News items come from the U.S. Department of Educations's National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF).

Treasury and Education Announce 2010 School Bond Allocation
-- Staff Writer, US Department of Treasury

National: March 17, 2010 -- The U.S. Department of Treasury and the Department of Education today announced $11 billion in allocation authority to issue qualified school construction bonds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Qualified school construction bonds can be used to finance the construction, rehabilitation or repair of a public school facility or for the acquisition of land where a school will be built. "Recovery Act school construction bonds provide low-cost borrowing to build and upgrade schools, which is a win-win for communities across the country," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin. "The projects funded with these bonds create jobs today building modern schools to prepare our kids for the global economy of tomorrow." "Preparing students to compete in the global economy requires improvements in all aspects of our nation's education system, including the environments in which they learn," added Education Deputy Secretary Tony Miller. "The Recovery Act is keeping teachers in the classroom and, through the construction bond program, making lasting investments in the quality of our schools. Our kids deserve no less." Created by the Recovery Act, qualified school construction bonds help state and local governments obtain low-cost financing for much needed public school improvements and construction. Investors who buy these bonds receive Federal income tax credits at prescribed tax credit rates in lieu of interest. These tax credit bonds essentially allow state and local governments to borrow without incurring interest costs.

Treasury, Education Departments Release QSCB Allocations
-- Lynn Hume , The Bond Buyer

National: March 17, 2010 -- The Treasury and Education Departments today announced how the $11 billion of allocation authority to issue qualified school construction bonds for 2010 will be divided up among states and large local educational agencies. Under the allocations for 2010, states will receive $6.6 billion of the authority and large local educational agencies will receive $4.4 billion. Among the states, California will receive the largest allocation of almost $720.1 million, followed by Texas at $547.7 million. Of the local entities, New York City will receive the largest allocation, roughly $664.0 million, followed by the Puerto Rico Department of Education at almost $380.4 million, Los Angeles Unified at almost $290.2 million, and the city of Chicago School District 299 at $257.1 million. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was enacted last year, provided $11 billion of QSCB authority for 2009 and $11 billion for 2010. The full list of allocations can be found here. Qualified school construction bonds can be used to finance the construction, rehabilitation or repair of a public school facility or for the acquisition of land where a school will be built.

Schools get $22M from half-cent sales tax
-- Rebekah Allen, Pensacola News Journal

Florida: March 12, 2010 -- Schools throughout Escambia County will receive $22 million worth of unexpected upgrades and renovations, thanks to the half-cent sales tax. The tax generates about $20 million a year to be used for school construction and renovation projects. But after the district finished a list of budgeted projects, there was $22 million left over from accrued interest and savings from finishing projects under budget. "It's like getting a sixth year of revenue from a five-year referendum," said Shawn Dennis, assistant superintendent of operations. Projects in each of the School Board's five districts received funding, as well as some districtwide programs. In all, nearly 50 schools were approved for renovations, ranging from new windows and portable construction, to parking expansions and air conditioning replacements. Projects chosen came from wish lists that principals submitted for construction and renovation projects for their schools. The projects will begin in the coming months and be complete within two years, Dennis said. "Projects that needed to be done, but weren't, are getting done a lot faster, and then there are some projects that may have never been done without this money," said Ashley Bodmer, chairwoman of the tax watch dog committee that oversees how the sales tax money is spent.

Salem seeks less expensive school project
-- Amy Renczkowski , The Day

Massachusetts: March 11, 2010 -- The Board of Selectmen agreed that the new School Planning/Building Committee needs to come up with a "less costly" plan to renovate the Salem School, but they weren't sure whether to direct them on how much the proposal should be. Selectmen spent time at a special meeting Wednesday deciding what the new committee will be asked to accomplish. They are drafting a charge for their next meeting. Last week, Superintendent Donna Leake wrote a letter to selectmen on behalf of the Board of Education, urging them to form a School Building Committee because a "major facility renovation is required at the school." Selectmen said they were going to create the committee in response to the town meeting in January.

