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The Director of Facility Planning works with District personnel, parents and the community to design and build "high performance school facilities." High performance school facilities are comfortable, healthy and efficient buildings where students and staff want to be and where they do well. For school buildings, the goal is to build high performance schools that will improve student achievement and occupant comfort, reduce costs, and preserve environmental resources.

Benefits of high performance schools include:

• Retaining teachers
• Increasing average daily attendance
• Reducing utility costs
• Strengthening the local community and economy, and
• Educating students on the values of sustainability

 

The Leadership in Energy Efficient Design (LEED) Silver Standard is a way to measure building performance in the above areas. Criteria and guidelines created by LEED assist a school district in the planning, design and construction of a "High Performance School Facility." This work will be accomplished through the creation of five Â鶹Íø Regional School Facility Planning Councils to identify issues regarding facility use, discuss facility standards, facility attendance boundaries, facility safety and security needs, facility programs including those designed to attract students and families to the district, and major facility projects, prioritize each project by assigning it a level of urgency, and bring these findings to the superintendent and governing board.

The Regional School Facility Planning Councils shall, at the discretion of the superintendent, perform the following tasks:
   1. Educate council members regarding high performance schools.
   2. Gather information on existing facilities in the region and on regional demographics impacting school boundaries.
   3. Identify major facility projects that support high performance schools.
   4. Communicate with the community, District staff, and other councils.
   5. Prioritize each project by assigning it a level of urgency.
   6. Bring findings to the superintendent and governing board.

Council membership shall include two parent representatives from each school in the region, one staff representative from each school in the region, one principal representative from the region and three community representatives from the region. Parent membership shall be open to all residents of the Washington Elementary School District. For example, a parent living within a given region would be eligible to serve on that Regional School Facility Planning Council. Each Regional School Facility Planning Council member shall serve for a period of two (2) years. At the end of two (2) years, each council member may seek reappointment for another two-year term. Terms of membership should be staggered to maintain a level of continuity in the Regional School Facility Planning Council. Terms of membership shall coincide with the District fiscal year.

Each council will be convened for its first meeting by the District in October. Thereafter, each council will determine where it shall meet and the frequency of meetings. Each council is to complete its work by the end of December. Councils will be asked to hold "town hall meetings" within their region to receive feedback from the community.