Planning for the current year's projects takes place months and sometimes years in advance.  Determination of projects must be completed annually before the end of December to allow for plans to be drawn, and to receive approvals from local planning departments and the Division of the State Architect.  The process of receiving approval from the state and local authorities takes from 60 days to as much as 6 months.  When approvals have been received, the project goes out to bid and a contractor is selected.

Funding for school construction projects comes from a variety of sources, such as the State, local school bonds, developer fees, and city redevelopment.  Each of these funding sources has restrictions on how the funds are to be used. For example, developer fees may be used only for new construction projects that are relative to the growth of the student population.