Leasing a facility is a significant decision for any school, with far-reaching implications for its financial stability, operational efficiency, and long-term growth prospects. The terms negotiated in a lease agreement can shape the school’s ability to fulfill its mission, accommodate its students, and adapt to changing needs over time. That’s why it’s essential for school leaders to approach lease negotiations with diligence, foresight, and a clear understanding of their objectives.

Here’s what to keep in mind.

1. Understand Lease Terms and Responsibilities

It’s essential to gain a thorough understanding of the terms and responsibilities outlined in your agreement. From rent details to property conditions and tenant rights, ensure that every aspect of the lease is clearly defined and aligned with your school’s needs and objectives.

How To Negotiate Your Lease 2

2. Consider the Total Cost

When evaluating lease agreements, it’s essential to look beyond the surface-level costs and consider the total cost of occupancy over the lease term. Be sure to factor in expenses such as property taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs. This will help you make informed decisions and avoid unexpected financial burdens down the road.

3. Negotiate Favorable Terms

Negotiating favorable lease terms requires a combination of preparation, communication, and negotiation skills. During negotiations, proactively identify your needs and advocate for your school’s interests. Whether it’s seeking lower rent rates, flexible lease terms, or additional tenant benefits, be assertive yet collaborative in your approach to securing favorable terms.

4. Address Legal and Regulatory Compliance

Lease agreements often involve complex legal and regulatory considerations that require careful attention and expertise. Consult legal professionals to ensure your lease agreement complies with all relevant laws and regulations.

How To Negotiate Your Lease

5. Plan for Future Growth and Expansion

Lease negotiations offer an opportunity for schools to plan for future growth and expansion. Negotiate lease terms that accommodate your school’s evolving needs and aspirations—whether it’s securing options for lease renewal, expansion rights, or early termination clauses, anticipate future scenarios and negotiate terms that provide the ability to grow and expand.

Lease negotiations are a critical aspect of school facility management. With careful planning, effective communication, and strategic negotiation tactics, schools can secure lease agreements that support their mission and vision for the future.

About the Author
With her wealth of experience and expertise in real estate, Mary is dedicated to providing exceptional service and value to schools as Senior Portfolio Manager at Grow Schools. Mary has followed in her father’s footsteps and built her entire career in the field of real estate—she embarked on this path after completing her bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance (Commerce) at the University College Dublin, specializing in development and asset services.

Charter School EnergyProudly Announcing Our New Charter School Energy Program!

We are so proud to announce the official launch of our newest program exclusively for charter schools, Charter School Energy Powered by BioStar Renewables program.
We’re always listening to our school partners to better understand how we can best serve your needs and help you succeed—this new program was designed to do just that. With Charter School Energy Powered by Biostar Renewables, we are now able to offer access to energy efficient and renewable energy solutions for your school building.
These upgrades are designed to not only improve the learning environment for your students but also dramatically reduce your utility and maintenance expenses—positively impacting your bottom line. If you are interested in learning more details about this program, please visit our Charter School Energy page.
Charter School Energy is a full-service energy upgrade program with flexible financing options that enable school leaders to greatly reduce energy costs and enhance student learning environments through improved lighting, HVAC and thermostat upgrades and building controls. Renewable solutions such as solar allow the school to offset some or all of the building’s remaining energy consumption.
As always, we would welcome the opportunity of working with you to find sustainable solutions for your school’s success. Contact our team of dedicated professionals to learn how you can now access energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions for your charter school building.


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public school facilitiesCharter School Students Deserve Access to Quality Public School Facilities

Editor’s Note: This post was originally written by Nina Rees on October 18, 2018. Nina Rees is the president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and former deputy assistant for domestic policy to Vice President Dick Cheney. Follow her on Twitter @Ninacharters.
Though charter schools are public schools, supported by state and local tax dollars, they don’t usually have the same access to public school buildings, let alone funding for new facilities. Unfortunately, even when district-owned buildings are underused or completely abandoned, districts don’t like to give, sell, or lease them to charter schools, which are viewed by much of the educational establishment as their competitors.
Read on to learn about some potential solutions to this issue and what can be done to ensure that all students, both from traditional public district-run schools and public charter schools have access to school facilities that provide optimal learning environments for our nation’s children.
We think it’s vital to keep tabs on the pulse of all things related to charter schools, including informational resources, and how to support charter school growth and the advancement of the charter school movement as a whole. We hope you find this—and any other article we curate—both interesting and valuable.


Public school buildings belong to public school students — including charter students

