posted on the district’s website so community members can fill out the online form. The responses are analyzed in the exact same manner as questionnaires completed and collected at the community dialogue.
Step 5: Development of Implementation Plan Once the team has assessed existing data, developed cost estimates, identified new construction projects, identified discontinued facilities, identified replacement construction projects, prioritized modernization and rehabilitation projects, and conferred with the Community Advisory Committee, all information is organized into possible phases of implementation. Each phase lists schools and shows the following for each:
Action to be taken (new construction, renovation, addition, etc.) Suggested Enrollment/capacity Cost estimate Time-line for completion The implementation plan also includes scope of projects, cash flow, budgets and priorities.
Step 6: Board Presentation The final facility master plan contains:
Assessment data, including systems’ conditions and a detailed needs analysis for each site Future building needs Present and future building capacities Operation and maintenance costs Availability of funding and alternative funding options List of proposed projects in priority order for the next 10 years, such as new schools, renovations/additions, replacements, and deferred maintenance. Step 7: Board Approval Charts, graphics, and electronic presentation media are only some of the tools used to present the facility master plan in a simple, yet sophisticated, manner. Following board approval, the district considers various funding measures. The most common funding measures are through tax levies or the sale of bonds. For more information on how to get a school bond passed in your district, go to www.peterli.com/spm/betterschools/index.shtm to download or order a pamphlet called“How Better Schools Build Better Communities.”
Deborah Moore, who authored the pamphlet, summed up the funding issue perfectly: “Without adequate investment in education, students will suffer, communities will stagnate, businesses will leave, and property values will drop.”
It truly is all about planning. Nothing can impact the quality of education in a district, as well as build a better vision and future for a community, than a facility master plan.
Dr. William S. DeJong, Ph.D., REFP, is CEO of DeJONG, one of the country’s foremost educational facility planning firms. Dr. DeJong is former president and assistant executive director of the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI) and the former executive director of the National Community Education Association (NCEA). He co-founded Schools for the Children of the World, is a member of the National School Boards Association Foundation, and has taught School Planning and Design at Harvard University for the past 11 years. He can be reached at www.dejonginc.com.
