Godfrey-Lee — Chilling wind and rain did not dampen a long-awaited  celebration at Lee Middle and High School.
District leaders, students, staff, community members and project partners gathered to break ground on a two-year restoration and expansion project. Over 100 years old, the building experienced a structural failure in June 2019, causing part of the roof to collapse. 
In November 2020, the community voted in support of a $17.9 million bond program to fund a major transformation to the building.
“This is an exciting time for our students, staff and community,” Superintendent Michael Burde said. “This project is a testament to our community’s unity and support. Together, we are restoring and improving the school, to ensure it serves our students well for decades to come.”
Burde thanked the Godfrey-Lee community for its “tremendous support” and for the “staff’s perseverance after the building collapsed.” He described the construction project as “student centered” and said it will incorporate new technologies, opportunities for community connections and collaborative teaching and creative spaces. 
He added: “It will be worth the wait.” 
Godfrey-Lee Board of Education President Erik Mockerman also praised the community’s support. 
“Our community steps up and it shows,” Mockerman said. “Our kids consistently exceed our high expectations and now they will have spaces worthy of their caliber.”
 

It has been six years since Camas School District voters passed a $120 million capital facilities bond to improve capacity and safety throughout the school district, built Discovery High School and Lacamas Lake Elementary School and purchased property to accommodate future schools.

Now, Camas school officials are taking a deeper look at student capacity needs over the next six years.

“We’re looking at the enrollment trends and facility needs going into the future,” Camas School District’s director of business services and operations, Jasen McEathron, told Camas School Board members during the Board’s April 18 workshop. “Plans have changed, right? Enrollment has slowed down. We completed all the projects that we said we’d deliver (in the 2016 bond) and then had an enrollment decline. So we’re sitting in a pretty good spot capacity-wise, but there are some pain points.”

School board members reviewed a draft of the district’s 2022-28 Capital Facilities Plan during the April 18 workshop and are expected to discuss the school district’s six-year building and capacity needs during their regular meeting on May 23.

The district’s 2016 bond may have built enough capacity for existing and new students through 2028, according to the executive summary of the draft six-year Capital Facilities Plan.

“Thanks to the 2016 bond, which provided an increase in educational facility capacity of 192 students at the elementary level, 360 students in middle school and 600 students in high school, the projected number of students by 2028 can be accommodated in the (school district’s) existing educational facilities and portable classrooms,” according to the draft plan presented to school board members earlier this month.

DOVER, Del. – Delaware Senator Stephanie Hansen filed legislation on Thursday to create the first uniform standards for evaluating the physical condition and air quality at more than 200 schools and other educational facilities operated by Delaware’s public school districts.

Currently, each of the state’s 19 school districts conducts its own internal needs assessments for school facilities with each district examining a different set of conditions at various frequencies based on its own standards. Officials say that when deficiencies are found, funding requests from the districts for minor capital improvements valued at less than $1 million are submitted to the Department of Education before being collectively presented to the Joint Capital Improvement Committee.

Over the past decade, most capital improvement funding has been allocated to major capital projects such as new school construction, with only $10 million to $15 million in state funds annually dedicated to minor capital projects statewide. This minimal funding makes it difficult for individual districts to keep up with maintenance on school buildings. We’re told the total value of deferred minor capital improvement funding requested by the state’s school districts is currently estimated at more than $1.1 billion, with nearly 50% of that cost coming from projects sought by the Christina and Red Clay Consolidated school districts alone.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The cafeteria at Duval County’s Cedar Hills Elementary School was shut down as maintenance staff and exterminators work to solve a rodent infestation at the campus.

Families were notified by a message from the school’s principal, Marva McKinney, who emphasized the importance of full transparency with regard to any situation that might affect student education.

“I am calling to share that rodents have been spotted on our campus and inside our school building,” McKinney’s message said. “Because of this, we are taking several measures using guidance from our pest control contractor and district maintenance staff.”

McKinney said the school closed down the school’s cafeteria, the main spot where rodents were found, allowing exterminators to carry out an “aggressive treatment plan” and minimize the impact on school operations.

