6 DEFICIENCIES THAT CAN ACCUMULATE IN SCHOOL FACILITIES
1. Life-Cycle Deficiencies: When a system, component, finish, fixture, or piece of installed equipment is “used beyond its recommended life.” The system may work, but it is at high risk for failure.
2. Maintenance Deficiencies: When a system, component, finish, fixture, or piece of equipment is nonfunction or operates at suboptimal levels – even if it is within its expected life.
3. Site Deficiencies: These are problems with the location or design of the facility and the conditions on the site. This could include an overcrowded school, a school located in a noisy location, a school that has unsafe student drop-off areas, inadequate tree cover in outdoor play areas, deteriorated fencing, retaining walls, sidewalks, or blacktop.
4. Education Design Deficiencies: When the facility design, furniture, fixtures, and equipment do not adequately support the school’s educational program or other priorities needed by the school. For example, when early childhood classrooms have no student toilets, when science labs have no running water, or when band rooms have no places for instrument storage.
5. Environmental Deficiencies: These reflect the ways that location, design, construction, and operations contribute to the environmental impact of a school. Deficiencies may arise from the level of unrecycled refuse generated on-site, the energy and water consumption from school operations, and the environmental impact of construction practices.
NOTE: We should add here environmental deficiencies can arise when schools are cleaned using traditional – non-Green- cleaning products, tools, equipment, solutions, and methods. Non-Green cleaning solutions can trigger respiratory illnesses and absenteeism.
6. Resiliency Deficiencies: Involve both site and building elements. Deficiencies may include the wind durability of windows or roofs, reliability of the public address system, or of other life-safety systems and protocols.
Based on the recently published “2021 State of Our Schools”
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