Meeting Notes
Monday, October 25, 2004
6:00 PM
6:15
Facilitator: Jana Carlisle
Attendees: Allen, Bakari, Bates (Marguerite), Carlisle, Cooley (Ernest), Elliot, Garver, Jarzyniecki, Jones (Anita), Keating, Melendez, Padilla, Rebholz, Spaull, Stid, Sullivan, Trippe, Walker-Cowart, Wheatcraft (Andrew) & Zettek
Notes:
- Speaker Andy Wheatcraft, Facilities Department, addressed the group on
-School Profiles (extensive handout of each elementary school’s size, capacity, costs, age, construction type, etc)
-Considerations for Facilities Issues/Opportunities regarding possible renovations, modernization, criteria for closings/swing space, state standards, financial and environmental concerns
School Closing Criteria considered in the past has included: Age, Construction type, Condition, Site Analysis, and Environmental (EG: Lead, Asbestos on a case by case basis-not been a problem to date)
We manage 7.3 M sq feet of district facilities.
What’s the required Sq ft per student in a facility ?
20 sq ft/human (M Keating). Our schools all meet and may exceed current standards.
Do we factor this in to analysis of buildings ?
We have an inventory of all the rooms in the district. The standard classroom is 770 sq ft. Our newer classrooms are larger. We exceed state standards. In future analysis, we will consider what our district model school should look like.
Per School Profiles:
How is overall capacity in a bldg calculated ?
Rated capacity is a NYS number which is the qualifier for reconstruction aid. There are differentials between instructional and rated capacity. We have reduced class size, but NYS hasn’t reduced their formula.
Have there been environmental impact studies done and analysis on environmental contaminants issues that could occur to our bldgs ?
We have reports on asbestos for every school. All bldgs are inventoried. Reports are available and used particularly before capital improvements. Lead has recently become an issue in the community. Testing is done before capital improvement occurs, but with no universal analysis. General environmental impact study done only before a capital improvement occurs. We have no studies as to what MIGHT BE in the air. We maintain our buildings for compliance.
Are our old drafty bldgs healthier than newer bldgs ? There are community concerns on air quality, fresh air, humidifiers, heat exchangers, and insulation in our schools.
Some of the newer bldgs cost more to filter air. We address and monitor per complaint.
Explain differences in expenditures per sq. foot ?
Expenditures per sq. foot depends on where bldgs are in their life cycle. EG: boiler replaced (Could cost $1/2M).
What major renovations have been done recently ? (EG: Schools 50, 20). 30 years ago open classrooms were popular (EG: Schools 12, 19), and now what about closing them ?
The reason some are still open is because additions were too costly. Modifications were made. School 9 had some renovations. However, flexible walls don’t allow for best sound quality. In Schools of the Future research and criteria, flexibility has been key.
Discuss Fire proofed schools and Construction Type.
They all meet fire codes, and all are maintained to codes. Also, on School Profiles, there is a code to Construction Type-best is type I, none are bad. Today, type III wouldn’t be built.
Explain Home School Neighborhood enrollment per District Capacity and Enrollment Statistics.
The number only includes students attending a RCSD school. EG: School 1 had 56 students in Home neighborhood that chose school; 47 actually go to home school.
How accurate is our enrollment data w/student population?
Accurate. Some bldgs have larger enrollment than others, school choice.
General Facilities Questions and Comments:
Is the goal to eliminate transportables? What about esthetics ?
We have about 50 classrooms in transportables, with various configurations. Schools tend to like them. They add capacity. We, Facilities, are not especially fond of them. They take a lot of room, are not esthetic, and are expensive to move (Cost $ to hook them up to site-sanitary, technology, etc. Could $75k). However, they are useful and many are less than 10 years old. Schools can be operated w/o transportables, but then the enrollment has to be better managed. Most transportables are behind bldgs.
What’s the relative maintenance cost on transportables vs. bldgs ?
The quality of construction is poorer in transportables. Most of ours look the same-standard design. We own many of them; others are leased.
What about charter schools ?
Kids could come back to the District schools if charter schools fail. We need to have some measure to be flexible. There is much mobility between RCSD and charter schools.
There will be 2 additional charter schools in 2005. Initial enrollment is about 500 for both.
Recommendation that air quality analysis should be part of facilities plan.
Concerns abound over 7k student estimated decline over the next 10 years and having to close so many bldgs, lose staff, etc.
We have 39 sites, but sites’ sizes vary. Hopefully, retirements will occur and our larger bldgs will be targeted.
How is the criteria we have selected going to be used ?
Criteria will be modeled for public forum to do a similar small group activity. SCAC and Community Forum Criteria will then be sent to the Facilities Modernization Board (FMB) and then to BOE (Dec. planned). FMB and Forum members may have other criteria, EG: environmental concerns. We need to further define our criteria here, EG: do a second cut before we go public with criteria.
How many schools do we estimate will be closed next year ?
We don’t want to presume anything, we want to do the analysis first.
Has there been work done on neighborhoods helping neighborhoods? Can you frame parameters around which schools may be considered?
We can consider Facilities staff points of view.
- Additional District Comments:
We want to create equity in schools-standardize features for schools, fair to all students regardless of which school they choose…Freddie Thomas and Madison were designed and built as middle schools. Now they are high schools, so we are renovating to address the new needs, EG: chemistry labs at high school level, auditorium, physical education space.
Standards have changed for schools over the years, EG: gym at Monroe built in 1921, no longer meets standards. Monroe went from HS to MS to Secondary. Some renovations can’t be made due to space constraints.
Even if we modernize substantially, we still need funds for maintenance.
We need to be cognizant of debt limits, ceiling caps and local share. Is there a rationale to borrow more, as has been in Buffalo and Syracuse ? We don’t have the same maintenance issues. Our bldgs have been maintained.
Next week, someone from Budget/Finance (Vern Connors) to discuss debt services, etc.
Suggestion: Vern discuss in context of 5 year Capital Improvement Plan .
Next week (was supposed to be today, no time): Small group activity on building usage recommendations.
For Next week:
Think about what additional info you need to make recommendations
Ideas on how to communicate to the community
Desire to speak to others in district to help you make recommendations
Additionally, we will post all notes, agenda, zone map, etc on the website for ENTIRE community (Barbara J).
|