A War is Raging in New York City Over School Co-Location
-- Diane Vaca, Chelsea Now

New York: March 11, 2010 -- A war over school resources is raging in New York City. The latest battle was fought in Chelsea on Feb. 23, when parents and students confronted PEP — the Panel on Educational Policy that replaced the independent Board of Education when the mayoral control of city schools was instituted in 2002. At stake was the fate of 16 new schools, including 13 charter schools that were to be “co-located” or inserted into buildings that already house existing schools. The charter schools were to move into the space left by public-school students who had been displaced when their schools in those buildings had been closed. Despite determined opposition by parents of public-school children, the outcome was never in doubt. Mayor Bloomberg and schools chancellor Joel Klein strongly support charter schools and co-location, and the mayor controls PEP. The Panel for Educational Puppets, as some call it, has always approved the Mayor’s proposals without serious debate. Though Chelsea has no charter schools, it does have several co-located schools. One of these is the Bayard Rustin Educational Complex (BREC). Established in 1930 as the Textile High School, it had a capacity of 1,500 students for many years. The building now houses five schools with two more slated for arrival in September. According to its web site, the five combined student bodies now total just under 2,000 students. These extra students are accommodated at BREC as elsewhere in the city by increasing school capacity, which is in turn achieved with the conversion of cluster space — rooms like libraries, science labs, art studios, music rooms, auditoriums and gymnasiums — to classrooms. Once lost, these critical learning spaces and the enrichment programs they make possible can’t be recovered. This practice has been common in New York City for years as new school construction lags behind a growing school population. At BREC, for example, Special Ed classes are now taught in the basement, where teachers report there is a pervasive rodent infestation.

Schools Across U.S. Grapple With Closures
-- Alan Greenblatt,, NPR

National: March 11, 2010 -- In one of the largest school closures ever seen in the U.S., the Kansas City, Mo., school board approved a plan that will shutter 26 of the district's 61 schools. Kansas City's action may have been drastic, but it's not unique. On Tuesday, Cleveland's school board approved a plan to close or move 16 schools. Detroit, which closed 29 schools before the term began last fall, is considering shutting more. All over the country, many school districts are facing declines in both revenue and enrollment. As a result, the number of districts considering school closures this year has doubled — and is expected to double again next year. "Right now, the economy is expediting school closures," says Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators. "As districts are hard-pressed to meet their budgets, they're looking for everything they can cut." School districts are facing particularly strong budget pressures just now because their main source of revenue — property taxes — is in decline owing to the foreclosure crisis. Housing values have come down about 10 percent since 2007. And things aren't expected to get better on that front anytime soon, with the commercial real estate market beginning to wobble. In addition, many states are cutting aid to education. Last year's federal stimulus package included $48 billion for education, but much of that money was used to make up for cuts in state spending. And the stimulus money runs out next year. As a result, school districts are cutting back. Most districts are laying off teachers and other workers, and many are shrinking or eliminating funding for programs such as arts and athletics. Others are considering what might be the most drastic step, closing facilities altogether. According to a survey conducted last fall by the school administrators association, 6 percent of districts closed or consolidated schools for the current school year, which doubled the number from the previous year. Their ranks are expected to grow to 11 percent for the 2010-11 school year. "As bad as things are now, we see they're going to get worse next year," says Domenech, the association's director. "But it's the following year which is really going to be hard." School closures are the ultimate anti-NIMBY issue. Three years ago, Maine Gov. John Baldacci proposed cutting the number of school districts in his state from 290 to 26. The state still has some 200 districts, with arguments cropping up whenever districts or individual schools are put on the chopping block. Just this week, the South Portland school board delayed its decision on a plan put forward by the superintendent to merge two middle schools after the federal stimulus dollars run out. "The funny thing is, some [communities] are very quiet, but the minute you say you're going to close their schools, you hear from them," says Mary Louise Bewley, director of school and community relations for the Indianapolis Public Schools, which has shut 14 of its 79 schools over the past two years. "It's always fraught with emotion, because people love their schools."

Colorado Public Schools Need $18 billion in Construction and Maintenance, Report Finds
-- Jeremy P. Meyer, Denver Post

