Seismic safety has gripped the Portland Public Schools Board for the past few weeks as parents have urged board members to develop a system to prioritize retrofits at some of the most high-risk schools.

On May 6, the School Board approved a resolution to prioritize seismic upgrades for funding from the $1.83 billion bond now on ballots. The district’s proposed bond includes $190 million for deferred maintenance upgrades. It could also bank an additional $176 million to $208 million of spillover from high school modernization projects. Both those pots of money now carry the directive that they should be spent on seismic upgrades before most of the district’s other needs. (The resolution allows the district to first prioritize $100 million toward imminent risk projects.)

The resolution’s approval led Safe Structures PPS, a recently created parent group advocating for seismic upgrades, to endorse the school bond on Thursday.

Calls for the district to allocate money toward seismic safety grew louder after reporting by WW in late March highlighted 19 unreinforced masonry buildings across PPS that weren’t going to receive much funding from the upcoming bond. Particularly dangerous are buildings with beams, girders and trusses resting on unreinforced masonry walls. Even a moderate quake, much less the feared “Big One” in the Cascadia subduction zone, could cause some schools to collapse on students (“Shake Shacks,” March 26).

Like most centenarians, two public schools built more than 100 years ago in the small eastern Nevada community of Ely have seen better days.
Although David E. Norman Elementary School (built in 1909) and White Pine School Middle School (1913) hold a special place in the hearts of the thousands of students who passed through their doors, school district officials say the buildings have many issues that make them a legal liability and hindrance on students’ ability to learn.
Both facilities have asbestos within the walls, floors, plumbing and ceiling. The elementary school lacks reliable heating and cooling and a sprinkler system, putting its 300 students and staff at risk if there was a fire.
There’s no elevator in the middle school that serves more than 200 students, making the upper floors of the three-story building inaccessible for students and staff who can’t easily go up flights of stairs, which goes against the Americans with Disabilities Act.
This recently forced student Ty Willman to temporarily attend school online because he couldn’t go up the stairs after he broke his leg, which he said took a toll on his education and mental health. 
“My condition may be temporary, but not everyone's is,” he said during a March 3 legislative hearing. “I'm here to speak for everyone, but White Pine Middle School is not built for everyone.”
District officials estimate getting the schools up to code would cost just as much as building a replacement K-8 school, something they’ve been wanting to do for almost three decades.
 

The Fairfax County School Board is considering a series of changes that might help cut down costs and other hurdles for new school projects.

During a work session on Tuesday (May 6), the school board and Fairfax County Public Schools staff discussed ways to reduce costs for new construction or share that burden with other entities — like through public-private partnerships or cost-sharing agreements.

The proposed new strategies come as FCPS struggles to address overcrowding schools while construction costs continue to climb.

Three of the major concepts that the school board explored were:

Construction manager at risk: a project delivery method where a construction manager, hired as early as the design phase, oversees a project with a guarantee to deliver it at a maximum price
Alternative swing-space options: additional options for how to continue school operations while construction is underway on a new school project
Public-private partnerships: cost-sharing programs where schools could share buildings with private development

HealthDay News — Milwaukee will temporarily close two more elementary schools as it works to tackle a lead crisis in its public school buildings.
The school district announced April 28 that Westside Academy and Brown Street School will close for repairs. Two other schools — Starms Early Childhood Education Center and LaFollette School — had already been closed. So far, nine schools have been flagged for lead hazard work, and students are being moved while repairs are being made, CNN reported.
The city’s school district and health department are checking about 100 schools built before 1978, when lead was banned in paint. They expect inspections and repairs to continue through the summer.
Superintendent Brenda Cassellius said 54 schools built before 1950 are scheduled to be cleaned before the next school year. Another 52 schools built between 1950 and 1978 are expected to be cleaned by year’s end.
“We are asking families to remain vigilant and to please have their children tested for lead exposure,” Cassellius said. Families can use their doctor or pop-up clinics organized by the city.
 

