Q: What is a Facilities Master Plan/Facilities Master Planning?

A: At Clovis Municipal Schools, Facilities Master Planning is a comprehensive and strategic process that outlines the district's vision for optimal learning environments. This intricate planning involves a meticulous assessment of current facilities, consideration of future educational needs, and collaboration with stakeholders to ensure alignment with the community's goals. The Facilities Master Planning process serves as a roadmap for efficient resource utilization, prioritizing infrastructure enhancements, and creating an environment conducive to academic excellence.

In compliance with the Public School Capital Outlay Council (PSCOC) requirements and Public Schools Funding Authority (PSFA) in New Mexico, a robust Facilities Master Plan is developed every five years and is indispensable for securing funding to address critical infrastructure needs and capital projects. 

Our Facilities Master Plan (FMP) is a living document that is adjusted and grown in keeping with the changes of our district and community. 

Q: Who is responsible for developing the Facilities Master Plan/Facilities Master Planning?

A: To ensure a comprehensive and inclusive approach, the district has created a Facilities Master Planning (FMP) Committee, engaging diverse perspectives and insights from stakeholders, including educators, parents, administrators, and community members. 

Part of the responsibility the committee is charged with is presenting options for known or reasonably anticipated changes in the future of our district. In the event they identify such things, possible solutions to address changes in the future would be included in the committee’s report to the board, which will be presented at a public meeting to ensure that the board and community are adequately informed. 

This committee conducts collaborative working sessions instrumental in shaping  recommendations that will be considered in a final meeting of the FMP Committee. 

At the time when the FMP Committee has developed recommendations, the committee will present the recommendations to the school board, with a final decision anticipated in May.

Q: When did Clovis Municipal Schools begin work on the current Facilities Master Plan?

A: This process was initiated in September, 2023.  A 35-member group representing a cross-section of CMS staff members and citizens from the community has met quarterly since that time and has been guided by Capital A-E and Think Smart Planning. These consultants specialize in the Facilities Master Planning process for public schools operating in New Mexico, and have been critical in ensuring the district has an accurate picture of the data and a complete understanding of what is required by the state in order for our district to access funds to provide for the maintenance of all of our facilities.  

Q: Who conducted the assessment and data collection for the Facilities Master Plan/Facilities Master Planning process?

A: The district hired Capital A-E and Think Smart Planning to conduct a facilities assessment. These companies are industry experts in assessing and recommending options based on need and available funding. They work with the state and ensure the district has a plan that is approved. This is the first time in over a decade the district has commissioned an assessment for the purpose of Facilities Master Planning.

Q: Why isn’t more information being communicated about the FMP and recommendations? Why isn’t the public involved?

A: Timing is an essential element to the planning process and dictates what is released and when. The process of communicating the work of the FMP Committee must be balanced between providing them ample time and opportunity to conduct their work, and ensuring that full consideration is given to all involved and potentially affected by any resulting recommendations. 

While public participation is not a legal requirement of the Facilities Master Planning process, Clovis Municipal Schools is dedicated to transparency and community involvement and has worked to ensure community stakeholders are given a voice in the process. The Facilities Master Planning Committee was created with this in mind, comprising 35 members representing a cross section of community members. 

We value the input and opinions of our community and would not consider the process complete without significant weight given to public engagement. 

We look forward to engaging public comment on this plan after it is presented to the board March 19,2024. Members of the community are also welcome to attend meetings of the Board of Education, which are held the fourth Tuesday of each month.

Q: Have funding formula changes from the state had an impact on this Facilities Master Plan/Facilities Master Planning process?

A: At this time, there are no known or expected changes to the funding formula established by the Public School Facilities Authority (PSFA). From what we have been able to gather, this information is unsubstantiated and inaccurate. 

We have every confidence that if/when there are changes to funding formulas that impact the operation of school districts, the state will do its due diligence to inform both school districts and the broader public. Facilities Master Planning is a critical aspect of being prepared to seek funding, however, speculating on hypothetical changes at the state level has no place in our current planning process, which is conducted every five years, regardless of funding formulas or state priorities.

Q: When was the last Facilities Master Plan done? Is there a significant change in the way it is created? 

A: The last Facilities Master Plan was last completed approximately six years ago, with a near one-year delay in the current process attributed to the pandemic. The Facilities Master Plan created by the district in 2018 was completed in-house, without the services of demography or assessment services. While this approach met state requirements, the district did not have the benefit of the full-scope perspective gained through comprehensive, professional assessment. This approach was significantly changed for creation of the current Facilities Master Plan with the commission of outside demography and assessment services to give a more accurate, data-driven perspective for planning purposes.

Q: Why do the outcomes of this Facilities Master Plan/Facilities Master Planning process appear to come as a surprise? How was it not known that the occupancy and capacity situation had reached this state?

A: In January 2023 when the district began the Facilities Master Planning process, it did so as a routine and standard strategic planning process which reoccurs every 5 years. 

One of the first steps the district took in initiating the process was to commission the services of experts in planning and assessment for New Mexico public schools, based upon the recommendations of planning experts.

Having been conducted in-house using district resources and information, as the process unfolded, it became clear that the Facilities Master Plan created previous to this process lacked full perspective on changes in the community. Though in-house planning by past administrations did result in immediate cost savings, the long-term, unintended consequences have largely led to the situation at hand. Without the benefit of larger scope community information and expert guidance, the district discovered it had, effectively, been conducting facility planning in a vacuum.

As the process unfolded and the demographic research was compiled, it became clear that the lack of detailed data in years past – to include birth rates, population trends, community shifting – had severely hampered perspectives and had unintentionally skewed planning for the district.

Armed with a comprehensive district and community analysis that includes vital demographic characteristics to gain understanding and foresight, the district is now, with the aid of qualified experts, rectifying inadequacies in past planning approaches. 

Additionally, in the time since the last Facilities Master Plan was conducted, there have been tremendous changes. As a result of the COVID pandemic, economic changes, and rising costs, strategic planning for government entities feels different than in years past and adjustments have to be made. Just as private citizens must re-evaluate budgets, needs and priorities when circumstances change, so do school districts. To put it simply, societal shifts, community changes, evolving priorities and new challenges have altered the landscape and the district is adjusting accordingly.

Q: When will the Facilities Master Plan be completed and presented to the public?

A: The Facilities Master Plan will be introduced to the Clovis Municipal Schools Board of Education at its regular March meeting. The introduction will include recommendations submitted by the FMP committee, for consideration by the board. That consideration period will take place between the March and April board meeting, with a vote expected at the April regular board meeting.