Use AI to Help Your Board Understand a Facility Purchase

Before you start

You can start with what you have. A landlord's email, a draft lease or a contractor's quote is enough. You do not need every document first; the AI can help you work out what to ask for next.

• Use an AI chat your school allows, one that can read attached files. If all you have is an email, paste the text into the chat.
• Take out private details first. Remove student information, bank details, signatures and personal financial information. Ask your attorney before you upload their advice or any confidential legal letter.
• Tell the AI about your school. Give your city and state, students' ages, enrollment, hours and how you plan to use the space. A 35-student school sharing church classrooms needs different things from a 200-student school buying a building.
• Fill in the brackets, then copy the prompt. If you do not know something, say so rather than guess.
• Check the answer against your documents. Confirm any calculation separately before it goes into your budget.

The AI helps you understand the papers and prepare questions. People make the decision: an attorney reviews agreements, an architect assesses the building for school use, and your accountant or lender checks the financial picture.

Gather what you have

• A few sentences on the school's problem: too little space, an expiring lease, limited access, or another need.
• Information about the property, other options, costs, financing, and any inspections or professional reports.
• Your meeting date and the specific action you want the board to consider, such as spending money on inspections or approving a purchase.

If the school is owner-operated, use this process with the people authorized to make the decision. An advisory board may have a different role from a governing board.

Attach your files and copy this prompt

Draft a one-page board memo

• Upload: the property information, the options, costs and financing, and any inspection reports.
• Who checks it: your attorney and board chair or treasurer, before the memo is sent.
• What you get back: a one-page memo that states the decision first and shows where each fact came from.

I lead a school serving [number] students. We are considering buying [describe the property] because [school need]. At our next meeting, we need to decide [specific action].

Use the attached information to draft a one-page board memo. Explain what the change would mean for students, the money needed now and over time, other options, major risks, and unanswered questions. State the requested decision first. Use plain English and show where facts came from. Do not invent answers or approvals. If anything is unclear, ask me one question at a time.

Then ask these follow-up questions

• If you were a board member reading this, what five questions would you ask?
• Where does the memo sound more certain than our information supports?
• What do we need to learn before the next decision? Help me assign each question to a person.

Make the decision clear

Put the request in the first sentence. For example: "We are asking the board to authorize up to $5,000 for inspections of the proposed property. We will return with the findings and a separate purchase recommendation." That tells directors what they are deciding now and what will come back later. Ask your attorney whether that sequence fits your transaction and who can authorize each step.

Then check the memo against what the board should understand:

• Why the school needs a change. Does it explain the effect on students, families and staff?
• What it means for school finances. Are the costs, the funds available and the open questions clear?
• What choices remain. Does it explain other spaces, or the option to wait, where that is relevant?
• What could go wrong. Are timing, financing, repair and enrollment concerns visible?
• What action is requested now. Is the action specific, with any spending limit stated?

After the meeting

Give the AI your nonconfidential meeting notes. Keep attorney advice out unless your attorney has agreed to share it.

Draft the follow-up from the meeting notes

• Upload: your nonconfidential meeting notes.
• Who checks it: your board secretary, who confirms the decision and the official record.
• What you get back: a short summary of what was decided, what was not, the open questions and who does what next.

Use these notes to draft a short follow-up: what the board decided, what it did not decide, questions still open, and who will do what next. Do not guess at votes, approvals or deadlines. Flag anything I need to check.

Check before sharing

If the board authorized $5,000 for inspections, the summary should say exactly that. It should not say the board agreed to buy the building. Have the board secretary confirm the decision and the official record.

Tell your attorney about any connection between a board member or school leader and the seller, broker, contractor or proposed landlord. Ask what disclosures and steps your school needs to follow.

Go further

The board governance checklist covers what to bring to the board at each stage of a facility project. Prompt 8 of the AI loan prompts drafts the lender questions and a board briefing once you have a term sheet.

Each short guide answers one question. The longer prompt guides go further when you have the full lease or a loan offer in hand.

• What will this rental really cost? Find the real cost of renting space
• How do I think through renting or buying? Understand the costs of leasing and buying
• How do I explain a purchase to my board? Help your board understand a facility purchase
• What could we miss when renovating rented space? Find the costs of making rented space work
• What is missing from the price of a new school? Find the costs beyond a new school building
• I have the full lease. AI Prompts for School Lease Review and Due Diligence
• I have a loan offer or term sheet. AI Prompts for School Loan and Financing Terms

SchoolStack Space is not a financial advisor. Every deal is different, and every buyer's situation calls for legal and financial advice. Talk with a qualified lender, real estate attorney, and financial advisor before you sign a lease or buy a property.