When the Chicago Board of Education made the decision to close 50 public schools in 2013, it set a goal to sell or tear down all the closed buildings by 2017.
But today, 21 of the 50 abandoned buildings remain -- proverbial beached whales in the middle of often-struggling residential communities -- on Chicago’s West and South Sides. Several of the schools are  deteriorating and often vandalized, with no real future in sight.
NBC 5 Investigates has been following the fate of these vacant schools ever since they closed. In 2014, and then again in 2016, we reported that Chicago taxpayers were spending millions on these empty buildings, for heat, light, landscaping and other maintenance. 
Now, 12 years later, NBC 5 Investigates checked in again, to see if the remaining buildings had been disposed of or repurposed. 
This CPS website shows the 21 schools that we found are still abandoned and unused.
The Chicago School Board just put these 21 buildings up for bid – something it has done in past years as well, when it was successful in selling some of the other closed buildings. The current opportunity to bid on these vacant properties ends on May 30, 2025. 
But what is happening to these buildings in the meantime? 
We visited several of the schools, some of which seemed to still be in fairly good shape more than a decade after they were closed, but others showed serious signs of neglect, blight, and irreparable wear and tear.
 

As the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) makes plans to close an unknown number of schools, people have questioned what shutting buildings could mean for surrounding neighborhoods. 

At a CMSD community meeting last month, parents, teachers and Cleveland residents weighed in. Some said having a school in their neighborhood makes it safer. Others said schools help foster a sense of community at shared spaces such as playgrounds. 

Over the last decade, CMSD has offered up dozens of closed schools and vacant lots where schools once stood for sale. Some old buildings are set to be reopened as apartments for seniors and people with lower incomes. Cleveland needs more affordable housing, but turning schools into apartments can take time and sometimes requires some taxpayer investment. 

CMSD currently has 21 properties that were formerly schools. Some still have buildings on them, some are vacant lots, some are being leased out and others are in the process of redevelopment, according to a district spokesperson. 

Frederick County plans to fully or partially fund several school renovation and construction projects to address overcrowding and aging infrastructure, without raising taxes for residents.

Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater announced over half of the county’s $1 billion budget would go to fund the Frederick County Public School System (FCPS) in April. In addition to the more than $508 million allocated to FCPS, $175 million in funds will go to projects to renovate old schools or build new ones.

This 86% increase in funding for school projects over last year does not come with an increase to the taxes Frederick residents will have to pay.

Fitzwater explained a five cent property tax introduced in last fiscal year will provide a constant revenue stream into the County’s Dedicated Reserve for Future Years for School Construction. Funds from the Dedicated Reserve will be used to pay for the renovations. “We were able to move forward -by a year- two limited renovation projects at two of our older elementary schools,” Fitzwater said. “Hillcrest, in the city of Frederick, and also Twin Ridge Elementary, which is in Mount Airy.”

Merizo Martyrs Memorial School is the latest Guam Department of Education facility to successfully pass renewal sanitary inspection, placing the department 11 schools ahead of the inspection schedule.
A release from GDOE reported that the Malesso' elementary school, was inspected on April 1, by the Department of Public Health and Social Services Division of Environmental Health inspectors, receiving a “B grade”  with 18 demerits.
“With great pleasure, I can report that this success was based on our one-team approach with our GDOE (facilities and maintenance) employees. Although we were not able to address and correct previously cited demerits, the team will continue to work together to strive for a letter grade of A for next school year,” MMMS Principal Erica Cepeda said.
According to GDOE the inspection grade brings validation to the department’s effort to provide a safe and healthy environment to students as mandated in the Adequate Education Act’s 14 points.
“Congratulations, Merizo Martyrs’ Memorial School! We will continue to prioritize these safety practices and work collaboratively to foster a nurturing environment that supports the physical well-being of everyone in the school community,” GDOE Superintendent Kenneth Erik Swanson said.
 

TROY — The pouring rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of Troy City Schools supporters as the district held a groundbreaking Thursday for a new elementary school on the site of Hook Elementary School.

The symbolic event celebrated the coming construction of three new elementary schools, one new intermediate school and an update to Troy High School. The buildings will be the first new ones in the district since the Troy Junior High School construction in 1972. School leaders said the average age of current buildings is around 85 years.

The initial construction will place a foundation for the future of the district, said Superintendent Chris Piper.

He described the groundbreaking day as one “full of hope, dreams and gratitude.” The best days for the schools, and the community, are yet to come, Piper said.

Three Portland Public Schools board members have drafted a resolution to earmark almost all unspecified spending from its proposed $1.83 billion bond for seismic upgrades at elementary and middle schools.

The eleventh-hour resolution comes amid a firestorm of questions about the specifics, or lack thereof, in the bond proposal, the bulk of which is dedicated to replacing or modernizing three high schools. Most of the district’s voters already have ballots in hand and the deadline to vote is May 20.

The resolution, drafted by outgoing board members Julia Brim-Edwards and Gary Hollands along with Herman Greene, who is running for re-election, will be up for a vote at the school board meeting Tuesday. Hollands said he believes there is enough support from the other four board members to pass the plan.

