Comprehensive Educational Facility Planning

Dr. D'uAndre A. Drain, MSSM, LSSMBB

May 8th, 2020

Introduction

Successful organizational leaders manage changes by carefully planning business justifications, examining all relevant data, uncovering institutional board policies, and developing a comprehensive and timely action plan. According to Earthman (2013), the

comprehensive planning effort would seem to encompass a great deal of data and effort. Therefore, the time frame is a good peg upon which to tack a planning effort. The reason or purpose for planning also differs from one model to another. Obviously, comprehensive planning would indicate an activity that requires a wide swath of data and a long time frame (p. 13). 

That said, it was my estimation that facility planning leaders must learn how to engage with their directors, assistant directors, associate superintendents, and contractors to facilitate long range/strategic/tactical planning for their educational facility plans. Through this activity, the organizational leader can clearly communicate the necessity for a comprehensive action plan that covers the following elements but is not limited to: 1) curriculum development; 2) instructional development; 3) human resource management; 4) student demographics; 5) capital investment/improvements; 6) budgetary needs; 7) operating expenses; 8) school system size; and 9) employee capacity requirements.

As an organizational leader, I strongly believed that there was no “one size fits all” approach to planning; however, I would argue that all educational facility plans must incorporate four elements to be considered comprehensive. According to Earthman (2013), any comprehensive planning of a school system must incorporate “the needs of housing students based upon an examination of: (1) the educational program, (2) the number of students to be served, (3) the condition of the school building inventory, and (4) financial costs” (p. 252). With these considerations in mind and timely goals, I had developed a long-range business case for the establishment of an educational facility that would meet the needs of the community through educational programs designed for At-Risk minority students of the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District (ECISD).

Community

According to Earthman (2013), the first component of a comprehensive educational facility plan involves an examination of the “community in which the school system is located and the type of educational program delivered to the youth of that geopolitical area” (p. 31). In my opinion, an exhaustive analysis of the community ought to include, but not be limited to: 1) environmental assets and liabilities; 2) needs of the community; 3) problems within the community; 4) applicable social service programs; and 5) governmental programs. While establishing the conditions for the educational facility’s site selection and acquisition, effective organizational leaders are encouraged to simplify the interrelated and interdependent complexities of the future change(s) and communicate a business need, sense of urgency for the change with the community (Schein, 2010). 

Additionally, it was my belief that the community outreach component includes strategies that are and/or will be taken to: 1) solicit school Board Members’ input & feedback; 2) engage the community during public communications; 3) advertise details about the community outreach initiative and public meetings; and 4) uncover any potential barriers preventing parents, families, residents, and elected officials to attend meetings. According to Earthman (2013), a school system

is the organizational entity of the community, regardless of the size of individual public schools. Strategies and decisions emanating from a strategic planning process must be allocated sufficient resources by the school board to be successful. This is not always true on the school building or classroom level. Finally, the local school system, through the school board, interfaces with the state authority that created it, mandates certain courses of study, and services the general public (p. 19).  

That said, if an organizational leader desires to implement an educational facility that will sustain a competitive advantage in the future, the leader must induce a sense of urgency for all stakeholders to extinguish complacency and strive for continuous improvement of the Edinburg, Texas community. In my opinion, if the leader presents a clear rationale and need for the new educational program, support for the long range comprehensive educational facility plan can be realized involving the entire community.

Educational Program

The second component of a comprehensive educational facility plan is the educational program of the school system. According to Earthman (2013), this component of the plan

should not only describe in detail the present educational program but also the program that will be implemented in the next five to seven years or through the end of the long-range plan. The latter is very important because of the implication for change in the school system in the future (p. 32).

Based on my early experience as an adjunct instructor, I felt that a detailed listing of purposes, improvements, goals, and resource allocations must be clearly stated in the action plan. To support this viewpoint, Earthman (2013) stated that

these action plans may be in staff development for a new program, in human resources to secure new teachers for the changed program, in the curriculum department to develop curricular materials, or in the school facilities department to develop a capital improvement plan. Therefore, it is necessary to spell out the changes to the school system’s educational program envisioned in the immediate future (p. 33).

Having said all of this, it was my opinion that the implementation of the educational improvement plan must: 1) be focused on building relationships first; 2) understand that a student learning curve will accompany the new educational program; 3) include the stakeholders in both the planning and implementation phases; 4) prioritize an appropriate communication rhythm that is timely and execute it; 5) benchmark/leverage other program’s successes and avoid known pitfalls; 6) have a process for documenting reflections of project failures & successes for improvements of standards; and 7) be democratic and/or authoritative in the appropriate manner that is dictated at the state level.

