This report identifies problems in planning for school construction by the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and discusses how the Board of Education can better administer its building modernization and renovation program. The aim of the study was to find out if DCPS' capital improvement planning system was providing essential data to the Board of Education to enable it to effectively plan for designing, constructing, or modernizing school buildings; and if the elementary school construction projects proposed or in progress were still warranted, especially since DCPS has been experiencing a steady decline in its elementary school enrollment. DCPS' capital improvement planning and monitoring processes were reviewed, including its policies for constructing new facilities and replacing or modernizing existing school buildings. The need for capital improvement projects in progress or proposed for funding during fiscal years 1976 through 1981 were examined. The report, after analyzing spaces available in nearby schools, advised that the Board of Education could save about $7.7 million of capital improvement funds by canceling its plans to build a replacement school and could improve the administration of the capital improvement program through better planning for the design, construction, or modernization of school buildings. (Author/MLF)