There’s a lot of music in the air in Washington Heights.
That’s because there was a concert celebrating the opening of a new building for a charter school for the musically gifted.
Anthony McGill, the principal Clarinetist at the New York Philharmonic, attended the opening of this new $44 million Washington Heights and Inwood Music Community Charter School building.
Jazz Great Wynton Marsalis gave a Citizen Artistry Award to the dean of Juilliard’s preparatory division, Weston Sprott.
And composer Kebra-Seyoun Charles performed on the double bass.
But the real stars were the WHIN Students, who have two periods, five days a week of choir and Orchestra.
This charter school was founded in 2016, but it hasn’t received this state-of-the-art building until now.
Its eight-story facade was inspired by sheet music, with the windows looking like music notes.
The school aims to instill a love of music and learning in its 500 students, who attend Kindergarten through eighth grade.
 

The Sandwich Public Schools proposed budget tops $40 million for fiscal year 2026 but School Superintendent Joseph Maruszczak has warned that deferred maintenance has caused infrastructure across the district to deteriorate and more money is needed.

"There are critical points where you need to make major investments in capital projects," said Maruszczak on Tuesday, April 29. "That's where we are right now."

The school budget is among 22 warrant articles that Sandwich town meeting will consider when it meets May 5 at 7 p.m. at Sandwich Middle High School.

Article 2 on the annual town meeting warrant will ask residents to vote on a $99.5 million fiscal 2026 total budget.

The school district budget, as proposed at $40.8 million is about 60% of the town’s proposed operating budget, and outlines a roughly $1.1 million increase from fiscal 2025, according to the warrant.

Albuquerque Public Schools celebrated a week of progress on capital projects, with groundbreakings for two schools and a grand opening for another.

On Tuesday, APS leaders joined the Corrales Elementary School community for a groundbreaking to expand the school into a K-8 facility. The $56.7 million project includes new buildings, renovations and site redesign. 

The nearly 121,000-square-foot facility is designed to accommodate about 525 students and 50 staff members. Voters approved funding for the project in 2021, and the estimated completion date is July 2027.

The plan to turn Corrales Elementary into a small K-8 school is aimed, in part, at retaining more students. Roughly 60% of outgoing Corrales Elementary students currently transfer out of APS for middle school.

On Wednesday, Harrison Middle School held a groundbreaking for the first phase of a three-phase school replacement. The $30.3 million first phase includes the construction of a 54,480 square-foot facility to house various classrooms and support spaces. Completion for that first phase is expected by March 2026. Voters also approved funding for that project in 2021.

WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Waukesha is known as the birthplace of electric guitar pioneer Les Paul, but when it comes to the future of its schools, this community is striking the same chords as many others across Wisconsin. Declining enrollments are forcing tough decisions, and administrators on Thursday presented a plan to adapt by reducing the district's building space by 10-15%.

District leaders pointed to declining birthrates as reason to expect enrollment to keep falling in the years to come. It's a demographic challenge facing most of Wisconsin's school districts.

In the School District of Waukesha, the on-site enrollment of 9,675 students is nearly 4,000 fewer than the 13,526 seats available throughout the district. 

Harvey Stowe served as a middle school principal and assistant superintendent in the district before retiring in 2008. Before Thursday's meeting, he said the district weighed closing schools amid declining enrollment toward the end of his career.

"About 2002, 2005, around there, and people discussed the need down the road with population that we may have to do some things differently," he said.

At the start of the legislative session, Hawaiʻi school officials came to lawmakers with a bold request: stop funding pet construction projects and let the Department of Education take control of its budget instead. 

The department receives an average of $454 million in capital improvement funds each year. But over the past decade, more funding has been set aside by lawmakers for specific projects in their districts that don’t always align with what DOE says schools and students need. 

In a year when the DOE listed upgrading softball fields, addressing gender inequities and improving a science classroom at Leilehua High School as top priorities, lawmakers funded — among other things — a $4.3 million covered playground, a $7.2 million covered walkway and $21.6 million for projects at Leilehua that did not include the science classroom.

When school officials asked for $34 million for a new classroom building for ʻIlima Intermediate School in 2022, lawmakers responded with $2.5 million for a new performing arts center instead. The project was so off base from DOE’s original request that officials recently proposed returning the performing arts money to the state.  

