Z-727                 _______________________________________________

                                    SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 108

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Senators Bauer, Gaspard, Benitz, Goltz, Rasmussen, Bender, Vognild, Warnke and Lee; by Temporary Committee on Educational Policies request

Read first time 2/1/85 and referred to Committee on Education.

WHEREAS, It is the responsibility of the state to establish and provide for the operation of a program of state assistance to school districts in providing school plant facilities; and

          WHEREAS, It is the duty of the state board of education to prescribe rules and regulations, prioritize, approve, and disburse allotments to school districts to assist them in providing school plant facilities; and

          WHEREAS, It is the duty of the state board of education and the superintendent of public instruction to review and approve school district facility project costs; and

          WHEREAS, It is the duty of the superintendent of public instruction to conduct studies and surveys to secure information on the kind and extent of school facilities needs; and

          WHEREAS, It is the duty of the superintendent of public instruction to prepare and revise a manual for the information and guidance of local school district authorities concerned with the designing, planning, maintenance, and operation of school plant facilities for the common schools; and

          WHEREAS, It is the duty of the superintendent of public instruction to furnish consultative and advisory services to school districts in connection with the development of school building programs; and

          WHEREAS, There apparently is a lack of information on state-wide school facilities needs, and a lack in school facilities planning practices;

          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the House of Representatives of the state of Washington, the Senate concurring, That the superintendent of public instruction shall conduct a state-wide facilities needs assessment and the state board of education and superintendent of public instruction  prepare an estimate of construction and renovation needs that:

          (1) Are included in existing local facilities plans and therefore likely to be met through the existing system; and

          (2) Are not included in existing facilities plans and therefore not likely to be met through the present procedures; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the school facilities cost stabilization program be a continuing activity, funded by the common school construction fund and charged with review of school construction practices for possible cost savings; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the school facilities construction advisory board be continued and charged with responsibility to recommend by January, 1987, ways for the state board of education to rank proposed projects that take into account facilities needs, ways of meeting needs that may not be included in existing facilities plans, and short-term demands that might not be met through the common school construction fund; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That these offices, with the assistance of technical experts, develop a planning guide for local districts to use in making a local facilities plan and preparing to finance construction and renovation projects; and

          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the school facilities advisory board, the state board of education, and the superintendent of public instruction present an assessment of at least the following alternative financing programs and the role those programs might play in meeting demand for school construction and renovation and a more stable and continuous means of financing maintenance and renovation in the coming decade to the legislature by January, 1987:

          (1) Pay-as-you-go financing, by which districts set aside a portion of operating revenues on an annual basis for replacement of facilities;

          (2) Use of state bonding capacity for local construction, including a state-wide bond bank or a state-administered loan program;

          (3) Use of local capital levies, as distinct from local debt, to finance limited modernization or renovation projects;

          (4) Use of income from sale of surplus school facilities to generate revenue for capital maintenance and renovation of existing facilities; and

          (5) Transfer of ownership from public to private through use of sale, lease-back arrangements, service contracts, or outright private ownership.