The Quality of Public High School Facilities Among Selected School Divisions, Commonwealth of Virginia

• Main Author: Crossman, Matthew Wayne
• Other Authors: Counselor Education
• Format: Others
• Published: Virginia Tech 2019
• Subjects: high school facilities; fiscal capacity; fiscal effort
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/95909

The purpose of the study was to determine whether or not a variance in the quality of the public high school facilities existed among the Commonwealth of Virginia school divisions, since the 1982 Peccia study, An Analysis Of The Financing Of Public High School Capital Facilities In Virginia. Reasons for the variance in the quality of the public high school facilities, if any, were determined from an examination of a capital facilities survey instrument and various economic and financial characteristics. Methods and procedures used in the study included the capital facilities survey instrument, Crossman CAFIS. The Crossman CAFIS accurately reflected not just the number of facilities that existed in the school divisions but the quality of each facility. The researcher sent an electronic survey instrument to each high school principal within the sampled school divisions to rate their facilities using 75 indicators. The researcher visited all the high schools within the study in order to ensure the variance in how one perceives the differences in facilities would be limited. Any variance in the quality of the public high school facilities among the sampled school divisions were examined for economic factors that include; local composite index, fiscal effort and fiscal capacity. A significant finding of the study was that a large variance existed between the quality of high school facilities within the sampled school divisions, as measured by Crossman CAFIS. Reasons for that variance can be partially attributed to the fiscal effort of the sampled school divisions. School divisions that made a large fiscal effort and had a large fiscal capacity scored high on the Crossman CAFIS. School divisions that made a low fiscal effort and had low fiscal capacity, also scored low on the Crossman CAFIS. The lowest quality of high school facilities were found to be in the Western region of Virginia, despite isolated instances of high fiscal effort by some school divisions. Implications and recommendations were made in accordance with the findings of the study. A large variance existed in the Virginia school divisions between the quality of high school facilities as measured by CAFIS. The reason for the variance in high school facilities were due in part to the level of fiscal effort exerted by the school divisions. === EDD