As children conclude their first weeks of school across America, how do you envision their school buildings? The traditional brick-front building with big windows and rows of tidy desks? A more modern structure with laptops at workstations and a dual-use gym and theater?
How about an abandoned big box store in a strip mall?
For charter school students in many states, this last option is too familiar. Even though charter schools are public schools, supported by state and local tax dollars, they don’t usually have the same access to public school buildings, let alone funding for new facilities. As a result, they must dip into funds that would otherwise be used for instruction to pay for rents or mortgages. While charter schools are safe havens for learning, they don’t always have the amenities that one would typically associate with a school. Gyms, libraries, even cafeterias aren’t guaranteed for charter school students, because the schools are often located in buildings that were never designed to educate children.
Many students in district-run schools are learning in outdated spaces. But unlike most charter schools, district-run schools have free access to public buildings, and public financing options are more easily available to them. They get direct support from their state or community, or they can issue bonds that offer tax advantages to buyers, while taxpayers foot the bill for the added debt. Additionally, school districts usually maintain large inventories of school buildings that can be renovated to accommodate growing school enrollments. Charter schools rarely have these options.
Adding to the challenge is that school districts tend to be parsimonious with their own buildings. Even when district-owned buildings are underused or completely abandoned, districts don’t like to give, sell, or lease them to charter schools, which are viewed by much of the educational establishment as competitors. The anti-charter behavior can get so extreme that some school districts have not only refused to sell or rent school buildings to charter schools, but they’ve also attached legal riders that prevent private buyers from selling or renting their buildings to charter schools. Better to convert those old classrooms into condos than to allow a growing, high-demand charter school to teach students in them.
Some states, however, are rising to the challenge and giving charter schools a fair shake. Nine states include charter schools in district capital planning and bond issuance. However, existing efforts don’t even come close to meeting the estimated $375 million in additional funding needed annually to meet the facilities needs resulting from increased parental demand for charter schools.
With the need so great, state governments, the federal government, and private investors can all be part of the solution.
Every state should give charter schools the first right to unused district facilities. Public school buildings no longer needed by a school district should be used by other public schools — i.e. charter schools — if those schools need the space. Opposition to that is simply unjustifiable.
States could also provide facilities funding to charter schools in the form of a per-pupil facilities allowance, establishing a state grant program for charter school facilities, and requiring that charter schools be included in school district bonding and mill levy requests.
The federal government can help, too. Several federal programs exist to help charter schools access facilities, but funding is limited both numerically and geographically. Other programs require technical financial expertise that may be beyond the reach of local school founders. Many current programs are inaccessible to all but the largest charter school networks.
Support for charter schools is a rare issue that President Trump and congressional leaders of both parties agree on. The federal government can use public funding to incentivize better state policies, or private investment — for instance, by enabling the sale of charter school infrastructure bonds and notes to investors in the capital markets, in the same way, that other tax-advantaged bonds and notes are sold. The newly enacted Opportunity Zone tax incentives may provide help for charter schools that open facilities in the most economically distressed parts of the country, but it depends on investors willing to create funds that will invest in charter schools.
There are many possible solutions to the charter school facilities funding challenge, but action is needed now. Millions of parents want to choose their child’s school but can’t because a lack of facilities funding limits charters’ growth. And too many charter school students and teachers are making the best of inadequate facilities that lack essential school features. With smart investments now, policymakers can help more students start future school years in buildings designed for learning.



The Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facility Financing:
Thinking about a new facility for your charter school or enhancing your current one? This guide shares straightforward and actionable advice on facilities planning, financing options, getting approved, choosing a partner, and much more! Download it here.

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The 5 Essential Steps to Charter School Facilities Planning

Charter school facilities planning can be daunting. If you think that finding the perfect facility for your charter school seems like a huge, complicated undertaking, you’re in good company. Across the U.S., facilities are, by far, the greatest challenge faced by charter schools. The planning and financing of any facility project is complex, time-consuming, and has the potential to distract your team from its core mission: serving your students.
Last month, we shared our new manual, The Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facility Financing … and we just couldn’t stop there!  We thought it was important to not only provide helpful information on charter school facility financing, but also create a practical resource for charter school facility planning as well. This handy, information-packed new checklist, The 5 Essential Steps to Facilities Planning, will help guide you as you move towards realizing your facility expansion or relocation goals.

Charter School Facilities PlanningIn it, we cover these five essential charter school facility planning steps—in detail:

  1. Plan – Begin planning at least one year in advance
  2. Fund – Understand your options to make savvy decisions
  3. Acquire – You know what you can afford and how you’ll pay for it … now go get it
  4. Design – Partner with experts to design your new space
  5. Execute – Let the construction begin and get ready to move in
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We’re honored to be able to support you and will continue to work hard to develop content that will help your school achieve its goals. Because we are 100% dedicated to charter schools and charter leaders, we pride ourselves on being able to meet your needs … We welcome your ideas and comments as you review our information – what would you like to see? Feel free to share your thoughts here or contact us to learn more about how we can help you. #welovecharterschools

Charter School Facilities Planning

NEW WEBINAR: Essential Steps for Facilities Planning Webinar

Interested in learning more about charter school facilities planning? Join us on February 27th 9am PT/12pm ET for this informative webinar on everything you need to know about planning for your next facility or facility expansion! You’ll hear from Freddy Mendoza, Assistant Principal & Teacher from Arizona College Prep Academy and Jon Dahlberg, VP of Business Development & Facilities at Charter School Capital as they share their perspectives on the charter school facilities landscape and how to properly plan a facilities project. They’ll touch on how to balance your team’s facility dreams with your budget and even share some pitfalls you can avoid so you can take away actionable insights on what considerations you need to make when planning a facility project for your school.

JON DAHLBERG
Vice President of Business Development & Facilities, Charter School Capital
Jon brings years of financial experience to the Charter School Capital team, along with his plethora of vibrant socks and bowties. A graduate of Bethel University, with a Bachelor’s in Accounting, Jon has more than 25 years experience in financial services. Prior to joining Charter School Capital, Jon spent more than a decade at Wells Fargo, where he rose to Vice President for Product Management.
FREDDY MENDOZA
Founder and Teacher, Arizona College Prep Academy
Freddy involves himself in his community and has been participating in the improvement of Arizona’s Public Education System for more than a decade. He has created many paths to hook students through music, sports, art and other co-curricular opportunities. Freddy founded the Southern Arizona Athletic Association which offers sporting opportunities to over 500 student athletes in the Tucson area.
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