Chris Pipho, who recently retired as a consultant for the Education Commission of the States, provided an overview of school facilities issues. He noted that the Littleton, Colorado school shootings have resulted in demands for greater, and sometimes costly, security measures, as well as smaller school buildings that allow teachers and administrators to know each student enrolled in a building. Shared funding changes the dynamics for reporting, and may bring about shared design or the establishment of hearing boards to approve construction plans. Offering a revolving loan fund is a safer method of providing shared funding, but a stable funding source must be identified. Guy Ghan, a reorganization consultant, noted that 24 school districts have whole-grade sharing contracts, but only two were entered into after 1995.
Most school districts enter into whole-grade sharing contracts prior to reorganizing.
Because of the number of century-old school buildings, he suggested that another reorganization movement could begin in the near future. Districts are more likely to respond to a catalyst, such as the farm crisis of the 1980s, than to incentives for reorganization. Reorganization is a business decision, and the condition of a district's school buildings is a major factor in whether districts agree to merge. Incentives could be offered for three to five years to school districts that postpone building until after reorganizing to encourage districts to locate the new buildings where needed. Incentives should be based on a sliding scale for enrollment size and limited to a maximum amount.