For all four properties, extending community engagement, exploring deeper partnerships and deciding on operators are important next steps.
First, we recommend that APS engage community residents to identify the most pressing needs and concerns of the community and school-aged children. During our analysis, we gleaned that local stakeholders, such as school principals, neighboring non-profits and parents, have a clear understanding of how public schools and wraparound services (or the lack thereof) improve or impair the quality of life of local families.
Through community engagement and relationship building, APS can modify the proposed use of the space according to the new information that community engagement presents. For the larger projects that include new buildings or major renovations, we recommend conducting interviews with local leaders (principals, church leaders, NPU reps, etc.), as well as parents and students, to gather more information regarding needs and the feasibility of the recommendation.
After solidifying the proposed use for the property with community feedback, we recommend that APS identify and engage with key partners that align with the goals for the property. With a shared purpose, we anticipate that engagement with partners will allow the best ideas for implementation and improvement of the space to rise to the top.
Once stakeholder buy-in and partnerships are in place, APS should develop a capital and operational budget that residents, partners, and APS all agree to. APS will need to consider whether they will operate the property themselves or lease it to a partner. If acting as the operator and user of the property, APS will need to estimate costs for maintaining and managing the property. If leasing the property to a partner, APS may want to offer the space at no-cost or a low-cost lease in exchange for the partner’s programming efforts in fulfilling community goals. Since the answers to these questions vary, APS and its partners will need to work together with the community to reach agreement on these issues.
Finally, if there is a property owned by the county or city that APS is interested in (such as the property surrounding Cooper Street), APS should engage with the public entity to talk about a potential partnership or land swap. At the end of the day, it is all public land and these entities serve the same residents. The more cooperation between APS and the city or county, the better.