How to Train Your Dragon to Fly

By Mark Medema, Managing Director of the Charter School Facility Center

Some people say that charter school leaders should just outsource their entire facility project to a developer. In my experience, I’ve learned that charter school leaders want to know about any and everything going on with their school – including their building, especially when it costs more than college for all their students. For this reason, on June 30, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools’ new Charter School Facility Center hosted a half day training for new school leaders about facilities. Over 20 people spent a Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas learning about real estate development and finance.

The goal of the training was not to create experts in 3 hours – the goal was to expose charter school leaders to the facility topics they should know. We threw the kitchen sink at them – we covered 18 different topics (each one was 10 minutes long). Of course, it would be difficult for anyone to absorb all of it, but our attendees were able to learn broadly about each topic and where to turn for additional help. The dozen presenters named in the presentations linked below were each available for free consultations. One-half of the training focused on sources of financing (e.g., loans, bonds, tax credits) and the other half of the training focused on the development process (e.g., where to start, finding a site, zoning and permitting, design, construction, and maintenance). I am excited to continue connecting with charter school leaders by sharing these materials on SchoolBuild.

If you’re a charter school leader, please glance through the slides below to join the conversation and start to fill in your knowledge gaps. Then feel free to get in contact with any questions or your thoughts on the best ways to share these trainings.

Resources from the Charter School Facility Center

It's easier than training your principal to become a real estate developer