As children played at recess during one of the final weeks of the school year, MSAD 58 Superintendent Laura Columbia explained how several towns began pushing to leave the school district this spring, mainly out of concern that their communities could lose their local schools.

“I’m not coming here to try to close a school, that is nothing any superintendent wants to do,” Columbia said. “But I do want to have our resources going towards our students, and right now I feel like we have so many building needs, that the focus is on buildings, and less about students.” 

This school year, MSAD 58 began weighing whether to consolidate some of its four schools to address aging infrastructure costs and preserve resources for students. This prompted a great deal of debate in the community. 

“They’re talking about closing schools,” said Strong Selectman Rupert Pratt. “And they’re not talking about closing the high school, where we don’t have students. They’re talking about closing individual schools in the towns. You take a town school away, you shut the town down. People don’t move to a town where they don’t have a school.”

A large-scale renovation billed as “thrilling” and “welcoming” is in the works at Waubonsie Valley High School.

The 50-year-old school serving roughly 2,700 students is undergoing $143.8 million in modernizations, with $130 million funded by the district’s recent bond referendum. The work aims to improve circulation, visibility and natural light within the building, and to increase equity in programs between Waubonsie and the district’s two newer high schools.

Construction began this spring within the building at Ogden Avenue and Eola Road in Aurora and is expected to be completed in stages through 2030.

“As a parent of two alum from Waubonsie, this is absolutely thrilling,” school board member Susan Demming said at Monday’s board meeting, where the project was discussed.

Renovation work to make Waubonsie brighter, easier to navigate
The district so far has contracted out $8.4 million of the project budget to bring on Wight & Company as the architect, hire construction managers and begin a full-scale update of the auditorium.

ATHOL – In an effort to show the need for a new or renovated Athol High School, officials held a tour while outlining the process, which begins with a feasibility study.

Athol Royalston Regional School District Superintendent Matt Ehrenworth, district Facilities Director T.J. Mallet and Athol High School Principal David King met with officials from Athol and Royalston.

The cost of the study has been estimated at $1.6 million. Almost from the beginning of his tenure, Ehrenworth has argued a new facility is needed to replace the current school, which opened its doors in 1960. He told the gathering of Selectboard, School Committee, and Finance Committee members, however, that if a study determined that rehabilitating the school is feasible, he would agree to that. But in either case, he said, the study is crucial at this time.

Before sitting down to discuss funding for study, attendees were taken around the school and its surroundings, including the athletic field.

“Every other high school in western Massachusetts has synthetic track,” said King. “We have not had a track here at Athol High School for over 12 years.”

New York City kids could soon have more space to play outdoors.

The City Council is set to approve a bill later this month aimed at keeping public school playgrounds open outside of school hours — part of a broader push by lawmakers to expand access to parks and recreational areas.

The bill, sponsored by Councilmember Gale Brewer of Manhattan, would require the city’s education and parks departments to identify at least 15 school playgrounds a year that could be unlocked late in the afternoon and on weekends. The reports would have to include information on how much operating the playgrounds beyond the school day would cost and any potential logistical challenges.

The measure specifies the playgrounds would have to remain open after school on weekdays when school is in session, and from 8 a.m. to dusk on weekends and weekdays when school is not in session. Playgrounds in “environmental justice areas” that have been disproportionately affected by pollution would be prioritized for expanded hours. The legislation has 25 cosponsors and will need only one more vote to pass.

After years of planning and debate, the Freeport Area School Board moved ahead Wednesday with a $55 million high school renovation project — and approved a tax increase to help fund it.

Both measures passed 5-4. The school directors who voted for both were Christine Davies, Michael Huth, Gregory Selinger, Melanie Zembrzuski and Gary Risch Jr.

Directors Dino DiGiacobbe, John Haven, Sylvia Maxwell and Daniel Ritter were opposed to this particular version of the project and tax hike.

“It was time to do something,” said Risch, who is board president. “Our students deserve moving forward as this community grows to have a nice high school to go to.”

Much of the building remains unchanged from when it opened in 1960, though it did undergo substantial work in 1967 and 1987.

Chief complaints from students and staff include wafting sewage and sweltering classrooms during the warmer months.

