A dead snake on a classroom floor, a dead pigeon on a piano, bird and rodent droppings, signs of cockroach and termite infestations and black mold on the ceiling were among the findings in a Department of Public Health and Social Services sanitation inspection at Southern High School.

The inspection was prompted by a complaint that stated: “Most classrooms at (Southern High School) have black mold on the ceilings and are missing ceiling tiles. The air conditioning units work inconsistently and not all rooms have functioning units. The students are only allowed to use one bathroom on campus, and that bathroom is often overflowing with backed-up sewage waste.”

SALMON—A cracked foundation. Collapsing sewer lines. Outdoor food storage.
These are just a few of the problems at Salmon’s Pioneer Elementary School, which was built about 70 years ago.
“It is quite atrocious,” said Troy Easterday, the superintendent of Salmon School District.
Renovating the school could cost as much as $2 million, Easterday estimated. But in a community that has an extraordinary 0-12 record of failed bond measures since 2006, ballot measures cannot be counted on for major upgrades or a new elementary.
Salmon is one of many Idaho school districts that has struggled to get voter approval to sell bonds to pay for school improvements. Nearly half of all bond proposals have failed in the past 23 years. As the Legislature gears up and education committees plan to address school facilities needs, school districts are hoping politicians will come to their aid with a new infrastructure bill and surplus funds earmarked for public school buildings.
 

Chula Vista Elementary School District is taking the lead in teaching students how to compost and conserve through gardening.
The district has 37 gardens on campuses across the South Bay, maintained by students, parents, and teachers who volunteer their time. The climate crisis and state laws targeting composting and conservation make school site soil a fertile learning ground.
"They like getting their hands dirty and they like being outside," said Christopher Turner, a sixth-grade teacher at the Myrtle S. Finney School in Chula Vista. "There’s nothing more amazing than seeing their eyes when they bite into something that they themselves have planted and watched grow."
Chula Vista Elementary School District is the largest elementary district in the state with 49 campuses, and It promotes sustainability through gardening.
Students learn hands-on while developing social and emotional skills, such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving.
The Finney Elementary garden plot was an eyesore five years ago.
“There were broken-down benches and just a lot of debris. It was actually a hazard for kids to be out here," Michelle Posada told KPBS News.
Posada had her three children attend Finney Elementary, and continues to lead the school's garden. She started the push for environmental education and action in 2018.
 

Jonah Doeller says he's loved sharing the joys of physical education with students over the past two decades at Union Chapel School in Robeson County. On any given weekday, giggles and thumps can be heard bouncing off of the modest cinder block walls inside the school's gymnasium, a space that recently received a much-needed facelift.

Union Chapel was one of 60 schools that recently received new high-efficiency LED lights. A green upgrade that Doeller says makes a big difference.

"It's like night and day," Doeller said. "The kids noticed right away too. It's brighter and clearer and the gym looks twice as big now.

The lights are motion-sensored and the kids have fun in the mornings racing to see who can be the first to turn on all the lights. More efficient bulbs that stay on for less time translates to a notable reduction in the cost to the school and to the environment.

NEWPORT, Tenn. (WATE) — Five students are healing from cuts and scrapes they received when part of the roof came off of Newport Grammar School during last week’s severe storms. Guttering on the roof shattered the window of a 4th grade classroom, the shards of which injured students nearby.
Newport City Schools Director Sandra Burchette said the students were scratched and scraped, but “are OK.”
The school building was damaged by high winds in the storm that spawned 3 tornadoes in East Tennessee. In addition to the roof and broken window, Burchette said there is extensive water damage that’s requiring carpet replacement.
The school has been closed since the storm passed through on Jan. 12, but Burchette said they are reopening Thursday, a week after the storm.
Three tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service in Morristown, but they were not near the Newport school.
“It came so quickly,” Burchette said. “Our principal called for us to get sheltered in place, and the teachers and students had practiced the drill many times so they quickly got into place, and the storm passed.”
 

