Capital Program

A robust examination of an applicant school's existing facilities, as well as future facility requirements, is applied to identify the educational need. This hinges on the school's circumstances, as demonstrated by the enrolment numbers and facilities usage data submitted, together with anecdotal evidence given within the contexts of an existing or new school. It is the elements of the school's current and future situation which applicants should focus on when providing the educational justification for the proposed project, i.e.:

• enrolment growth requiring additional learning spaces o changes in student population characteristics
• curriculum change resulting from internal strategic decisions or external authority requirements
• curriculum expansion, reflecting student demand for different or additional learning
• how the pedagogical needs of the school will be met by the educational facilities for the next 5–10 years? 
• pedagogical change, including who was included in the change process and how it was led
• facilities no longer fit for purpose, but not at end of life
• changes in community expectations regarding facility standards and characteristics
• the design process and how the users of the proposed new facility were engaged
• the type of professional learning support available to teachers using the educational facilities
• the measures to be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational and architectural design briefs.

It is the responsibility of the BGA to determine the minimum viable project which will satisfy the identified educational need for a proposed project. If the proposed project is in excess of that which has been established as the minimum viable project, QIS BGA will be unable to recommend any funds towards the excess floor area of spaces. Establishing the minimum viable project involves a detailed examination of the application data provided for the following indicators:

• number of learning spaces
• room occupancy rates – primary, secondary and combined
• floors areas for learnings spaces and associated facilities, boarding and distance education facilities. QIS BGA generally accepted learnings spaces and associated facilities, and their default square metre area, are described in the QIS BGA document: Learning Spaces and Associated Facilities – Areas and Construction Rates.

The identification of the minimum viable project may result in the total cost of the proposed project being less than the amount request via the application process. Project costs from the following areas will be examined when determining the eligible total project cost:

• construction costs, as driven by the floor area of the established minimum viable project
• site development 
• fire services
• special service requirements
• furniture and equipment allowances
• professional and local authority fees
• any other costs relevant to the project, and
• a locality allowance, where applicable.

When determining the financial need of a school, in relation to the established minimum viable project, QIS BGA will establish the maximum amount a school can contribute towards the proposed project from its own resources. The two primary sources of funds available to schools for capital purposes are usually loans raised and fees charged. In establishing the maximum contribution able to be made, QIS BGA will consider such issues as:

• The school’s debt position
• The school’s income
• The school’s costs of operation. QIS BGA is obliged to consider a school’s total income and any capacity it may have to contribute further to the cost of a capital project.

QIS BGA must be convinced of the future solvency of a school before making a recommendation to the Minister/s for a capital grant. It is recognised that what may be regarded as an appropriate, finance based benchmark will vary from school to school, so a range of criteria have been developed that enable broad finance based indicators to be established. The Finance Capital Advisory Committee has the responsibility of advising the QIS BGA Board of Directors on matters such as:

• Debt per student o Expenditure per student
• The cost per student of “other” teaching and administration expenses
• Teacher salaries (per teacher average)
• Student/teacher ratio
• The fee structure as a source of income
• The appropriate surplus in recurrent income which is available to service debt – annual debt servicing as a percentage of income
• Future cash flow projections.

Please use this link for a value for money definition.