The Funding Formula
Procedures guiding the SBA funding formula are set in Section 208 of the Policy & Procedures Handbook. As an example, the formula is explained in the following manner:
- The Current, Projected, or Design Enrollment of the School (Confirm design enrollment with SBA Staff)
- Enrollment info can be found at WVDOE's ZoomWV Portal
- Multiplied by: Square Feet per Student Allowance
- Allowance breakdown for ES, MS, and HS - Found in SBA Form 208: SBA 208 - Maximum Gross Building Square Footage Allowance
- Equals: Total Building Square Footage Allowance
- Maximum school size allowed using SBA Funding
- Multiplied by: SBA Square Footage Cost Allowance
- Revisited annually by SBA Staff. Latest allowance memo here: Square Footage Cost Allowance Handout 10-30-23. Subtracted by: Any previous amount of funding awarded to the current facility by the SBA.
NOTE: The costs projected for a renovation shall not exceed the replacement cost of a new school.
SBA Square Footage Cost Allowance
The SBA Square Footage Cost Allowance is updated annually by the SBA Staff and is based on historical data, projections, and assumptions. It assumes a competitive bidding market, reasonable site costs, and required conformance to the SBA's Quality and Performance Standards.
Current SBA Square Footage Costs Allowance is as follows:
- Elementary Schools - $447/SF
- PreK-8 Schools - $445/SF
- Middle Schools - $442/SF
- High Schools - $440/SF
For Example
Example County is considering major renovations and additions to the existing Area Middle School, which was built in 1970, serves 525 Students, and received a $1,000,000 MIP grant from the SBA in 2015. The county knows that building a new school is a consideration as the Architect's preliminary budget estimate for the project is $18,000,000. The replacement cost for Area Middle School is $34,575,450 and the amount of eligible funding that Example County could receive for a renovation is $33,575,450. Because the budget estimate is less than the replacement cost and amount of eligible funding, Example County could proceed with the project.
525 Students (Enrollment)
x 149 Square Feet Per Student (SBA Form 208)
= 78,225 Square Feet (max size of new school if replacing current)
x 442 Dollars per Square Feet (SBA Sqft cost allowance - MS)
= $34,575,450 (cost to build new replacing current school, AKA Replacement Cost)
- $1,000,000 (Previous SBA Funding)
= $33,575,450 - the Maximum amount of renovations allowed by the SBA to Area Middle School
Please contact the SBA Staff for specific questions relating to your proposed project's funding allowance.