The LRFMP is based on ALSD’s six guiding facility principles.
Safety/Security
School safety and site security has risen to the top of school planning discussions on a national scale. All of ALSD’s school sites were constructed in an era long before these topics came to the forefront. The LRFMP considers both topics. Site security begins at the property line with proper fencing and continues into the buildings with reconfiguring reception desks, installing access control systems (smart locks), and updating the District’s phone system.
Technology
ALSD’s schools must keep pace with the ever-changing technological environment in which they operate. Students and faculty will demand connectivity at the ‘desk-top.’ Information must be accessible from everywhere on campus.ALSD’s guiding principles will re-shape the traditional standard classroom. Teachers will no longer be confined to instruction from the front of the classroom. In fact, the ‘front’ of the classroom may disappear altogether. Teaching and learning will happen everywhere that connectivity is provided in the room, on the campus and throughout the grounds.
Evolution
The guiding principle of facility evolution may be the most difficult to master plan but it may also be the most important. Tremendous effort and resources can be wasted chasing parity when adaption and change might just be the more ideal course of action. Forecasting long range trends and change in the school facility and instructional environment is indeed a difficult task but the LRFMP must consider these trends if ALSD is going to stay ‘ahead of the curve.’ Facility evolution must address those changes happening both from within and without the K12 public school infrastructure. Current examples of internally inflicted changes would include the birth of Transitional Kindergarten, the advent of 21st Century Learning strategies, and the adoption of ALSD’s LCAP guidelines. Externally inflicted changes would include a reaction to school security concerns, the development of new technology advancements, and the current focus on California’s long term drought.
ALSD’s facilities must evolve. Instructional strategies and technological advancements are sure to bring change. ALSD’s facilities must be prepared to take the next set of major steps to keep pace with those advancements.
Maintenance
In order to reach parity and to evolve on an equal playing field, ALSD’s facilities must be well maintained. A house built on shifting sands will not stand for long. The District’s guiding principle of maintenance is more than simply fixing things when they break. Preventive maintenance is just as important and ALSD is keenly interested in proactive programs of upkeep and replacement. In the end, maintenance decisions are closely tied to both parity and evolution. ALSD’s facility maintenance program must consider long term trends in instructional, facility, and technology standards. While the most obvious solution might be to simply replace a broken ‘part’ with a new one, the maintenance guiding principle must always consider the ultimate evolution of the facility including its long term viability and parity with other sites.
Parity
While it is understood that each school facility and community are somewhat unique, it is just as critical that ALSD is keenly interested in establishing an environment of facility parity between its many school sites. Parity is not equality. The District’s many schools were constructed over many years. There is no way, short of demolishing everything and starting over, that ALSD would achieve facility “equality” and even then there would be challenges of enrollment and instructional program equality.
Instead, ALSD’s guiding principle of parity seeks to create facility environments that are equally responsive to the instructional needs of each school site. The ultimate goal is that each ALSD teacher and school site staff member would find similar facility ‘tools’ to perform their professionally appointed tasks from school site to school site. Likewise, a parent should perceive little, if any, change in the level, quality, or upkeep of the school’s physical environment from campus to campus throughout the District.
Sustainability
ALSD has already taken a major step toward its facilities goal of an enhanced, sustainable environment. Solar arrays are being installed at each ALSD site. A robust sustainability plan will also include an increase in natural daylighting, the installation of reflective roofing, insulated glazing, and low off-gassing finish materials, along with a transition to energy efficient lighting, plumbing, and HVAC equipment. Site improvements will want to study storm water retention, drought tolerant landscaping, and smart irrigation clocks.