Guide For Planning Educational Facilities

This book provides a detailed discussion of all of the processes involved in planning a school building. From a discussion on how to organize the local staff to the final evaluation of the building, the separate processes are described in detail.

This book is envisioned as a broad-based guide for a wide array of school officials, school boards of education, school administrators, school maintenance personnel, educational consultants, students of school administration, facilities directors and school architects. The text is organized so that readers may refer to the sections that are of high interest to them. Part of this book deals with curriculum development - principles of learning applicable to the planning of school facilities that promise innovations in educational methodology. Another part concentrates on the process and activities related to the identification of educational needs for the foreseeable future. A third focus of this publication is on the actual planning of a specific type of school facility that has been recommended by the School Board. Such a recommendation by school officials may involve the construction of a new facility or the modernization of an existing school building. A fourth section deals with the strategies of getting a levy committee organized and set up to pass a school bond referendum. A new chapter (6) was added in this sixth edition on the 10 Year Long Range Facility Plan [LRFP] that will assist the readers with advance planning for enhanced success on the passing of school bond/referendums. This text includes many resources for the maintenance & operation of a school building and various techniques for saving energy.

Planning Educational Facilities: What Educators Need to Know is a book about planning and the responsibilities educators have in the process of planning for educational facilities. The book covers every aspect of planning that needs to be done to complete any capital improvement project from the assessment of need to the evaluation of the product and process. The text is the most comprehensive book on planning educational facilities on the market. Each planning process is described in detail explaining the role of the superintendent and school personnel. Descriptions of the various means of contracting with a firm for the construction of a building of the completion of a capital improvement project is provided with a discussion of the benefits and problems involved. The book also contains a chapter devoted to problem-based learning activities which were derived from practical situations. These activities provide a very practical experience of solving typical problems in the planning process. This text can be used by the practitioner as a guide to follow in planning educational facilities. It can also be used as a text in a school planning course.

This book takes a systematic approach to planning educational facilities, discussing in detail each phase of the process of planning capital projects and the responsibilities of those in the schools who make decisions regarding the buildings in which students learn. The book also speaks to the moral responsibility of educators to ensure students are in safe, functional, and efficient structures. Planning Educational Facilities for the Next Century covers it all, from planning, to hiring the architect, to managing the construction phase.