Board Continues Discussion on School Construction Planning Assumptions
April 29, 2008 - Decisions made by the school board and county commissioners in the planning assumptions for schools in the next school construction program will have an impact on the number of schools needed.Assistant Superintendent Chuck Dulaney talked with school board members in today’s facilities committee meeting about four important decisions. Dulaney said decisions made on student accommodations, school capacity models, school size and space standards and the use of the year-round calendar will shape the size of the next school construction program.
Student Accommodations: In the planning assumptions adopted for CIP 2006, the goal for student accommodations was to reduce the number of students housed in mobile or modular classrooms to eight percent. The dramatic increase in student enrollment in recent years has resulted in increased need of mobile and modular classrooms which currently account for 17 percent of system classroom space.
School Capacity Models: In the school capacity models, the board determines the use of classrooms so that there is space for special curriculum such as art and music; for services such as Title I reading programs and accelerated learning instruction; and for services such as Academically Gifted instruction or special education self-contained classrooms. If the board decided, for example, to create additional space for foreign language instruction, schools would require additional classrooms.
New school size and space standards: In the size and space standards, the board determines the square footage of instructional space as well as the number of students the school will be designed to serve. The standards for CIP 2006 provide for middle schools to serve 1,311 students and high schools to serve 2,223 students. The standard elementary school serves 655, and can handle 843 on a multi-track, year-round calendar. The large elementary school serves 800 and can serve 1,124 on a multi-track, year-round calendar.
Multi-track, Year-round Schools: In calendar decisions, the board determines the use of multi-track, year-round or traditional calendars. Fewer schools would be required if the board converted existing schools or built new schools using the multi-track year round than if new traditional calendar schools were opened. In the 2006 CIP, 22 existing schools were converted to the multi-track year-round calendar and all new elementary and middle schools are opening on the multi-track year-round calendar to create the capacity to meet student enrollment growth.
The board asked Dulaney to provide more information on these issues for further discussion in the facility committee, indicating they would like to see a model providing for a higher than eight percent rate of use of mobile and modular classrooms and a comparison of the number of schools required based on the calendar used.
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