Last modified: April 7, 2025

Policy 6213 School Design and Reconstruction Guidelines

Download Policy 6213 School Design and Reconstruction Guidelines

The Provo City School District Board of Education is grateful to the taxpayers of Provo for their support of school reconstruction bonds. The board is committed to building the most cost-effective school buildings possible with the available bonded funds. New schools within the district will include the following criteria:

Safety for students, staff, and patrons,
Supportive of instructional programs to enhance student learning,
Accessibility for all students,
Durable in design and withstanding wear and tear,
Designed and built within reasonable expectations, such as using quality (but not lavish) design methods and materials,
Flexibility to anticipate changes in technology,
Equity and equitable opportunities, both within the school and among similar schools in the district,
Ease of maintenance, including reasonable efficiencies in construction methods and materials, and
Strict adherence to established budgets.

Delegation of Responsibility for Construction Projects

The board has input into all matters of general concerns regarding school design and construction. The board has, however, delegated the responsibilities of overseeing all construction matters to the Superintendent, the Business Administrator, and others on staff (such as the Director of Facilities). Under the direction of the Superintendent, all matters of pre-construction, construction, and post-construction are managed. Such activities are done according to Utah law and principles of transparency.

Establishing the Budget

A firm construction budget for each project will be established based on the guidance from professional architects/estimators, contractors, project managers, and the district’s Director of Facilities. The budgets for each project will be clearly stated and will include (but not limited to):

Labor and materials,
Site acquisition/improvements,
Permits,
Adjacent property issues (sidewalks, roads, sewer, etc.),
Furniture, fixtures, equipment (FFE),
Temporary housing,
Architect and contractor fees,
A reasonable contingency, based on input from the parties noted above and the complexity of the project,
Etc.

Managing Input in the Design and Construction Phases

An important part of the design process is to elicit input from school staff and community. However, such input must be managed and guided by the contracted architects, as the hired professionals in whom the board has placed trust to accomplish the construction of the building. The Director of Facilities will also play a direct role in managing this process.

During the design phase a natural occurrence is for requests to be generated that may seem extravagant. Cumulatively, such requests can result in a total cost of the project that can well exceed established budgets and contingencies. An equal consideration is that such requests can generate a set of expectations that, once embedded, may create hard feelings from staff/community if they are left unmanaged and/or unanswered.

The Superintendent and Business Administrator are responsible to ensure that budgets and expectations are managed. Working with the Director of Facilities and others as needed, the Superintendent and Business Administrator will coordinate with architects and contractors to accomplish the projects on budget and on time. This includes, as may be needed, the process of value engineering.

Board Approvals

The architect for a given project will have plans approved by the board in formal board action. The board will also approve the final budget outline and a construction timeline.

Managing Substantive Changes

As with all board functions, individual board members are always able to provide input, but only the majority of the board may direct the process. Once the formal construction budget and timeline have been approved, any need for change orders of $10,000 or greater will go before the board for formal approval. The Superintendent and Business Administrator will appropriately review and vet all such changes with a view to the criteria noted at the opening of this policy.

In the midst of the season of actual construction activities, the Board may need to add a second, brief business meeting to address the change order process noted above. In the event of an exigent circumstance that occurs in an untimely way related to board business meetings for advanced approval, the Superintendent and Business Administrator will jointly approve such exigent requests, so as to keep the construction process on the timeline. Such matters will then be brought forward at the next scheduled board meeting for a report to the board and possibly formal retroactive action.

Verfahren

The Board directs the superintendent to develop procedures to serve as a viable guide for the design and construction processes of building a new/rebuilt school. Among other components, the procedures should include a listing of various parties involved in the process, along with respective roles, responsibilities, and timelines.

Genehmigt durch den Bildungsrat

June 11, 2019