Student Projections

During the process of planning change, organizational leaders often make projections using estimates to imagine future events and these assumptions are typically based on past trends. According to Earthman (2013), the school system

must plan for the appropriate number of students and adults the system will expect to have in the next few years. This is necessary in order to have the right kinds of educational spaces and in the right locations at the propitious time. Planning and constructing a new school building consumes many years, and a school system needs lead time to complete the task (p. 25).

In my opinion, the introduction of a new educational facility isn’t something that an organizational leader should take lightly and, most often, requires a great deal of planning & discussion. Having said, there must be a communicated location for the facility, vision and clearly articulated goals, and documented plan of student demographics and quantity that will be enrolled in the new educational program as well as the yearly growth projections.

School Facilities

In this section of the comprehensive educational facility plan, the organizational leader must present a clear description of the requested facility and desired community as well as how the site will effectively support the educational program’s vision, mission, philosophy, goals, and needs of operation. To effectively plan the instructional facilities allotment, Earthman (2013) stated that

all of the school facilities owned and operated by the system should be evaluated. The results should indicate the number of classroom spaces that can be used and how many students they can hold. The difference between the number of instructional spaces available and the number projected to be needed would indicate the need for new space (p. 26).

It is my point of view that a thoughtless leader, lacking any familiarity with comprehensive planning and harnessing the power of others, will urgently execute a plan that lacks : 1) market research and analysis; 2) details of needed modifications, renovations, and/or development company details for new constructions; 3) financing documentation; 4) time line projections; and 5) plans to ensure that the school facility will be compliant with state codes and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Vision

A vision statement is an ambitious description of what an establishment desires to achieve or realize in the mid-term or long-term future. This statement is designed to serve as an explicit guide for determining the appropriate courses of action to be taken. According to Earthman (2013), the vision statement can’t handle all “problems of the world, but must confine itself to education, as in the case of the school system. A vision statement is something everyone concerned with the organization would like to see in the future” (p. 34).  In my opinion, having a clear vision statement that defines how the school will function and what success ought to look like for students, is one of the most impactful influences that an effective leader can contribute to the educational facility plan.

Mission

A mission statement is a written publication of an establishment’s core purpose of focus that typically remains unchanged over the long term. According to Earthman (2013), the mission statement “of a school system must answer the twin questions of why this organization was formed and what it is supposed to do. In essence, the mission statement cites the legal basis of the organization of the school system” (p. 35). A mission differs from a vision in that the “mission” is the cause and the “vision” is the effect. The mission states what will be accomplished by the organization whereas a vision states the actions to be pursued for that accomplishment. 

The mission of “a local school system is to provide an appropriate education for all youth in accordance with the constitutional provisions of the state school system” (Earthman, 2013, p. 35). As an experienced leader, I believe in the importance of establishing the vision and mission, describing the process for which the mission was developed, identifying all stakeholders, and understanding how the mission aligns with the proposed educational program. That said, the mission and vision statements both provide the foundation for the entire educational facility proposal. And, when declared together, should assist the community and student body with a clear understanding of what stakeholder future success will look like.

Philosophy Statements

In the corporate private sector, a business philosophy statement simply states the theory used to determine how the organization handles certain aspects and areas of the business operations; however, in academia, philosophy statements attempt to answer certain questions and deals with the educational belief systems. These statements attempt to explain specific phenomena including, but not limited to: 1) what knowledge is; 2) the origins of knowledge; 3) the ways in which students learn; 4) what values are; and 5) the origins of values.  According to Earthman (2013), what is taught

in the schools is determined to a large extent by what we believe is knowledge. Likewise, how an individual believes children learn will greatly determine the methods used to teach. The values teachers try to instill in their students depend to a large measure upon what values the teachers believe important. In spite of the fact that each teacher must have answers to these questions, the school system also has an interest in these questions and should have some answers to guide the teachers and administrators when they work with students (p. 36).

It is my belief that the philosophy statements should address how students learn, the type of classroom setting or academic backdrop that stimulates learning, and the larger report of values and origins of knowledge.

