Wyo. Code R. 027-0002-3
School Facilities Commission
Chapter 3: Uniform Adequacy Standards
Effective Date: 05/09/2024 to Current
Rule Type: Current Rules & Regulations
Reference Number: 027.0002.3.05092024
Section 1. Authority. This Chapter is promulgated pursuant to Wyoming Statutes 21-15-114(a)(xv), (ix) and 21-15-115.
Section 2. Applicability. This Chapter applies to all buildings and facilities subject to the Commission's rules and regulations. The Wyoming statewide adequacy standards establish uniform statewide standards for the adequacy of school buildings and facilities necessary for providing educational programs prescribed by law for the public schools.
Section 3. Safety of the Educational Environment. School buildings shall be in compliance with federal, state and local building and fire codes and laws that are applicable to the particular building. Code compliance includes the completion of system improvements or site improvements that are mandated in writing by an authority having jurisdiction for the continued use of a school building or facility. School buildings shall comply with all lawful environmental regulations promulgated by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and any other governmental entity with jurisdiction over the building. An existing school building may be deemed adequate with respect to this provision if it complies with the International Existing Building Code.
(a) Size requirements. For schools that intend to organize and operate more than one of the following school types on a single site, the higher of the site sizes serves as the applicable requirement. Sites larger than those in the following requirements are permissible but exceed these adequacy standards. If an alternative school shares a site with another school, the alternative school students shall contribute toward the site size calculation for the combined school site.
(i) For elementary schools, an adequate site size is up to four (4) acres, plus an additional acre for each one hundred (100) students.
(ii) For middle schools, an adequate site size is up to ten (10) acres, plus an additional acre for each one hundred (100) students.
(iii) For senior high schools, an adequate site size is up to twenty (20) acres, plus an additional acre for each one hundred (100) students.
(b) Many schools pre-date the Commission's authority to promulgate adequacy standards. Existing school sites smaller than the minimum size sites in subsection (a) of this section that pre-date the original adoption of these standards are deemed adequate with respect to this subsection unless the Commission determines otherwise.
(c) Sites shall: (i) Have play areas that are relatively flat and level; (ii) Have a playground(s) for grades K-6 accessible to students; (iii) Have access to parking for staff, students, and visitors that enables the school to deliver the required statewide educational program; (iv) Have separate areas for bus loading and unloading and student pickup and dropoff; (v) Be accessible to emergency vehicles; (vi) Have positive water drainage away from the building such that runoff does not undermine the structural integrity of the school buildings located on the site or create flooding, ponding or erosion resulting in a threat to health, safety or welfare; and (vii) Have exterior lighting at entrance(s), parking area(s), bus loading and unloading area(s), and student pickup and dropoff area(s).
Section 5. Building Performance Standards. A building shall:
(a) Have an FCI score between 0.0 and 0.60; (b) Have exterior finishes that repel wind, snow, ice, and water intrusion; (c) Have roofing with positive water drainage; (d) Be structurally sound. A school building shall be considered structurally sound and safe if the building presents no imminent danger or major visible signs of decay or distress; (e) Be deemed adequate with respect to this subsection if the building systems are capable of maintaining an acceptable level of room comfort as determined by the Classroom Temperature Psychometric Chart adopted by the Commission and effective on August 27, 2020; and (f) Utilize one (1) or more of the following energy efficiency features: (i) Energy-efficient lighting; (ii) Light level control; (iii) Occupancy sensors; (iv) Multiple pane windows; and (v) HVAC setback control.
Section 6. Special Needs Students. School buildings and facilities shall be deemed adequate with regard to this section if the building or facility meets the special needs of students enrolled in the school as identified in their individualized education plans. If a special needs student enrolls in a district and the educational buildings and facilities that correspond to that student's needs are not adequate for the education and use of that student, the district shall notify the Department. The Department shall work with the Commission to develop a remedy to comply with the student's individualized education plan.
Section 7. Building and Facility Accessibility. School buildings and facilities shall be deemed adequate with regard to this section if the authority having jurisdiction deems the building or facility to be in compliance with relevant accessibility standards, including local accessibility codes, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines.
Section 8. Adequacy of Educational Space for Required Programs. Educational buildings shall provide adequate educational space. Educational space shall be deemed adequate if a district is able to provide the educational programs required by Wyoming Statute § 21-1-101. If a district board of trustees makes a finding that the district is unable to provide the required programs because its educational space is inadequate, the district superintendent shall immediately notify the Department in writing and provide a detailed report explaining how the current space is not adequate for the delivery of the required educational programming. The report shall include elements necessary to evaluate the impact that the identified deficiency poses to the provision of the required educational program, including but not limited to objective and measurable impacts on students and expected actions necessary to mitigate that impact such as aggregate student performance data, specific known deficits with respect to the Commission's Uniform Adequacy Standards, any known national standards relevant to the claimed deficiency, and any known comparables with school buildings and facilities located elsewhere in the district or State. In the event the Department receives such a report, it shall make recommendations to the Commission evaluating the deficiency and suggesting remedies to alleviate the situation. The Department may satisfy its obligation under this section by utilizing the Facility Condition Assessment of existing school buildings and facilities and the most recent school capacity information available to the Department in developing its recommendation to the Commission. Based upon the district's report and the Department's recommendations, the Commission shall determine whether a remedy is necessary. If the Commission determines a remedy is necessary, it shall direct the Department to perform a most cost-effective remedy study in accordance with Chapter 8 § 5(b)(iii) of these Rules.
