School Design Standards

Education in the State of Texas is governed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). The TEA adopted school facility design standards in 1994 and then updated and revised the standards in 2004. Essentially the standards set out minimum sizes of classrooms and other spaces for the grade levels. As an example, kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms are sized at a minimum of 800sf for 22 students. TEA has limited the class size of students in K - 4th grade at a 22 to 1 ratio. If you are in a smaller school district and you don't have 22 students per room, you can use the factor of 36sf per student to get to your minimum room size. I usually don't recommend using the square foot factor per student since it limits you to that number of students. If the class size grows you would have to add additional classrooms and teachers, rather than expanding into the rooms you have. Grade levels 2 - 12 are sized at 700sf per classroom and if smaller size rooms are appropriate, you would use the factor of 32sf in the lower grade levels and 28sf in the secondary level. TEA felt it was necessary to set the minimum standards and unfortunately this is the size rooms that we see end up being provided. These minimum sizes may meet your needs just fine, but in most cases we find that even these rooms are too small to meet the needs of teachers and the number of students that are squeezed into the space. It is imperative that you communicate to your design professional how many students are being planned for in the classrooms. Does an 800sf kindergarten room meet your needs in how you teach your curriculum? Only you can answer that question. If it is not discussed, you may end up with the classrooms being too small. I would be interested to know what other states have set out minimum design standards and how they compare.

ADA Compliance - Part Two

Continuing the discussion on ADA compliance, it's important for us all to understand the concept of universal design. This concept embraces not only the recognition that we must make our buildings accessible, but takes it a step further to do more to eliminate barriers. For example, designing ramps in place of steps even if the ramp is not required to meet the letter of the law.

I asked in the previous blog "how accessible is your school?". One exercise that I do with my students when I am lecturing on accessibility is to borrow a wheelchair and take them around the building we are in to have them experience first hand what it is like. It's a real eye opening experience for most. The simple act of pulling up to and opening a door is enough for them to realize why the ADA is so specific about this operation. You must have 18" of clearance on the side of the door if it opens towards you, the force to pull the door open cannot exceed 5ft/lbs, the handle must be the type that does not require a grasping and twisting motion and the door must have a clear opening of 32" min.

One common violation that I see is the placement of room signage. Often times it is attached to the door, which is not correct. In order for the signage to be in compliance it must be attached to the wall on the strike side of the door, mounted at 5ft to the center of the sign, contain the room name and number in braille, and be located no more than 8" from the door frame. This is so that a blind person can locate the room. If the door is in the open position, they would not be able to find the room number. Or if the signage is up too high to reach, again they would not be able to find the room.

Another common violation occurs when the lavatory for the handicap does not have the exposed plumbing lines covered under the fixture. The drain line and the water lines all must be covered with insulation. This is specified in order to protect the person in the wheelchair as they pull up to the lavatory so that their legs and feet are not injured by the exposed pipes.

One more item to be aware of is the side slope on sidewalks. The side slope cannot exceed a 2% grade on the width of the walk. Probably the most common injury for ambulatory people is loosing their balance and falling because of excessive side slope on walks.

Take universal design to heart. Tour your school campus and see what you can do to make your building more user friendly for all people.

Michael D. King AIA

ADA Compliance

The ADA (American With Disabilities Act) is not new legislation, it was put in effect over 20 years ago. Every school should have an action plan as to how to make their facilities handicap accessible. How accessible is your school?

There are 5 major components that lead towards making your facility accessible.
First, is there parking allocated for wheelchair access and is the path to the main entrance free from barriers? The designated handicap parking space must be at least 96" wide with a 60" access aisle adjacent to it. If you only have one h.c. parking space it must be designated as 'van accessible' and be 132" wide. The van space can be 96" wide if it has an adjacent access aisle of at least 96" wide. The pathway from the h.c. parking space must be accessible to the main entrance. No slopes of over 5% are allowed unless they are ramps. The ramps cannot slope over 8.33% (a one in twelve rise to run ratio) and must have handrails on both sides. The ramp cannot run more than 30' in the horizontal distance before having a level landing of at least 5'. There cannot be more than a 1/2" rise to overcome along the accessible path. For instance, if a tree root has caused the sidewalk to raise up and crack, if the rise is more than 1/2", it is considered to be a barrier.

Second, is the path of travel in the interior of the facility free from barriers? Access to all goods and services must be on an accessible path. Education is the service provided in the school, so all floors and all spaces must be accessible.

Third, are your restrooms accessible? All components of the restroom must be accessible. The ADA requires certain heights for the plumbing fixtures and at least one stall to be accessible (5'x5'). Mirrors, hand dryers and soap dispensers must be set at the appropriate height for the user of the facility. If you are building an addition to your school and it does not contain restrooms, then you must assure that accessible restrooms are available in the existing bldg. and that the restrooms are along an accessible pathway.

