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• "Projects should not be located in agricultural preservation areas...unless other <br />options are not viable and the project's development will have no negative effect on <br />future growth and development in the area." <br />• "Projects should encourage revitalization of existing facilities, neighborhoods, and <br />communities." <br />• "Projects should be located in developed areas or in alocally-designated growth <br />area." <br />• "Projects should be served by existing or planned water, sewer, and other public <br />ixifrastntcture." <br />- - .Maryland's progressive approach to acreage standards and school siting criteria -- - - <br />warrants attention by other states. <br />Coordination between school facility and general community planning <br />Maine has emerged as a.leader in promoting better communication and <br />coordination between school facility planners and general community planners. <br />The state's Department of Education encourages school superintendents to <br />contact the State Planning Office (SPO) staff before making decisions about where to <br />build new schools. Such contacts enable SPO staff to arrange meetings with local school <br />planners for the purpose of coordinating school facility planning and local planning. <br />Through these contacts, superintendents are better informed about the community's plans <br />for new growth and development, and they are encouraged to take these plans into <br />account. Following SPO site visits and meetings, the SPO stafFinakes recommendations <br />to the state education board regarding the merits of state financial assistance for local <br />projects. The board is not required to accept these recommendations, but it often does. <br />In a model of interdepartmental coordination, the Maine State Planning Office <br />and State Board of Education recently collaborated on the publication of a brochure <br />designed to help local officials make better school siting decisions. Entitled "The ABC's <br />of School Site Selection," the brochure urges school districts to: <br />• avoid sprawl; <br />• consider school renovations or expansions in central locations whenever possible; <br />42 <br />