(a) Instructional spaces shall be sufficient for the required educational programs. Temporary educational space shall not be considered in evaluating Subsections (b) through (e) of this Section.
(b) Elementary school buildings shall provide the following educational spaces:
(i) General classrooms.
(ii) Space for specific curriculum. Buildings shall have space adequate to deliver the required educational program for the following subjects at the elementary school level, whether in general classrooms or specialized spaces:
(A) Art;
(B) Music;
(C) Science; and
(D) Other parts of the required state educational program necessitating specialized instructional space.
(ii) Physical education spaces. Physical education space shall include:
(A) A gymnasium or multipurpose space; and
(B) A playfield and playground.
(c) Middle school and high school buildings shall provide the following types of educational spaces:
(i) General classrooms;
(ii) Science classrooms. Science classrooms shall:
(A) Have adequate lab space to deliver the required educational program;
(B) Have adequate infrastructure to support the equipment necessary to deliver the required educational program; and
(C) Be equipped with code required safety equipment.
(iii) Fine and performing arts spaces. Fine and performing art spaces shall include adequate space capable of being used to deliver the required Fine and Performing Arts Standards.
(iv) Career and technical education (CTE) space. Middle and high schools shall have adequate space to deliver the required CTE standards.
(d) Middle schools shall provide or have access to sufficient facilities capable of delivering the required physical education standards:
(i) A gymnasium with a basic scoreboard capable of tracking score, time, and period;
(ii) A playfield. Standard playfields are natural seed or sod with an automatic irrigation system. Districts may opt for alternative surfaces, such as turf, but alternative surfaces exceed these adequacy standards unless the Commission approves the use of an artificial surface based on a lifecycle cost analysis comparing the cost of maintaining turf and a natural seed or sod surface; and
(iii) Locker rooms are not mandatory, but, when present, may include the following items without exceeding these adequacy standards:
(A) Lockers and benches;
(B) Shower facilities; and
(C) Restroom facilities.
(e) High schools shall provide or have access to sufficient facilities capable of delivering the required physical education standards:
(i) A gymnasium with a basic scoreboard capable of tracking score, time, and period;
(ii) A soccer or football field; and
(A) Standard soccer or football fields are natural seed or sod with an automatic irrigation system. Districts may opt for alternative surfaces, such as turf, but alternative surfaces exceed these adequacy standards unless the Commission approves the use of an artificial surface based on a lifecycle cost analysis comparing the cost of maintaining turf and a natural seed or sod surface;
(B) The field may have football goal posts and/or fixed soccer goals;
(C) A basic scoreboard capable of tracking score, time, and period; and
(D) Additional features such as bleachers, upgraded scoreboards, concession stands, and field houses are allowed but exceed these adequacy standards.
(iii) Track and field facilities;
(A) High schools designated 3A and 4A in track and field may have up to eight (8) lanes with running surface width of thirty feet (30');
(B) High schools designated 1A and 2A in track and field may have up to six (6) lanes with running surface width of twenty-three feet (23');
(C) Allowable surfaces include synthetic impermeable textured surfaces, dirt, cinder, or asphalt;
(D) One of the “D” areas of the track infield may have a surface matching the athletic track; and
(E) Facilities to conduct field events are not mandatory, but, when present, may include the items listed in this subparagraph without exceeding these adequacy standards. To the extent a district opts to include field event facilities, those facilities should be located in an appropriate area on the available site, use appropriate surfaces for the intended use, and be constructed consistent with National High School Field Standards. Districts may build facilities in excess of those allowable under this subparagraph, however those facilities exceed these adequacy standards. The allowable facilities include one (1) of each of the following:
(I) Two-way long jump; (II) Triple jump runway with a landing pit at each end; (III) Shot put pad; (IV) Discus pad with cage; (V) Pole vault runway and/or vaulting box; (VI) Landing area; and (VII) High jump approach and landing area.
(iv) Locker rooms are not mandatory, but, when present, may include the following items without exceeding these adequacy standards:
(A) Lockers and benches; (B) Shower facilities; and (C) Restroom facilities.
(f) All school buildings shall provide or have access to infrastructure, fixtures, and storage necessary to deliver the required educational program. “Infrastructure” does not include furniture or other furnishings.
(i) Educational spaces shall have the infrastructure and fixtures necessary for the normal activities of the required educational programs offered in the room and appropriate storage for classroom materials or access to appropriate storage.
