(1) DEFINITION.
(a) Educational Facilities Construction Plan (commonly known as a Local
Facilities Plan or five-year Facilities Plan and referred to in this rule as Facilities
Plan) - a study of a local school system's present educational facilities and a five-year
forecast of facility needs.
(2) REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Each local board of education shall develop and submit to the State Board of
Education for approval once every five years a facilities plan that identifies the
system's facility needs for the ensuing five years.
(b)The local board of education shall submit the facilities plan in the format used by
the department at the time the plan is developed and the plan shall contain the
following:
1. Inventory data for all existing and funded school facilities. Each school system
shall be responsible for reviewing and updating the inventory data in the
system’s facilities plan to record any changes that have occurred since the
inventory was last updated.
2. Student FTE historical data.
3. Student FTE projections for the ensuing five-year period.
4. Present and projected system organizational patterns.
5. Minimum and maximum limits on the FTE student size for all elementary,
middle, and high schools.
6. Instructional service and support programs for each school in the system.
7. Facility needs, including estimated cost, for:
(i) Renovations.
(ii) Modifications.
(iii) Additions.
(iv) New schools.
8. School facilities to be closed, phased out, and/or abandoned.
9. A system-wide list of construction projects, in priority order, by school and
construction activity needed to effectuate the housing of students in accordance with
the organizational pattern and adopted instructional program contained in the
facilities plan. In specifying the order of importance of all proposed construction
projects, each local school system shall give priority to elementary school
construction projects.
10. Proposed financing for effectuating the plan including state, local, federal, and
other fund sources.
(c) Local boards of education desiring to develop a new facility plan shall adopt
and transmit in writing to the department a resolution requesting technical assistance
in the development of the plan.
(d) An educational facilities survey team of the appropriate size shall be selected
by the department for the validation of the newly developed facilities plan in
accordance with O.C.G.A. § 20-2-260(c)(2).
1. The survey team will report their findings to the local board of education and to
the State Board of Education.
2. A local board of education may appeal the survey team's findings to the State
Board of Education.
3. Local school systems shall reimburse team members, other than employees of
the department, for travel, lodging and meals in accordance with state travel
regulations.
4. Local units of administration shall use the following criteria when nominating team
members for the state facilities survey team list.
(i) Each local board of education shall nominate, in addition to the superintendent,
one member for each 3,300 FTE or major fraction thereof. Each local board of
education shall nominate at least two members.
(ii) Each RESA board of control shall nominate five individuals at large from the
RESA area.
(iii) Local units of administration shall make nominations on a form furnished by the
department.
(e) Local boards of education shall abide by the priorities of projects and construction
activities contained in the approved facilities plan with the following exception.
1. The State Board of Education has approved a reordering of project priorities
based upon a written documentation from the local board of education.
2. The school system has met all of the conditions and requirements stated in the
law, including O.C.G.A. § 20-2-260(c)(9), and rules to amend its facilities plan when
the plan to be amended included projects eligible for incentive advance funding.