Key pieces of the Hawaii Department of Education’s newly approved six-year strategic plan will be delayed or deferred due to a $43 million budget shortfall.

The cuts will be felt despite a potential last minute injection of $55 million in discretionary funds for the department from Gov. Josh Green. That measure is still awaiting his signature.

The full extent of the budget gap dominated the state Board of Education meeting Thursday.

The department is still assessing where to make the cuts, but did not make a representative available for comment.

The strategic plan, only approved in February, was designed to revamp the public school system’s curriculum, teacher recruitment strategies and to update facilities.

A variety of line items did not make the cut in the Legislature’s approved budget, including funding for parts of the weighted student formula — the department’s mechanism for funding schools — secondary mathematics initiatives and English learner programs.

STOCKTON - A report released this week by a civil grand jury in San Joaquin County said more could be done to keep schools in the county safe after examining 14 public schools and the county's Office of Education.

A civil grand jury is a panel convened in each county around the state annually to investigate and report on local government operations.

According to the San Joaquin County jury's report, a more unified approach to safety should be undertaken in local schools.
"Safety planning often consists of a patchwork of policies and procedures and many of the Comprehensive School Safety Plans (CSSPs) required by law are boilerplate documents that are rarely specific to school sites," stated the report.

A CSSP is a safety plan required by state law for each school-site operating K-12 grades.

The jury found that although the San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE) and all of the districts had their safety plans approved, only a few appeared to have been drafted to address issues that were unique to a specific school site.

Questions are mounting after the price tag to fix Newark public schools more than doubled in the past five months from $1 billion to $2.5 billion, a mushrooming bill that the city’s Superintendent says city residents will have to pay.
 
But elected officials and experts say the Superintendent shouldn’t be looking to city residents at all. 

The Newark public schools should “go after” the New Jersey Department of Education and the School Development Authority “instead of shifting the burden to local taxpayers and we will support them if they do so,” said Education Law Center senior attorney Theresa Luhm. “This situation speaks to the urgent need for the legislature to put additional money into the school construction program in this year’s budget.

The School Development Authority “fell woefully short on what was anticipated and no real explanation was given to voters across the state,” said Mayor Ras Baraka when asked about the superintendent’s plans. “The SDA owes us more schools.” 

HARRISBURG, Pa. - When school started at Francis Raub Middle School last August, Peggy Repasch complained the lack of air conditioning in the building put her daughter Zoey’s health at risk.

Raub was built in 1923 and doesn’t have central air or heat.

Zoey has cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that can cause thick, sticky mucus in the airways and also cause those afflicted to sweat high amounts of salt out of their bodies, prompting dehydration.

House Democrats and education advocates call for more school construction funding from the state
They are proposing $350 million dollars for facilities
Some Allentown School District buildings date back about 100 years
“The heat takes a lot out of you,” Repasch said. “How are these children learning in this heat?”

House Democrats and education advocates say those kinds of conditions need to be addressed across the state immediately.

TOWSON, Md. —
Additional state grants will provide $80 million in support for major ongoing school construction projects, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski announced on Tuesday.
Baltimore County was awarded $80 million in one-time grant funds for school construction projects selected by the county.
Olszewski's office identified how the money will be divvied up as follows:
$26 million toward a new Lansdowne High School
$20 million toward a like-new Towson High School
$15 million toward a new Deer Park Elementary School
$10 million toward a new Scott's Branch Elementary School
$8 million toward a new addition at Dundalk High School
$1 million toward a new addition at new Pine Grove Middle School
 

Bedford Town officials are projecting expenses that could total more than $30 million, spread over several years, to pursue the goal of converting the four schoolhouses to energy net zero.

The most recent six-year capital plan targets the first step for fiscal year 2025: an allocation of $320,000 to replace the hot-water heaters at Bedford High School. Replacement of the Davis School roof, with a current estimated cost of $1,648,000, is inserted into Fiscal Year 2026.

One year later, the total exceeds $4 million, then surpasses $6.5 million in Fiscal Year 2028.

Taissir Alani, Director of Facilities for the schools and town, recently summarized the projects as part of a short- and long-range capital spending presentation to the School Committee.

“The cost really is a placeholder because as we get closer to the project, we reassess the cost and equipment,” Alani said in a recent interview.

And Amy Fidalgo, Assistant Town Manager for Operations, stressed that heating, ventilation, and roof replacements are likely to be “moved out to further years in the next iteration of the capital plan, which will be vetted by the Capital Expenditure Committee in the fall.

“Our ability to move these projects out a few funding cycles is due to excellent preventative maintenance our facilities department is able to perform in order to extend the lifespan of many of these items,” she explained.

Since February, the U.S. Department of Education has invited national, regional, and local non-profits, foundations, businesses, and community-based organizations to share their bold commitment(s) to advance school sustainability, encompassing infrastructure, health, environmental sustainability education, climate, and environmental justice in America. Over 30 organizations made commitments, ranging from local efforts to national campaigns. These commitments demonstrate the wide range and scope of actions needed to ensure sustainable schools for all students.  

