Lowering the Overhead by Raising the Roof ...and Other Rural Trust Strategies To Reduce the Costs of Your Small School. A Report from the Rural School and Community Trust

• Main Author: Lawrence, Barbara Kent
• Format: Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Rural School and Community Trust 2002
• Subjects: Community Involvement; Educational Cooperation; Educational Facilities Improvement; Educational Facilities Planning; Educational Finance; Elementary Secondary Education; Federal Aid; Resistance to Change; Resource Materials; Rural Schools; School Community Relationship; School Construction; School Maintenance; Shared Resources and Services; Small Schools; State Regulation

Thirteen strategies are presented for reducing the costs of renovating or building a small school. Advice for getting started includes understanding the resistance to small schools, examining existing state policy, questioning the "schools within a school" approach, and planning ahead. The thirteen strategies are: (1) don't build one; (2) maintain what you have; (3) renovate; (4) question what you really need to build; (5) plan with the community; (6) reduce energy bills; (7) question the price of donated land--it isn't always free; (8) share the facility with the community; (9) use the facility as much as possible; (10) use local labor and materials; (11) take time to understand local and state codes and regulations; (12) work with professionals; and (13) use federal money. For the section on getting started and for each strategy, resources are presented that provide additional information or examples of how the strategy has been used elsewhere. A list of 51 resources are included. (Contains 17 references.) (TD)