Members of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education are facing a dilemma when it comes to paying for all the projects in the $350 million bond package that voters approved in 2016.
With construction costs expected to be as much as $350 a square foot, the bond sale is now likely to fall $63 million short of finishing all the projects that came before voters.
Three projects — additions at Ward and Griffith elementary schools and a new Smith Farm Middle School — are likely to be delayed. The school board, upon the recommendation of district leaders — is now looking at altering two other projects, renovations at Philo-Hill Middle School and East Forsyth High School.
At a workshop last week, school board members talked extensively about how to approach those projects. In the end, they decided to visit each of the schools to better evaluate the needs there.
Superintendent Tricia McManus has talked previously about the subpar conditions at Philo-Hill Middle School, saying renovations there must stay on track. However, spending more at Philo-Hill may mean less extensive renovations at East Forsyth.
 

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Hundreds of millions of dollars in construction is underway or planned to upgrade schools on overseas U.S. military bases in the Pacific, according to Department of Defense Education Activity officials.

Major projects underway in Japan include a $150 million replacement for Nile C. Kinnick High School at Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo and the $95 million replacement of Bechtel Elementary School at Camp McTureous on Okinawa, DODEA Pacific chief of staff Todd Schlitz told Stars and Stripes by phone July 28.

A $175 million replacement for Kubasaki High School on Camp Foster, Okinawa, is in the design phase, he said. Work has also started on a new $20 million DODEA Pacific East District Superintendent Office at Yokota.

Plans to replace Joan K. Mendel Elementary School at Yokota have been delayed at least five years due to the project’s “size and executability concurrent with other school projects,” although they will be reviewed yearly, DODEA Pacific spokeswoman Miranda Ferguson said by email June 22.

Over the past five years, DODEA has completed projects to build, renovate or add on to Zama Middle-High School, Sasebo Elementary School, Kadena Elementary and High schools, Bob Hope Elementary School, Killin Elementary School, E.J. King Middle School, Edgren Middle School, Yokota High School and Zukeran Elementary School, Schlitz said.

First-phase renovations at Erie High School are nearing completion as a four-story addition is rising at Fairview High School.

A multiyear, multi-million-dollar renovation is underway at McDowell Intermediate High School. Another is about to begin at Corry Area Middle-High School.

Cathedral Prep/Villa Maria will open a new technology center when the two schools combine this all.

They're just some of the construction and renovation projects underway as local schools prepare for the start of classes.

Erie High School work leads district's 'warm, safe and dry' projects
The first phase of a $65 million, multiyear project at Erie High School is expected to be finished ahead of schedule this fall.

TAOS — The state is poised to help the Peñasco Independent School District demolish its facilities and replace them with new buildings.

The rural district has struggled to keep up with the increasingly burdensome maintenance needs of its elementary, middle and high schools, parts of which were built in the 1950s. Some classrooms lacked heat last winter, and students returned to school earlier this month to find there was no air conditioning in some classrooms.

The district is working on its first-ever facilities master plan.

Three staff members of the state Public School Capital Outlay Council, traveled to Peñasco to apprise the district of the opportunity. Alyce Ramos, programs manager for the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority, told the Peñasco school board Tuesday that all three buildings are expected to rise near the top of the state’s list of school facilities in need of replacement.

The list, updated annually, will be released Jan. 7.

Peñasco’s schools are ranked between 153rd and 379th among nearly 700 public schools across the state. After the list is updated, the district’s schools will all be ranked somewhere “in the top 20 or 25,” Ramos said. If the district applies for facilities replacement, Peñasco could see new buildings in three to six years.

The Long Beach Unified School District has unanimously adopted a policy to implement goals aimed at reducing emissions and moving the district toward the use of clean and renewable energy.
LBUSD students and community members celebrated when the board approved the policy on Wednesday, Aug. 17. Among them was the Long Beach Green Schools Campaign, a student-led effort to address the climate crisis which has been advocating for the policy since 2020.
"I'm really happy, I think that's an understatement," said Diana Michaelson, an incoming senior at Poly High and founder of the Long Beach Green Schools Campaign. "Happy to have had this opportunity to work with district staff to do this all together, collaboratively."
The formally titled "Green School Operations — Energy and Sustainability Policy" is a revision of the district's original policy adopted in 2019. The updates arose from a collaborative involving the LBUSD facilities department, sustainability team, director of strategic programs and policy, Long Beach Green Schools Campaign, and LBUSD staff.
The revised policy is part of a multi-step approach to address climate change and justice at LBUSD, according to the agenda.
Its three main goals are reducing energy and water consumption by maximizing use of renewable and clean energy technologies, ensuring new and replacement machinery is zero-emissions, and reducing vehicle emissions to campuses. The policy also establishes a climate crisis and sustainability task force to hold the district accountable.
 

