Report Inappropriate Comments

Patrick, That is exactly my point, in the 1970s, functional layout and capacity needs were much different than in 2013. There have been many changes over the past 40+ years in educational programming and space requirements and the current standards for capacity reflect those needs. Schools continuously face new mandates and requirements and space needs/recommendations are updated to reflect those changes. To only focus on number of classrooms and not the functional layout and space needs for the entire building is not adequate facility planning. I personally would welcome all junior high and/or high school students in the same building, provided it had the size and functional layout needed for current educational needs (which is not possible in the current facilities without major construction/renovations) and have absolutely no preconceived notions regarding future school configurations. My only plea is that Warwick stop short term, narrowly focused planning and begin to create a vision and plan to bring all our schools into the 21st century so that our city will be in a better position for the next generation. After the November Facility Planning meeting I asked Dr.D'Agostino and Mr. Bushell how they calculated capacity and they told me it was a basic calculation of number of classrooms multiplied by the maximum number of students per class and if you look at the data, that is exactly what it is, no analysis of the entire building space or function. I would be more than happy to share with you the chart comparing Warwick Administration's building capacity vs. current recommended standards and examples of other school district's comprehensive facility planning processes. Rhode Island does not require local districts to do comprehensive facility planning but many other states do have requirements which specifically identify the steps and process districts must follow. I understand the financial constraints facing the schools, and feel that everyone involved has good intentions of trying to work with what we have in difficult financial times, but if we continue to only look at short term/quick solutions, Warwick will not sustain itself. We need to take a hard, honest look at the long term needs and develop a plan to address them. If we continue to pretend our school facilities are adequate, we will never be able to convince the City to provide the needed investment in our schools.

From: Schools need to use updated standards when calculating capacity

Please explain the inappropriate content below.