Governor Kathy Hochul today announced over $14 million in awards for 11 under-resourced public-school districts to decarbonize their buildings through the Clean Green Schools initiative. The projects will lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the school's reliance on fossil fuels and improve the indoor air quality by installing ground source heat pumps, air source heat pumps and electric kitchen equipment. This announcement supports the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent by 2050 and ensure 35 percent with a goal of 40 percent of clean energy investments directly benefit Disadvantaged Communities.

“Schools can open an entire world of possibilities and opportunities to our children, but for students to get the most out of their education, they must be in a healthy and safe learning environment,” Governor Hochul said. “Clean Green Schools allows our schools in underserved communities to make vital energy efficiency upgrades to their facilities that improve indoor air quality and support the success and well-being of students across the state.”

(The Center Square) – The Seattle School Board unanimously approved $5 million to increase the Montlake Elementary School modernization project’s budget to a total of $84.9 million.

East Seattle’s Montlake Elementary School modernization project is funded  through the Building Excellence V (BEX V) Capital Levy. The levy rate for 2023 is set at 68 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for 2023 and is expected to generate $1.4 billion from 2020 through 2025.

Half of the $5 million in one-time additional funding comes from the BEX V Capital Levy. The other half comes from the Buildings, Technology, and Academics/Athletics Capital Levy, which has a rate of 47 cents per $1,000 in assessed value.

CHAMBERS COUNTY, Ala. (WTVM) - The plan to combine two Chambers County high schools into one continues to stir emotion and controversy.
Last month, the U.S. District Court ruled the Chambers County Board of Education could move forward with its plan to build the new high school in Valley. However, some residents are protesting the merge and the actions of the school board.
The Lafayette Teachers Against Displacement - or LTAD - sat in on the Chambers County School Board meeting to continue their effort to bring attention to what they say are specific instances of injustice.
The group’s main concern is that the site for the new high school in Valley is not equitable for everyone.
Members of LTAD were at the Chambers County School Board Meeting Wednesday demonstrating their First Amendment rights.
“It’s a call to action to say LTAD is not just here for Lafayette but here to advocate for Valley as well,” said Tytianna Smith, Lafayette native and Valley teacher. “We may not agree but we have a common enemy and that’s the Chamber’s County School District.”
Before protesting outside, the founder of the group and Valley teacher, Tytianna Smith, addressed the board - sharing instances of what LTAD calls retaliation by the board. LTAD cite threats against teachers in Lafayette to make grade changes for certain students. They say a college mentorship program called Unite was banned from an annual fundraiser at Lafayette High, but not at Valley.
And they say the board refuses to meet with the Lafayette City Council to discuss a deal for the J.P. Powell building.
 

Stowe School District officials have faced innumerable questions about a proposed $39 million construction bond they say is necessary to fix an aging middle and high school campus that has seen so few infrastructure improvements over the decades that a recent $400,000 project erecting the second floor’s first-ever classroom walls was seen as a big deal.
How will the $39 million affect property taxes, and will all Stowe taxpayers be on the hook?
Is too much of the estimated construction cost dedicated toward wish-list items like improved athletic facilities?
Are there dangerous chemicals in the walls that could blow up the costs, a la Burlington High School?
Why now? Why not wait until Town Meeting Day?
The questions have been asked at a trio of live forums at Stowe High School, in daily long-form arguments in online forums, in letters to the editor, on the sidewalk, and, presumably, at dinner tables all around town.
In the face of all those questions, and as the Nov. 7 bond vote approaches, local education officials last week attempted to collect all those queries into one spot.
 

Dublin, Calif. and HOUSTON, Oct. 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) announced the unveiling of their $26 million sustainability and energy efficiency project this week during a ribbon-cutting event. Working with ENGIE North America (ENGIE), a leader in the net zero energy transition, this project includes the installation of 4.5 megawatts (MW) of solar panels, HVAC upgrades, and the deployment of 66 electric vehicle ports across 12 schools and the district office, marking a significant milestone in the district's commitment to green initiatives and fiscal responsibility. The district-wide project also includes a student engagement program that features internships, a STEM education program, and a living laboratory.

