Recommendations from comprehensive school facilities study still under consideration Information for this article was obtained from the Guilford County Schools’ website as well as other sources According to a year-long comprehensive facilities study paid for by the Guilford County Board of Education and the Board of County Commissioners, building new schools, making needed repairs to aging systems, bringing all schools up to standard, eliminating the backlog of deferred maintenance and providing adequate funds for preventive and ongoing maintenance for school and support facilities will cost more than $6.9 billion over the next 30 years.
But for now, an estimated $1.5 billion doled out in four phases could suffice to bring all the school buildings in the
district up to new or like-new condition by 2038.
The school board and the commissioners received the final results of the school district-wide facilities and boundary optimization study at a special meeting last January. The $899,635 study by MGT Consulting Group examined the district’s long- and short-term facility needs to serve more than 73,000 pre-K-12 students.
While addressing facility shortcomings the report also identifies areas where the district could more efficiently utilize space. School and district buildings were assessed, scored and ranked based on the overall condition of the facility,
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educational suitability for 21st-century learning, technology infrastructure and site, including age of facility infrastructure, quantity and size of appropriate academic and support spaces, and space utilization compared to short- and long-term student enrollment projections. These scores then were combined into one rating that was used to rank and prioritize schools by need by level (elementary, middle and secondary). Per the study, almost half of the district schools, particularly at the elementary school level, received unsatisfactory or poor ratings. Schools received some of the lowest scores for educational suitability, which indicates whether the facility and technology support current academic standards and instructional strategies. Facilities for maintenance, transportation and administration also received low ratings.
“I visit schools and classrooms every week, and I have seen for myself how our aging and often dilapidated buildings and inadequate instructional technology are hampering the work of our educators and holding our students back in comparison to what school districts are providing students nationally,” said Superintendent Sharon L. Contreras. “21st century learning requires new ways of designing and building schools and classrooms.” continued on page 23
