GREENWICH — From main entryways to sinks, a new report says it will cost more than $34 million to make a majority of district buildings compliant with federal Americans with Disabilities Act mandates.
"This is incredibly common," said Michelle Miller, architect and project manager from Silver Petrucelli and Associates, the firm that conducted the ADA study, at the Thursday night presentation for the Board of Education. "All districts are dealing with this. Schools were built mainly from the '50s to the '70s, so they all have these common issues." 
Silver Petrucelli's study excludes Old Greenwich School and Central Middle School because both schools will become ADA compliant after their building projects are completed. The study also excludes New Lebanon School, built in 2019, and Riverside School. 
 

The Ozark school district recently completed the first of three new storm shelters.

A ribbon-cutting for the new structure at Ozark Middle School was recently held. Students from the middle school choir were part of the celebration.

The space includes classrooms, offices, a new entrance and a storm shelter.

"We are so proud of this wonderful building," Superintendent Lori Wilson said in a news release. "We want to thank the community for supporting our schools and understanding that we needed this structure to not only keep our students and staff safe, but also enhance their learning environment."

Geothermal heating and cooling is emerging as a go-to technology for St. Paul Public Schools as it seeks to renovate aging facilities in line with the district’s climate action plan.

Minnesota’s second-largest school district is also one of the city’s largest property owners, with 73 buildings containing more than 7.7 million square feet. Its climate action plan calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at least 45% by 2030.

New technology and federal incentives have helped convince district leaders that geothermal is among its best options for slashing emissions from school buildings. The energy efficient systems pump refrigerant through a closed loop circuit of pipes that moves heat between buildings and below ground reservoirs.  

Last year, the district completed a ground-source geothermal system while renovating the 1960s-era Johnson High School. This year, it’s installing a different type of system at two other schools that tap aquifers rather than the ground as a heating and cooling source.

School districts across Idaho will soon receive hundreds of millions of dollars to help repair and replace their aging buildings, thanks to a bill that cleared its final hurdle in the Idaho Senate on Thursday.
House Bill 521 will invest $1.5 billion in new funding and redirect $500 million over 10 years for school facilities across the state. But critics say it still won’t be enough to address the years of neglect left from the state’s failure to fund school facilities.
Idaho school districts have for decades struggled to fix or replace their aging, deteriorating schools and build new ones to accommodate the state’s rapid growth. Over the past year, the Idaho Statesman and ProPublica have reported on how Idaho’s restrictive policies and the state’s reluctance to make significant investments in school facilities have led to students learning in schools with failing heating systems, leaking roofs, discolored drinking water and overcrowded classrooms.
Citing the stories, Gov. Brad Little called to make funding for school facilities “priority No. 1” in his State of the State address in January. He proposed putting $2 billion toward school facilities over 10 years, or $200 million per year.
 

The issue of overcrowding at all the city’s public schools once again had School Committee members looking for more information at Monday’s night meeting of the Everett School Committee.

“Class size is closer to 32-35 students per classroom, as opposed to the 28 pupils that classrooms have been designed to accommodate,” School Superintendent William Hart told the committee.

The issue of overcrowding in the local schools has been a problem for the past several years  with no easy solution in sight.  As of today,  the newest school building, Everett High School, which was designed to hold 1,800 students, is now housing almost 2,200 students.  Many students for special programs are being taught in converted storage closets or reconfigured spaces such as the old print shop at Everett High. The new library at Everett High has been adapted to accommodate some of the one-on-one tutoring that is needed by students. 

WASHINGTON D.C. – As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, today the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) opened applications for the 2024 Renew America's Schools Prize, which will award $180 million to districts across the country engaging in strategic partnerships to build capacity and implement energy upgrades at K-12 schools, lowering energy use and costs, improving indoor air quality, and fostering healthier learning environments. The 2024 Renew America’s Schools Prize, funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, represents a groundbreaking investment in energy-efficient and renewable energy infrastructure at underserved K-12 public schools and contributes toward the Administration’s broader Action Plan for Building Better School Infrastructure. 

