PHOENIX - In a historic ruling for Arizona's public schools, the Maricopa County Superior Court said the state's current method to fund building repairs and school maintenance is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit dates back to 2017, when several education groups and school districts sued the Arizona State Legislature, alleging that lawmakers failed to spend billions of dollars on critical infrastructure repairs and maintenance.
Video taken that year showed massive cracks in at least one school's walls and roof.
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The lawsuit cited a ruling from the 1990s that established a minimum funding benchmark for schools, which they say the legislature failed to do.
 

Labrandon Fletcher, a 16-year-old student in Memphis-Shelby County Schools, says there's a long list of things that need fixing in his school building.
The ceiling at Hamilton High School is "falling apart," he said, and the bathroom plumbing needs dire attention. But the biggest issues are lighting and air conditioning.
"No one wants a dark place to learn and get an education," Fletcher said. "It's harder to see things, to see what's on the board."
Fletcher is one of many community members, including a small group of students, who brought their concerns to the first meeting of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools facilities committee on Wednesday.
The group is expected to give recommendations for how the district should address over $1.6 billion in deferred maintenance costs in the next decade. That plan will include some school closures, committee leaders said.
Students and school leaders described years of quick fixes in deteriorating buildings, with no sustainable plan in place.
 

Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed its highest underlying bond rating of AAA and its general obligation unlimited tax rating for Plano ISD’s proposed $49.9 million in school building bonds.

The rating reflects the district’s location in a strong Dallas-area economy, the AAA enhanced rating of the Texas Permanent School Fund and what Moody’s called Plano ISD’s “conservative budget management and ability to maintain financial health.”

Plano ISD is one of only four Texas school districts to hold Moody’s highest rating. District officials said the rating will help lower issuance costs and allow the district to secure low interest rates, ultimately saving taxpayer dollars.

A new report for Tracy Unified School District outlines just over $499 million worth of school improvement projects needed to modernize or replace aging buildings around the district.

The Facilities Master Plan Needs Assessment, a report that the TUSD Board of Education accepted on a unanimous vote on Tuesday, was prepared by K12 Partners/Urban Futures, Inc. as a guide that will help the district determine which projects should take priority as buildings and portables require replacement or renovation because of age, wear and tear and deferred maintenance.

The report comes out as the district plans on how to spend money from Measure O, the $190 million school facilities bond that Tracy voters passed on Nov. 5, 2024. During the election the condition of some of Tracy’s older schools, such as McKinley Elementary School and Monte Vista Middle School, was cited as the need for the bond.

Students returning to school next week in the Pasadena Unified School District still won’t have access to certain areas on more than a dozen campuses because of toxins in the soil, seven months after the Eaton Fire.

In May, the district released soil test results, which found elevated levels of lead and toxic metals at 18 campuses and other district locations. The district told LAist in a statement then that cleanup efforts will be done before the start of this school year.

In a statement Friday, the district said soil removal has yet to begin at 12 sites, while soil removal is in progress at another six.

District officials said they still are working with state and local entities on guidance for remediation and to “ensure all efforts meet safety and regulatory standards.”

Littleton Academy Blue Jays will begin the new academic year in their permanent home on August 28 when students enter the completely renovated historic school building. 

The facility will serve students in grades K-9, representing a significant milestone for the academy and the broader educational community in the region, spokesman Les Atkins said.

The building was last used as a school in 1975. Through extensive renovations and the integration of modern educational technology throughout the facility, the school is prepared to serve a new generation of learners.

"The excitement from our parents and community has been remarkable," said Superintendent Heather Karns. "We extend our gratitude to the individuals and businesses for their tremendous support of the school in recent months as we prepared for this transition.”

