MURRAY, Ky. — In Murray, Kentucky, construction will soon begin on a new elementary school that educators say will accommodate more students while reflecting the history of the city’s school district.

Murray Independent Schools currently has 572 students, Principal Denise Whitaker said. Once construction is complete, she said the new building will have room for that many children, plus 150 more.

The additional space will come in handy, she said, as the school being built along Murray’s Wiswell Road and Doran Road will not only replace the current Murray Elementary School — which teaches students in kindergarten through third grade — but add fourth-grade classes as well.

Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) presented the proposed 2027–31 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) during a School Board work session. The CIP outlines the division’s plans for future facility projects, including the construction of new schools, expansions and renovations to existing buildings, the installation of new features, and major maintenance and repair work.

One of the most significant considerations before the School Board is whether to move forward with construction of the previously planned 14th high school. Together, rising construction costs and declining enrollment provide important context as the School Board evaluates the 14th high school project within the division’s long-term planning and fiscal priorities.

Over the past year, the estimated cost of the project has increased from $223.8 million to approximately $352 million—an increase of $128.2 million. These cost changes, confirmed by three independent estimators, are the result of site conditions that require mitigation and increased labor costs.

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ - The Berkeley Heights Public School District is asking voters to approve funding for a district-wide facilities program through a referendum vote on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. This program includes capital renovations and classroom and core space upgrades across the district.

Planning for these improvements has been underway for several years. With current debt service payments from a prior referendum ending in March 2026, this is the right time for the community to vote on funding that would allow these long-needed projects to move forward and make them a reality. The proposed referendum will ensure vital facility upgrades and renovations that will create 21st-century facilities for our students.

Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Kim Feltre, shared, “When I joined the district last January, I was immediately met with needs that included emergency repairs for heating at Governor Livingston High School  and replacing a defunct alarm panel at Columbia Middle School. In touring the schools, holding community coffees, attending PTO meetings, and meeting with students and staff, the need to upgrade our academic facilities quickly became clear. These upgrades are critical to providing a safe, modern, and competitive education for our students.”

The Pacific Policy Research Center's audit of management and curriculum at the Guam Department of Education found infrastructure deficiencies, with many schools lacking in safety and security.

Though the audit of GDOE's curriculum and management has not been accepted or rejected by the Guam Education Board, the audit highlights that one of the systemic problems facing the department is a lack of ADA compliant facilities and "basic fire alarm suppression systems," tied to procurement challenges and inconsistent funding.

Independent auditors from the Pacific Policy Research Center emphasized that GDOE relies on "fire watch" staff as a "temporary" measure but called it "inadequate."

When asked, GDOE spokesperson Damen Michael Borja explained that fire suppression systems are only in "kitchens," while "fire alarms are placed everywhere else."

He contended that the fire suppression systems are in place but need an upgrade.

"Facilities and maintenance is currently working on a scope of work to upgrade the current system and will be putting together a bidding announcement soon," he said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom faces a decision in his last year as governor similar to one former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger faced in his first year two decades ago: How to deal with a lawsuit demanding that the state fix unhealthy and inadequate school facilities?

In 2004, Schwarzenegger, a political novice, moved quickly and, within a half year of becoming governor, settled a lawsuit that his predecessor, Gray Davis, had dragged out in San Francisco County Superior Court for more than three years. The landmark agreement that Schwarzenegger and his aides negotiated in 2004 redefined the state’s oversight over school facility conditions.

Nearly a quarter-century later, with some schools in equally deplorable shape as they were back then, a lawsuit filed in late October calls on the Alameda County Superior Court to declare unconstitutional the state system of doling out billions of dollars in state bond money to renovate schools. 

The lawsuit argues that, with few exceptions, the system of matching grants rewards students in property-rich districts that can afford to issue large facility bonds while ignoring deteriorating schools in property-poor districts that can’t afford to maximize matching state grants. 

Lawyers for the state have not yet responded in Miliani R. v. State of California, and Newsom hasn’t commented. But as the case moves forward in 2026, the governor, while not directly named as a defendant, will stake out his administration’s position one way or the other.

The question is: Will he act like Schwarzenegger or Davis, ignoring an aid formula that Newsom has acknowledged needs to be changed?

FORT HALL — When students at Chief Tahgee Elementary Academy returned from winter break this week, they walked into something they had never experienced before: a permanent school building designed especially for them, next door to ShoBan High School.

