Travel and Environmental Implications of School Siting Kevin M. Nelson, AICP US EPA Smart Growth Pro

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Travel and Environmental Implications of School
SitingKevin M. Nelson, AICPUS EPA Smart Growth
Program

• American Public
• Health Association
• Washington, DC
• November 9, 2004

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Whats the connection?

• Communities are
• evaluating their
• growth patterns
• and
• educational
• investments.

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Whats the connection?

• The School affects community growth.
• The School facility is a major financial
  investment that the entire community bears.

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What happened to schools?

• What did we have a
• generation or two ago?
• Small schools (avg 127)
• Schools as centers of community
• Investment in school facilities as public places
• 2/3 of all students walking or biking

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What happened to schools?

• What do we have now?
• 70 more students, 70 fewer schools
• Mega-schools (avg. 653)
• 40 of HS more than 1000
• Schools on 10-30 acres of fringe land
• Mass produced, lowest-cost construction
• Less than 10 of students walking or biking (CDC,
  1999)

Lots of congestion and space used for parking!
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What happened to schools?
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What happened to schools?
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What happened to schools?
South Carolina Coastal Conservation League
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and the environment?

• School location and design DO affect the
  environment
• Schools built close to students, in walkable
  neighborhoods
• Can reduce traffic
• Yield 13 increase in walking and biking
• Reduce emissions 15
• Need more work on this!

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What happened to people?
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What happened to people?

• Epidemic of poor health in children
• Overweight and obesity
• Asthma
• High blood pressure
• Educational achievement?

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Why has it happened?

• Flight to suburbs (cause and effect)
• Education theories
• Diversity goals
• Increasing costs of education
• Increasing cost and space needs of
  extracurriculars
• Site selection rules
• Construction renovation funding

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Chance to change is now!

• Converging interest in smaller schools that meet
  diverse goals
• Education more personal attention, fewer
  dropouts, higher achievement
• Community anchor, sign of investment, activity
  spot
• Public health walking, recreation
• Environment air quality, water quality
• Forty thousand or more baby boom schools 40
  years old
• AND
• 1.3 million more K-12 students in next couple
  years
• Renovate or build new? Build mega or smaller?
• 100-300 BILLION will be spent

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Rules of the game 2/3

• 2/3 Rule
• 60 Rule

• If the cost of renovating a school exceeds some
  percentage of new construction costs, a new
  school must be built.
• This policy is adopted even when renovation
  options could yield like new schools for less.

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Rules of the game feasibility

• Feasibility studies of new vs renovation
• Costs of renovation are often overestimated.
• Renovation possibilities are often overlooked.
• Sometimes conducted by consultants who have
  financial interest in building new schools.

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Rules of the game acreage

• EPA commissioned Council of Educational
  Facilities Planners International (CEFPI) to do a
  study on state policies.
• 27 states have some minimum acreage requirement.

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Rules of the game acreage

• Lets do the math forAnyburb Senior High
• 1500 students
• 35 acres 15
• A minimum site size of 50 acres

• Ohio
• elementary 10 acres
• middle 20 acres
• high 35 acres
• plus another acre for every 100 students

Have YOU seen a 50-acre walkable school and
schoolyard?
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Signs of change

• Gates Foundation - 1B over 5 years creating 1500
  new small high schools
• NYC 60 new schools with 500 or fewer students
  also Milwaukee, Raleigh, St Paul, others
• KnowledgeWorks Foundation Ohioans prefer
  smaller high schools by 7-1 margin (lt400 vs.
  gt1000)
• Chicago study of five elementary schools
• Currently 50 drive, 38 walk or bike
• Would prefer 22 drive, 64 walk or bike

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Some solutions state policy

• Pennsylvania eliminated the 2/3, 60 rule.
• Marylands School Construction Program favors
  renovating versus constructing new schools.
• New Jersey School Renaissance Zone Program uses
  schools to catalyze redevelopment.
• Maine requires the Dept. of Ed. to consider
  whether its decisions promote sprawl.

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Some solutions state policy
"Creating more neighborhood schools is one of the
most important avenues for advancing quality of
life in South Carolina. It makes sense from a
learning standpoint, an economic standpoint and
it makes sense if you want to have schools that
are part of a community's fabric as opposed to
part of its sprawl. - South Carolina Governor
Mark Sanford (R), July 16, 2003

• South Carolina eliminated acreage requirements in
  2003

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Some solutions national help

• NTHP SGA Powerpoint online, outreach campaign
• CEFPI Revised guidelines published 2004
• CEFPI EPA Forthcoming publication on
  community schools, benefits case studies

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What might work for you?

• Waivers (but you must seek special permission
  to do the right thing)
• Partnerships like Safe Routes
• Affecting community beliefs / local political
  pressure
• Changing state/local policies

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What else can you do?

• Review your communitys school facility master
  plan.
• Closure consolidation
• Repair, renovation, modernization
• Expansion new construction
• Support the maintenance of your communitys
  school facilities.

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For more information...

• Contact us
• epa.gov/smartgrowth
• forinash.christopher_at_epa.gov
• 202-566-2842
• Visit these smart web sites
• www.smartgrowth.org
• www.smartgrowthamerica.org
• www.edfacilities.org/rl/smart_growth.cfm
• www.nsbn.org
• www.nationaltrust.org/issues/schools
• www.cefpi.org/pdf/state_guidelines.pdf