Summary

As required by Session Law 2016-94, the Program Evaluation Division contracted with an outside entity, MGT of America Consulting, LLC, to perform an independent assessment of school construction needs and determine which local school administrative units have the highest facility needs in relation to their capacity to raise revenue to meet those needs. The nine districts selected for this report represent those with limited revenue generating capacity and aging building stock. Each school in each district was evaluated using four assessments: building condition, site condition, educational suitability, and technology readiness. The needs assessment portion of the study revealed over $600 million of unmet facility needs across the nine districts. The current process administered by DPI determines overall capital need based on the self-reporting of each district and has resulted in a degree of discrepancy between district-reported needs and actual needs. To ensure the State has the most reliable data on school capital needs the General Assembly should direct a systematic review of DPI's administration of the School Facility Needs Survey. Additionally, counties depend primarily on local property tax revenue for school capital construction. This method of funding has resulted in disparity depending on the local wealth of the county along with a backlog of need across the State. Therefore, the State should consider establishing a revolving fund account, identifying alternative sources of funding, developing a consistent methodology for determining capital construction need, and developing a system of prioritizing capital need.

Final Report

Presentation