For the first time since the school opened in 2013, students are learning in a purpose-built facility with a cafeteria, library, and space to expand cultural and academic programming. Until now, the K–7 public charter school located on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation operated out of rented portable buildings.

In early 2025, the school was awarded a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to construct the new facility, a highly competitive award given to four schools nationwide. Construction began in May, and the building opened to students this week, as planned.

The Hawaiʻi School Facilities Authority is rolling out a new digital planning platform built with San Francisco-based firm MKThink, an "Akamai" configurator that state leaders say could shave months off design schedules and help trim construction costs, as per Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
State leaders are not sugarcoating the backlog. Roughly 1,800 portable classrooms are still in use across the islands, a number the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported is roughly equal to 61 elementary schools worth of space. The SFA and Department of Education together oversee about 4,500 structures, representing millions of square feet of public school facilities.
 

On Monday night, Inlet View Elementary School Principal Arthur Sosa tended to the last few small details before his school opened to students for the first time Tuesday.

Boxes were strewn along hallways as teachers put together their classrooms and construction workers milled about, adding finishing touches to the inside of the school. Sosa and his teachers said they were excited to welcome students into the long-awaited new school building.

“It’s going to feel good,” Sosa said. “It’s going to feel great.”

Built in 1957, the original Inlet View building in Anchorage’s South Addition neighborhood had no sprinkler system, no cafeteria and no gymnasium, and it suffered from significant temperature fluctuations, leaky roofs and, at times, rodent issues and backed-up sewage. More than 500 requests for repairs were submitted in 2018 alone.

 The Westfield Washington Schools Board of School Trustees and the Westfield City Council met to discuss how the fast-growing community can better align residential development, infrastructure planning, and long-term school facility needs.

The working session, held at Westfield High School, underscored a shared emphasis on collaboration as Westfield continues to add residents. Officials focused on how coordinated planning can support steady population growth while maintaining strong educational outcomes and quality of life.

School leaders told council members that Westfield Washington Schools is operating under a data-driven plan to responsibly expand facilities over the next decade to 15 years. The strategy, they said, is designed to accommodate enrollment growth while prioritizing student experience, educator support, and family needs.

“The solution to this problem isn’t about slapping up homes or enabling unchecked sprawl,” said Scott Willis. “It’s about growth that creates a healthy, sustainable, and prosperous community. My commitment to our residents is to balance the resident feedback I’ve heard about density with the undeniable necessity of supporting our school district.”

PROVIDENCE – A charter school serving students from Woonsocket, Burrillville and North Smithfield has been approved for $15 million in state funding toward construction a new high school, one of 55 school projects green-lighted statewide, according to an announcement this week by the Rhode Island Council on Elementary and Secondary Education.
RISE Prep Academies will fund 65 percent of the roughly $51 million building project, approved by the council as recommended by Rhode Island Commissioner of Education Angélica Infante-Green as part of the Rhode Island Department of Education’s Necessity of School Construction process.
 

The Buffalo Public School District has changed course and will no longer close D'Youville Porter Campus School PS 3 and Early Childhood Center PS 90.

Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Pascal Mubenga and Board of Education President Dr. Kathy Evans-Brown issued a joint statement, which said in part: "We have decided not to close any Buffalo Public Schools after reviewing the recommendations of the school closure committee to close PS 3 and PS 90 and after feedback from staff, families, students, and community members."

According to the statement, "the superintendent will instead present the Board of Education with an alternative plan to address the anticipated financial challenges facing the district in the 2026–2027 school year."

Redwood City School District is supercharging its commitment to renewable energy as construction begins on solar canopies at seven additional campuses this month.

Groundbreaking began Monday at Henry Ford Elementary School and Taft Community School, with Kennedy Middle School following suit on Jan. 14. Other campuses will begin solar work in the spring and continue through July.

“These investments help ensure more funding remains focused on students and classrooms while easing financial pressure on the community,” a district press release stated.

BRIDGEPORT —The Bridgeport Board of Education recently approved the district's $116 million five-year capital plan that includes proposed funding for projects spanning from roof replacements to a new school. 
Board members voted on the 2027-31 capital plan during a Monday special virtual meeting, where the district's chief operating officer, Jorge Garcia, presented the request. He said the grand total will change each year due to the district searching for grants and reimbursements. 
He noted his team worked closely with the state-hired consulting firm Public Works to "weave the needs of the district into the five year plan." 

As MSAD 33 officials plan the rebuilding of a Frenchville elementary school, the district could also join with another St. John Valley school system.

