THE BIG PICTURE
 Beyond the health and safety of their children, parents' primary concern is the education their children receive. The job opportunities available to our children are based on the quality of the education they receive. The public education system was designed to give the same foundation for success to all children, regardless of their race, religion or economic standing. This noble and uniquely American goal succeeded for generations, but now we find that the old structure is unable to produce the expected results. We designed schools around the factory model with desks in rows and a teacher at the front of the classroom. Assembly line jobs were well served by this structure in the classroom. Today, the job market is vastly different. Schools must produce creative, critical thinkers who can work individually or with a team to solve problems. The factory model for schools is ill designed to produce such thinkers. Educators, architects, politicians and communities now struggle with the task of rethinking how to design new learning environments.
Rural and suburban communities have the advantage of land and involved parents. Many urban communities have the advantage of rich cultural and ethnic diversity as well as involved parents. Inner city schools are finding rich opportunities for joint use and shared services. However, while rural and suburban public schools appear to flourish, the vast majority of inner city schools have become warehouses for children rather than opportunities for educational excellence. The social problems, of drugs and violence in inner city neighborhoods, have entered the hallways and classrooms of too many schools. There are children who are no longer safe while they are at school and teachers and administrators are increasingly difficult to find to teach and work at these institutions.
The result from a facilities perspective is that the inner city school buildings resemble prisons more than stimulating educational environments. The requests for upgrades given to architects by the district facility managers might include items such as: remove windows (students are distracted if they can see outside, or students break into the classrooms); use metal doors (security & vandal proof material); and provide chain link fencing and security gates (least expensive fencing material designed to keep children in during the day and out after school hours). Additionally, there are rarely funds available to do more than infrastructure upgrades (plumbing, electrical and mechanical repairs). Many of our schools were built 40-plus years ago and are in need of major renovation or new construction. It is not surprising that there is movement to challenge the existing system. Charter schools, and voucher initiatives, are two alternatives currently being discussed and tried in communities across the nation. Smaller schools, schools as community centers, school uniforms, bilingual education, same sex classrooms, are attempts to reorganize the existing structure into something more successful. And some believe, as Paul Grogan states in his book 'Comeback Cities: "The key to running an effective public education system is not changing the size or shape of the monopoly, but ending - or at least profoundly challenging - the monopoly." In support of Charter Schools, he goes on to say, "Competition motivates consumers to trade their rage for something positive - a different model, a different setting, a different provider - and to keep changing until they're satisfied."
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of schools to be safe, clean accessible, secure accountable and efficient facilities for learning. They must hold student achievement to high standards, involve the community and parents in the education of their children, and we must find the funds necessary to provide facilities conducive to learning. It is the responsibility of the architect to understand the goals, purpose and responsibility of schools while bringing knowledge, organization and fiscal prudence to assist the district in providing the best facility possible with new technologies and efficient use of resources.
The goal of school construction, simply, is to provide the best possible environment for the education of children. Achieving that goal is far from simple. Increasingly, schools serve other purposes than strictly academics. A school must be a learning environment, a library, a performance space, a restaurant, a social-service center and a conference center. While this challenge is exciting and appropriate, the task of organizing such a project takes careful planning.
'Planning' is accepted as the beginning stage of any project. The planning necessary for school construction is unique and extremely complex. Involved in the planning for a school is developing a mission statement (coming to consensus on the philosophy of the stakeholders), a strategic plan or educational specifications (the academic goals); a needs assessment (the facility needs); a demographic analysis (the long range look at population shifts); and financing options (how funds will be raised). In order to accomplish all these parts of a "Master Plan", the roles and responsibilities of all the stakeholders must be defined. This includes, but is not limited to, students, parents, teachers, administrators, school board members, and members of the community.
During the planning phase and before design can be put to paper, professional consultants are hired by the school district to implement the Master Plan goals. Architects, facility managers, and/or construction managers are interviewed and hired to partner with the school district. Parameters are set for clear communication, and community outreach. The design team agrees on the project delivery method and timeframe for the stages of design, schematic design, design development, and construction documents. The roles and responsibilities of the school district and the architect in the process for approvals of the state agencies must be clearly understood.
During approval of plans and specifications, contractors can be pre-qualified. When the bids have been received and analyzed, the architect will make recommendations to the school board regarding awarding a contract. The recommendation is based upon experience and reputation of the contractor as well as the contractor's workload and price.
When the contract has been awarded, the contractor will prepare a construction schedule and review the process with the architects and the school board or their representatives. During construction, the architect will review the ongoing work and document the progress of the project. Requests for Information, Change Orders, Substitution Requests and Schedule updates require a well-coordinated process and collaborative team effort often facilitated by a Construction Manager.
Finally, the District gets close to occupancy and will prepare a move in plan including all furniture, fixture and equipment requirements for the operation of the school campus.
Opening Day, a new school gives a renewed sense of hope and opportunity for the community and an exciting place of learning for their children.
- JoAnn Koplin
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