for School Facilities Planning

1
Citizens Advisory Committee
for School Facilities Planning Funding
2

• Consensus
• Solutions for public school facilities
• Funding plan the community will support

3
Consensus

• The Committee was
• Jointly commissioned by the Wake County
  Board of Commissioners Wake County Board of
  Education
• Composed of a diverse membership including bond
  proponents and opponents

4
Consensus

• The Committees charge was to recommend
• An acceptable capital spending plan for schools
• Strategies for broader inclusion of the community

5
Consensus

• Exhaustive examination of facility needs facing
  Wake County Public Schools
• Committee agreed on a set of general principles

6
Consensus

• General Principles
• The Plan should ensure that Wake County will
  provide all children in the school system a safe,
  orderly, clean and healthful school that ensures
  an environment for effective, quality learning.

7
Consensus

• General Principles
• The Plan should reflect every effort to avoid a
  tax increase.
• The Plan should not include a separate technology
  component rather, technology should be
  integrated only to the extent that it will
  enhance the academic program.

8
Consensus

• General Principles
• The Plan must identify how the school systems
  needs have been prioritized.
• The Plan should be prepared so that needs for
  renovated new schools are fully funded before
  capital funds are committed to other new facility
  needs.

9
Consensus

• General Principles
• The Plan should provide construction funding for
  the next 3 1/2 years, plus sufficient funding to
  meet site acquisition and development needs.

10
Consensus

• General Principles
• The Plan will enjoy broad public support if it is
  prepared, presented implemented with input from
  a broadly representative group with a mandate to
  monitor implementation of these principles, and
  advise county school officials on school
  finance issues.

11
Consensus

• General Principles
• The Plan should reflect priorities in the
  following order (1) ensuring the health and
  safety of children staff (2) providing adequate
  facilities and (3) reducing school overcrowding.
  Only after these 3 goals have been accomplished
  should other issues, such as parity among school
  facilities, be addressed.

12
Consensus

• General Principles
• The Plan should include managerial or legislative
  strategies for reducing costs through further
  streamlining or privatization of construction
  management, facilities, services, site
  acquisition alternatives and project delivery.

13
Consensus

• General Principles
• The Plan should provide additional teaching
  spaces first to handle anticipated growth, and
  second to provide lower student-teacher ratios,
  in that order.

14
Consensus

• General Principles
• The Plan should allocate responsibility for
  school construction, renovation and maintenance
  between the county government the school system
  in the manner most likely to ensure the most
  efficient and effective operation of school
  building other facilities.

15
Consensus

• Inclusion of community
• Public support crucial
• Publicize school successes
• Committee will work with elected officials to
  actively support a referendum that reflects the
  committees consensus

16
Consensus

• Inclusion of community
• Establish ongoing advisory group
• Include community in future capital spending plans

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• Consensus
• Solutions for public school facilities
• Funding plan the community will support

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Solutions

• New schools
• Provide seats for 3,500 additional students a
  year for next 3 school years
• Capacity models reduced to the lowest number
  feasible
• Space standards reduced by 15 to 17 for middle
  high schools

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Solutions

• New Schools
• Adopt a long range goal of 92
  permanent seats vs. 8 mobile
  seats
• Provide more optional year-round schools,
  especially in areas where the option does not
  currently exist

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Solutions

• New Schools
• Construct some new schools less expensively that
  provide unique instructional programs (magnet
  schools)
• Try other methods of construction (modular,
  alternative contracting, off-site food
  preparation, etc.)

21
Solutions

• Renovations
• Space standards reduced by 15 to 17 for middle
  high schools
• Renovations of inadequate facilities should have
  priority equal to new school construction
• Renovate some existing schools at less expense to
  provide unique instructional programs (magnet
  schools)

22
Solutions

• Renovations
• Provide adequate maintenance
• Eliminate or defer low-priority renovation
  projects
• Try other methods of renovation (modular,
  alternative contracting, etc.)

23
Solutions

• Technology
• Technology should be funded mainly from the
  operating budget
• Appropriate personnel should have e-mail accounts
  and Internet access

24
Solutions

• Technology
• Technology should be integrated into the
  curriculum as completely as possible
• School system should allocate operational funds
  for teacher training

25
Solutions

• Other Facilities
• Non-classroom facility construction should be
  deferred so long as there is a substantial
  shortage of classrooms

26

• Consensus
• Solutions for public school facilities
• Funding plan the community will support

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Funding

• Operating Budget
• Wake County should devote more funding to
  maintenance and repair
• Establish a Wake County Public Building Authority
  to oversee design, construction and maintenance
  of all County facilities

28
Funding

• Legislative/Policy Issues
• Remove constraints over school system use of
  state funds and remove the upper limit on charter
  schools
• Provide total construction flexibility
• School system should not pay sales tax

29
Funding

• Legislative/Policy Issues
• Provide incentives to make land and/or facilities
  available for public schools
• Streamline permit and inspection process to
  expedite construction

30
Funding

• Capital Spending Plan
• Plan for November 2000 to June 2004 should be
  500 - 600 million
• Bond size should be 445 - 555 million
• 26 - 55 million can be used on technology/other
  needs

31

• Consensus
• Solutions for public school facilities
• Funding plan the community will support

32
Citizens Advisory Committee
for School Facilities Planning Funding