By Nerissa Pospychala, EH&A/MGT Associate
Recently the State Allocation Board (SAB) approved the changes to the Facility Inspection Tool (FIT) as proposed by the Office of Public School Construction. The proposed changes arose from a series of public stakeholder meetings and included consideration of the Association of Physical Plant Administrator’s Operational Guidelines for Educational Facilities. The main goals of the changes were to supply added school facility information, ensure adequate flexibility for school maintenance departments and to include custodial and cleanliness considerations.
Some of the highlights of the newly revised FIT worksheet include:
- Custodial/Cleanliness criteria
- A section covering deficiencies other than cleanliness on Interior Surfaces (floors, ceilings, walls, window casings)
- An additional worksheet to capture estimated building volume, site square footage, enrollment and classrooms counts
- Verification that restrooms are stocked to comply with the current law
- Sections allowing District comments on their plans to address the issues
The Facility Inspection Tool is an essential for LEA maintenance departments to ensure school facilities are clean and in good repair. It is also an integral part of the Local Control Accountability Plan and the School Accountability Report Card. The new FIT template can be found here FIT Forms on the OPSC website under the Forms tab. For more info on the FIT and inspection of facilities please contact your regional Division of State Architect office; regional office contact information can be found on their website here, or reach out to your County Office of Education; contact information for each county can be found here.