Even though New Mexico requires public schools to upgrade their heating and air conditioning systems to clean indoor air well enough to remove coronavirus and other harms, people can’t just look up whether their local school district actually meets those standards.

A legislative proposal — with backing from unions representing New Mexico teachers and sheet metal workers — seeks to change that.

COVID is highlighting the need for action on ventilation systems, said Rep. Christine Chandler. She and Rep. Joy Garratt, a former educator, are sponsoring House Bill 30, which would create the Public School Ventilation Act.

“Having good airflow and good systems in place will affect staff health and student health in a way that’s very important,” Chandler said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 95% of all children in the U.S. have been infected at least once.

States have been slow to act on ventilation, she said, even though the Environmental Protection Agency has been raising it as an issue and not getting much traction, either.

“We don’t have the staff or capacity at PED to go out there and go verify every single building in doing that,” said Antonio Ortiz, finance and operations director of the New Mexico Public Education Department in an interview last year.

The state of Vermont hasn’t put up money for school construction projects for almost 15 years.

And since then, local taxpayers have had to fully fund more than $200 million in school upgrades.

The Agency of Education says there’s a growing inequity between districts that can get their projects passed by voters, and those that can't.

And the agency also says there’s now a backlog of projects that’s potentially causing health and safety issues at the schools with the highest needs.

At Green Mountain Union High School in Chester, voters recently rejected a $20 million bond proposal to upgrade the school’s aging infrastructure.

And Todd Parah, who’s head of facilities at Green Mountain, says the district has to figure out a way to upgrade the equipment.

“Here in our school district, along with a majority of them in the state of Vermont, we’re not at a want-basis, we’re going to be at a need-basis,” Parah said. “The systems are at their end-of-use life, and nobody knows where the money’s gonna come from.”

A lot of the equipment at the school was installed back in the early 1970s, when Green Mountain first opened.

BLOUNTVILLE — Juggling may not be taught in Sullivan County Schools, but that doesn’t mean Sullivan County school officials aren’t learning to do it on the fly by sheer necessity.
They increasingly find themselves between the proverbial rock and a hard place when it comes to funding capitol projects with federal COVID relief funds.
On one side are deadlines to use the ESSER or Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, on the other are costs spiraling upwards, sparse bids and bids with longer timelines than allowed by the deadlines.
It is to the point that the school district may consider additional capitol projects to use up the COVID funds before they evaporate because of the deadlines. Particularly difficult to get done in a timely manner are HVAC projects.
 

The new Fawcett Elementary school continues to emerge, with noticeable construction progress over the past few months. As the school takes shape, it has brought with it some exciting opportunities, from cutting edge construction technology and first responder training to a blast from the past harkening back to when our country celebrated its bicentennial in 1976.

"Things have been very busy and it’s really moving along,” said Stacy Page, the district’s facilities communication coordinator. "They’re working at lightning speed and we’re really happy about that.” 

While the school is being built, students are attending the former McKinley Elementary School site in anticipation for Fawcett’s opening. By this summer, furnishings can start going in and things put together for the students and staff to walk through the doors of their new school in September for the 2023-2024 schoolyear. 

The school will be 55,000 square feet to serve pre-kindergarten through 5th grade with 21 classrooms, a music room, makers space, STEM room (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and more. It will be in the shape of an "L” with two stories connected by an elevator. The exterior will be eye-catching hues of blue and gray with yellow accents. There will be two play areas – an asphalt playground and a large turf field with soccer posts. A covered area close to the building will offer play areas on rainy days. The school perimeter will be improved with ADA accessible sidewalks and curbs, lighting, and all exterior landscaping will be fresh for the campus with newly planted trees and shrubs.

