NA Policy on Planning and Funding School Capital Projects

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6 Attachment 1 Revised for BOCC approval on 10/17/00 5. Project Approval A project's inclusion in the ten-year plan does not give the Schools or the County legal authority to expend funds. The legal authority to expend funds lies in County Commissioner approved capital project ordinances. Therefore, the schools should not incur any expenses for any capital project until the Board of County Commissioners approves the capital project ordinance. In order to provide timely flow of the approval process and ensure that all elements are addressed, the following steps should be followed: • Details included in each system's ten-year Capital Investment Plans regarding the scope and timing of various phases of individual capital projects is limited. To that end, as individual Boards of Education begin discussions related to new capital projects (new construction, site acquisitions, major renovations, etc), they will be expected, in writing, to notify the Board of County Commissioners of the substance of those discussions. The memorandum from the School Board will: • Provide the Commissioners with an overview of the project concept along with other project specifics that the Board of Education has defined to that point; • Justify the need based on current school capacities and projected student enrollments consistent with the School Adequate Public Facility Ordinance (if the Ordinance is in effect at this time); • Provide a preliminary cost projection of the project based upon the adopted school construction standards and provisions of the Cost Effective Facilities Initiative (CEFI), which has derived from earlier discussions about "value engineering" (if this policy is in effect at this time); • Request that the Board of Commissioners approve a capital project ordinance to provide funding for the initial planning phase of the project; • Instruct the Superintendent to update the County Manager, in writing, of the project's progress at his/her monthly meetings with the County Manager. • Upon receipt of the memorandum from the Board of Education, the Board of Commissioners will: • Act upon the project concept by either approving it or asking the Board of Education to amend the concept plan; • Instruct County staff to confirm the project's cost estimate and student capacity in accordance with the County's adopted School Construction Standards Reports along with student enrollment projections; • If the Board of Commissioners approves the project concept, the County Budget Director will prepare an agenda abstract and related capital project ordinance that provides funding for the concept and pre-planning phase of the project; Page 4 of 6 Policy on Planning and Funding School Capital Projects