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Voters in southwest suburban Lockport have rejected a proposed $85 million referendum to issue bonds for repairs and renovations at Lockport Township High School Central Campus.

The school board was seeking the $85 million bond issue after a ceiling collapse at the 114-year-old building last fall forced the school to close.

"We had a ceiling collapse in room 310," School District 205 Superintendent Robert McBride said. ""It would have caused catastropic injury or fatality if people were in the room. Thank goodness it happened in the evening. That probably changed urgent to dire."

Students have attending classes at the previously vacant Lincoln-Way North High School some 20 miles away in Frankfort while the ceilings are repaired.

Voters on Tuesday rejected the school district's proposed $85 million referendum for repairs and renovations at the school, by a margin of 53.8% to 46.2%.

Walking into the Maureen Joy Charter School building is a little like stepping back in time. The lacquered wood floors creak as students walk to class. Sunlight streams across high ceilings. The school’s chief operating officer Samantha Amaral offers a tour of the building.
“It was built in 1910, so this is a historic building, and we love it,” Amaral says.
A black-and-white photograph hanging in the lobby shows a street view of the original school building in 1910, seemingly unchanged. Maureen Joy Charter School renovated the old Y.E. Smith public school building in 2012 before moving in.
“They redid all of the piping, all of the paint,” Amaral explained. “All that was left was the skeleton of the school.”
Amaral said she hopes that means the school doesn’t have to worry as much about lead in the pipes or asbestos in the paint, but given the age of the building, administrators still wanted to check.
More than half of North Carolina public schools were built before the federal government began regulating lead and asbestos in new construction in the 1980s, putting today’s students at risk for lead exposure. Lead in drinking water is a health risk to young children and can cause intellectual and developmental issues. Asbestos is a known carcinogen.
Now, with a large block of federal funding from the American Rescue Plan and allocated by the state, every one of the roughly 3,100 public schools in North Carolina this spring will be able to test for lead and asbestos.
 

When Morgan Mihok was considering moving back to Moon, she knew she wanted to live in a neighborhood that would allow her children to attend Hyde Elementary, a small school in a suburban neighborhood.

But now, Ms. Mihok is one of many parents worried about their children’s futures as the Moon Area School District considers closing the school and moving students to another elementary building, leading to concerns about class sizes, resources provided to children and transportation.

“I moved here because I wanted them to be part of this community and so we were all very sad,” Ms. Mihok said.

Moon is considering the change in response to expected growth in secondary grades, but the idea of school consolidation is not exclusive to the district. Elizabeth Forward recently announced potential plans to close three elementary schools and consolidate those students into two elementary centers. Pittsburgh Public is also floating the idea of closing buildings, but the district has not yet announced which schools could be included in the proposed plan.

If you have ever used a Porta-Potti, more often than not, the decision wasn’t by choice, but those are the facilities students at Agueda I. Johnston Middle School must use daily, and they are “tired of it.”

“Most of the kids are seventh or sixth graders in that area, and it feels to me, at least, disrespectful from the school or (the Guam Department of Education) because we’re kind of being forced to use those facilities. They are also very hot. It stinks quite a bit. It’s a health issue. … Students are tired of it, and it’s just unhygienic and unhealthy to be there,” said Jeffrey, a sixth grade student.

Jeffrey, a senator in the student government body, called on his school community, through a petition, to demand better restroom facilities.

“I started the petition because of the inaction of GDOE with our school. It was mainly to deal with the restroom issue … and to repair our facilities,” Jeffrey said.

The petition has garnered over 220 signatures from students, teachers and other stakeholders.