Fourth, are your drinking fountains accessible? ADA requires that drinking fountains be set at certain heights for the main users of the bldg and that they be located in pairs. One to be set at a lower height for wheelchair users and one set at a slightly higher elevation for those people that might have difficulty stooping over at the lower of the two fountains.

Fifth, are your public telephones accessible? This requirement is not difficult to comply with since the advent of mobile phones. But if you do have phones available to the public, one must be set at an accessible height.

These are simply the basic things you should be looking for to have an accessible facility. There are of course quite a few more items such as doors and door hardware that will make the interior pathway of the bldg accessible or not. If you do not have a plan in place to remove the barriers in your school, we highly recommend that you put one in place as soon as possible. More and more lawsuits are being filed every year by accessible advocates, and having a plan in place would greatly assist, should you be filed on.

Michael D. King AIA

Student Lockers, or Not

The issue as to whether to provide student lockers in high schools and middle schools is a conversation you should have with your design professional early in the planning stage of your project. It seems like a simple decision, but it will have ongoing implications of safety and security for your school.

We still see the majority of our clients requesting student lockers to be located down various corridors, much as we have been accustomed to seeing in schools for years. The difference being now, as opposed to say 15 years ago, is in the placement of the lockers. They can still be located down a corridor, but don't position them adjacent to exterior doors where it makes it easy for students to bring in contraband unseen. If lockers are grouped together in a specific area, do not extend the lockers above eye level so as to block the view of the monitor for that area.

We have had several school districts eliminate student lockers all together. The ongoing trouble of dealing with drugs and other paraphernalia has been the driving force to get rid of them. The solution has either been to make students carry all their books in a back pack or provide a second set of books located in the classroom. Of course, providing the second set of books has a monetary impact that has kept many schools from choosing this option. As school districts go this route, we see more teachers requesting some type of cabinet in the classroom to store or hang the back packs as students are carrying all their worldly possesions with them from class to class.

There is a third option I believe that we will see in the near future and that is the introduction of the iPad or other similar note books. As this technology becomes more readily available, standard hard cover books as we know them will become less attractive, thus eliminating the need for a locker. This won't happen quickly, I believe it will be a slow transition. And if this does occur, it brings up another issue as to the viability of libraries as we know them now. We'll save that discussion for another time though.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and issues/solutions to student lockers in your school.

Michael D. King AIA

Passive Solar Strategies

At this time of the year, when it’s cold outside but the days are getting longer, I think about passive solar strategies for reducing heating bills. The sun can provide heat for your school. Passive solar heating involves designing a building with south-facing windows and building overhangs so that the sun can heat in the winter but not the summer. Since the sun is higher in the sky in the summer than in the winter, those low-angle rays, in a properly designed building, will provide heat at this time of the year. When the sun’s angle is higher, during the warmer part of the year, a properly designed passive solar building’s roof overhangs will block the sun’s rays so no rays will strike directly on the glazing later in the year. For more information about using the sun to heat, follow this link: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/designing_remodeling/index.cfm/mytopic=10280 . Although it’s “home designing and remodeling” the explanation of the idea behind passive solar heating is the same as for schools. The easiest passive solar strategy that reduces cooling bills is that of planting trees. Trees are often overlooked as an important passive solar cooling strategy, but it’s easy enough to incorporate deciduous trees into your landscaping. Plant deciduous trees on the southeast and southwest corners of your school. The trees provide shade during the seasons when they are leafed out, which is when cooling is needed. When the trees lose their leaves in the fall the sun shines on the school building, which provides passive solar heating if the building is designed for passive solar heat gain. Another strategy is known as “indirect gain” (sometimes called a Trombe Wall) which uses a building’s mass to collect, absorb, then redistribute heat. The sun’s rays shine into a space between the building’s glazing and a masonry or concrete wall, which acts as a heat sink. Then various methods are used to move the heat into the rest of a building. http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/designing_remodeling/index.cfm/mytopic=10300 . I’ve discussed the use of daylight harvesting or daylighting in schools in a previous blog; check my blogs to see how to utilize this strategy to increase student health.

