Situation
The Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) is an urban public school district located in north-central Texas with boundaries that encompass approximately 210 square miles. FWISD enjoys a diverse student population and strong community partnerships and as the sixth largest school district in Texas, educates over 86,000 students in grades Pre-K through 12 and employs approximately 9,775 staff. The district has 143 school programs that include 83 elementary schools, 26 middle schools, 19 high schools, and 15 alternative schools. Other facilities include a training center, service centers, warehouses, maintenance facility, child nutrition services (warehouse and office buildings), athletic complexes, transportation sites (parking lots and offices), safety and security buildings and a central administration building.
As the 2017 Bond program continued to make significant process, it was time to start planning for the next bond program. The district wanted to analyze the existing conditions of their facilities in terms on existing condition and also in terms of equity between each facility.
Task
PROCEDEO was hired by FWISD to perform the existing facilities analysis for 24 middles schools, five elementary schools, an Ag Barn and a multi-purpose area. In addition to assessing those facilities for their existing conditions, we also assessed the facilities in terms of equity as it relates to the educational specifications. The district wanted to know how their current facilities compared to their ed specs and they also wanted to be able to create a ranking system of most equitable facility and least equitable facility.
Action
Our team began by assembling a team of experts in each area of scope:
- Architectural
- Site and civil
- Mechanical, electrical and plumbing
- Roofing and enclosure
- Food service
- Technology
- Security
- Athletics
We then met with the district to set expectations on various components of the assessment such as the ranking system for a deficient item and the weight of educational specification items on the facility equity components of the assessment.
To maximize our efficiency, we implemented a digital data collection tool that allowed all team members to create a record, capture the existing conditions in narrative form and take a photograph of the condition. We performed a series of training sessions to ensure all team members and sub consultants were comfortable with using the digital system.
Once the data collection process was completed, our team focused on cleaning up all of the data records to ensure we had a comprehensive clean data set to work from. From there, we focused on providing line item cost estimate details associated with each deficiency in current year replacement costs. Once the estimating process was completed, we then worked with the district to take the deficiencies found to create projects for the upcoming bond.
Result
We captured more than 15,000 records on the facility condition assessment, created a database for the records and then created a dashboard for the results. Additionally, our team created a facility equity report so the district could score between 1-24 on the least equitable facility to the most equitable facility. With the information captured on the assessment, FWISD was able to call for their next bond program.