CITY OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — There's a new school in town for the City of Tonawanda.
In August 2020, crews broke ground at the old Fletcher Elementary School after demolishing it to create a new state-of-the-art elementary school.
Three schools will be combined after school officials realized it would be counter-productive to continue investing in its aging elementary school buildings.
Now, the new Tonawanda Elementary School will be a point of pride for the City of Tonawanda and a place where students will have an "inviting learning experience".
7 News' Pheben Kassahun takes inside of the new school as the finishing touches are put onto it.
Many can remember the pure joy of attending their elementary school.
From the animated teachers to looking forward to recess and guessing what the school cafeteria is serving for the day to class parties.
Mullen Elementary School 4th grader, Aiden Crump said, "It's been very good. I've met many friends along the way. Many teachers are nice. Every teacher I've been with has been nice."
 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state School Building Authority handed out two rounds of funding totaling close to $16 million during a Monday meeting in Charleston.
The SBA annually selects projects for funding submitted by multi-county technical education centers and projects under the agency’s Major Improvement Project (MIP) category.
“We awarded seven different counties with the projects they had (MIP) and we awarded six of the multi-county statewide grants,” SBA Executive Director Andy Neptune told MetroNews following Monday’s meeting.
MIP funding is going to projects in Wayne, Barbour, Monroe, Hardy, Calhoun, Tucker and Mason counties for approximately $5.8 million.
“These involve things like classroom additions, roof replacements, safety upgrades, exterior doors, safe school entries, things like that,” Neptune said.
There were requests from 15 counties for MIP funding. Projects in Cabell, Webster, Monongalia, Pocahontas, Mingo, Randolph, Summers and Lewis counties will have to look elsewhere for funding.
 

After a multi-year lead up, Lynchburg City Schools is gearing up for the release of several draft scenarios of the facilities master plan, a project that will determine the future of school buildings and programming for the division.

LCS’ Deputy Superintendent for Strategic Planning and Operations Reid Wodicka told the school board this week that he was hoping to provide five or six draft scenarios to the board for its consideration during the week of June 12, which will be followed by another community engagement period where LCS families and school stakeholders will have the chance to weigh in on the decision.

“Again, a very, very deliberate and intentional process that has taken some time,” Wodicka told the school board last week. “But we’re now to the point where we’re having some very concrete scenarios that you will have the opportunity to react to and give some feedback on as we move forward.”

The school building that houses Adelaide Elementary School in Federal Way, Washington, is more than 65 years old. With no heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, and classrooms and offices all having single-pane windows, the school is not equipped to insulate students and staff from extreme heat. In the northwestern United States, where temperatures in May don't often exceed 70 degrees, that usually has not been much of a concern.  
In May 2023, however, the region was gripped by a stifling heat wave that brought record-shattering temperatures.  
Federal Way Public Schools was largely unprepared to deal with a situation that what soon became a crisis for many students and educators. Because of the magnitude of the heatwave, even those schools with some sort of working HVAC system couldn't keep their learning and working spaces at a comfortable temperature.
“Our buildings didn't get a chance to cool down,” says Shannon McCann, a special education teacher and president of the Federal Way Education Association (FWEA). “Everyone—students and staff—were suffering.” 
Educators were tasked with finding ways to alleviate the heat, but there is only so much they could do. The impact on students was immediate and alarming. 
 

MADISON, CT – Town of Madison is to receive increased state reimbursement for the new school construction, saving taxpayers about $6 million.

Madison Public Schools and the Town of Madison released a joint statement saying the state reimbursement rate for construction costs related to the new elementary school building project has increased substantially.

“Madison Public Schools is incredibly grateful for the support of John-Michael Parker and Christine Cohen on our efforts to achieve a higher reimbursement rate,” Dr. Craig Cooke said, superintendent of schools. “Our staff worked hard in partnership with Colliers International on this proposal to save taxpayers of Madison significant money.”

Cheers of “Dig! Dig!” rang out at the Jennie Reed Elementary schoolyard Thursday afternoon as students watched a handful of their classmates ceremoniously dig their shovels into a mound of dirt. After years of promised improvements to the playground, the elementary school will be one of five others in Tacoma that will get an upgrade. Hopefully by next fall, the grass field at Jennie Reed Elementary will be ringed with an asphalt track. More trees will line the barrier overlooking Interstate 5, and new playground equipment will be installed for students and families to enjoy. The effort is part of a pilot program to increase the percentage of Tacoma residents living within a 10-minute walk of a public park.
More than 65,000 people in Tacoma don’t, and the gaps are particularly evident in the east and southern sides of the city, as well as the Hilltop neighborhood, which aligns with Tacoma’s documented history of redlining, said Andrew McConnico, a project manager for Trust for Public Land. With the price of land increasing, transforming existing schoolyards into community parks has proved to be a cost-effective and innovative solution, McConnico said. There are ongoing efforts to revamp the playgrounds at Helen B. Stafford Elementary School, Whitman Elementary School, Mann Elementary School and Larchmont Elementary School as well.
 