Albuquerque Public Schools unveiled the Atrisco Heritage Academy High School photo-voltaic and battery storage project on Thursday, Aug. 18.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico joined APS Superintendent Scott Elder and others in learning more about the state's largest public school clean energy project.

Also on hand were APS Board of Education President Yolanda Montoya-Cordova, Atrisco Heritage Academy Principal Irene Cisneros, APS staff who have worked for years on the project, project partners, and other distinguished guests. 

The solar panel and battery storage project showcases the latest step toward the district's ultimate goal of safe, energy-efficient facilities that conserve taxpayer resources while reducing our carbon footprint.

More than 2,200 electricity-producing solar panels -- which amounts to about one solar panel per student at AHA -- will generate electricity stored in a Tesla Megapack 2-energy storage system.

School construction within Park City limits is governed by both the city and the state. The Utah State Board of Education, or USBE, issues what are called project numbers before school districts can begin construction work.

Demolition started at Park City High School at the beginning of July – without a project number. The state found out about that this week, and called the district. In response, Park City schools superintendent Jill Gildea said the district would stop work until it provides the state what it needs to issue a project number.

The school district sent some required forms to the state Friday. It still needs to provide building and energy code reviews, a state fire marshal review, a Summit County Health Department review, a storm water permit and proof of coordination with Park City.

Scott Jones is deputy superintendent in charge of operations for the USBE. According to Jones, Gildea told state schools superintendent Sydnee Dickson this week that required documents weren’t submitted to the state due to a paperwork backlog within Park City Municipal.

“She cited some kind of backlogged paper documentation of what we still need to issue the project number. And we're trying to confirm this," Jones said. "Apparently all of that is subject to backlogs at the city level and that's why this management company from Park City School District or that works for them, JD Stevens, hasn't sent all the documentation we need.”

From San Diego to Sacramento, the threat of rising temperatures to our youth continues to worsen.

And as six million California public school students return to class this month, they’ll be walking onto schoolyards covered with asphalt – prison-like, unhealthy environments that are detrimental to a kid’s physical, mental and educational health.

Fortunately, state policymakers this month have an historic opportunity to build a lasting, bipartisan legacy to address this systemic injustice by ripping out asphalt, planting trees and “greening” K-12 schools so our youth can grow, learn and play in healthier environments.

As our Legislature works with Gov. Newsom on how to wisely invest our $70 billion budget surplus, we urge them to allocate at least $250 million to support a rapidly growing movement of students, teachers and parents seeking greener schools.

With little shade and asphalt reaching 150 degrees, parents are urging the Los Angeles Unified School District to make changes to schoolyards and ensure they don't turn into "heat islands."
"We are starting in August now. It's the hottest time of the year and our playground is asphalt," said LAUSD mom Cecile Michaelis.
The hot playgrounds and campuses are forcing students to be indoors to avoid suffering from heat illnesses. The mere potential of their children getting sick from playing in the heat concerns parents like Connor Clayton.
"The kids come home from school completely beat red, dehydrated, hot and sweaty," Clayton, whose two girls attend Shirley Avenue Elementary School. 
In response, an LAUSD spokesperson said the district has tried to remedy the heat with air-conditioned areas and by limiting students' time in high-heat areas.
"When temperatures are high, our school provides air-conditioned bungalows for students during recess and lunch," the spokesperson said. We also have several trees that provide shade in our courtyard and we proactively limit student access to areas that may experience high heat, including select playground equipment."
 

VALLEY CITY, N.D. (Valley News Live/NewsDakota.com) - The Valley City School board has moved away from the idea of building a new school due to the high cost of construction. Superintendent Josh Johnson said the focus shifted to repairing their existing facilities.

