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CAPACITY ASSESSMENTSAnother assessment of school facilities compared current and projected student enrollments to facility capacities. The Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) collected 2006/07 enrollment data from Knox County Schools staff for each of the 76 schools providing regular day instruction. Additionally, a series of five- and ten-year enrollment projections was generated by MPC to forecast student populations at each school in 2011/12 and 2016/17. Facility capacity information was then collected. A review of professional education literature and consultation with Knox County Schools staff revealed a need to measure school capacity in three ways: a) minimum floor area of facilities, on a per-student basis; b) Tennessee Department of Education Basic Education Program (BEP) standards; and, c) Knox County Schools functional capacity. Each of the three standards provided increasingly stringent requirements for facilities, with functional capacity offering the most comprehensive and restrictive measurement. To evaluate immediate, short-term, and long-term school facility needs, a computer spreadsheet model was developed to compare current and projected enrollments to each of the capacity measures. The model assigns scores to schools based on the ability of each to accommodate current and future student populations. The model then introduces the scores from the physical assessments completed for each facility. Combining capacity and physical assessment scores, the spreadsheet model asks users to assign weights to each of the evaluation measures, thereby generating a list of priority facility needs. The spreadsheet model is an evaluation tool to be used by school administrators and other local officials, and school administration can assume responsibility for maintaining and updating the information that drives the model.
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