"The exterior siding and insulation are just about complete,” Page said. "We’ve already finished the siding on the east side classrooms so we’re going to do the west side now. The first-floor classrooms are done with sheetrock and the second floor is now starting. Inside, we’re already painting the gymnasium, cafeteria and music area.” 

Cornwall-Lebanon School District is poised to spend between $88 million and $136 million in capital improvements to its aging secondary school buildings on the Cedar Crest campus.
School board members, during the Jan. 9 workshop meeting, heard a recap of proposed renovation of the district’s middle and high school buildings from Superintendent Philip Domencic. Electric, plumbing, and mechanical updates are needed to both, he noted, not having seen major work since the mid-1990s.
A connector space between the two buildings is planned as well, providing classroom space during renovations as well as a variety of future uses. Construction will occur between March 2024 and June 2029, and the connector building will be constructed first.
Director of Business Affairs Jean Hentz proposed a financing plan that would take advantage of the district’s existing debt service practice. Currently, it pays $5.5 million in debt service on existing bonds. As those debt obligations phase out, Hentz said, any new loans or bonds issued to cover construction and the middle and high school could be “smoothed” in.
The district’s intent is to maintain the same or similar debt service payments to avoid major tax increases in the future, Domencic said.
Since 2016, no state funding has been made available for school construction reimbursements.
 

The recent winter rain offers potential drought relief, but the severity of the storms had detrimental impacts throughout the state, including power outages that disrupted learning. Locally, several schools experienced closures due to storm related power outages.

Schools have faced several years of ongoing disruption to learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, wildfires, poor air quality, extreme heat and severe weather. Extreme weather has already impacted schools across the country. Many of California’s school buildings are not equipped to address the challenges caused by climate change. Some of our communities face disproportionate climate change impacts.

In a typical year, children attend at least 180 days of school. Whether or not they are protected from impacts of climate change is often determined by conditions on campus.

Climate change, exposure to pollutants and food insecurity harm children’s health and disrupt learning.

Now is the time to invest in our school campus infrastructure to ensure continuity of learning and maintain school operations during periods of extreme heat, power outages and when outside air quality drops to unhealthy levels.

The MetroHealth System and Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School (CH-UH) District are proud to announce the opening of the new Heights Wellness Center at Heights High School and the significant expansion of health care services offered to the district’s students, families and staff.

The renovation and expansion of Heights High School’s health clinic and the addition of new health care services throughout the school district are possible because of a nearly $4.5 million state grant awarded last spring to MetroHealth’s School Health Program. In addition to the new Heights Wellness Center, the funding will allow MetroHealth to expand services through its mobile unit that serves other schools in the CH-UH district.

MetroHealth and CH-UH officials celebrated with a ribbon cutting and open house on Tuesday, January 17, at the Heights Wellness Center at Heights High School (13263 Cedar Road Cleveland Heights, OH 44118). 

“Our goal at the School Health Program is to increase access to health care to support student success in and out of the classroom,” said Katie Davis, RN, Executive Director, Community and Corporate Health at MetroHealth. “We are excited that this funding has allowed us to build a physical space that can support the entire district – students, family and staff – to focus on both health and wellness. Being in the building allows our team to build trusted relationships with students and strengthen our partnership.”

More than half the energy used in K-12 schools goes toward heating and cooling buildings. And more than 60 percent of school HVAC systems’ energy use is tied to on-site burning fossil fuels, the primary driver of climate change.
All told, emissions from HVAC systems in schools each year roughly equal that of 5 million gas-powered cars, and imposes on society at least $2 billion in costs.
These are among the takeaways from a new report published Thursday by sustainability nonprofits RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute) and UndauntedK12. The report synthesizes federal data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and other sources to highlight K-12 schools’ substantial carbon footprint, and outlines how schools can reduce that impact by prioritizing energy efficiency.
And one way to do that, the report argues, may be to take advantage of funding opportunities available now to install HVAC systems powered by electric heat pumps.
Schools’ contributions to climate change are drawing greater scrutiny as the planet continues to heat up and governments around the world are slowly grinding into action to reverse its most devastating effects. HVAC systems have also entered the spotlight during the pandemic because of their role in preventing the spread of infectious disease.
Heating and cooling are among the biggest drivers of schools’ energy output, according to the report. Outdoor temperatures are becoming more extreme in both directions, which will only increase the pressure on schools’ HVAC systems—and hamper students’ learning experiences—in the coming years.
Right now, only roughly a quarter of schools use electricity for heating, and roughly one in 10 schools currently use heat pumps for heating and cooling, according to the report’s analysis of federal survey data.
 