The principal’s message noted that the plan includes “trapping and safely removing” the rodents. While the extermination efforts proceed, the school will have food prepared offsite and served to students outside the cafeteria.

Vermont Business Magazine As Vermont continues its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to build resilience for future challenges, schools across the state are investing in ventilation systems to improve indoor air quality and make classrooms healthier for students and staff.

This spring, the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE) and Efficiency Vermont launched the second round of the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Grant Program, which makes $13.5 million of federal funds available to schools with qualifying projects, through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.

This year’s effort builds on the success of a previous round of IAQ programming, which in 2020 leveraged $17 million in federal funding to help 365 Vermont schools improve indoor air quality through HVAC upgrades and air quality monitoring. As a result, more than 62,000 students and 6,500 teachers now spend time in K-12 schools with improved HVAC systems that bring fresh outside air into the building. More than 140 companies, including contracted engineers and tradespeople, worked on these projects.

“Vermont’s experience with COVID-19 demonstrates how important indoor air quality is to student health, safety and ability to learn,” said Secretary of Education Dan French. “Air handling systems often come with high upfront costs, especially when buildings are older, as many of our schools are. This grant program, along with technical assistance from Efficiency Vermont, brings important upgrades to these systems within reach. Studies show that improving indoor air quality mitigates the spread of airborne viruses and leads to better health and education outcomes. This is an important measure that will have wide ranging benefits beyond COVID-19 mitigation.”

“Engaging so many schools and contractors within a short period of time, was a substantial undertaking”, French added. “With its statewide platform and decades of experience helping schools invest in energy efficiency upgrades, Efficiency Vermont has been a valuable partner in this undertaking.”

There is strong evidence that improving ventilation and filtration can slow the transmission of infectious diseases like COVID-19. The anticipated eligible projects under the program align with COVID-19-specific guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — The Defense Department on Monday announced a $96 million award to Hawaii for construction of a new elementary school at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Oahu.

The new school will replace the dilapidated Mokapu Elementary School, which had earned a “poor” rating for its condition on the DOD’s most recent “Public Schools on Military Installations Priority List.”

All Hawaii public schools, including those on military bases, are administered by the state Department of Education.

Mokapu Elementary is made up of 12 permanent buildings constructed about 70 years ago and 10 portable structures that have been added for classroom space as the student body has grown through the years, the Marine Corps said in a news release Tuesday.

The complex sits on about 14 acres, with 813 students enrolled this school year, which concludes at the end of May.

The DOD priority list states that the existing school should have an enrollment no larger than 627 students.

When Muriel E. Bowser (D) first ran for mayor in 2014, she vowed to be the “education mayor.” She would transform the city’s lowest-performing schools and tackle a problem that has long vexed District leaders: middle schools.

But seven years later, as she runs for a third term, her promises are still unfulfilled in the city’s poorest wards. While she has poured more money into these schools, families continue to abandon the system after elementary school, choosing charter schools and campuses in wealthier areas over their assigned neighborhood schools.

The middle schools serving the most low-income populations are struggling, and the challenges are most acute at the five middle schools east of the Anacostia River in Wards 7 and 8, according to an analysis of city data and interviews with more than 20 parents and education leaders. Despite funding schools at unprecedented levels, the poor reputations of the five campuses in these wards persist — and standardized test scores show academic outcomes are still lagging far behind city averages.

Tucked into a $3.6 billion capital plan released by Mayor Michelle Wu this month is a proposal to get the ball rolling on a half-dozen school construction projects across the city, including new elementary schools in Dorchester and Roxbury.
Details are scant, but — if approved — the plan would launch studies on the six projects and could pave the way for a building boom for a school district that has seen few upgrades to its aging facilities in recent years.
The studies, which would cost about $150,000 to $175,000 each, would develop building plans and consider locations, mostly for elementary schools. Some line items include no information beyond the neighborhood and grade levels. More details on the school facilities plan will emerge in the course of the budget process, according to a city spokesperson.
“Every student in Boston deserves to learn in a space that is safe, healthy, energy-efficient, and inspiring,” the spokesperson said in an e-mail. “Mayor Wu has made it a top priority to invest in our school facilities, and we will have more details to share about the Mayor’s vision for district-wide facilities planning in the coming weeks.”
In total, the plan features $788 million in school spending, including funds from the Massachusetts School Building Authority. It would put the district on pace to hit the $1 billion over 10 years target envisioned in its BuildBPS planning process. It also represents a $47 million increase over district capital spending in the prior five-year plan.
 

