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School Constructions Standards <br /> As school construction began to peak in the mid-to-late 1990's, the Orange County <br /> Commissioners adopted School Construction Standards for elementary, middle and <br /> high schools. These standards provided both school systems with construction <br /> guidelines including student capacity, total square feet, education program <br /> requirements, state facility standards, facilities management costs, and effective school <br /> design. Figure 4 provides a summary of current capacity and square feet standards for <br /> each school level (details regarding the current School Construction Standards are <br /> included in Appendix C of this report): <br /> Figure 4. Current Capacity and Square Feet Standards <br /> School Level Capacity Square Feet <br /> Basic—81,463 <br /> Elementary School 600 students Tier A—83,325 <br /> Tier B—95,235 <br /> Basic— 113,373 <br /> Middle School 700 students Tier A— 114,993 <br /> Tier B— 132,192 <br /> High School <br /> 1,000 students Range of 151,049 to 182,710 <br /> 1;500 students <br /> Range of 211,487 to 251,345 <br /> Five of the nine schools listed in Figure 1 on page 4 of this report were constructed <br /> before the Board adopted the School Construction Standards. These include New Hope <br /> and McDougle Elementary, A.L. Stanback and McDougle Middle and both phases of <br /> East Chapel Hill High. The remaining projects, Smith Middle School and Cedar Ridge <br /> High School, have gotten underway after the Board adopted the current standards. <br /> In addition to the School Construction Standards, the Board adopted the Policy on <br /> Planning and Funding School Capital Projects in November 2000 (Appendix D). This <br /> policy provides additional guidelines to both school districts as they plan for and <br /> construct new facilities. <br /> 9 <br />