Hamilton County Government, in partnership with Hamilton County Schools, is proposing the allocation of $8.55 million in bond funds to address high-priority facility needs across the school district. Developed collaboratively with the leadership of Hamilton County Schools, this proposal underscores a shared commitment to ensuring safe, functional, and well-maintained learning environments for students and educators.

The proposed investment targets more than 20 campuses, addressing long-overdue maintenance projects such as HVAC replacements, roof repairs, fire alarm system upgrades, and accessibility enhancements. These improvements are part of a broader, ongoing effort by county and school system leaders to responsibly reduce the backlog of critical infrastructure needs that directly affect daily school operations.

Portland Public Schools and other districts in the metro area released students early from classes and canceled after-school programs on Monday due to extreme heat and continued high temperatures. This happened despite districts taking steps to bring building temperatures down, such as overnight ventilation and portable fans.

Schools’ poor infrastructure for high summer heat and chilling winter lows has been a core topic in many union negotiations and strikes around the state in recent years as well, especially as climate change ramps up these intense conditions.

So, why is it that so many Oregon schools aren’t equipped to handle extreme temperatures? And why is it important that they do?

For starters, the average K-12 school building in Oregon is 56 years old, explained Michael Elliott, the director of school facilities for the Oregon Department of Education. This is the average of main school buildings, which doesn’t include the portable buildings that many districts use.

“When those facilities were being designed and constructed,” Elliott said in a statement, “extreme weather was likely not a factor.”

How can idle or underused public schools be turned into revenue to support the maintenance of active campuses? Lawmakers discussed a bill that aims to do just that, drawing support from education officials at a recent public hearing. 

It’s a straightforward measure in intent, but one with far-reaching potential to support the Guam Department of Education. Senator Joe San Agustin introduced Bill 70, which aims to allow GDOE to execute long-term leases for underutilized or vacant school properties.  The funds generated could then be used to maintain schools that are still in active use.

He said, “Even though you do have a law that authorizes you to rent your unoccupied schools, if the bill is signed, and I hope it gets passed, you can start renting them today and then be prepared to do the lease. And once it passes, you can foresee the funding to come into your lap.”

GDOE superintendent Dr. Kenneth Swanson voiced his support for the bill, noting that it creates a legal avenue to repair, modernize, and replace aging facilities beyond appropriations.  “Currently, we have three campuses that are surplus to our classroom space needs, and there is interest in leasing them over time for other government operations and charter school activities," he said.

The North Little Rock School Board could settle on an official site plan for the district’s new middle school as soon as Thursday.
The middle school project, which is estimated to cost $68 million by the time of completion, is being funded with $20.8 million in state partnership funding and $70 million generated from a 4-mill property tax increase passed by voters during a May 13 special election.
At its board workshop last week, board members were briefed on three plans for the layout of the middle school project.
Superintendent Greg Pilewski prefaced Taggart’s presentation, saying that the three site plans were drafted based on feedback from district principals and site visits to other schools to determine the most cost effective and the least disruptive option to move forward with.
Each plan, though resulting in various campus configurations, would involve phased demolitions and construction of multiple new buildings, as well as the renovation of others and the addition of more green spaces for students.
 

STAMFORD, CT — Mayor Caroline Simmons on Thursday announced that $576 million in total state funding has been authorized for the Westhill High School and Roxbury Elementary School projects.
The authorization was included in the state bond act, House Bill 7288, which passed on Wednesday, June 4.
With the latest authorization, the maximum state grant commitment totals $434.8 million for both projects, $356.8 million for the Westhill High School project, and $78 million for the Roxbury Elementary School project, according to Simmons announcement.
In 2022, Mayor Simmons worked in partnership with the Stamford legislative delegation and Stamford Public Schools and secured an increase in state reimbursement rates for school construction.

An 11th-hour Portland Public Schools Board resolution to prioritize seismic safety in the district’s $1.83 billion bond may have helped it find success among Portland voters, as parents whose children attend school in dangerous brick buildings rallied behind the tax measure.

Now, in its first update to the School Board as required by that resolution, PPS officials presented a working draft of how they plan to determine which schools will be first in line for improvements. The algorithm would rate buildings both by an objective, data-driven “seismic risk score” and PPS criteria that inform an “importance score.”

