Is your community ready to work together to improve services to kids and community? Are you ready to identify joint use opportunities and find ways to merge school and community plans?
A comprehensive Educational Facilities Master Plan (FMP) is essential to improving schools and saving money (see PK-12 Public Educational Facilities Master Plan Evaluation Guide). Regular updates to the FMP (every 3-5 years) are necessary; this allows schools and cities to adjust plans as assumptions/funding change or opportunities arise.
The following outline provides information that a coordinated planning group may want to include when developing a FMP for public schools.
I. Identify Issue(s) - e.g., declining enrollment, changing school capacity, increasing enrollment, aging buildings, deferred maintenance, sprawling community, school location, economic development, transportation, health, housing, accessibility, etc. - Can the issue(s ) be clearly identified? Is the decision relatively open (not determined by law?) or are decision criteria defined by law?
II. Gather Information on School and Community. Determine what data needs to be compiled. Collect shared public data that is clear and accurate:
A. School District Data-
1. Student enrollment (historic, current and projected). Where school-aged children live now and changes over
time e.g. historical geocoded student location
2. Number of Homeless Students and location of temporary housing, include statistics on student yield /temporary housing area
3. School locations - all locations closed and open - including those currently in use for education, administration or other
buildings not currently in use. Include buildable, expandable site information etc.
4. Existing School Building square footage, capacity, building condition (comprehensive deferred maintenance list)
5. Historic Finance and finance projections for schools - Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
6. Transportation - Student Bussing - historical information on # busses, # students bussed, costs - School District Transportation Director
7. Map of Bike/Walk existing and planned Infrastructure and dates of installation - sidewalks, bikeways, signals, crosswalks, etc - City Planning
8. Current and historic individual School Boundary Maps as well as District-Wide Boundary maps for elementary and High School boundary areas, including outlying areas served by the specific district.
B. Community Data -
1. Demographics - Neighborhood census (tract, or block group) and community -age, population density, race, ethnicity, poverty - City Planning Department
2. Public Transit Maps -
3. Public Housing Maps -
4. Economic Development Maps - Tax Increment Finance District or other plans
C. Housing Demographics - sales, turnover rates, household size, cost etc. - local Realtor's Association
III. Map data using GIS - Use as a tool for collaboration and understanding of trends/time, see Mapping Data
IV. Gather Education and Community Plans
Educational initiatives as well as community growth initiatives (community growth plan, infill policy, city transportation plans, public
transportation maps and plans, public health initiatives for walking and biking, safety service areas, infrastructural plans (map existing
as well as planned bike and walk infrastructure, include planned date of completion - School District, City Planning, Health
Department, Public Housing, Public Transportation).
V. Meet with stakeholders, develop scoring by which criteria will be analyzed and scored i.e., "walkable, bikeable" (assess infrastructure in
place or needed - sidewalks, bikeways, crosswalks, signalized intersections - see ASNC Tool, Smart School Siting Tool or others) close to
school-aged children (analysis of neighborhood demographics). Is enrollment, flat, increasing declining? When is one location closed and another opened?
VI. Evaluate options: use existing school site (reopen), build new on new site vs enlarge vs consolidate etc. Compare options using tools (Active School Neighborhood Checklist, Smart School Siting Tool/quantitative values) i.e. #of road miles of street, sidewalk and bikeway, # signals, street crossings needed, number and density of students in school boundary,
size of school boundary required to fill school, etc.
Explicitly evaluate each case scenario against identified community priorities which have been aligned with cost options. See EPA School Siting Guidelines (boundary and new site recommendations).
Evaluate boundary options for each scenario (open, close, enlarge or change grade configuration, provide multiple grade configuration options across a district, etc.) and compare school and community priorities including distance to school, diversity, transportation, bike and walk infrastructure etc.
VII. Calculate long and short term costs for each option and explore opportunities for joint use or cost sharing etc.
VIII. Determine what additional information is needed to inform the process and identify measurable criteria for each of your local
priorities.
The following outline provides information that a coordinated planning group may want to include when developing a FMP for public schools.
I. Identify Issue(s) - e.g., declining enrollment, changing school capacity, increasing enrollment, aging buildings, deferred maintenance, sprawling community, school location, economic development, transportation, health, housing, accessibility, etc. - Can the issue(s ) be clearly identified? Is the decision relatively open (not determined by law?) or are decision criteria defined by law?
II. Gather Information on School and Community. Determine what data needs to be compiled. Collect shared public data that is clear and accurate:
A. School District Data-
1. Student enrollment (historic, current and projected). Where school-aged children live now and changes over
time e.g. historical geocoded student location
2. Number of Homeless Students and location of temporary housing, include statistics on student yield /temporary housing area
3. School locations - all locations closed and open - including those currently in use for education, administration or other
buildings not currently in use. Include buildable, expandable site information etc.
4. Existing School Building square footage, capacity, building condition (comprehensive deferred maintenance list)
5. Historic Finance and finance projections for schools - Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
6. Transportation - Student Bussing - historical information on # busses, # students bussed, costs - School District Transportation Director
7. Map of Bike/Walk existing and planned Infrastructure and dates of installation - sidewalks, bikeways, signals, crosswalks, etc - City Planning
8. Current and historic individual School Boundary Maps as well as District-Wide Boundary maps for elementary and High School boundary areas, including outlying areas served by the specific district.
B. Community Data -
1. Demographics - Neighborhood census (tract, or block group) and community -age, population density, race, ethnicity, poverty - City Planning Department
2. Public Transit Maps -
3. Public Housing Maps -
4. Economic Development Maps - Tax Increment Finance District or other plans
C. Housing Demographics - sales, turnover rates, household size, cost etc. - local Realtor's Association
III. Map data using GIS - Use as a tool for collaboration and understanding of trends/time, see Mapping Data
IV. Gather Education and Community Plans
Educational initiatives as well as community growth initiatives (community growth plan, infill policy, city transportation plans, public
transportation maps and plans, public health initiatives for walking and biking, safety service areas, infrastructural plans (map existing
as well as planned bike and walk infrastructure, include planned date of completion - School District, City Planning, Health
Department, Public Housing, Public Transportation).
V. Meet with stakeholders, develop scoring by which criteria will be analyzed and scored i.e., "walkable, bikeable" (assess infrastructure in
place or needed - sidewalks, bikeways, crosswalks, signalized intersections - see ASNC Tool, Smart School Siting Tool or others) close to
school-aged children (analysis of neighborhood demographics). Is enrollment, flat, increasing declining? When is one location closed and another opened?
VI. Evaluate options: use existing school site (reopen), build new on new site vs enlarge vs consolidate etc. Compare options using tools (Active School Neighborhood Checklist, Smart School Siting Tool/quantitative values) i.e. #of road miles of street, sidewalk and bikeway, # signals, street crossings needed, number and density of students in school boundary,
size of school boundary required to fill school, etc.
Explicitly evaluate each case scenario against identified community priorities which have been aligned with cost options. See EPA School Siting Guidelines (boundary and new site recommendations).
Evaluate boundary options for each scenario (open, close, enlarge or change grade configuration, provide multiple grade configuration options across a district, etc.) and compare school and community priorities including distance to school, diversity, transportation, bike and walk infrastructure etc.
VII. Calculate long and short term costs for each option and explore opportunities for joint use or cost sharing etc.
VIII. Determine what additional information is needed to inform the process and identify measurable criteria for each of your local
priorities.