experimental schools; square
footage exemption
HB 2532 exempts experimental schools from the School Facilities Board (SFB) minimum square footage adequacy requirements.
The SFB provides funding to school districts for new construction when existing school facilities require more pupil space. In determining space requirements, the SFB refers to the minimum square footage per pupil guidelines established for schools in A.R.S. 15-2011. The SFB is allowed to modify both the square footage requirements and the amount of monies required to cure a square footage deficiency for extraordinary circumstances. Extraordinary circumstances are defined in statute as the number of pupils served by the district, geographical factors and alternative grade configurations. In measuring the square footage per pupil adequacy requirement, the SFB uses the most recent 100th day average daily membership, a square footage estimate and considers all total space available in a school district.