The June 3 memo updates School Board members on the district’s progress on three key steps. Those comprise working with a structural engineering consultant to complete a high-level assessment report, a process the district has completed (producing a study of high-risk buildings); using that engineering firm to develop priority recommendations, which the district has been working on since late 2024; and ultimately evaluating those recommendations through PPS’s priority criteria, a step still to be completed.

Cheyenne, Wyo. - Shelby Carlson, School Facilities Division Administrator for the Wyoming State Construction department says, "that building (East High School) is over capacity currently and is projected to be over capacity for a number of years."

A three phase study was conducted and completed by the FEA for the State Construction Department, School Facilities Division to address capacity needs which have been concerns at East High School.

The FEA went to East High at different times in 2024 (both in and out of school session) to collect information on both East capacity, and condition (The FEA says East's condition meets what is needed) and created the study to find out what the Most Cost Effective Remedy (MCER) is needed to address the capacity concerns.

Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month is in May, and it presents a timely opportunity to consider the factors that influence asthma, which is one of the most common chronic diseases among children. Nearly five million American kids live with asthma today—a figure that has increased by 160% since 1980—and, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), it causes an estimated 14 million missed school days annually.
While the educational impact of these absences is generally understood, what often goes overlooked is the critical connection between school facility conditions and student respiratory health. When indoor air quality (IAQ) is poor, the health of children with asthma is increasingly put at risk.  
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), the average American school building is 49 years old. Even more striking, more than one-third of schools have never undergone a major renovation. Outdated HVAC systems, poor ventilation, and building materials past their prime are more than just operational headaches; they contribute to indoor air that is often more polluted than the air outdoors. Dust mites, mold spores, chemical irritants, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) build up in stagnant indoor environments and can have health consequences even for healthy students and staff. 
 

WINCHESTER — The Winchester school board has approved issuing up to $7 million in bonds to replace the heating and air conditioning and fire suppression systems at Winchester High School, along with making other renovations.
The resolution to cover the renovation costs passed unanimously, Superintendent Kevin Blankenship said.
The $7 million would cover the purchase and installation of a new HVAC system, asbestos removal, renovating the school's home economics classroom and cafeteria, and installation of a new fire-suppression system and intercom system. 
It will not cover the renovation of bathrooms and the addition of a lift or elevator to make the building Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant. 
The work will be completed this summer.
"Work has already begun and we hope to have children in the classrooms by the first day of school," Blankenship said. 
 

Philadelphia is getting its first new charter school in nearly a decade — a major milestone for a district that had not granted a new charter since the days of the state-run School Reform Commission.
Early College Charter School of Philadelphia will give about 800 sixth through 12 graders early college and career exposure and either college courses or industry certifications. It will open in 2026 in Center City but recruit students from underserved neighborhoods.
The school board voted 8-1 to approve the application Thursday. It was the second try for the school, whose application got voted down in February over concerns about finances, student interest, and academics.
But the revised application, and $2.6 million in private donations secured in a reserve account, helped seal the deal and sway votes from board members Sarah-Ashley Andrews, Cheryl Harper, ChauWing Lam, Joan Stern, and Reginald Streater, all of whom had voted no last time. Board member Joyce Wilkerson cast Thursday’s lone no vote.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is viewed as more charter-friendly than former Mayor Jim Kenney, emphasizing unity in the sector and across the city. And board member Whitney Jones acknowledged that in expressing support for Early College, which he said presented a strong application.
“When we made our oath for these seats, we said that we were looking to support Mayor Parker in her vision for one Philadelphia, governing one system of public education that includes both traditional public schools and charter schools,” said Jones, who has worked in the charter sector. While the board has work to do in authorizing and monitoring charters, “I do not think we can hold one individual applicant for the gaps in the system.”

Back in 2022, lawmakers allocated $5 million for school districts to explore consolidation. 

No one took the lawmakers up on it in the first year. 

But the following year, 16 districts got money to study consolidation. Still, no local district has actually consolidated.

K-12 enrollment in public schools is declining amid lower birth rates in Michigan and policies that give parents more choice in where to send their children to school. 