The Madison Metropolitan School District’s sustainability goal may be “almost impossible” to achieve, the district’s finance administrator says.
At the urging of students and community members, the district adopted in 2019 a nonbinding resolution to use 100% renewable energy by 2040. The Madison School Board is now weighing whether to revise that goal because of the cost and complexity of the work involved. 
To meet the 2040 target, it would cost an estimated $1 billion to upgrade the district’s buildings from natural gas to electric heating systems, according to Bob Soldner, the district’s assistant superintendent for financial services. And it would mean temporarily closing nine schools each year between 2026 and 2030 for renovations. 
“We do not have the capacity to shut down that many schools,” Soldner told the School Board in a meeting this month. “It's hard for me to fathom how we can accomplish (this), given where we are at today.” 
The board has considered changing its resolution since 2022, and students at the time pushed the board to stick to its plan. But the board will now need to decide by next month whether to revise or keep the original goal as it drafts next year’s budget. 
The original resolution calls for the district to be at 50% renewable energy by 2030, 75% by 2035 and 100% by 2040. The group Renew Madison pushed for the resolution in the months leading up to its adoption, and campaign organizers said at the time that MMSD was the largest school district in the country to make such a pledge.
 

WINCHESTER, Indiana — Where homes once stood in Winchester, these properties have been reduced to plots of land with debris scattered across them.
James Lanter saw the approaching storm two minutes before he says a tornado ripped through his home Thursday night in Randolph County.
"It’s unimaginable that you’re standing in a house fully furnished with stuff, and then, the next second, it's all just ... pew!" said Lanter, whose home was destroyed, and he was left with a broken nose and a gash in the back of his head. "I’ve seen pictures on TV and stuff before, houses like that just blown right down, but now, I’ve experienced it firsthand."
Lanter is just one of the hundreds of people who came to Winchester Community High School on Friday for a hot meal or to pick up some donations.
Amber Price said her home was damaged by the tornado, forcing her family to move into the high school.
"Well, first off, there was a gas leak in the area, and we were told to evacuate the area and then told not to stay. The police had told us we could not stay there," Price said. "We were allowed to get things and then get out. And we have no heat, no electricity, and it’s not livable without heat because it’s pretty cold right now."
 

BALTIMORE —
A state lawmaker who represents Baltimore City and oversees K-12 education funding said she wants her colleagues to visit Baltimore City Public Schools campuses to see the conditions of the buildings.

Baltimore City Delegate Stephanie Smith, D-District 45, agrees that the issue is funding and said some people need to see it to believe it.

"I just think we have to continue to make the case to our colleagues that our students are going to schools they wouldn't even want their pets to enter," Smith told 11 News Investigates.

CRANDON (WLUK) -- Officials say carbon monoxide is to blame after 39 patients received medical attention at the Crandon school district building.

The building was evacuated Thursday after two students and one staff member fell ill with the same symptoms.

The Oneida County and Wausau hazmat teams were requested by the Forest County Sheriff’s Office to assist. Oneida and Wausau hazmat determined it was a mechanical issue with the furnace that created elevated levels of carbon monoxide inside the school.

In the last 10 years, Pennsylvania K-12 schools have nearly tripled the amount of solar installed, according to a new statewide report on schools’ solar uptake published by Generation180, a clean energy nonprofit. The solar capacity installed at statewide schools over the past 10 years grew from 14 MW to approximately 39 MW.

The new report, “Powering a Brighter Future in Pennsylvania, Second Edition,” examines the state of solar at K-12 schools, including how schools are funding it, and local success stories. While a growing number of schools have seen the benefits of solar adoption, less than 2% of Pennsylvania’s 6,000 K-12 schools produce their own solar power, leaving a lot of potential for growth.

“All schools and communities in Pennsylvania — regardless of their size, geography or wealth — should have access to clean and affordable power,” said Shannon Crooker, Generation180’s Pennsylvania State Director. “We are helping schools across the state gain the cost-saving and educational benefits from generating their own clean power.” Generation180 provides free technical assistance to schools interested in exploring how solar energy would benefit them.

Peninsula School District is putting together a Long-range Facilities Advisory Board to address issues related to school buildings and district support facilities, like its transportation and maintenance building.