Just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, state Superintendent Elsie Arntzen issued a celebratory announcement that she’d accepted $46.3 million from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. Her message came complete with a photo of a large novelty check made out to “Montana’s K-12 Schools” and emblazoned with the image of a remote state-owned cabin site in Sanders County.

“Our precious state trust lands are working for our most precious treasures — our students,” Arntzen said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “The money earned from our trust lands directly benefits all Montana’s public school students while easing the burden on Montana taxpayers.”

The celebration spoke to a line often repeated by politicians and conservationists about the role that public lands — and, more specifically, the money they generate — play in Montana’s public school system. For decades, activities such as natural resource development and livestock grazing have been touted as a boon for school funding, producing approximately $50 million annually that state law earmarks for the benefit of students. It’s a source of financial support for public education that’s actually enshrined in the Montana Constitution, designed to channel dollars to classrooms in perpetuity.

But as with so many revenue streams in state government, the full story is far from simple. The $46.3 million Arntzen accepted last fall will eventually reach public schools across the state, but not before traveling a path that will take it through the Montana Legislature, which convened for the 2023 session on Jan. 2. In fact, lawmakers on a joint subcommittee tasked with overseeing Montana’s next education budget received a detailed briefing Monday on the various formulas and mechanisms in place to guide state dollars to local schools. 

The city is getting its first new public high school in decades. It’s opening this fall at the former Georgetown Day School on MacArthur Boulevard.

What’s happening: MacArthur High School is expected to eventually enroll 800 students, starting with 200 ninth graders and 50 tenth graders during the 2023-24 school year.

Why it matters: Upper NW needs at least four new public schools to reduce overcrowding at Jackson-Reed High School. But there’s substantial NIMBY opposition in the Palisades neighborhood because of how much traffic MacArthur may bring.

Details: Hardy Middle School will feed into MacArthur, and Alice Deal middle-schoolers will have the option to attend. Current ninth graders at Jackson-Reed will be able to apply to transfer to MacArthur for the 2023-2024 school year.

Students from other parts of the city will be able to apply for out-of-boundary spots through DCPS’ public school lottery. There are also seats set aside for students from vulnerable populations.
DCPS officials tell Axios they don’t know how many out-of-boundary students are expected to attend and that it depends on the number of neighborhood students who enroll.
Of note: Hardy students will no longer have in-boundary rights at Jackson-Reed.

During a Mountain Home Public Schools strategic planning meeting this past Thursday, members of the school board, along with Superintendent Dr. Jake Long, strategized how to ask the public once more to swallow a millage tax increase to pay for the new construction of a replacement high school building.
“The needs have not gone away. They’re not going to go away,” Dr. Long said.
The existing high school structure remains an issue for students, teachers and support staff. For the last five years, Dr. Long and the district have been working to create a plan to fix the high school’s infrastructure problems.
The issue of rebuilding the high school goes back to the school board’s decision 30 years ago to simply cover up the high school campus’ aged 1960’s buildings with a giant metal roof to save money for voters.
While the can may have been kicked down the road 30 years ago, it can longer be ignored.
Last August, an election was held for voters inside the Mountain Home school district for the question of whether to raise millage rates for the purpose of covering new construction costs.
The measure failed with a 16-vote spread. Recent increases in Baxter County property tax assessments, misinformation and a national recession are the most likely suspects in the defeated millage increase.
 

