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6 <br />DRAFT <br />Revised following 8/17/00 task force meeting and includes Superintendents' comments <br />Revised <br />9/07/00 <br />minimum and maximum square footage and student capacity for each level. As a system <br />undertakes constructiori of a new facility, it is critical that the system adheres to the most recent <br />school construction standards (estimated project cost should include a reasonable allowance for <br />inflation). <br />The Commissioners agree to provide funding for new school facilities that are designed. within <br />the adopted standazds. They do not agree to fund projects that go beyond the adopted standards <br />unless there is sufficient justification provided in writing by the Boazd of Education. One <br />justification for going beyond the standazds centers on community use of the new facility. For <br />example, a system may design a facility with a "lazger than standards gymnasium" that allows <br />for citizen/communityuw. In this, case, the system must provide detailed explanations outlining <br />the benefits to be offered to the community and citizens, in the context of the intergovernmental <br />"Memorandum of Agreement for Providing Coordinated Site and Facility Planning". <br />5. Project Approval <br />A project's inclusion in the ten-year plan does not give the Schools or the County legal authority <br />to expend funds. The legal authority to expend funds lies in County Commissioner approved <br />capital project ordinances. Therefore, the schools should not incur any expenses far any capital <br />project until the Boazd of County Commissioners approves the capital project ordinance. <br />In order to provide timely flow of the approval process and ensure that all elements are <br />addressed, the following steps should be followed: <br />• Details included in each system's ten-yeaz Capital Investment Plans regarding the scope and <br />timing of various phases of individual capital projects is limited. To that end, as individual <br />Boards of Education begin discussions related to new capital projects ~ ,construction, site <br />acquisitions, major renovations; etc), they will be expected, in writing, to notify the Board of <br />County Commissioners of the substance of those discussions. The memorandum from the <br />School Board will: <br />• Provide the Commissioners with an overview of the project concept along with other <br />project specifics that the Board of Education has defined to that point; <br />• Justify the need based on current school capacities and projected student enrollments <br />consistent with the School Adequate Public Facility Ordinance (if the Ordinance is in <br />effect at this time); <br />rovide a preliminary cost projection of the project based upon the adopted school <br />construction standazds and provisions of the Cost Effective Facilities Initiative (CEFl7, <br />which has derived from earlier discussions about "value engineering" ~~~~~p~~Gy; .,;~; ; <br />,.''.,, <br />• Request that the Board of Commissioners approve a capital project ordinance to provide <br />funding for the initial planning phase of the project; <br />Page 4 of 7 <br />Policy on Planning and Funding School Capital Projects <br />