The project showcases DUSD's dedication to providing a greener and healthier environment for students, staff, and the community. The comprehensive scope of this initiative encompasses several components including:

MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – The Abell-Hanger Foundation recently released findings of a study which explores the impact of capital expenditures for school construction and renovation on student, teacher, and community outcomes.

Commissioned by the Foundation, the American Institutes of Research conducted an unbiased and objective analysis of available research on the topic, according to a release from the Abell-Hanger Foundation. They say the goal is to provide information for residents of Midland and surrounding communities.

AIR is a non-profit organization that conducts and applies research to improve the quality of life for individuals and communities. Here are some of the study’s key findings divided into categories:

Time Dependent Effects

Capital projects positively influence student test score, though these effects may take some time to materialize. New schools or major renovations often undergo a transition period that can lead to unchanged student achievement, initially.

The Guam Department of Education intends to reduce the cost of utilities by going solar.

GDOE is working with the Guam Power Authority to turn school campuses into “micropower grids.”

“We have begun coordination with (the) Guam Power Authority and contractors to develop a grant submittal converting all of our campuses,” GDOE Superintendent Kenneth Erik Swanson reported to the Guam Education Board.

The initiative would use existing roof space to install solar panels which will allow GDOE to generate, store and sell back power onto the larger grid.

Swanson said, “A discussion in process is intended to develop capacity to store energy on campuses to be able to go off (the) GPA grid (and) run campuses on solar power when necessary to either reduce billing or load shed from the GPA grid without impacting school operations.”

The ACLU and Lead-Free Delaware advocates are calling on the state to install filters at schools across Delaware by Jan. 1.

A report conducted by the ACLU of Delaware in collaboration with Lead-Free advocates suggested that the measures taken by the Delaware Department of Education to resolve issues surrounding lead-tainted water in schools are “insufficient,” prompting the groups to urge the state to introduce “new, safer drinking water standards for schools by Jan. 1, 2024.”

“The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that drinking fountains in schools not exceed 1 part per billion (ppb), which is much lower than the action level of 7.5 ppb set by the Department of Education,” said Sarah Bucic and Amy Roe of Lead-Free Delaware. “We are calling for a health-based approach to drinking water in schools.”

Delaware established the 7.5 ppb threshold after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency flagged the state for its mishandled sampling efforts last year. 

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – There are plans in St. Johns County to open five new schools over the next three years as the school district tries to keep up with student population growth.

The district added another 1,400 students this year and Superintendent Tim Forson told News4JAX on Wednesday that growth means new schools are a necessity.

“I think what we recognize is that there is, you know, rapid growth in those two areas both in Nocatee and in Silverleaf,” Forson said.

Keeping up with rapid growth in the county is the challenge that the school district is trying to overcome. A quarterly report released Tuesday revealed plans for two new K-8 schools in the Nocatee and SilverLeaf developments. That’s in addition to three other K-8 schools currently under construction.

Currently, some schools are at or over capacity, especially in the northern part of the county where the district uses portables.

For teacher Cora Carey, the garden beds that appeared at the end of September outside of the kindergarten classrooms at Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School in Roxbury were almost miraculous.

“It’s like magic garden fairies appeared overnight and built these really exemplary raised beds that are like something you would see in a gardening show,” said Carey, who teaches science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics at the school.

In reality, the new garden space wasn’t magic, but rather part of a citywide push to provide more access to gardens in Boston Public Schools, adding on to an existing 79 garden beds in the school system. The Dudley Street school is one of 10 schools in the district receiving the beds, which are run in partnership with Green City Growers, a Somerville-based company that plants and manages the gardens. Seven of the schools receiving the beds are in Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan.

Garden classrooms offer a range of benefits, including a wider exposure to fresh fruits and vegetables, hands-on experience with science education and better access to green spaces.

Elijah Heckstall, the Dudley Street school’s principal, said students in the same class might have very different access to green space at their homes.