Nine public schools in Baton Rouge are closing, four are relocating, seven are getting new grade configurations and 12 will have redrawn attendance zones under sweeping action taken Monday by the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board.
The school board, without opposition, approved Supt. LaMont Cole's long-in-the-making realignment plan. The vote sets off a three-month race to put the changes into effect for the start of the 2025-26 school year in August.
The 7-0 vote — board members Dadrius Lanus and Patrick Martin V were absent — was a strong show of support for Cole, who is just finishing his ninth month leading Louisiana’s second-largest traditional school district.
The closures, consolidations and other changes have been a long time coming for the school system, which was built for 60,000-plus students but is now educating fewer than 40,000. It’s a thorny issue that previous superintendents have considered and largely shied away from. The School Board, however, made it one of Cole’s first orders of business when it hired him in August.
Cole estimated he’s gained 60 pounds — he later revised that to about 30 pounds — from the stress of this first year, especially the work on this plan. And it’s not over. Cole pointed to a five-page action plan for his team to make these changes happen.
 

SANTA ROSA — A new structure that would house all the students in Santa Rosa public schools from pre-kindergarten to high school senior is the recommendation of the Facilities Master Plan committee.
The committee’s five-year plan received unanimous approval on April 16 from the Santa Rosa Consolidated Schools District board and now awaits approval from the state Public School Facilities Authority.
The estimated cost of new construction, including the pre-K to 12th grade building in Santa Rosa, $87.1 million, and replacing the error-plagued Anton Chico school building, estimated cost $26 million, along with $500,000 in technology investments, is estimated at $113.7 million.
The district would shut down Santa Rosa Elementary School, which has been in operation since 1953, and Santa Rosa High School, which was built in 1965.
Josh Chism, president of Capital AE, one of the consulting firms that helped assemble the plan, told the school board on April 16 that the district had done a remarkable job of keeping the buildings operating.
He compared their longevity to “a car that has 400,000 miles on it,” and commended the district’s persistence.
 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Decades of deferred maintenance at more than 200 Memphis-Shelby County Schools total more than a billion dollars of major overhauls and replacements, reports from MSCS say.
This comes after a top-to-bottom assessment by an outside consulting agency. The reports, thousands of pages of them, were just received by WREG on Tuesday.
One of the buildings even listed to have major problems is MSCS district headquarters.
Former Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins first talked about this assessment back in October of 2024, saying the findings could lead to school closures and consolidations.
The study was conducted by Bureau Veritas, an inspecting and consulting company.
One of the schools is Oakshire Elementary School in Whitehaven, which was built in 1966. Roofing, sidewalks, suspended ceilings, flooring and ancillary buildings are all listed in poor condition, with recommendations to have items isted in poor condition replaced by this year.
 

Charter schools scored significant funding wins in the legislative session that wrapped up this week.

Indiana lawmakers passed legislation that grants property tax revenues to charter schools statewide starting in 2028, a change that expands on a 2023 law that required only certain districts to share a portion of property tax revenue increases with charters.

Charters will also continue to receive $1,400 per pupil through the state’s Charter and Innovation Network School Grant over the next two school years.

One setback for charter schools statewide is that lawmakers decided not to continue a $25 million grant they created for charters’ capital needs in 2023. However, at least in Indianapolis, that could be offset by the property tax revenue charters will receive for the first time this year under the 2023 law. And over the long term, a new group will study the possibility of sharing Indianapolis Public Schools buildings and buses with charter schools.

“I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say this was the most successful legislative session for charter schools since the law passed in 2001,” said Brandon Brown, CEO of the Mind Trust nonprofit that grows charters in Indianapolis, referring to the law that allowed charters to open in Indiana. ”It was just an extraordinary session, from my perspective, in terms of moving towards a system where all kids are funded fairly.”

BOISE - The Idaho Department of Education distributed more than $91 million in facilities funding to Idaho schools this week. The payments are from the School Modernization Facilities bonds issued over the past year following the passage of House Bill 521 by the 2024 Idaho Legislature.

The legislature passed the bill to increase the state’s investment in public school facilities over the next decade. Governor Brad Little signed the bill March 29, 2024. The first payments went to school districts seven months later and $1 billion was distributed by the end of February. To facilitate the delivery of the funds, the Idaho Department of Education worked closely with the Idaho State Building Authority and local schools.

“The speed with which this law was implemented and the dollars sent to local districts is something to be celebrated,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield said. “The hard work and collaboration between the Idaho Department of Education, Idaho Building Authority and other state and financial partners in standing up this new law and getting $1 billion in schools’ bank accounts within 11 months is remarkable. That effort, along with the state’s very solid financial status, means that schools and communities continue to benefit from the initial investment.”