The Newark Public Schools Facilities Database Process

The methodology employed by the database has been as follows:

1. Develop a methodical, uniform approach towards the assessment and documentation of the schools presently owned and/or occupied by the District consistent with the State of New Jersey’s Department of Education Facilities Efficiency Standards.
2. Develop a process and conduct initial assessments of all instructional facilities that, when continued by the District, will serve as a consistent and readily available source of data suitable to inform operational and planning decisions.

Data Collection

The assessment of each school began in 2010 and continued in 2012. This process included:

2010: Space and Site Inventory

1. Available facility documents were reviewed, including available floor plans, prior facility reports, the City of Newark Geographical Information System and publicly available site information.
2. Site visits were conducted to each facility.
3. Documents produced for each facility survey included:
   1. Site Plan,
   2. Site Plan Schedule noting noting pervious and impervious surfaces,
   3. Floor Plans designating use in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format,
   4. Room Schedule indicating room number, use, area, and floor and ceiling finish,
   5. Bathroom Fixture Schedule,
   6. Representative photographic images,
   7. Satellite Images, and
   8. Building Information Model (BIM) and Computer Assisted Design (CAD) drawings.

2012: Facilities Conditions Assessment

1. A survey instrument was developed in Adobe LiveCycle so as to collect site, exterior, interior, and systems information in a uniform manner. The survey was designed to record descriptions, ages and conditions for a representative sample of attributes at each facility utilizing tablet computers.
2. Site visits were conducted by a team of licensed architects, engineers, and student interns to complete the survey and photograph the facility.
3. Survey data collected was submitted into the database and closely reviewed for consistency and accuracy.
4. The 2010 floor plans and schedules were updated and uploaded. All facility photos were uploaded and assigned descriptive terms for search purposes.
5. The survey data along with additional information were analyzed and scores were assigned for each facility for Facility Condition, Educational (Facility) Adequacy and Capacity Utilization based on 2012-13 enrollments and building usage.
6. Documents made available for each facility in 2012 included:
   1. Revised/Updated 2010 Survey Documents (as previously described),
   2. Survey Data (accessible as MS Excel files),
   3. Facility Condition, Capacity Utilization, and Educational Adequacy Scores,
   4. Representative and Observational Images (200-300 per school facility),
   5. Historical Surveys and associated reports (when available).
7. Additionally, a more powerful search feature was developed.