CFAC Releases School Construction Report
September 19, 2007 – Today the Wake County Citizens Facilities Advisory Committee (CFAC) presented its initial report on WCPSS’s facilities and building program to the Wake County Board of Education and Board of Commissioners.
The report focused on three major areas of school construction: planning and site selection, program and design, and project delivery. After evaluating the system’s design, management, and delivery methods, the committee presented the two boards with 27 recommendations.
Some of the key recommendations include creating a peer review committee for site plans, buying and holding land for future development, reducing space in non-classroom areas such as media centers and parking lots, combining cafeterias and auditoriums, and providing more oversight during the construction process.
“We anticipate certain cost savings will be achieved and school construction will be improved if the recommendations included in this report are reviewed and implemented,” said CFAC Co-chair, John Mabe. “One of the areas we think schools can save is in the early stages of when site plans are being developed.
Before taking any action on the recommendations, board chair Rosa Gill says WCPSS will begin to review the report and get the community’s feedback.
“We will do our best to look at each of these recommendations,” said Gill, “if there are cost savings benefits which don’t interfere with our educational program, we will work to implement them.”
The Citizen’s Facilities Advisory Committee was jointly formed by the Board of Commissioners and Board of Education in June 2006. The committee is composed of 13 business and community leaders having knowledge and understanding of school capital.
Editor's Note: In June 2007 WCPSS's Facilities Department responded to the DeJong Construction Cost Analysis Report presented to CFAC. The response is available for download (Adobe Reader file, 329KB).