(ii) Administrative, educational support, and facility support spaces in educational buildings shall have the minimum infrastructure and fixtures required for the necessary functions performed within. The following spaces, if present, should have the minimum infrastructure and fixtures needed to perform their necessary functions:
(A) Administrative offices;
(B) Student health, counseling and educational support space for the delivery of student health, counseling, and testing programs. The student health or nurse’s suite may have space to isolate sick students. It shall include secure storage for records, medications, and supplies, and a working communications system. The student health or nurse’s suite shall have a connected accessible restroom;
(C) Faculty workspace or teachers’ lounge, which may have more than one function, and may include a break area with a kitchenette;
(D) Network distribution space, which shall be accessible, securable, well-ventilated, temperature-controlled to accommodate routers, switches, servers and other devices to support school technology operational needs;
(E) Technology support space(s), which shall be sufficient to store and/or service user devices;
(F) Library, media, and research center, which shall have internet connectivity and fixtures, equipment, technology, and other resources necessary to provide the statewide educational program;
(G) Maintenance or janitorial space, which may include janitorial sinks;
(H) Assembly space, circulation space, and entry vestibules; and
(I) Enough space, equipment, and storage necessary to provide regular meals to students during the school day.
(g) School buildings shall have plumbing fixtures in the minimum number as shown below in the chart adapted from the 2018 International Building Code.
| Water Closets | Lavatories | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | Male | Female |
| 1 per 50 | 1 per 50 |
(h) Alternate delivery methods. Notwithstanding Section 7(b)-(g) of this chapter, if a school district chooses to use an alternate delivery method for instruction, any space used for the alternate method shall be considered adequate so long as the district can deliver the required state educational program.
(i) For schools that intend to organize and operate more than one of the preceding school types on a single site or within a single building, each portion of the school shall meet the minimum standards for the grade levels served.
(j) Rural schools. Notwithstanding Section 7(b)-(f) of this chapter, rural schools are not required to have any of the spaces identified above provided that they have sufficient general classrooms.
(a) Because the Commission has determined that incorporation of the full text of its methodologies would be cumbersome or inefficient, the following methodologies are incorporated by reference in these Commission rules.
(i) Enrollment Projection Methodology adopted by the Commission and effective on August 27, 2020;
(ii) Capacity Calculation Methodology, adopted by the Commission and effective on August 27, 2020; and
(iii) Maximum Allowable Educational Building Square Footage Methodology, adopted by the Commission and effective on August 27, 2020.
(b) The incorporation by reference does not include any later amendments or editions of the incorporated matter beyond the applicable date identified in subsection (b) of this section. All incorporated methodologies may be viewed free of charge at the Commission’s website https://stateconstruction.wyo.gov/school-facilities/school-facilities-commission/sfc-documents) and are maintained at the State Construction Department at 700 West 21st Street in Cheyenne, WY, where they are available for public inspection and copying, at cost.
(c) A district-initiated project or element exceeds these adequacy standards if:
(i) It results in square footage in excess of the amount calculated under paragraph (a)(iii) of this section;
(ii) It increases the capacity of a building or facility which had a pre-project capacity score of less than one hundred percent (100%) as calculated under paragraph (a)(ii) of this section; or
(iii) The project results in a ratio of district non-educational to educational square footage, as calculated in W.S. § 21-15-109(c)(vii)(A), that exceeds twenty-one to seventy-nine (21:79).
Any school building or facility capable of being utilized to provide the required educational program under the state education technology plan is deemed adequate with respect to this section. An educational building or facility shall have technology infrastructure to support all aspects of the educational, operational, and administrative processes, with access to internet connectivity and telecommunications services.
(a) Net educational space, at minimum, shall equal sixty-seven (67) sq. ft. per student. Because of the diversity of teaching strategies and the selective use of instructional areas, no designated type or size of space usage shall be mandatory, however the district must have access to sufficient space to deliver the required educational program.
(b) For alternative schools and charter schools on an independent site, the educational facilities shall comply with the following provisions in this Chapter: §§ 3; 4(c)(iii), (iv), (vi), (vii); 5; 6; 7; 9; and 10.
Section 12. Site Security. Security features included in the Facility Design Guidelines do not exceed these adequacy standards. School buildings shall have:
(i) Site landscaping;
(ii) Site vehicle barricades;
(D) Gymnasium.
Section 13. Nonstudent-related buildings and facilities. All nonstudent-related buildings and facilities shall comply with the following provisions in this Chapter: §§ 3, 4(c)(v) and (vi), 5, 7, and 10, as applicable. Any building or facility other than a student-related or nonstudent-related building or facility exceeds these adequacy standards.
Section 14. Adequacy and availability of district-owned space for the operation of a charter school. The Department shall utilize the floor plans on file in the statewide database with the Department and the applicable district’s facility plan to determine whether district-owned space is available and the most recent Facility Condition Assessment and Section 11 of this Chapter to determine whether that school building or facility is adequate for operation of a charter school.