Master Plan Update 19
Enrollment-based analysis of K-8 construction needs and District plans March 23, 2015 The Cleveland school construction program as envisioned in the Master Plan of 2002 held promise that almost all (111) of the city's public schools would be replaced with new ones or fully renovated to like-new condition, with the Ohio School Facilities Commission paying 68 percent of most of the cost. Steep enrollment decline since then has required that the Plan co-funded by the state be reduced several times. The proposed Master Plan of 2015 calls for 65 new or like-new schools of which 43 are completed or nearly so. In deciding whether to proceed with the proposed plan, the question is not whether all students in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District will have a place in which to attend class. The District has plenty of schools to accommodate its enrollment, and 11 schools outside the new or like-new proposal are planned for significant repairs and improvements. Rather, the question is whether the proposed plan focuses the District's limited resources and the limited pool of state co-funding where it is needed most. This report is based on the premise that in order to maximize the effectiveness of these scarce resources and to avoid wasting them, the District should seek to avoid planning for more new or like-new construction in areas that already have enough to accommodate their enrollment and have a history of significant enrollment decline. Building schools that are not likely to be used to capacity poses a strong risk of wasting precious construction dollars as well as the operational dollars that will be required to maintain, heat and cool unused space for decades to come. The report draws attention to parts of the Plan that appear contrary to enrollment-based need. There are factors other than enrollment, such as geographic accessibility, that must also be taken into account, but in cases in which the Plan does not appear to be justified by enrollment needs, fiscal prudence requires that a clear and convincing case be made before proceeding with construction.
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