Goals

In corporate America, goals are loosely defined as observable and measurable results that have clear linkage to one or more objectives to be realized within an established timeframe; however, in the field of education, goals consist of statements on how the school system should conduct its daily operations and how the educational program can help others.  According to Earthman (2013), the goals of an organization

can never be achieved but are something toward which an organization works. For example, if educating the youth of the community is a goal of the school system, then that goal cannot be achieved until the last youngster in the community graduates and there are no more students left to be educated, a situation that is most likely never to occur (p. 37).

That said, it is my opinion that the comprehensive educational facility plan’s goals should simply state the enabling goals of the educational program such as: 1) major program goals that outline how growth will be assessed and instruction will be modified as necessary to achieve individual educational goals; 2) goals that direct/move the organization in the right direction; and 3) staffing goals to ensure sufficient coverage for all on-going efforts by identifying, recruiting, and hiring instructional staff with the needed expertise to facilitate the facility’s mission and educational goals.

Needs Assessment

As a trained project manager, I have experience in performing a business practice known simply as a “gap analysis”; however, in planning educational facilities these practices are generally referred to as a “needs assessment”. The school board conducts these needs assessments to find out if

the community believes there is a difference between what the school is doing and what they believe could be done. Such assessments provide the school board with valuable community input into not only the program offered but also into the goals of the school system (Hill 2005). Many school systems conduct assessments on a regular basis and thereby accumulate data for a longitudinal study of trends (Earthman, 2013, p. 42).

In my opinion, the formative and/or summative gap analysis / needs assessment should help the community and facility administrators: 1) identify areas of opportunity for improving the long-range facility plan; 2) facilitate dialogue about program developmental goals formulated by the school board; and 3) understand all the resource needs of the organization.

Timeline Projections

As previously stated, planning to lease, purchase, and/or construct a new school building is an exhaustive process that expends much energy and requires many years to complete the tasks. To ensure that the right facility design is established, I believe that achieving an improved educational program requires time and hard work through comprehensive planning, designing, implementing, and evaluations. It should be well understood by all stakeholders that the actual length of time it will take to complete each phase depends on the size of the educational program that is being developed and the resources available to perform the program development work. In my opinion, the organizational leader must identify these allocated or additional resources, financial and/or political resources to efficiently effect change in the community. If the leader successfully performs this task, he/she will be better equipped to develop a realistic timeline for accomplishing each specific task and meet the resource needs in the long-term.

Financial Plan

In my line of work, financial planning consists of the organizational leaders’ ability to develop a long-term profit plan that aims at generating greater return on investment/assets and problem solving.  According to Earthman (2013), the financial plan is the final section of the facility planning proposal which

should deal with both operational and capital funding. When adopted, the operational funding plan becomes the operational budget for the school system. Even though this budget is for only one year, projections of operational budgets for the future should be made so that the school board can see the future financial impact of the proposed programs. This is important because it allows the school board to anticipate financial need, assuming the educational program is implemented (p. 26).

That said, it is my belief that the financial plan should detail the: 1) account and sources of funding; 2) assumptions and revenue estimates; 3) staffing levels; 4) expenditures; 5) all resources expected to be available through lending institutions, banks, foundations, corporations, grants, etc.; 6) donations already collected and pending contributions; and 7) contingency plans to meet the financial needs if forecasted funds are not procured for the program.

D'uAndre A. Drain, Ed.D. is the Author of The Negative Perception Theory and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Drain Corporation, LLC., a diversified services organization that provides products and services to help firms Achieve Strategic and Organizational Goals by Engaging the Talent and Passion of People?. Diversified services include, but are not limited to: Lean Six Sigma management; strategic & organizational management solutions; scholastic publication; and multi-media broadcasting.

References

DiPietro, J. (2019, February 22). Charter Schools - Subchapter D Charters. Retrieved from https://tea.texas.gov/charterapp.aspx

Earthman, G. (2013). Planning Educational Facilities (4thEdition). Rowman and Littlefield Education. ISBN-13:978-1475801880

Kendrick, R. (2019, February 04). Facilities Funding and Standards. Retrieved from https://tea.texas.gov/finance_and_grants/state_funding/facilities_funding_and_standards/facilities_funding_and_standards/

Schein, E.H. (2010). Organizational Culture and Leadership (4th Ed.). Jossey-Bass. San Francisco, CA. ISBN 978-0-470-19060-9.

Whalen, C. (2019, March 05). Comprehensive Report on Texas Public Schools. Retrieved from https://tea.texas.gov/acctres/comp_annual_index.html