Critical Issues in School Facility Planning

In school facility planning within the United States, each school board/owner is encouraged to develop a comprehensive plan that addresses the various issues that are prevalent in the twenty-first century. Today, many critical issues are impacting the planning, construction, and maintenance of school buildings. According to Earthman (2013), these critical issues have existed for decades; therefore, they are not new problems, and some of these issues are not necessarily “problems so much as movements, conditions, or issues that can and do influence how the public schools operate, which in turn have an influence upon the capital improvement efforts of the school system” (p.248). I will examine these critical issues in school facility planning and create an educational facility plan calendar to address the needs of the students, educators, administrators, government officials, and facilities.

Critical Issues in Facility Planning

In the U.S. school systems, there are many schools that need upgrades, renovations, and/or new facilities to combat critical issues impacting student retention and performance. Critical issues such as slow growth & market fluctuations in the U.S. economy, increases in building material costs, contractor wage increases, political & philosophical beliefs of those in power, school facility equity, state litigation, and technology all have a direct impact on the coordination and management of capital expenditures. According to Earthman (2013), the

condition of school facilities throughout the country and the need for new construction has placed local school systems in a situation where the need cannot be matched because of the limitation of local funding. Most local school systems do not have the financial ability to go into debt to fund such improvement projects. In some states, the bonding capacity of the local school system is constitutionally set and results in fiscal ability too low to produce the needed revenues to upgrade the facilities (p. 263).

That said, the local, state, and federal governmental issues surrounding the crises of student performance all can be tied back to one central theme – funding for public education!

Technological Planning Considerations

Due to an ever increasing need to interconnect via an agile and reliable communications network, many firms, universities, schools, non-profits, U.S. government, industries, and more are developing technological infrastructures to gain a competitive advantage and/or meet regulatory needs. In simple terms, technology is “the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science” (“Technology”, n.d.). Today, many schools are considering applying technology inside new and existing school buildings to leverage technological advancements in the teaching and learning processes.

When school boards/owners begin the process of planning for a new academic facility, it is my opinion that certain considerations must be included in the needs assessment(s), design of the technological infrastructure, and the training/support. According to Earthman (2013), these considerations are, but are not limited to: 1) network availability, current infrastructure, and limitations on the structure of the building; 2) development of new hardware and of practical applications for existing equipment; 3) how students best learn the material; 4) desired teaching/learning strategies by the school system; 5) accessibility and equal availability of technology applications for all students; 6) flexibility in infrastructure to manage technology software application/program updates; 7) outside support requirements for efficient and effective technology installation; 8) training needs for staff and students; 9) plans to keep all equipment functional; 10) properly sized furniture for each classroom; 11) computer local area vs. wide area networking needs; 12) quantity of computers needed for deployment and storage vs. establishing computer laboratories; and 13) availability of federal government funds to assist with the implementation of a technology plan (Earthman, 2013). Having said, in my opinion, most school boards/owners understand the reasoning behind the proposed considerations; however, their failure to act is directly related to the availability of funding for the renovation of existing buildings and/or new facilities.

Educational Facility Plan Calendar

When coordinating efforts for a facility capital expenditure project, the school board/owner should design an elaborate plan for all upcoming action items to systematically address all critical issues and assign roles & responsibilities for coverage. According to Earthman (2013), developing a long-range plan is

not an easy task, especially considering the number of people involved. Considerable lead time must be allowed to complete the document early enough for review and adoption. The office or person in charge of planning must adopt a schedule and publish it widely to gain support and cooperation in getting the task completed (p. 23).

By adopting a project schedule, the project leader will be in a better position to clearly articulate a timetable of sequential events with times allotted for each action item and inject contingency planning for uncovered crises.

As previously stated, there are turning points in project plans that produce conditions of instability in a business process and project leaders must take decisive action to eliminate the opposing threat to the comprehensive plan. According to Earthman (2013), normally there is a set schedule for planning

to which all participants adhere to during the planning phase. In many cases, planning must follow legal timelines to accommodate public hearings and involvement. The normality of the planning process in the schools is not in evidence during a crisis. The time frame for planning is encapsulated into much shorter periods of time. Plans must be developed and implemented in matters of hours or minutes, rather in days or weeks. Decisions resulting from an accelerated planning process must be implemented immediately (p. 284).

Having said, I have created a model to effectively facilitate the various stages of educational facility planning, generate data for review, evaluate the project after action item completion, and ensure the success of a long-range plan for future educational programs, such as the DRAIN Scholars Academy 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

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

Long-Range Educational Facilities Planning. (n.d.). Montgomery County Public Schools. Retrieved June 1, 2021, from https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/faara.pdf

Technology. (n.d.). Retrieved June 1, 2021, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/technology?s=t