Make sure you know your state's regulations, and make sure the district has in hand a complete survey of needs and costs before you make a decision about renovation or replacement. The downfall of many construction projects comes as a result of not developing the entire plan up front. The fight to preserve old or historic school buildings is going on all over the nation. A major roadblock to renovation is state funding policies that provide money for new school construction but not for restoration projects. In recent years, Pennsylvania, Maine, Connecticut, and Maryland have changed their construction policies to help school systems restore or renovate their old schools.
Technology is an important consideration when school planners evaluate old buildings.
The Council for Educational Facility Planners International is considering rewriting its appraisal guide to assess whether a school building can be successfully renovated to handle technology and other modern updates. The National Trust is gathering school preservation success stories and has commissioned research on the economic impact of closing historic schools. The decision to close any school, historic or not, inflames the community. But the relationship between school boards and preservationists does not need to be adversarial. When disagreements arise, the answer is not simply to proceed with new construction without considering community sentiment.