How do you make school facilities constructed from concrete, bricks and mortar flexible? By definition, these materials are fixed. We want them to be strong and immobile. So, why is flexibility the biggest school design trend in 21st century planning?

Flexibility accommodates changes in educational delivery, technology and enrollment. The most flexible spaces trending today include lecture halls, extended learning areas, media centers and commons.

Lecture halls accommodate large groups — approximately 75 to 100 people — but flexible, mobile furnishings permit multiple space configurations, such as small-group spaces. Extended learning areas take education beyond the walls of the classroom to adjacent space that can be easily supervised. Media centers and commons are often adjacent to extended learning areas or a cafeteria — they’re typically in the center of the facility near core academic pods. Placing the media center and commons near these spaces lets students combine study and social time. Equipping these spaces with technology, outlets and charging stations increases their flexibility.

School facilities must flex over time. A district in Virginia constructed a visual and performing arts facility to serve gifted and talented students in grades 2-8; however, the facility is perfectly suited for K-12 instruction, too. It has a full-sized auditorium, a black box theater, dance studios, classrooms for instrumental music instruction and a lecture hall, making it conducive for K-12 instruction as well as community use.

A district in Ohio is in flex overdrive because of massive enrollment surges. The district had one high school in 1989; the fourth will open in 2018. Along the way, one of the high schools was repurposed into a middle school to accommodate the growing student population.

Another Ohio district repurposed in the opposite direction: A middle school became a high school — not to accommodate an enrollment increase, but to provide students with a curriculum focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

A Georgia district is planning a high school devoted to STEM programming, too. It will serve 1,500 STEM students, but it can also serve a traditional high school population if programming shifts or enrollment changes. The facility will include a “touchdown space” in the center of the school. It’s a hybrid of a cafeteria, library and commons, so students can study in small or large groups and socialize. They will have quick access to administrative offices that flank the perimeter, enabling them to meet impromptu with guidance counselors throughout the day.

Flexibility is good on a small scale, too. Adding a makerspace for a STEM or STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) curriculum enables students to carry out hands-on investigations that foster critical thinking and problem solving. A Virginia high school added a makerspace to the perimeter of the facility that doubles as a rainwater catch-and-store lab and a greenhouse. An Illinois elementary school added equipment to an extended learning area so the space can double as a makerspace. It has direct access to core academic classrooms and the outdoors.

The biggest challenge in facility planning is predicting the future, and since that’s nearly impossible, creating flexible spaces is the safest bet. Today’s optimal learning environments might not be tomorrow’s, but flexible spaces such as lecture halls, extended learning areas, media centers and commons help us prepare for future needs. They enable buildings to be used for different purposes.

Don’t forget to check out this article in the September/October issue of School Construction News.

Kerrianne Wolf, REFP, is the educational specifications specialist for Cooperative Strategies, previously DeJONG-RICHTER.

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The Ravenswood City School District in Palo Alto is currently going through a process that is sadly representative of the “darned if you do, darned if you don’t” nature of this political and fiscal moment. The district school board voted in May to eliminate a discount rate, which allowed youth sports programs to use the district’s athletic fields or facilities for a more reasonable price than the district charged other organizations.

The rule change eliminated a rule that allowed these recreational leagues to pay a reduced rate of $5 per child, to use school facilities for an entire 12-week sports season. The change meant sports teams had to pay an hourly rate of $25 per field or $100 for a gymnasium. This means your average youth basketball team would spend more on fees for a single game than they previously spent on an entire season.

After receiving significant blowback from parents, students and coaches, the school board voted to temporarily reinstate the previous discount system at a meeting in late September, giving the board time to rethink its solution. The fundamental problem remains unchanged; the school doesn’t receive enough compensation from recreational sports leagues to cover the maintenance costs the organizations cause while putting on their events.

Though the district temporarily approved a reinstatement of the old fee schedule, it denied requests to make the change retroactive and give back funds collected from sports leagues since the vote in May. Board vice president Sharifa Wilson said the fee schedule changes were well intentioned and reflected the schools priorities.

“Over the last two years, we’ve suffered tremendous losses due to state budget cuts,” Wilson told the Peninsula Press “We’re trying to avoid affecting classrooms.”

A local indoor soccer league organizer told the board he was facing an increase in fees from $900 per season to $18,000, a cost that would probably have to be passed on to the league’s 150 players.

The board is currently looking into other sources for the funding, hoping it can get a slice of the cash from Palo Alto’s transient occupancy tax (TOT), or the community’s Measure C parcel tax, which supports violence prevention efforts. Many organizations consider after school programs to fit into a community based, violence reduction strategy, and 10 percent of the local TOT is dedicated to child, family, and senior services. Both of those funding sources already provided $100,000 in grants for local youth summer programs in the current fiscal year.

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