STAMFORD — About $12 million of the COVID-19 relief funds sent to Stamford schools will go toward ventilation projects.
Kevin McCarthy, director of facilities operations, told Board of Education members last week that the school district has identified 23 air quality projects to tackle.
Some $10.5 million for the projects will come mostly from the third installment of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, also known as ESSER III.
The other $1.5 million will come from the second installment of ESSER, which was a $14.5 million allotment in relief funds, and runs out in September of 2023.
Stamford schools received $32.6 million in ESSER III money that must be spent by September 2024.
 

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A top administrator in Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney’s office asked the city’s independent auditor in January to consider making changes to a 2020 audit on school construction costs.

Nearly two months after the auditor declined, the city administrator sent him a text saying that the audit was “being used to beat us over the head on false premises.”

The messages that Richmond’s Chief Administrative Officer Lincoln Saunders sent to the city’s independent auditor Louis Lassiter, revealed through a public record request and first reported by Virginia Public Media, came amid debates between Stoney’s administration, the city council and school board over the construction of a new George Wythe High School.

The 2020 audit showed that Richmond had higher construction costs for two elementary schools compared to the state average and ones in Chesterfield County.

Saunders sent Lassiter an email on Jan. 26, more than two years after the audit was released, asking if his team would consider updating their findings by including other schools in the area using new data from the Virginia Department of Education.

"In most school districts, the second-largest yearly expense after salaries is the energy bill."
That's a quote from Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking earlier this month at an elementary school in Washington, D.C.
She was announcing a new, multibillion-dollar federal push to renovate public schools in ways that are healthier both for children and the planet – and often, that save money too.
The funds are spread across several different agencies and programs. The White House released a toolkit with details:
Heating and cooling upgrades: studies show that schools are on deck to spend $9.7 billion of American Rescue Plan funds to upgrade heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems – something that became top of mind to curb the spread of COVID-19. More efficient HVAC systems could lower energy costs and emissions.
Cleaner transportation: a $5 billion rebate program from the Environmental Protection Agency that replaces old, mostly diesel-fueled buses. Half the money is specifically for electric buses.
Carbon-free commuting: some of the $90 billion in the Department of Transportation's highway safety funds can be used to help with route planning so more students can walk or bike to school. 
Lower power costs, more light: a $500 million Department of Energy grant program, paid for by the infrastructure law, can be used for things like LED lights, better insulation, and solar panels.
 

Today the U.S. Department of Education named the 2022 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools, District Sustainability Awardees, and Postsecondary Sustainability Awardees. Across the country there are 27 schools, five districts, and four postsecondary institutions that are recognized. These honorees employ innovative practices and policies to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, improve health and wellness, and ensure effective sustainability education.

Could your school be the next U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School? Check out these spotlights from the 2022 honorees: 

Environmental education and sustainability changes at Crellin Elementary School (CES) began when the school community found historic mining contaminants in the creek behind the school. Not only was CES able to remedy the pollution, but it increased the overall health of the riparian area while creating an outdoor classroom. The environmental education laboratory is an outdoor classroom where students participate in hands-on activities using the wetland, boardwalk, hemlock forest, vernal ponds, meadows, orchard, and adjacent creek. CES’s agriculture program features barns with sheep and hens, with a solar panel to maximize hens’ egg production through daylight provision. The greenhouse employs hydroponics systems. CES has made efficiency upgrades, including building automation, interior and exterior LED lights, double-paned windows, HVAC, and building envelope, leading to an immediate decrease in energy usage. Low-flow fixtures reduce domestic water consumption and rain barrels provide water for gardens and barn animals.   