“Looking at the state of our facilities and explored building a new school, quickly recognizing over seven to eight months that through inflation, the cost of construction was not feasible for us to build new. We stepped back, took a refocus, and determined what it was that we would prioritize in our current facilities,” Johnson said.

He said the district plans to use about $3 million of COVID funding and the rest of the proposal could be financed by increasing their building fund levy.

“Currently 12 mills up to 20 mills would be an additional ask of our taxpayers to support the immediate needs that we have in our schools,” Johnson explained.

When students at the Gallipolis City School District in southeast Ohio return from summer break, they’ll be sitting in classrooms with air cleaned and freshened by almost $4 million in refurbishments.
The district retrofitted once-inefficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems at five of its schools, adding new equipment with higher rated filters, automation and ultraviolet irradiation. 
For a district with about 2,000 students, it’s a sizable investment — paid for by the federal government with Covid relief funding. School leaders hope it buys them peace of mind after two years of pandemic disruptions. 
“Our students are behind … the least we can do is provide them, you know, a comfortable climate with good air quality,” district Superintendent Craig Wright said. “It helps reduce the spread. I think it helps increase the likelihood that we don’t have to use masks. Nobody likes to use a mask.”
The overhaul is one of many made to schools across the United States as part of an effort to dramatically cut the risk of infection from the coronavirus. They’re changes experts say could have broader benefits in reducing the spread of infectious diseases that can often sweep through schools.
Changes have not been uniform. Billions of federal dollars available to improve ventilation have yet to be spent. Surveys suggest some school leaders weren’t sure how they could access that money and experts are warning that some rural schools could be falling behind. 
 

Details relating to the start date of the Evelyn M. Williams school demolition were announced at a press briefing on Wednesday. The event was held jointly with the V.I. Department of Education and the Office of Disaster Recovery.
During the briefing, it was revealed that the $3 million school demolition project will begin on August 22, making way for construction of what will be the new Arthur A. Richards PreK-8 School.
Speakers at Wednesday’s event held at the abandoned Evelyn M. Williams Elementary School site in Estate Paradise included Education Commissioner Nominee Dionne Wells-Hedrington, ODR Director Adrienne Williams-Octalien, and licensed contractors. 
Wells-Hedrington said it was a great day for the Dept. of Education as she relayed her elation to be present to kickoff the demolition of the first school rebuild in the territory following the storms of 2017. She said it had taken “a long time to get here,” but went on to assure the community that this was just the first of many more to come.
“It's been a long time in negotiations with FEMA,” she said. “It’s been been a long time with us having community meetings to bring the community up to speed with our facility master plan document and all the things we want to see in terms of our facilities moving forward.” 
According to Wells-Hedrington, it's no secret that public education facilities in the territory were aged and extensive repairs and replacements were needed in some cases. 
 

PRINCETON — Mold discovered at a Mercer County school is delaying its opening for the year until its interior can be cleaned.

On Aug. 8, mold was discovered on surfaces in classrooms at Princeton Primary School, according a press release issued Tuesday afternoon. Mercer County Schools contacted the West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of School Facilities and representatives from that office inspected the school on Aug. 10.

On Aug. 15, Mercer County Schools received an Indoor Air Quality report from the Office of School Facilities. Their determination was that during the summer, mold formed because of an HVAC system failure to regulate humidity levels within the building.

In order for the removal of mold and repairs to the HVAC system to regulate humidity levels, Princeton Primary School will not open for in-person learning on Aug.26, according to school officials.

Inflation on construction costs is impacting every builder and developer in the region, and the School District of Manatee County is no exception. 

Tim Bargeron, the associate superintendent of finance for the School District of Manatee County, said the cost of construction has increased about 20%, which means the cost of each of the district's capital projects will significantly increase as well.

The projected cost of inflation for the 15 major capital plan projects on the five-year plan is projected to be just under $42 million. 

The School Board of Manatee County approved a resolution in October 2020 that allows the school district to borrow up to $100 million for capital projects.

School board members now must decide whether to borrow now, and even expand the amount that can be borrowed to $135 million or more, in order to have the ability to fast-track several projects that are scheduled late in the five-year plan.

The thought is that building sooner, even though interest must be paid on loans, will eventually save millions on possible inflation costs.

