A Technical Report on the Condition of School Buildings in Rural and Small School Districts

This study was undertaken to assess the condition of school facilities in rural and small school districts in the 50 states and analyze the mechanisms used by rural and small school districts to finance capital outlay. The study is part of an ongoing effort to address concerns specific to rural and small schools in the United States. The focus of the study is on the condition of school buildings in rural and small school districts in the United States. The sample used was drawn from districts with student enrollments of less than 800 and existing outside of standard metropolitan statistical areas. Usable responses were received from 263 districts from 37 states. Information is categorized into individual building data and descriptive and financial data from each responding district. In addition to general descriptive data, there is information specific to the methods used by each district in support of capital outlay. Data include district enrollment, expenditures for outlay and maintenance, sources for generating capital outlay, age of buildings, use and accessibility of buildings, safety of buildings, and replacement costs of buildings. The report is presented in two sections. The first section details the mean, standard deviation and range of the values reported for each variable by all respondents to the survey. It also offers the same values for each variable grouped according to the geographic region in which the school district is located. The second section analyzes each variable independently. Quartiles, histograms, boxplots, normal probability plots, and frequency counts are given. There is no attempt to recommend changes for rectifying the situation. This report contains many graphs and charts. (Author/TES)