Colorado: March 11, 2010 -- Colorado's 8,419 public-school buildings need almost $18 billion worth of construction work, energy upgrades and overall maintenance, according to a statewide facilities assessment. Teams of evaluators last year examined every kindergarten through 12th-grade public-school building in Colorado, looking at energy use, overall condition and whether current or future educational needs were being met. The assessment was commissioned by the state's Public School Capital Construction Assistance Board to help decide how to allocate grant money from the Building Excellent Schools Today Act — a fund that directs money from the state's School Trust Lands to school renovation. State Treasurer Cary Kennedy, who manages the land-trust fund, called the findings "striking." "What this demonstrates is that the health and safety risks for kids in Colorado schools are even higher than we originally thought," she said in a news release. The assessment examined the ages of roofs, condition of buildings, effectiveness of utility systems and even air and water quality. Overall, the current and forecast needs for schools through 2013 calls for $17.9 billion in work, including $9.4 billion for deferred maintenance, $4.5 billion to modify schools for 21st-century classrooms and $19 million in energy repairs. The assessment did not figure in capital construction projects underway. Last summer, $87 million in BEST act money went to replace two elementary schools in Alamosa, schools in the Sangre de Cristo district and a high school in Sargent. The next installment of BEST funds is expected to be released in the next few days and will amount to more than $147 million available for school construction needs.

School Construction Could Yield Jobs in California, Only If...
-- Joe Simitian, San Francisco Chronicle

California: March 11, 2010 -- "Jobs, jobs, jobs" was the call from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in his State of the State message. No one heckled. Jobs are a bipartisan aspiration. Turning it into a bipartisan accomplishment has been more elusive. So it is all the more frustrating when the state fumbles an easy opportunity for more employment - when projects have been designed, money is available, contractors are eager to bid, workers are desperate, and yet all sit and wait for a sluggish bureaucracy. School district officials up and down the state tell me that they have construction work ready to go. But the plans are stalled at the Division of the State Architect which must approve them. Like many state agencies, the architect's office has required its employees to take three unpaid furlough days a month - even though when plan-checkers stay home, construction workers remain idle. The measure of the wait is called "bin time." Bin time is not how long it takes to review the plans; it's how long a plan sits before someone even picks it up. At the end of January, bin time was 12 weeks. That's right, three months. School districts have the money for new buildings and modernization. Voters in 2006 approved $7.3 billion for K-12 schools statewide, and local bonds add millions more. California's construction industry certainly needs the work. It shrank by more than 100,000 jobs in 2009. That means that school districts are missing a prime opportunity to capture low-cost bids, giving the taxpayers more for their money. Delays on school projects are particularly disruptive. For work that must be done when students are gone, a three-month delay can turn into a year if the project isn't approved in time for the coming summer. Instead of furloughs, state architect's office employees ought to be working full time, and even overtime. If applications temporarily flood in, the agency should contract out for additional reviewers if it believes adding permanent staff is not cost-effective.

Colo. Faces Monumental School-Repair Costs
-- Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO

Colorado: March 11, 2010 -- Colorado schools have $17.8 billion in maintenance and renovation needs over the next eight years, according to a statewide schools facilities study released Wednesday. The study, required as part of the 2008 Building Excellent Schools Today law, was the first-ever comprehensive structural review of 8,419 buildings, from large classroom buildings to sheds. The $17.8 billion estimate covers only what the study calls Tier I buildings – basically those used for instruction. The study found those buildings need $9.4 billion of deferred maintenance work between now and 2013. An additional $13.9 billion is needed for energy and educational suitability projects. A final $3.9 billion in work is estimated to be necessary from 2014-18. The study was released to the State Board of Education Wednesday afternoon. Ted Hughes, director of the Capital Construction Assistance Division, noted that the study was the first-ever statewide inventory of school buildings and their conditions. He said the division still has to come up with a ranking system for buildings and is planning to put all the data in a searchable database, to be called Schoolhouse that will include district and individual building information. The database will be updated regularly. Mary Wickersham, chair of the Capital Construction Assistance Board, wasn’t shocked by the numbers, saying. “A lot of us have known for a long time the broad-stroke dimensions.” Wickersham several years ago led a less extensive study of school conditions. From that, she said, researchers roughly estimated $10 billion in needs. Board members received the report with only a few comments. The assessment isn’t a priority list from which state officials will choose projects. That’s because BEST is an opt-in program for which districts and charters must apply. But, the construction board will use the list to help set priorities among applicants. The program also is designed to encourage use of local matching grants, with only a few projects supported fully by state funds

School bond vote: Maybe November
-- Jesse Duarte, The St. Helena Star

California: March 11, 2010 -- St. Helena voters won’t be asked this June to extend a property tax rate that funds a bond for local school facilities. That was one of the nuggets that came out of last week’s round-table meeting of the new school board, the first in a series of discussions the board plans to hold monthly so the public can interact with trustees more freely than they can during regular board meetings.

Go to Top