The MSAD 33 and Madawaska school boards will meet Jan. 26 to discuss the new Dr. Levesque Elementary School project, which the Maine Department of Education approved in November. 

The Department of Education approved funding to rebuild Dr. Levesque into a new facility that would also incorporate Wisdom Middle-High School. This comes nearly five years after the elementary school was destroyed by a devastating fire. It was one of only two schools selected by the state for reconstruction funds. The other was Dike Newell Elementary School, which an arsonist burned in 2022. The state prioritized both projects because the schools were lost to fires.

The North Attleborough Public Schools has identified 11 top-priority capital improvement projects it looks to submit to the town for fiscal year 2027 funding. 

Administrators warn that aging elementary school buildings and equipment are past the point of repairs and in need of full replacement.

The draft, presented in November to the School Committee by Director of Facilities Christopher Murphy, includes roof and window replacements, special education vehicles, district-wide phone and security upgrades, and renovations to address outdated learning spaces. Decisions on what funding will be made available will likely be done late spring of 2026.

Murphy said that across the district, many of the facilities’ needs – especially at the elementary level – are similar.

“You see the same issues from school to school – roofs and building envelope needs. Our priority is to keep the buildings warm, safe and dry,” he said. 

The top needs

The district’s top priority for the new year is replacing the roof at the Early Learning Center. Murphy said the roof is 31 years old, with less than two years of life to it. A recent independent roofing assessment by the Garland Co. in October 2025 confirmed the urgency and gave an estimated cost of $850,000 to $1 million.

School Committee member Lyndsey Benharris noted at the November meeting that the ELC roof has been leaking since 2005.

The new year has arrived, and with it comes a visible transformation for students at one of Central Texas’ oldest high school campuses.
New Braunfels High School, a fixture in the community since 1845, is welcoming 2026 with sweeping changes following the completion of Phase 1 of its multi-year campus rebuild. Funded through voter-approved bonds and totaling an estimated $327.3 million across two phases, the renovation project marks one of the largest investments in school infrastructure in the district’s history.
New Braunfels ISD officially marked the completion of Phase 1 with a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house on December 10, 2025, celebrating the opening of a new three-story academic wing that will soon be filled with students returning from winter break.
 

When students walked through the door of Highland Park Middle School for the first time last September, they surprised principal Hibaq Mohamed by telling her the new entrance reminded them of a famous retailer with a store just a few blocks away.
“Students said the space feels like a Target,” Mohamed smiled.
The students were referring to the school’s new entrance at 975 S. Snelling Ave., which opens to an office area decorated in the school colors, red and white, and then to a brightly lit corridor that leads to the classrooms. The $23.5 million renovation has fundamentally transformed the 67-year-old middle school with enhanced safety features, a new office and new learning spaces for its 843 students.
 

Six weeks after the Hawai‘i State Teachers Association held a press conference highlighting concerns about plumbing issues in a special needs classroom at Kealakehe Elementary School in West Hawai‘i, the repairs were completed over the winter break at a cost of $90,146, said the Hawaiʻi Department of Education.

A ceiling drainpipe from the adult bathroom above had leaked into the third-grade classroom in the E Building.

ANN ARBOR, MI – More than half a million in tax credits will help install rooftop solar panels at several buildings in Ann Arbor Public Schools in a move the district claims will save money and free up millions more for new construction.
The district announced receiving its first direct-pay check for $572,000 from an expiring federal program to help install arrays in a news release on Monday, Dec. 29.
The news comes just a couple of weeks after Ann Arbor School Board members got their first briefing on putting over $4.6 million toward solar panels at four schools over the next several months.
According to the district, accessing federal tax credits would help with close to a third of solar installation costs — particularly as Congress rolls back energy-related incentives — and contribute to revolving funds in the $1 billion capital bond approved by voters in 2019.
 

Officials with Covington Independent Schools say that roof damage has impacted Latonia Elementary School.
The call about the collapse came in to officials at approximately 11:10 p.m. on Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, WLWT captured drone footage of the elementary school that showed that the roof had partially caved in and that damage to the building's exterior bricks was present.
Covington Independent Schools says that no one was inside the building at the time of the collapse, with no injuries reported.
“The safety of our students and staff is our No. 1 priority,” said Superintendent Alvin Garrison of the collapse. “We are currently working with structural engineers, restoration and environmental companies, and local fire officials to determine the exact cause of the collapse and to evaluate the integrity of the surrounding structure.”