Below is text from the National Trust blog about community centered schools. When our school district decided to close the ONLY walkable school left in the district in favor of a $22 million dollar renovation of a school built in a greenfield, frankly I was pissed. I still am pissed. It is my JOB to make sure our community core is being revitalized, abandoning an 100,000 sq ft building doesn't help matters. Now, you may say that the same would occur if they abandoned the other building, but also in my line of work, I am well aware of the needs of businesses seeking commercial and industrial space. The fact is, we could have found a tenant or multiple tenants interested in using North Lincoln Hill as manufacturing/warehousing/distribution space. There is NO market for the same type of use within the core of this residential neighborhood. I tried to convince the district of this, but their ears were closed. Unfortunately we will all pay the price in the form of increased cost to transport kids, unnecessary renovations at NLH (ie- building a 650 auditorium when the junior high already has one), not to mention the decrease in property values, blight, decay, and vandalism that will inevitably occur in the heart of this neighborhood. Hope that these new recommendations save another town from the same fate.
Excerpt...
The first-ever federal guidance on school siting offers local education authorities, tribes, and states suggestions similar to the ones that preservation organizations, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, have been making over the past decade. This new tool:
Encourages examination of existing school facilities for rehabilitation and expansion before constructing a new school
Suggests states provide local education authorities with coordinated guidance from multiple state agencies including valuable information from State and Tribal Preservation Offices
Calls for “meaningful public participation” by stakeholder groups such as parents, teachers, school personnel and nearby residents in a transparent siting process
- Encourages “joint use” of facilities;
- Proposes an evaluation of existing policies and practices at local and state levels in light of these recommendations;
- Discusses how construction of large schools on greenfields leads to “underinvestment in the community core and existing facilities” while rehabilitating existing buildings helps conserve energy and resources;
- One of the four underlying principles states that “schools should be located in environments that contribute to the livability, sustainability, and public health of neighborhoods and communities;”
- And more … but you’ll have to read them for yourself to believe it.
Best of all, the guidelines are written in easy-to-understand language for those of us unfamiliar with terms like “phytoremediation” and “total petroleum hydrocarbons.”
How did this new tool for community-centered schools come about?
In December 2007, Congress enacted the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA).1 Among the provisions included in the Act was a requirement that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) develop, in consultation with the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, model guidelines for the siting of school facilities that take into account:
- The special vulnerabilities of children to hazardous substances or pollution exposures in any case in which the potential for contamination at a potential school site exists;
- The modes of transportation available to students and staff;
- The efficient use of energy; and
- The potential use of a school at the site as an emergency shelter.
During the public comment period, many preservation organizations, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, provided useful suggestions on how these voluntary guidelines could help sustain our older communities.
I, for one, think they succeeded.
But here’s where the hard work begins. These voluntary guidelines are just that – voluntary. The preservation community needs to take the next step and help states, tribes and local education authorities – those entities with responsibility for decision-making regarding school buildings and operations – adopt and implement these guidelines during a time when school districts and state agencies are struggling with shrinking budgets and staff.
To learn more about the EPA’s voluntary siting guidelines and other new tools, join a Fall Webinar Series called “Expanding the School Siting Conversation.”