As the first day of school approaches, some teachers and students in Washington and surrounding suburbs are preparing for more than fresh pencils and new classmates: They’re packing up their classrooms and moving into temporary “swing spaces.”
Swing spaces are sites where schools temporarily relocate during major renovations and new construction or after building damage. They can be housed in previously shuttered schools, or purpose-built multiuse facilities, or in trailers and mobile classrooms.
Over the past decade, the District of Columbia school system has had about 150 modernization, renovation, or construction projects at schools, shuffling entire communities in and out of swing spaces—sometimes for more than a school year.
But school and district leaders say the upheaval doesn’t have to derail learning or crush morale. The key? Advance planning, clear communication, and small touches that make the temporary feel permanent.
“When we moved in, it was really important to make the space feel comfortable and homelike,” said Malaika Golden, the principal of D.C.'s Whitlock Elementary School, which operated out of an old school building repurposed as a swing space for two years. “We did a lot of decorating. We made sure everything was unpacked and put away. It didn’t look or feel like a temporary space.”
While no move is without its bumps, Golden and other seasoned educators shared practical strategies for managing swing spaces and easing the transition.
 

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KOAA) — The City of Fountain has received a $1.93 million EPA Brownfield Cleanup grant to demolish and redevelop the former Lorraine Elementary School property.
The funds will be used to clean up the site after lead paint was discovered in the building, paving the way for new development in the area.
redevelop former elementary school site
Fountain receives $1.93 million EPA grant to clean up and redevelop the former Lorraine Elementary School site into a community center and housing complex.
By: Noah Caplan
Posted 12:34 AM, Aug 14, 2025 and last updated 1:36 AM, Aug 14, 2025
FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KOAA) — The City of Fountain has received a $1.93 million EPA Brownfield Cleanup grant to demolish and redevelop the former Lorraine Elementary School property.
The funds will be used to clean up the site after lead paint was discovered in the building, paving the way for new development in the area.
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"From my standpoint, any kind of progress is good as long as it's smart," said a former student who attended Lorraine Elementary in 1971 and 1972.
Plans for the site include a new community center where the school once stood, and an apartment complex with 106 specialty housing units just north of the location. The development area spans between North Iowa Avenue and the train tracks.
Some nearby residents have expressed concerns about the project, citing increased traffic on quiet streets, light pollution, and worries about the community's rapid growth.
"You still want that farmland, you still want those horses and stuff like that," said Edwin Templin, who has lived in Fountain since 2001.
 

Revere has begun construction on its new high school, the largest public school project in Massachusetts, located on the former Wonderland Greyhound Park site.
"Over the next three years we will water the seeds of Revere's future prosperity, because we care to leave this city better than we found it," Mayor Patrick Keefe Jr. said.
The ceremony featured rising sixth and ninth graders who will be among the first freshman and graduating classes.
"I'll be like the first one to actually go there, so it feels exciting," said sixth grader Sophia Leary.
"New people, new opportunities," said sixth grader Alvette Ngawe.
"I'm very excited and I'm very proud to be part of this community," said ninth grader Yasmeen Khamis.
The new building will hold more than 2,400 students, an effort to relieve citywide overcrowding. It will also be environmentally state-of-the-art, featuring geothermal heating and cooling, a micro-forest and 12.8 acres of public open space.
"We're in the middle of wetlands and we want to make sure that we replicate that and we bring the wildlife back to the area," Keefe said.
The project will cost about $493 million, with the Massachusetts School Building Authority helping to support almost half of that cost.
 

A multimillion-dollar effort to cool the state’s school classrooms has fallen well short of its goals due to rushed planning and poor decision-making, the state Office of the Auditor found in a damning report released Tuesday.  

The one-off Cool Classrooms Initiative, launched by then-Gov. David Ige in 2016 and meant to air-condition over 1,000 classrooms by that year’s end, ran over budget and reached only 838 classrooms in 53 schools that the auditors, after significant sleuthing, were able to verify.

And despite spending an average of $125,000 per classroom, some school principals told auditors the units did little to alleviate the heat in rooms where temperatures can reach 100 degrees.

But the schools that ended up with air conditioning were not necessarily even the hottest, according to the Department of Education’s own heat rankings. The department never developed criteria for choosing which classrooms to cool under the program, the audit found.

In the end, the majority of the units were installed in Central and West OÊ»ahu, while only one school on the North Shore benefited. Only one school on the Big Island was included. 

Emily Pugliese has been a Henry H. Houston parent for eight years, and couldn’t be happier with her children’s education.

