What is the definition of a public school facility?
“Public School Facility” means a building or portion of a building used for educational purposes by a school district, a Board of Cooperative Services, the Colorado School for The Deaf and Blind created and existing pursuant to section 22-80-102 (1) (a) C.R.S., or a charter school, including but not limited to the school sites, classrooms, libraries and media centers, cafeterias and kitchens, auditoriums, multipurpose rooms, and other multi-use spaces; except that “Public School Facility” does not include a learning center, as defined in section 22-30.7-102 (4), that is not used for any other public school purpose and is not part of a building otherwise owned, or leased in its entirety, by a school district, a Board of Cooperative Services, a charter school, or the Colorado School for The Deaf and Blind for educational purposes.
What are the Public School Facility "Construction Guidelines"?
22-43.7-106(1)(a) C.R.S., the Assistance Board shall establish Public School Facility Construction Guidelines for use by the Assistance Board in assessing and prioritizing public school capital construction needs throughout the State pursuant to 22-43.7-108 C.R.S.; reviewing applications for financial assistance, and making recommendations to the State Board regarding appropriate allocation of awards of financial assistance from the assistance fund only to applicants;
These Guidelines are not mandatory standards to be imposed on school districts, charter schools, institute charter schools, the Boards of Cooperative Services or the Colorado School for The Deaf and Blind. As required by statute, the Guidelines address:
Health and safety issues, including security needs and all applicable health, safety and environmental codes and standards as required by state and federal law;
Technology, including but not limited to telecommunications and internet connectivity technology and technology for individual student learning and classroom instruction;
Building site requirements;
Building performance standards and guidelines for green building and energy efficiency;
Functionality of existing and planned public school facilities for core educational programs, particularly those educational programs for which the State Board has adopted state model content standards;
Capacity of existing and planned public school facilities, taking into consideration the potential expansion of services and programs;
Public school facility accessibility;
The historic significance of existing public school facilities and their potential to meet current programming needs by rehabilitating such facilities.
