Building and maintaining school organization is crucial to providing an effective and healthy learning environment. Many educational institutions have become aware of reconstructing old facilities to cater to emerging student needs and maintaining the buildings, furniture, and equipment to reduce expenditure. However, basic information on effective facility maintenance and management of old structures is still lacking. This essay highlights factors to consider when constructing new buildings and maintenance techniques that are practical and cost-effective for the establishment.
Maintaining school facilities is a lifetime activity that occurs yearly, weekly, or monthly. A yearly plan includes repair programs, preventive measures, improvement, and replacement of facilities according to emerging needs and emergency maintenance. Facilities that require yearly maintenance include physical structures, plumbing, energy resources, furnishings, fire suppression systems, and outdoor resources like playgrounds and gymnastics resources for physical education (Beauregard & Ayer, 2018). To avoid insufficient funds, the budget for maintaining the facilities should take 10 % to 15% of the yearly budget. Beauregard and Ayer (2018) advocate for a combination of contract methods and staff in the yearly maintenance plan. The school’s staff, such as janitors and groundskeepers, can be responsible for the non-technical work, while contacted staff can handle areas that require expertise. The combined method saves labor costs while mentoring and empowering staff to obtain skills in various areas.
There are numerous sources of finance for school development, among them the community, school administration, non-governmental organizations, and the government. Building and maintenance operations require substantial public funds, and the government is the primary source of financial support since most governments consider education a big industry (Beauregard & Ayer, 2018). In light of this, schools receive a certain percentage of a nation’s budget, which school managers can incorporate into the school’s budget for building and maintenance.
To summarize, each school needs a plan for constructing new facilities when the need arises and maintenance of the facilities to replace, which may be costly to the organization’s management. The process involves creating responsive facilities that match the changing educational programs and maintaining the facilities to avoid damage and an unhealthy educational environment. The planning, designing, and constructing of new facilities may take one to three years, while maintenance is a lifetime activity that requires a realistic budget and fiscal outlook to accomplish the desired goals.
Reference
Beauregard, M., & Ayer, S. (2018). Maintaining performance. Facilities, 36(11/12), 618-634.