As the Soddy-Daisy community gathered to give feedback on the school facilities plan released in August, many of the comments centered around one idea: keeping Soddy-Daisy students in the community.
Among other recommendations, the plan proposes expanding Daisy Elementary and closing Soddy Daisy Middle to create a K-12 experience on the current shared campus of Daisy Elementary and Soddy Daisy High.
The two-phase, seven-year plan calls for campus closures and renovations in the interest of lowering maintenance costs by having fewer buildings.
"This is a 50-year decision. We cannot afford to get it wrong," said School Board Member Rhonda Thurman, R-Hixson, whose district includes the three schools.
The community meeting was Tuesday.
Many students leave Soddy-Daisy when they reach middle school because of the condition of the school, Thurman said. The school has had a lot of improvements over the past few years but more are needed, she said.
"We have $200 million, and they're trying to get it to stretch as far as it can be stretched, and I can understand that, but I do not want them to do it at the expense of Soddy Daisy Middle School and Daisy Elementary," Thurman told attendees. "I just want you to know I'm fighting for you. I'm going to try to do the right thing and get the kids to stay in the community when they get to the middle school."
 

Multiple protests, two days of cancelled classes, a board member resignation and a lawsuit have followed the Nelson County Board of Education's vote last week to move forward with potentially merging the district's two high schools into one campus.
The Bardstown district of about 4,300 students was forced to close schools Thursday and Friday after hundreds of teachers called out sick but participated in protests.
"It appears staffing shortages are in response to ongoing district facility planning decisions," Superintendent Wes Bradley said in a letter to families about the closure.
Classes resumed this week, though a walkout was conducted by students at one middle school Monday.
The unrest followed the 3-2 vote on Oct. 17 in support of the district developing a plan to merge Thomas Nelson and Nelson County high schools. The unified campus would be at Nelson County.
Both schools are well under capacity. Thomas Nelson was operating at about 67% capacity with less than 700 students in 2019, according to the district's facilities plan. Nelson County was operating at about 59% capacity with about 780 students.
 

The state of Washington will fund $3.7 million in projects across the state in the coming years to provide students with additional outdoor learning opportunities.

The grant funding, administered by the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) in partnership with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), includes several projects in Lewis and Thurston counties.

“With these funds, community-based organizations will partner with school districts to take learning outside for more than 40,000 Washington students,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said in a Tuesday news release. “These programs provide students with opportunities to learn in meaningful and engaging ways where they can understand the unique context of their community. I’m grateful for the Legislature’s investment in this area and for our partnership with the Recreation and Conservation Office.”

The grant program was passed by the Legislature during the 2022 session to support public school students in kindergarten through 12th grade. In total, the RCO and OSPI received 111 applications requesting $15.3 million. Grant funding was awarded to 27 recipients in 22 counties.

Here’s a breakdown of the projects in Lewis and Thurston counties that will receive funding through the program:

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced the Farm to School Act. This bill aims to get more fresh, locally grown foods in schools across the nation by expanding the Farm to School Program for school-aged children through increased investment.

“The Farm to School Program plays an important role in providing nutritious food to students in Maine while supporting family farms in the community,” said Senator Collins. “This bipartisan bill would ensure that schools and non-profits in Maine and across the country continue to receive funding to purchase local food for student lunches and implement innovative agriculture and wellness lessons.”

“Ohio farmers grow some of the best produce in the country and farm to school programs help connect students with those fresh foods,” said Senator Brown. “This legislation will increase locally grown foods in our school lunchrooms while strengthening farms and rural communities in Ohio and across the country.”

GREEN BAY — The Green Bay School Board voted Monday to close both Keller and Tank elementary schools after this school year, hoping to save $1.5 million. It also decided to keep the John Dewey Academy of Learning at its current location and approved the district's $336 million budget.
Board member Andrew Becker raised concerns about voting to close more schools before the board has voted on closing the district's headquarters on South Broadway. That building was recommended to close by a community task force in May.
"I would really like to have a firm decision made, committing to close this building (the district headquarters) before we start closing schools," he said. "I think the public deserves that commitment."
However, the board did not make any commitment to close the district's downtown building at Monday's meeting.
"The (district office building, or DOB) piece, we're going to bring that forward," Superintendent Claude Tiller said. "... There's a lot that goes into DOB. You can't just facelift and up move sections of DOB because of continuity that has to happen."
 