January is National Radon Action Month

January is National Radon Action Month. Radon, a radioactive gas found in all 50 states, is responsible for over 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year, second only to cigarette smoking. Radon is naturally occurring in the soil wherever uranium deposits are located. Because it’s odorless and tasteless it’s not well-known as a health risk. There may be a substantial number of schools in the U.S. with radon problems, since not all states mandate radon testing. Pressure from the soil typically is greater than air pressure in a school, so the radon finds its way or is pushed into a school from cracks in building foundations, slabs, and other avenues of ingress. Once inside it’s breathed by the building’s occupants. The radioactive particles cause irritation in the lungs, leading to cancer. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that all schools be tested and that action be taken to reduce elevated radon levels. Many schools have radon in them, yet not all schools test for radon. The only way to determine the presence of and the levels of radon is to test. The test is simple and inexpensive. Test kits can be purchased online or at hardware or home improvement stores. Since there are both short-term and long-term tests, it’s best to do both for a baseline if you haven’t ever done radon testing. The links below will help determine testing protocols and follow-up for your school. It’s better to test more than one area of your school. There are construction techniques that can alleviate the risk of radon. Older schools are more at risk than newer schools for radon intrusion due to cracking from settling, not as air-tight construction on foundations and floors, and less caulking / waterproofing at floor penetrations. Common problem areas include (Courtesy of Kansas State University) • Cracks in floors and walls • Gaps in suspended floors • Openings around sump pumps and drains • Cavities in walls • Joints in construction materials • Gaps around utility penetrations (pipes and wires) • Crawl spaces that open directly into the building The U.S. EPA recommends schools hire professionals for radon testing. Fixes for radon intrusion can be fairly inexpensive. The link below will help you find your state’s radon office. www.sosradon.org – Kansas State University’s radon education website. http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/pdfs/kit/managing_radon.pdf - managing radon in schools. There is a substantial amount of information on this site. http://www.epa.gov/radon/whereyoulive.html http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs www.epa.gov/radon/pdfs/zonemapcolor.pdf - a map showing the three radon zones in the U.S. Zone 1 (yellow) is the least likely to experience radon problems. Again, the only way to really determine your school’s radon infiltration is to test.

Implementing an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Program

As one school administrator asks, “What’s the difference between a pest and a pet?” (Answer: one you feed and the other you don’t.) If your school doesn’t have an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program, you can take steps to turn those pets into pests, and then reduce those pests. This is an important component of Indoor Environmental Quality objectives. An IPM program means that you will use eradication chemicals only as part of a comprehensive program to reduce insect, rodent, and other pest populations while taking steps to reduce asthma triggers, which will help your overall student population. First the facilities people at your school will want to keep records on what types of pests are typical or common for each campus. Your written IPM program will list types and numbers of pests that will be tolerated, then the amount or frequency of infestations and what steps will be taken at what point in time to reduce or eliminate infestations. At your school, you’ll work to alleviate the infestations by the use of several methods. Sanitation is what you are going to use in lieu of pesticides for the first line of defense. Use common-sense strategies: caulk the building envelope, make sure doors and windows close properly, and inspect vegetation areas near entries. If excessive vegetation harbors pests, take steps to prune or eliminate the vegetation. Consider whether or not the pest is actually a pest (honeybees for example). Next you’ll want to determine the various ways to reduce or remove pests. The idea is to reduce reliance on chemicals, which can be harmful to humans, especially the medically fragile. If your school uses the calendar to schedule pest spraying, stop using the calendar. It’s too arbitrary and leads to over-use of pesticides. Consider using traps and (non-pesticide) baits to monitor pests. You’ll want to keep your school clean and reduce food sources for your pests. When pests reach a certain threshold, as detailed on your schools IPM plan, you’ll need to act. Some of the ways to keep pests from turning into pets: • Keep food out of classrooms. Keep food in the cafeteria. • Have a “no classroom pets” rule. All those class gerbils and rats eat, drink, and have bedding. Their supplies are stored in the classroom. Think about having a teacher’s meeting to determine a classroom pet policy. • Remove refrigerators and other food storage and preparation appliances from the classroom – get rid of coffee makers, toaster ovens, microwaves, refrigerators, and hot plates. • Have trash emptied daily from classrooms. • Keep classrooms clutter-free so the janitorial staff is able to clean effectively. When there is no other choice but to use pesticides, develop a list of least-toxic pesticides. Try using mechanical means first, for instance, scrub the affected area clean before resorting to pesticide application. Pesticides often need licensed applicators to apply and they can persist in the school for long-term, ongoing exposure. For chemically sensitive children this can mean repeated absences. Also explore green methods for cleaning and for pest removal. Biological controls are effective; scientists have developed traps or other methods of removing pests based on pheromone attractants. The use of diatomaceous earth is common and is effective for ant control. The sharp pieces of silica in diatomaceous earth stick in the exoskeleton of pests, then are brought back to the nest by the ants where they (the shards) persist, resulting in the death of the insect. Use predatory insects to keep pests under control – ladybugs and praying mantis can be ordered through the mail. For mice and other rodents, use traps. An Integrated Pest Management program is an important aspect of providing a healthy school environment. Writing and implementing an IPM plan is simple. There is an example IPM plan below (third link). http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/ipm.h http://www.whatisipm.org/ http://www.uvm.edu/pss/pd/schoolipm/documents/sampleplan.pdf http://www.epa.gov/pesp/ipminschools/issuesandbenefits.html