DeKalb County Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris is asking for “a little grace” as her administration tries to figure out the ramifications of a surprising decision by the school board about districtwide building repairs.
At a meeting this week, the board voted 5-2 in the final hour to put critical maintenance needs across the district first rather than major projects at a shorter list of schools. That was a blow to supporters hoping for modernization of Druid Hills High School, estimated to cost up to $60 million.
“We’re in a process of digesting what was presented and doing an analysis of how that fits into what we were planning to do anyway,” Watson-Harris said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Before Monday’s vote, she had urged the board to give staff time to vet the proposal. The school district has previously been accused of misusing taxpayer dollars and not keeping promises made to the community, she said.
But five members of the board decided not to heed the caution of Watson-Harris, who assumed her post nearly two years ago — the district’s sixth superintendent in almost a decade.
“We have to unpack what’s already been done, what we had already planned to do, what are the priority items that can be easily completed, our capital projects and the new priorities,” she told the AJC on Wednesday.
 

The Daviess County Public Schools Board of Education on Thursday approved a resolution that will speed up its building projects exponentially by removing the Kentucky Department of Education from the approval process for construction projects until June 20, 2024.

This resolution is made possible through House Bill 678.

According to the bill, which was signed by the governor earlier this month, the requirement for boards of education to receive approval from the state “to commence the funding, financing, design, construction, renovation or modification of district facilities” will be suspended.

This will, the bill states, “provide for an expedited process for approval of district facility plans and the acquisition and disposal of property.”

Sara Harley, DCPS director of finance, updated board members on this bill earlier this week during a luncheon meeting, at which point she said this bill means the district will not have to go through the “extra hoops” of sending construction items to Frankfort before they begin. She also told board members about a situation the district is dealing with at this time that will be impacted by the resolution.

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (KRQE) – A former employee for the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority is suing the state after he says he was retaliated against for questioning a massive budget increase in his department. Jeffrey Eaton oversaw budgets for school projects and says he discovered staff at that Facilities Authority were being pressured to exceed the budget for a Los Niños Elementary School project in Las Vegas, New Mexico, by nearly half a million dollars. 

Las Vegas teacher alleges she was fired for whistleblowing
“There was no legal authority to increase the budget for this project by almost $500,000.” There was enormous political pressure to get this done even though it broke the law and he was fired for not wanting to break the law,” said Eaton’s attorney, Jacob Candelaria.

The Facilities Authority claims there has never been a budget increase for the Los Niños project, and the project never exceeded its awarded amount. They also say Eaton was never fired, but that he resigned. According to the lawsuit, Eaton alleges the Facilities Authority forced him to resign, in retaliation for him blowing the whistle about the unlawful increase in the Los Niños budget.

DUBLIN — The Dublin Unified School District (DUSD) Board of Trustees approved a new, facilities master plan (FMP) during its regular meeting on Tuesday, April 12.

The FMP — which provides a blueprint to address the changing facility needs of the school district — was approved 3-2, with trustees Dan Cherrier and Gabi Blackman casting the dissenting votes. The two expressed concerns with the changes to the plan since its last version was presented in February.

Staff explained that the FMP allocates funds to the improvements but doesn’t nail down site plan details. The new FMP permits upgrades across school sites and the district office, including the completion of Emerald High School, a new middle school at Dublin Crossings, upgrades and improvements at Murray and Dougherty elementary schools, modernizations at Dublin Elementary School, and overall improvements in safety and technology.

Noting the plan’s approval to be a “great step in the right direction,” DUSD Public Information Officer Chip Dehnert said city’s growth over the recent decades presented a challenge in building the facilities necessary to provide students with the best educational experience possible. The previous plan was finalized in 2016 and needed to be updated.

“This plan is a reflection of Dublin as it currently exists and the expected growth we have. It is a much more accurate reflection of our needs and therefore, a better guide for future development than the previous plan,” he said.

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WEAU) - The School District of La Crosse is holding a pair of public community listening sessions to discuss long-term facility planning for the district.

The upcoming sessions will highlight the District’s declining student population, aging facilities and work done on budgeting and operations to manage persistent shortfalls in funding.

