Studies for Educational Facility Planning

McKissick Associates takes educational studies very seriously. We do not consider a feasibility study to be a "loss leader for the architect to capture clients for the big-money building projects", but rather an important, realistic, working tool for school districts to use when determining their district's fate for the next 20 years.

We also have a committment to facilitating the next steps after the study is complete. To that end, we consider an educational study to be a consensus building process for arriving at realistic solutions within the district's goals. A district requires more than a wish list; they require a set of options and possible compromises so that communities and their school districts can meet the needs of the students.

When planning for the future, flexibility is everything. Future educational trends will incur additional demands on both teachers and their facilities. Schools in the modern era are challenged by the additional, often non-educational roles they support as well as the need to quickly adjust to new technologies and new pro-grams based on community needs. Ultimately, flexibility will be the only strategy based on what we have learned about the changing needs of schools over the last several decades.

One of the greatest challenges facing our current decade is largely that of economic responsibility. The cost of buildings needs to be assessed in overall life-cycle operations as well as construction. As budgets for districts decrease and as the nature of educational funding shifts through changes in politics, districts are now more than ever, forced to plan for the long-term operational viability of their facilities. With this charge comes difficult decisions and the need to educate the public about the choices the district must make. What is the balance between the initial investment and the long-term result? What compromises will not sacrifice the mission of the district?

The accommodations of future needs are about quality and flexibility. Anything built well can be modified, built upon, expanded and re-adapted. Forethought in the design process can help to optimize the potential options for a facility so that as the district's needs change, they have a long-range plan for addressing each need as it arises. Flexibility is not about being "everything to everyone" right now, but about having a smorgasbord of options for leveraging all of the district's assets over time.