At C. W. Henry, J. S. Jenks, Houston, and Emlen — Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy’s public elementary and middle schools — Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and Home School Associations (HSAs) help run the volunteer library, host fundraising for teaching supplies, plan spring flings, host movie nights, and advocate for state funding in Harrisburg. Parents express admiration for what they say happens inside these buildings: caring, committed teachers and staff, an unrivaled learning experience, and a school serving a crucial community role. But the structures themselves? Falling apart.

“Generally our school experience has been wonderful,” Pugliese said. “The facility stuff is kind of a different story.”

All four school buildings are ranked “unsatisfactory,” among the worst facilities in the district’s 300 schools, according to data under review from the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). Parents described broken plumbing (including a tree growing in a Henry toilet), failing heating and cooling with some rooms boiling and others freezing, peeling paint, past closures at Henry for asbestos remediation, and bathroom doors without locks.

The Bainbridge Island School District is taking advantage of the summer break to retrofit Commodore Options and Ordway Elementary schools, which were identified in a 2021 Department of Natural Resources report as needing seismic safety upgrades.

Construction has reached 50% completion for both schools, said Dane Fenwick, BISD director of facilities operations & capital projects. The work is being completed by Washington-based CDK Construction and its subcontractors for an estimated $2 million. Unlike other capital projects, which typically rely on funds from school levies and bonds, the seismic upgrade projects are primarily funded through a property sale to the BI Metro Park & Recreation District.

Fenwick said changing seismic safety standards can add complexity to retrofitting projects, especially with older schools. Commodore was built in 1948 and Ordway in 1979, with both receiving remodels over the years.

Scissors in hand, Hispanic moms in the Hegewisch neighborhood sneak into their children’s schoolyard and snip herbs from the garden to season food and put a twist in their mole.
The verdolaga, or purslane, is part of a variety of vegetables and plants entrusted to the care of students and teachers at Grissom Elementary School.
“The neighbors are like, ‘Oh my God, do you mind?'” said Esperanza Baeza, a bilingual teacher assistant at the school. She tells the parents, “This is our garden. You take whatever you want.”
A decade ago, Grissom’s schoolyard at 12810 S. Escanaba Ave. was not the vibrant space it now is. The tree-lined streets flanking the property stood in stark contrast to 2 acres of dull concrete where the children would play during recess.
Now, the school has a native plant garden brimming with tall grass, flowers and butterflies, a new swing set and additional playground equipment, a basketball court, a running track circling a soccer field and an outdoor class area.
“This was just asphalt. There was nothing,” Baeza said. “It was a really old little piece of swing. Not even a swing, like a slide. That was it.”
The new spaces are also redesigned to address heavy rains in neighborhoods historically vulnerable to serious flooding, particularly on the South and West sides of the city.
 

Twelve state schools serving students with disabilities will close next year as part of a plan approved Tuesday afternoon by the Missouri State Board of Education. 

There was little discussion Tuesday about the plan to consolidate the Missouri Schools for the Severely Disabled, or MSSD. Board members delved into the plan more thoroughly during a May meeting and a retreat last month.

“The State Board of Education believes this is the first step in providing more opportunities and strengthening education for all students enrolled in Missouri Schools for the Severely Disabled,” Board President Mary Schrag said in a news release. “This decision is not taken lightly but will result in a more efficient program that enriches quality resources provided to students and their families.”

The following schools will be required to close by the end of June 2026: Briarwood in Harrisonville, Citadel in Potosi, College View in Joplin, Crowley Ridge in Dexter, Delmar Cobble in Columbia, Dogwood Hills in Eldon, Gateway/Hubert Wheeler in St. Louis, Lakeview Woods in Lee’s Summit, Lillian Schaper in Bowling Green, Ozark Hills in Salem, Prairie View in Marshall and Rolling Meadow in Higginsville.

At its Aug. 11 meeting, the Asheville City Board of Education approved, 6-1, a $243,950 districtwide facility needs assessment led by McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture (MPSA).

“Our team’s role is to provide guidance on school design trends and construction and interact with your stakeholders to drive the effort,” the report reads.