SULPHUR — At 7:30 a.m. on a sunny Friday, the courtyard of W.W. Lewis Middle School was buzzing with the chatter of students eager to start classes after the summer break.

It was the first day of the second school year after the destructive hurricanes of 2020, which damaged all of the Calcasieu Parish school district’s 76 facilities. Lewis Middle School was hit especially hard; the school’s library, gym and auditorium were taken out of commission.

Two years later, work on the auditorium, a space used by both the school and community groups, has yet to commence. Looming behind the courtyard swarming with students that morning, the 1,300-seat facility remained completely gutted and dark. The only structures inside were towering levels of scaffolding put up a week earlier.

A cross the country, K-12 schools are starting their next year of classes in the middle of a COVID-19 surge. As the BA.5 Omicron subvariant drives thousands of reinfections, schools have largely put aside safety measures like mask requirements and physical distancing.
In response, some parents and experts are trying to improve ventilation in schools, since better air quality in buildings can reduce COVID-19’s spread and even improve other health outcomes. But, despite readily available resources—including millions of dollars in funding from the federal government—many schools have not invested in upgrading their air quality.
“We know that ventilation is important to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2,” says Dr. Catherine Rasberry, a scientist in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Division of Adolescent and School Health. Ventilation is highlighted throughout the CDC’s guidance for safe in-person learning during the pandemic. Improving it could cut down on school outbreaks and the interruptions they pose to families, as well as mitigate the risks of MIS-C and Long COVID in children—two long-term conditions that can result from a COVID-19 infection.
 

WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Students in the District will head back to school in less than two weeks, but some city officials worry schools won’t be ready in time.
“I’m concerned about whether or not the Department of General Services will be able to fix all of the outstanding issues, especially the major ones, before students and teachers return,” said Council Member at Large Robert White.
White is one of several council members who have been touring DC Public Schools facilities prior to the August 29 start date.
White, as well as council members Elissa Silverman and Janeese Lewis George, have reported seeing a range of facility issues that need to be addressed.
“We’re seeing HVAC issues, leak issues, electrical issues in addition to some minor issues,” said White.
After one day of school visits, Silverman wrote on Twitter, “It doesn’t seem @DCDGS pays attention to warranties on systems. We heard repeatedly about HVAC systems that failed almost upon building opening.” And, “The process @DCDGS has for work orders is focused on “closing out orders” rather than the actual goal of fixing what is broken.”
 

A neighborhood elementary school from 1973 operating at just one third of its capacity. A popular school built in 1958 and bursting at the seams with students. 

The fate of these school buildings and more than 65 others in the Indianapolis Public Schools system may be determined in the coming weeks, as the district grapples with declining enrollment in its traditional neighborhood schools.

Closing and consolidating schools, one of several possible responses to the district’s financial challenges, could depend heavily on a facilities report examining each school’s condition and usage. The potential solution is one of several outlined in the district’s Rebuilding Stronger initiative – a broader effort to reorganize IPS as its students flock to charter and choice schools.

An IPS spokesman declined to make its full facilities report available to Chalkbeat. It is unclear if or when the district will release the full report. The district has been tight-lipped in general about how it will consider closing or consolidating schools.

STERLING, Va. - A brand new elementary school opening in Loudoun County is raising the roof on solar energy. The Elaine Thompson Elementary School is the first school in Sterling to have solar panels built into its design, providing 40 percent of the school's power needs.
"From the environmental perspective, this is an appropriate design model for us to do and to become more energy efficient," said Tim Sparbaine, the school's principal.
"The energy we receive is stored from the solar panels just like a battery so where it's sunny outside and we are getting more storage from the energy to where it's cloudy outside we are getting less storage so that all feeds into the overall electrical operation of our system."
The school is one of four national level award winners. The challenge recognizes new construction projects that are achieving ENERGY STAR certification for energy efficient and preventing carbon dioxide emissions.
 

NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. —
The North Kansas City School District is set to open two new elementary schools on Monday.
The new buildings will replace two older school buildings, coinciding with other renovations across the district.
Maplewood and Davidson Elementary students will walk into brand new schools. NKC Schools say the schools, both over 60 years old, needed to be replaced. The district says it will give its youngest learners a modern and updated learning environment.
Both schools will be ready on Aug. 20, 2022, for the first day of school