The head of the new state school construction agency is asking the Legislature to fund three additional positions to help build and renovate up to 200 preschool classrooms by June 2024.
The School Facilities Authority, created in 2020, has $200 million for the task but is off to a slow start with only three people working on it so far.
Executive Director Chad Keone Farias presented his case Monday to the House Finance Committee, asking lawmakers to create three additional positions, including a project manager, a planner and a budget analyst.
“The challenge is the race against the clock,” Farias said in an interview after the legislative briefing. “We’re working as fast as we can.”
The state has long dealt with a need for preschool classrooms as many that exist are at total capacity. That issue was heightened by the coronavirus pandemic, which forced some facilities to close their doors permanently.
Last year, lawmakers allocated $200 million to offset those shortages with the construction, expansion or renovation of prekindergarten facilities across the state. But the School Facilities Authority must spend the money by the end of June 2024.
Farias, a former principal and complex area superintendent at the state Department of Education, said he needs more staff to get the work done faster as the authority barely has a working website and a temporary office in Hilo. He said he also hopes to get a permanent office for the state authority in Honolulu.
During the meeting, Rep. Bertrand Kobayashi said people were unsupportive of the new authority when it started and asked Farias if he anticipates any milestones in the next couple of years.
“I’m a little surprised that you still don’t have staff fully on board,” Kobayashi said.
Farias said the authority will make progress by next year. When lawmakers introduced legislation to create the authority, many questioned how the agency will work, transparency and oversight, and duplication of the DOE’s duties.
“Since then, I felt a bunch of pushback in certain places, so I’ve become aware that maybe people weren’t fully supportive of this,” Farias responded. “I still believe in our core mission that we can do this work.”
 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia's governor has appointed a longtime educator to lead the state's School Building Authority.
The office of Gov. Jim Justice said he has named Andy Neptune as executive director of the West Virginia School Building Authority.
In a news release Friday, Justice said Neptune replaces David Roach, who became superintendent of the West Virginia Department of Education.
Neptune served 34 years in the Marion County school system, working as a principal, assistant principal, teacher and coach.
He served 14 years in the county’s central office as an administrative assistant, supervising personnel, student nutrition, student services, transportation, maintenance, facilities and athletics, the news release said.
 

SHERMAN — The Sherman School Building Committee is starting to develop a comprehensive plan to address much needed repairs at the school.
“Really they’ve kicked off their deeper dive looking into the school and trying to develop their thoughts to put together a plan for the repairs,” said Matt Vogt, chair of the Sherman Board of Education. “I’m excited to see what kind of plan they can come up with to bring to the voters.”
The Sherman School, located at 2 Route 37 East, opened in 1937 and has since expanded with five additions over the last 86 years. Sherman School Building Committee Chair Pam Bonner said the closed historical "K-wing," the antiquated heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, and the issues with the school's well water are the facility's biggest challenges.
 

PHOENIX (AP) — A lawsuit over how much money Arizona's lawmakers allocate for school maintenance, buses, textbooks and technology won't go to trial next week, after a judge granted a request for a delay by the state’s incoming attorney general.
Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes said her office needs time to determine whether some or all of the claims can be resolved without a trial.
The trial was set to begin Monday. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Dewain Fox approved Mayes’ request Friday and scheduled a status hearing for March 17, the Arizona Republic reported.
A group of school districts and associations representing school officials and teachers sued the state in 2017. They argued that the Legislature had shorted them billions of dollars in capital funding for more than a decade.
The lawsuit sought a declaration that Arizona’s school funding scheme was unconstitutional because it violated the “uniform and general” clause of the state Constitution. The state Supreme Court ruled in 1994 that it is the state’s responsibility to provide cash for new schools, major maintenance and things like textbooks. The Legislature began cutting that spending during the Great Recession of 2007-2009.