The process will include gathering information on demographics and local economic development trends, as well as assessing Asheville City Schools’ (ACS) enrollment data, the physical conditions of facilities, teaching methodologies and facility operation information. Listening sessions, community forums, public presentations and feedback from teachers, students and parents are also planned, according to the approved proposal.

In short, “the study will help the board make informed decisions on where to push capital investment,” said ACS Superintendent Maggie Fehrman at the meeting.

EBENSBURG — Central Cambria students will get an extra two days of summer vacation after the school district’s board of directors voted to revise the 2025-26 academic calendar Monday in response to finding mold in the elementary school, pushing the start of the school year from next Thursday to Monday, Aug. 25.
As part of the revised calendar, the teacher in-service day originally scheduled for Nov. 10 will be moved to Aug. 21 and Nov. 10 will be a student day, according to the meeting’s agenda. The final day for students is scheduled for May 28, 2026.
Superintendent Jason Moore said the reason for the delayed start is to give teachers at Cambria Elementary School more time to prepare for the upcoming school year after many supplies and items in their classrooms had to be thrown out due to a mold infestation that was discovered in mid-July.
Time normally spent preparing curriculum will be used to help each teacher determine what items were lost and replace those items, Moore said.
According to Moore, there was severe weather — flash flooding and thunderstorms — in the area on Wednesday, July 16. District officials believe that a power surge shut the school’s ventilation system down on a humid night, which created the environment for mold to grow, he said.
 

A groundbreaking video testimonial from International Leadership of Texas (ILTexas), one of the state's largest K-12 public charter school districts, demonstrates how innovative school air filters can transform educational facility management and deliver massive cost savings. The comprehensive case study, now available through Camfil's Schools & Universities Resource Center, provides crucial insights for school administrators, facility managers, and education decision-makers seeking to optimize HVAC maintenance costs while improving indoor air quality in educational environments.
International Leadership of Texas, a multilingual K-12 charter school network serving students across multiple campuses throughout North, Central, and Southeast Texas, has documented extraordinary operational improvements through strategic air filtration upgrades. The school district's facilities management team reports saving "hundreds of thousands of dollars in man-hours every year" by transitioning from monthly filter changes to extended-life school air filter systems.
"When I first came in here, we were changing filters once a month, sometimes every other month if we could stretch it, but it was killing us in labor, it was killing us in ordering and stocking those filters," explains the district's facilities director in the detailed video testimonial. "So we were looking for any sort of solution that could help us reduce labor, reduce cost, reduce time and effort."
 

As students prepare to return to class, Utah is working to strengthen how schools respond to emergencies, from natural disasters to violence on campus.

The state is revising its Emergency Preparedness Planning Guide, a document provided by the state that can be used by school districts across Utah to help keep students and staff safe.

The last update came in 2021, but officials said recent legislation and shifting best practices mean it's time for another overhaul.

“It really helps schools think through before, during and after, so it helps them prepare for any natural disaster or human-caused events,” said Ashley Pistello, a school safety specialist with the Utah State Board of Education.

WILSON COUNTY Tenn. (WKRN) — As Wilson County’s population has risen over the past decade, so has the need for more classrooms.

“This is my sixth year here, and it seems like we’re rolling off a new school seemingly every year,” Bart Barker, Public Information Officer for Wilson County Schools, told News 2.

Wilson County rebuilt two schools — West Wilson Middle School and Stoner Creek Elementary — which were hit by a tornado in 2020. After that, the county built LaGuardo Elementary, which just had its first ever day of school on August 1. Next up will be Central Pike Elementary, which is still under construction.

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — An audit has revealed significant delays in the El Paso Independent School District's (EPISD) maintenance department, with many repair projects taking weeks longer than the district's two-week goal.
The audit, which examined work order efficiency, cost-tracking, and operational effectiveness, found that out of 22,113 work orders from 2023 to 2024, 14,185 failed to meet the district's deadline.
On average, 64% of these orders took about 6.3 weeks, or 44 days, to complete.
Dr. Jack Loveridge, EPISD Board Vice President and Chairman of the Audit Committee, emphasized the importance of meeting the two-week standard.
"It is just that they need to meet that standard. They need to make sure that two weeks is the threshold," Loveridge said.