012413_10-14_Capital%20Plan

Partnership facilities will be incorporated in the New Capacity Program
whenever possible to further maximize the application of our resources.
Under the Replacement Program of the Capacity Category, the Department
is proposing the creation of approximately 5,000 new seats. This will
provide replacement sites for leased schools and schools that must vacate
their current locations. These sites will be included in the Plan as they are
identified.
New Capacity Program
Summary
Proposed Amendment
$3,559.0 mm
2012 Adopted
Amendment
$3,504.6 mm
The creation of additional capacity is directly connected with the Children
First goals of student achievement and equity. In the service of these goals,
the Department has determined prospective investments by gathering the
best possible information about capacity needs in local communities and the
available resources in the system to meet those needs.
Such a process starts with understanding challenges in the system that can
be solved through structural and systems solutions. Such challenges might
include school quality, current learning conditions such as overcrowding,
patterns of student enrollment, and unmet demand for particular types of
schools or programs within schools. The City will seek solutions to these
challenges first, given the resources that already exist within the Department
of Education. Thus, where the Department proposes future investment in
this Plan, it does so having assessed its ability to change structures, and
having concluded that capital investment is the optimal – perhaps only –
means by which to address current or future needs.
There are areas where growth is projected to continue or where overenrollment
persists. These are local conditions, requiring truly local
analysis. In creating this plan, therefore, the Department has analyzed
current capacity figures, capacity scheduled to become available over the
next several years, long-term enrollment and housing projections. The
Department further assessed spaces far below maximum utilization –
building by building – to determine the viability of plans to change the
instructional usage or enrollment constraints for those spaces. Such analysis
yields understanding of both problems – such as over-enrollment or lack of
student choice – and solutions; be that solution a capital investment or the
repurposing of current resources.
This type of local analysis and planning is ongoing and will be continually
responsive to local enrollment and facilities conditions, just as the capital
plan is amended annually.
The Department of Education has a longstanding commitment to class size
reduction. This effort has been supported over the years by various funding
streams, including tax levy dollars and Contract for Excellence (C4E) funds
that became available in the fall of 2007. It is important to note that class
size reduction is a complex and multifaceted issue – the class size facing any
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