Why Engage Your Community in Facility Projects?
BY SARAH WOODHEAD/School Administrator, October 2017


Community engagement is time-consuming and sometimes challenging. So why do it? And why start from the early stages of a school facility project?

There are five good reasons:

» Better school design. When communities help shape their schools, they introduce meaningful issues and concerns that, when successfully resolved, improve the quality of the design. How? Community stakeholders are experts in their own areas.

Teachers are experts at teaching and at managing dozens of young people. They know a lot about what learners need to succeed.

Facility managers, including custodians, can help designers avoid costly mistakes. These men and women will live with the building for years to come and will watch for issues such as access to equipment for filter changes or unreachable light fixtures.

Parent communities can provide special expertise around community norms and expectations, the understanding of which can enhance a project.

» Greater sense of pride and ownership. Community engagement encourages the public to invest not just monetarily but also emotionally. Involved community members feel pride and a greater sense of ownership in the outcome. This can translate into better care for the school (both as a facility and a community institution) for years.

» Avoidance of community disputes. Every school system that undertakes a major construction project runs into some form of NIMBYism (“Not In My Back Yard”). From the outset, include the community to constructively raise issues, including difficult ones. Adopting an open attitude and, where appropriate, facilitating early compromise will help you to avoid the bitter conflicts that can arise when community members feel overlooked.

» Stakeholders deserve a seat at the table. The community deserves the opportunity to share their aspirations and help shape their schools. Families and community representatives are, after all, the financial backers of any publicly funded construction project. They deserve a chance to speak openly and passionately about their hopes, dreams and concerns.

» It means you’re doing the right thing. School design is not about the architect as a black-caped design star who works in a vacuum. The best schools should be stellar architecturally, but only insofar as they are in service to their communities for the long haul.

SARAH WOODHEAD is a principal and K-12 education leader at DLR Group in Washington, D.C. E-mail: swoodhead@dlrgroup.com. Twitter: @SWoodhead_DLR