Renovations at two Roanoke schools are wrapping up, as $95 million worth of school construction continues across the city.
James Breckinridge Middle School used $6 million from coronavirus recovery funds for new band, orchestra and chorus chambers, which students now occupy, according to school board documents.
Federal relief money paid for most of the total $8.5 million renovation project, said Chris Perkins, chief operations officer for Roanoke City Public Schools.
“These are large projects that have only been available due to one-time funding sources,” Perkins said during a school board workshop Tuesday night.
Morningside Elementary School is opening a new classroom wing, playground and parking on Nov. 2. That project cost $5.6 million, mostly using city debt service funds.
“Morningside is about the size of a postage stamp,” Perkins said. “But we were able to do a lot with a very small space.”
Looking toward 2024, Charles W. Day Technical Education Center will open Jan. 15, in time for the third nine-week grading period of the school year.
 

CONROE — Curtis Null, the superintendent of Conroe Independent School District, is accustomed to managing growth at his suburban school district. For more than a decade, the student body has grown by about 1,500 students a year, enough to open a new campus annually.

But over the past two school years, that growth has ballooned to about 3,000 new students each year, and campuses district-wide are bursting at their seams. Administrators have done what they can to accommodate the influx, from bringing in portable buildings, hiring more teachers, rezoning schools and reallocating programs to balance out classrooms. But some of the district’s schools are still operating beyond their capacity, Null said, and a few have no room to add on more portable buildings.

“We have a whole village of portable buildings,” Null said. One elementary school has 22 portable classrooms on its campus. “When you’re dealing with growth, it’s not just about the buildings. It’s buses – we’re buying twice as many new buses as we’ve historically gotten.”

To manage the growth, the Conroe school board approved a $1.9 billion bond proposal that will appear on the November ballot. Conroe voters will decide whether the district takes on almost $2 billion in debt to fund the construction of eight new schools, additional classroom space, new technology, an outdoor swimming pool and other campus renovations.

Nevada is at a crossroads, and the topic of aging school infrastructure couldn't be more pertinent. We find ourselves discussing this issue daily from our workplaces and at education advocacy events. We discussed it during the 2023 legislative session.

Across our state, schools are either in dire need of immediate replacement or are on the brink of requiring such action. The urgency is palpable, especially in our urban districts such as Clark and Washoe counties, where some of our newer schools, which are less than 20 years old, are bursting at the seams.

We often talk about chronic absenteeism and teacher retention as crucial factors affecting our education system. However, it's rare to hear these issues tied directly to the conditions we force our children to learn in and our educators to teach in. Yet having a safe and healthy environment is not just important; it's fundamental to the success of our entire school system.

To understand the gravity of this problem, it's essential to recognize the limitations of the Nevada State Education Fund, also known as the Pupil Centered Funding Plan. This fund, unfortunately, does not cover capital projects. Instead, local school districts are required to raise money through capital bonds to finance major building maintenance and new facilities.

The sad reality is that some of our school districts and counties lack the population or tax base to afford such endeavors, as highlighted in a recent article by The Nevada Independent highlighting the challenges in White Pine County.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia School Building Authority continues to work behind the scenes on a possible change in the way school construction projects are funded.
The SBA’s Construction Committee met recently to continue discussions on possibly recommending a change in the current square footage allowance for projects.
The agency’s square footage allowance for building schools has been around $307 per square foot since 2019 but the actual cost to build schools these days is significantly more expensive after covid and inflation.
SBA Executive Director Andy Neptune said the agency is trying to determine a more realistic cost.
“We’re trying to find a comparable number that we’ll be able to work with because we’re faced with the fact that supplemental funding is coming back to us,” Neptune said.
The SBA has had to add money to a number of projects in recent months because the original amount of money awarded wasn’t enough because of increasing costs due to inflation and other factors. The SBA has almost handed out enough in supplemental funding to build another school, according to Neptune.
 

GREENWICH — After two board retreats and some revisions, the Board of Education has approved a fiscal year 2025-26 capital budget that is nearly $118.6 million.
The $118,590,000 budget includes funds allocated for projects including making schools Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, improving Greenwich High School’s cellular service and more. 
The budget, presented at the board's Thursday night business meeting, also includes money for three projects the BOE approved interim funding for — the new Central Middle School building, the Old Greenwich School renovation and replacing Hamilton Avenue School’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. At the Oct. 5 board retreat, some board members decided to keep the projects in the capital budget in case they do not end up getting funded by other town boards.  
Blaize Levitan, the district's chief operating officer, said that the $2.2 million in the capital budget for Hamilton Avenue's HVAC system is $1 million less than what the board approved as interim funding.