Ational Survey of the Perceptions of Selected School Board...

1 Chapter 1 NATIONAL SURVEY OF THE PERCEPTIONS OF SELECTED SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS REGARDING THE QUALITY AND CONDITION, MAINTENANCE, AND IMPROVEMENT AND RENOVATION OF EXISTING PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES Introduction The quality and condition of existing public school facilities have been a topic of growing concern among educators across the country. Each year, the cost of maintenance, and improvement and renovation needed to maintain public schools continues to increase (Earthman, 1994). National studies conducted during the last fifteen years clearly indicate rising costs. In 1983, a random survey of school administrators in thirty-three states and the District of Columbia was undertaken by the American Association of School†¦show more content†¦School board members are responsible for policy and budget decisions that determine the level of support for facility maintenance, and improvement and renovation. Their decisions clearly affect the quality and condition of the schools in their districts. These decisions are made in conjunction with competing demands for limited fiscal resources needed to address all school issues. School board members are instrumental in maintaining the quality and condition of the public schools in a responsible and timely manner. Grover, State Superintendent of Wisconsin, said it this way (EWA, 1989): The state has been spending more money to provide safe housing for its 5,600 prisoners than it has for its 760,000 school children. We build golf courses and jails by fiat, but we put our children in storefronts and church basements. . . . That says a lot about what’s wrong with America. (p. 2) Ambach, Executive Director of The Council of Chief State School Officers, was quoted in the Schoolhouse In The Red study (AASA, 1992): If national goals for student performance are to be met, our students must have learning environments that support high productivity. Investments in high-tech plants and overcoming the neglect of maintenance is essential for a 21st century opportunity to learn for every student in America. (p.7) Finally, an interview in the February 1997 American School and University Journal included comments from Hawkins,