Education officials are asking for an extension on the deadline for schools to comply with sanitation regulations after Typhoon Mawar caused damage to facilities across the island and set back preparations for the upcoming school year.

But even if an extension is granted, Simon Sanchez High School may be unable to reopen by the start of the next school year due to major typhoon damage.

Guam Department of Education leadership sat down with lawmakers at the Guam Congress Building Wednesday to discuss what’s needed to get students back in the classroom by Aug. 9. About 99% of schools still lack power, according to acting GDOE Superintendent Judi Won Pat, and none have had power and water restored as of Wednesday.

Since 2017, 57 schools have been built by the Turkish Ministry of National Education to be safer and more resilient to disaster, with support from the World Bank, GFDRR and the EU.
24 of these schools are located in areas affected by the February 2023 earthquakes and aftershocks and all withstood the disaster.
Over 40,000 people now have access to safer and resilient schools as a result of the Turkish Ministry of National Education’s partnership on safer schools with the World Bank, GFDRR and the EU.

An open records request is showing the Green Bay Area Public School District invested $26.9 million over the past 10 years in buildings that a community task force recommended to close.

The recommendation to close 12 district buildings is still in play as the district faces a $20 million budget deficit for the 2024-25 school year and a projected enrollment decline of about 12% over the next decade.

As the community task force spent the first few months of this year exploring possible options for right-sizing Green Bay's school district, Lisa Kardish was surprised to hear Leonardo da Vinci School for Gifted Learners was on the chopping block.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - More than $2 billion in school construction is going unspent, Hawaii News Now has learned, and nearly half of that money is set to lapse next year.

“That to me is something that to me is totally unacceptable. We know we can do better and accepting mediocrity is to me something like accepting an F,” said Republican state Rep. Gene Ward.

The money is for hundreds of DOE projects that the state Legislature appropriated for school construction.

“This is crazy when we have a massive repair and maintenance backlog ... I mean, there’s there’s just no imaginable excuse for this,” said Colin Moore, a University of Hawaii political science professor.

“I’m sure that many other departments across the state would be very happy to take some of this money off the DOE’s hands.”

A few years ago, voters in Little Rock came to the agreement that renovations were needed in schools across the district, particularly at Little Rock Central High School, a national historic landmark in the capital city. The measure passed at the polls with over 75 percent of voters in support of the measure. 

The $300 million allocated in construction funds would be used to update school buildings and build new ones.

Little Rock School Board member Jeff Wood said at the time that part of those renovations would impact Little Rock Central High School, with the removal of portable buildings and the revitalization of athletic facilities at Little Rock’s flagship school. And if you’ve driven past Little Rock Central High School lately, you know that these improvements are already coming to life. 

“A decent chunk of that $300 million — $80 million — has been allocated for Central High School. The baseball field has been removed and allocated for student parking, and the biggest renovation will be to buildings allocated for the STEM program,” said Muskie Harris, a member of the Little Rock Central High School’s Tiger Foundation. The Tiger Foundation is a team of volunteers with close ties with the school who help navigate financial assistance to support the school’s extracurricular activities.

Classes were canceled Friday for the 422 students at Somerville’s Winter Hill Community Innovation School after concrete fell onto an inside stairwell, leaving families protesting that they had long warned of such dangers.
The school for prekindergartners to eighth-graders was unoccupied at the time the concrete fell, interim superintendent Jeff Curley said in an email sent to families Thursday evening.
This is the second day of classes students have missed due to Winter Hill facilities issues this school year. In November, the building was closed after a water main broke; students were sent home at noon, parents said.
After staff found the concrete from Thursday’s incident, the stairwell was closed and a structural engineer conducted an immediate review for minor repairs. “Out of an abundance of caution at this time, we have made the decision to close … while structural engineers conduct a more thorough review of the building,” Curley said.
 

ELIZABETHTOWN | After some 18 months of waiting, Boquet Valley Central School District heard back from New York State Education Department officials about how much aid they would provide for a new school building.

Their figure did not come in at 91 percent as planning and review with State Ed had suggested.

School Superintendent Joshua R. Meyer met with officials numerous times over the past six months, challenging their early aid calculations. The last meeting with State Education Commissioner Dr. Betty A. Rosa put the final offer at 55.6 percent.

"We filed a submission to State Ed in early March 2021," Meyer said. "It took about 18 months before the district heard back."

Pauses in project review, he said, were due to the COVID-19 pandemic, because people were not meeting together, working remotely instead.

The final amount of aid available from the state sits at $34,387,656, which would have been a larger percentage of initial building cost estimates around $50 million.

But delay and supply/demand struggles, plus rising costs for materials and labor have pushed the price for a new school building in Lewis to $61,859,000.

The local share would be $27,471,344 to build on a 75-acre parcel of county property at Thrall Dam in Lewis.