That has left some districts with far more capacity than they need. But rather than merge with neighbors, Michigan school districts are closing buildings and expanding programs they think will increase enrollment. 

Merging districts remains unpopular. Experts say consolidation is hard for several reasons: residents like the identity of their local schools, there are logistical challenges and managing joint debt is tricky.

“It’s a challenge to consolidate districts,” Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross told Bridge Michigan. “People really value their own identity. They value local control, especially in Michigan.” 

WALHALLA, N.D. — A school district in northern North Dakota is looking toward a mill increase vote with the goal to relieve pressure on its general fund to pay for building maintenance and a 20-year bond payment for previous renovations.

North Border School District Superintendent Seth Engelstad said the increase will not only assist the district in maintaining its buildings, but also act as an incentive for future employees in the competition to hire school staff in a teacher shortage.

"Just trying to stay competitive in a market that's very tight right now," he said. "There's a shortage of teachers — there's a shortage of pretty much most positions."

The district will hold the vote Thursday, June 5, at its schools in Pembina and Walhalla. Both schools, as well as a bus barn in Walhalla and a gym in Neche, are buildings the school maintains. The Walhalla school was the subject of a renovation project around 2015, Engelstad said, and the district is halfway through paying a 20-year bond for the work. The vote is for an increase of up to five additional mills, which could raise the current five mills to 10 for the district. A similar vote was conducted last year, but was about 6% to 8% short of the 60% majority needed to pass.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Planning to demolish up to 60% of Hartford High School and Hartford Area Career and Technical Center is on hold while the school district further investigates the presence of toxic building materials and develops a strategy for how the contamination might be removed.
The decision comes after school and state Department of Conservation officials met earlier this month to discuss next steps.
“The plan we have to date has not changed a whole lot,” Hartford facilities director Jonathan Garthwaite said during a School Board meeting last Wednesday. “The timeline has changed a little.”
There are no plans to relocate students to other areas of the school for the 2025-2026 school year. “We’re not going to move athletic programs out of the gym in September,” he told the board.
Previously, school officials had said that they’d like to remove polychlorinated biphenyls — chemicals more commonly referred to as PCBs that were added to construction materials from the 1930s until they were banned by the federal government in 1979 — “as quickly as possible.”
 

Pennsylvania’s Financing Authority announced that 25 Philly-area schools and community colleges have received grants of up to $500,000 for solar installations, as part of the $22.6 million in state funding distributed across Pennsylvania.
The funding comes from the Solar for Schools Program, originally introduced as a bill by state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Philadelphia, and signed into law in 2024.
“I am so happy for each of these schools and excited to see names from nearly every corner of the state,” Fiedler said in a release about the first-ever grant recipients.
“I’ve heard from rural schools who plan to include their solar panels in agricultural education and from city schools that are thinking strategically about rooftop solar with limited space. I have no doubt that the recipients will benefit from the program’s flexibility to meet their school’s needs and to make the most of their strengths,” she added.
Grants cover up to half the cost of equipment, installation, permit fees, energy storage and utility interconnection, helping to reduce the financial burden of going solar.
 

KALAMAZOO, MI -- For years, the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency has offered career classes to students across Kalamazoo County.
But those classes were scattered in various buildings across the county. Some students would have to travel up to an hour.
Next year, those challenges will be a thing of the past.
Construction has finished on KRESA’s new Career Connect facility at 3500 Vanrick Drive, just off I-94 near Sprinkle Road. The 162,000-square-foot facility provides a centralized location where Kalamazoo County students can take classes in 22 career fields.
KRESA wanted to focus on the career fields where students only need an associate’s degree to enter the field, said Eric Stewart, KRESA assistant superintendent.
“People need jobs that pay well, that bring a wage that can help them exit generational poverty and that‘s the opportunity for our kids,” said Jeff Thoenes, superintendent of Comstock Public Schools.
For every 10 jobs on the labor market, one requires a master’s degree, two require a bachelor’s degree and seven require an associate’s degree or less, Stewart said.
“This project has given me, and dare I say many of us, a new deep appreciation for the spaces we’re in and the people who make them possible,” Stewart said at the building’s ribbon cutting. “This place will produce the next generation of builders, after all.”
Each classroom in the building has a label indicating what career the space is designed for.