Among other topics, the group will discuss a possible future bond or capital levy. No measure is on the horizon, according to district officials. The district hasn’t even started public discussion of any proposed bond, a critical early step. But part of the advisory board’s mission will be to evaluate whether and when a bond or capital levy is needed, according to Chief Financial Officer Ashley Murphy.

“Let me show you why I’m so smart and my school is so junky,” said five-year old Nolan Adam Smith, breathless, as he enthusiastically prepared to give a tour of the Jack Egnaty Senior School in Sleetmute. It’s where students from kindergarten through 12th grade attend public school in the village.

Smith showed off the reading chairs in his kindergarten and preschool classroom. “If you’re sitting in the black chair or this other chair, you have to be reading,” he said.

The walls are bright yellow, the trim around the windows is royal blue. Smith’s tour features his desk, his math book, and even the ceiling. He points upward and his face is serious. Up in the corner, three ceiling tiles are missing. Others are stained brown, the color of dark tea. “It’s been leaking,” he said. And then points to the floor. “That bucket’s there because it’s been leaking.”

Decatur, GA — The City Schools of Decatur School Board will meet on Tuesday, March 12, at 5 p.m. for a regular meeting. The meeting will be held in person at the Wilson School Support Center, 125 Electric Ave., and virtually via Zoom.

During the work session, Chief Operating Officer Sergio Perez will present the state of operations report to looks at the district’s facilities and maintenance needs.

“It emphasizes the crucial role of the Operations Division in maintaining the district’s functionality and normal operations,” the agenda packet states. “Despite facing challenges such as rising material and energy costs, extended lead times for equipment, and increased vendor labor costs, the division ensures smooth operations in areas like lighting, HVAC, utilities, meals, transportation, medical services, and safety and security.”

“The report discusses the life cycle of assets, highlighting the continuous process from creation to use, maintenance, and disposal,” the agenda says. “It notes that the average age of [the] buildings is 78.3 years and focuses on addressing aging HVAC equipment to prevent disruptions in heating or cooling.”

The Middleton City Council is considering an unprecedented ordinance that would restrict developers from building subdivisions that would overcrowd schools.

“Kids have a constitutional right to education in this state,” said Dave Murray, a Middleton councilman who sponsored the ordinance.

Developers must obtain a signed statement from any school district verifying that a proposed subdivision will not contribute to any public school that will be serving the subdivision to exceed 110% capacity, the ordinance reads.

“We are saying that if we are at capacity, you can’t build,” Murray said. “To our knowledge, this is the first of its kind in the entire state.”

Middleton’s Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing on March 25 and the city council expects to vote on the issue at its April 17 meeting. Middleton’s city attorney wrote the ordinance and it was reviewed by two outside attorneys.

And Murray is confident that the code is constitutionally legal in Idaho and federally.

“We wanted to make sure we did it right, because if it catches on it will cost developers money,” Murray said. “People are finally starting to pay attention. If we do this, and we make people aware, they will put pressure on their city and county to follow suit.”

When Denise Massey’s daughter was 6 years old, she put the girl, who has Down Syndrome, on a van every morning for speech therapy in El Centro: 100 miles round trip, sometimes braving 120-degree heat, monsoons and severe dust storms known in the desert as haboobs.

Thirteen years later she’s still making that daily trek, because her Imperial County school district is so small it can’t offer a full gamut of special education services, and so remote that there’s nothing closer.

“It was hard at first. My daughter was really tired, and she’d act out,” Massey said. “But it’s been worth it because it’s so important my daughter gets the services she needs.”

Special education is only one of the challenges in rural districts like San Pasqual Valley Unified, a 591-student district in the southeastern corner of the state where Massey’s daughter, Annabelle, is enrolled. Transportation, recruiting teachers, finding contractors, tracking mountains of paperwork and complying with state regulations have become so burdensome that superintendents in those districts are begging for relief. Meanwhile, students like Annabelle sometimes miss out on opportunities that their peers in more populated areas take for granted.