This detailed guide outlines the six principles for designing and planning new schools that grew out of the National Symposium on School Design held in October of 1998. This guide from the Appalachia Educational Laboratory includes a checklist that provides rural communities with a useful structure for thinking about the work ahead when they are planning a school-community facility. Too often schools must defer maintenance because other needs seem more pressing however, the damage to facilities caused by deferred maintenance can destroy a building that could have been saved. Second, existing policy in many states makes it difficult for districts to renovate a facility if the maintenance record is poor. Furthermore, many states also disallow renovation if costs are estimated to exceed a percentage of the cost of new construction.
States also limit renovation to a specified number of years.
In Pennsylvania districts can't get state money for renovation until twenty years after the previous renovation, and in Georgia and Arizona renovation is allowed only once. Because schools built before the 1960's were often better constructed and have a longer estimated life than those built in the second half of the 20 th century, it makes sense to maintain and renovate existing facilities, rather than abandon them and build new schools, often set far away from the communities they are supposed to serve. The National Trust for Historic Preservation recognized this year that older schools, which tend to be smaller and located in rural communities, are endangered. The Trust is helping communities save these facilities and this page will introduce you to their work. The U.S. Census Bureau site has tremendous resources about state populations, as you might expect, but also offers an amazing mapping program.