According to the District’s information page for facility planning, annual enrollment in the school district has declined by over 1,400 students in the past 20 years. The District cited lower birth rates over the past 30 years as a cause of the decline, and noted that each student brings in about $11,300 in revenue. In addition, La Crosse administrators expect the enrollment to continue to decline for at least the next five to 10 years. The most recent publicly-available open enrollment figures also show the school district losing more students to transfers than it is bringing in since 2018-19, with 2019-2020 seeing a net loss of 34 students to open enrollment transfer.

Aging facilities are also a concern of the School District of La Crosse, according to the District’s facility planning page. Some of the 15 buildings in operation are over 80 years old, with millions of dollars each year budgeted for maintenance and updates to keep the schools in compliance with federal and state standards. The District also said that La Crosse is the smallest school district in Wisconsin with two high schools, and that districts of its size typically have 10 or 11 buildings, not 15. The average age of the buildings used by the school district is 60 years.

When it came time for Halifax County School Board to consider approval of its capital improvement plan when they met Monday evening, it prompted school board members to ask about the future of some elementary schools.
In August of last year, the board mulled an idea to close Clays Mill Elementary, Meadville Elementary and Sinai Elementary as a way to help fund increases to teacher pay and the new Halifax County High School.
A series of public hearings were held in the fall on the matter, but the board made no decisions regarding the elementary schools.
The capital improvement plan they approved Monday evening includes a schedule of tasks the maintenance department hopes to complete within the next five years.
Included in the schedule for fiscal year 2023 are HVAC upgrades to Clays Mill Elementary School at a cost of $650,000, curtain replacement at Clays Mill Elementary School for approximately $7,500, partial roof replacement for $25,000 and curtain replacement at Sinai Elementary School for $10,000.
 

HOWARD COUNTY, Md. — Howard County leaders are making an investment in school construction to relieve classroom capacity and overcrowding.
County officials announced on Tuesday the details of a record school construction investment will create an additional 2,400 spaces for students by 2023.
overcrowded schools a thing of the past
Howard County working to make overcrowded schools a thing of the past
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By: WMAR StaffPosted at 4:09 PM, Apr 19, 2022 and last updated 5:54 PM, Apr 19, 2022
HOWARD COUNTY, Md. — Howard County leaders are making an investment in school construction to relieve classroom capacity and overcrowding.
County officials announced on Tuesday the details of a record school construction investment will create an additional 2,400 spaces for students by 2023.
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County Executive Calvin Ball’s proposed budget contains $105.9 million for school construction, the most in at least the past 20 years.
The funding provides all the construction resources requested by the Board of Education and HCPSS, including the completion of High School #13 in Jessup, the Talbott Springs Elementary replacement, and the renovation and addition at Hammond High.
“Howard County is a premier place to live and grow, which is why families choose to raise their children here,” said County Executive Calvin Ball. “Through responsible management and strong partnerships, we can now invest more than $105 million in school construction during the next year, the highest amount in more than two decades. We are building facilities that will foster excellent environments for teaching and learning.”
The investment also includes over $30 million in total funding for systemic renovations, including:
 

A majority of our nation’s school buildings are at least 50 years old. Think about that: the classrooms and other school facilities where our kids spend hours on end, five days a week, are in desperate need of renovations to deal with issues like leaking roofs, broken air-conditioning, mold or mildew issues, and poor air quality.

Here in New York City, the situation is even more dire: the average age of our school buildings is 70 years old.

This is a crisis for our students, and it’s especially acute in communities of color that have endured generations of underinvestment. The environment in which our students learn affects everything from their test scores to their health and well-being. Old, deteriorating school buildings rely on outdated equipment, pumping tons of carbon emissions into the air. Taxpayers are on the hook for millions of dollars in energy costs, which nationwide represent the second-highest costs for schools after personnel. We need to get this under control before it’s too late.

Fortunately, earlier this week, the White House announced the Biden-Harris Action Plan for Building Better School Infrastructure, a $500 million grant program that will allow states and cities to invest in green retrofits that improve energy efficiency, air quality, and health outcomes for students across the country. Importantly, these projects will create hundreds of thousands of new, good union jobs across the country, building a pipeline between public schools and union careers that will support strong communities and a just economy for all.