In a joint October 2020 memo, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of General Services (DGS) and District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) announced that schools would receive robust ventilation, filtration and air quality monitoring support. Officials understood rightly that such measures were critical to safeguarding the health of students, school staff and the public at-large.

The State Board has heard concerns from constituents lately – from parents, students and educators – that school facilities’ air quality has been inadequate and uncomfortable. One parent, who wrote to city leaders late last year, relayed that her child’s school had gone without heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) for some time, and that filter usage in the school has been sporadic at best. Another shared that their 7-month-old contracted RSV (a serious respiratory virus to infants) via their daughter, who they suspect was exposed at school.

These accounts don’t necessarily evidence a District-wide, systemic issue with air quality in schools. But, they do raise questions the State Board is interested in answering: Do District schools have an air quality problem, and if they do, how can our city help them improve?

K-12 schools in major metropolitan areas continue struggling to find enough funds to inspect, repair and maintain their facilities in ways that keep them safe and reliable. But while these struggles require major funding and garner big headlines, big-city districts are hardly unique in facing these challenges. 
The nation’s rural K-12 districts also face uphill battles finding the financing to maintain facilities properly. Consider the case of one rural Nevada district. 
Nye County School District covers a sprawling 18,000-square-mile area. Its smallest schools are in far corners of the county as much as a four-hour drive from the Pahrump base, according to the Las Vegas Sun News. 
 

The Conewago Valley School District (CVSD) Board approved key measures for the proposed renovations and additions to Conewago Township Elementary School (CTE) during its recent meeting, setting maximum costs for the $37.6 million project while addressing longstanding infrastructure and accessibility issues.

The board approved the Act 34 booklet for the project and passed a resolution establishing a maximum project cost of $37,639,253, with an Act 34 maximum building construction cost of $16,118,207. This step satisfied a requirement under Act 34 of 1973, a Pennsylvania law governing school construction projects exceeding 20% of an existing building’s size, but does not authorize construction to begin. Act 34 is applicable when a project becomes substantial enough in scope to require public meetings and further cost calculations, including maximum building construction costs, school building capacity, and aggregate building expenditures, according to the act.

Funding for clean energy technologies through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is starting to reach K-12 school districts across the country, according to a news release from the National Association for Energy Service Companies (NAESCO). 
The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is part of the IRA that was primarily targeted for solar energy projects but can also apply to renewable energy systems like wind, geothermal and fuel cells. The tax credit can allow schools to deduct a significant percentage of the cost of renewable energy systems from their federal taxes. 
NAESCO spotlighted four districts that recently received funding for their projects. 
 

Kids lose so much when a disaster strikes. Too many have lost family members to the wildfires that have raged across Los Angeles in recent days. They’ve lost homes. They’ve lost the sense of security and predictability that so many kids depend on. And, to add insult to injury, many of them have lost their schools.

At least nine schools in the Los Angeles area have been destroyed or severely damaged by the fires. Video posted by the principal of Odyssey Charter School’s south campus in Altadena shows flames still smoldering in the buildings as smoke rises from the playground, blotting out the sky. Marquez Charter Elementary School in Pacific Palisades “is dust,” one parent told The Cut. Meanwhile, thousands more schools were closed last week as communities faced evacuation warnings, power outages, and smoke-filled air, leaving more than 600,000 students out of school.

Unfortunately, these disruptions are part of a new normal for kids as climate disasters become more frequent. Last year, Americans experienced 27 weather-related disasters costing $1 billion or more in damage, the second-highest number ever — meanwhile, the number of days American schools are closed for extreme heat has doubled in recent years.

LOS ANGELES —
Days after losing her home in the same fire that destroyed her Los Angeles elementary school, third-grader Gabriela Chevez-Muñoz resumed classes this week at another campus temporarily hosting children from her school. She arrived wearing a t-shirt that read “Pali” — the nickname for her Pacific Palisades neighborhood — as signs and balloons of dolphins, her school’s mascot, welcomed hundreds of displaced students.
“It feels kind of like the first day of school,” Gabriela said. She said she had been scared by the fires but that she was excited to reunite with her best friend and give her hamburger-themed friendship bracelets.
Gabriela is among thousands of students whose schooling was turned upside down by wildfires that ravaged the city, destroying several schools and leaving many others in off-limits evacuation zones.
Educators across the city are scrambling to find new locations for their students, develop ways to keep up learning, and return a sense of normalcy as the city grieves at least 27 deaths and thousands of destroyed homes from blazes that scorched 63 square miles of land.
 

Wyoming has underfunded school facilities maintenance for about a decade, as the state’s formula for calculating routine and major maintenance has been pushed lower and lower, according to testimony Friday in a state Senate committee.
To address crumbling school buildings, the Senate Education Committee voted unanimously in favor of Senate File 34, “School finance-routine and major maintenance calculations,” which would increase the formula for paying for school building repairs.
Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, listens during the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee meeting in the Historic Supreme Court Chamber in the state Capitol on Sept. 19, 2024.
“Frankly, we have not been taking care of our buildings out there,” Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, told the committee. “We have over 25 million square feet of school facilities buildings across our state, and we need to maintain them. … You either pay now, or you are going to pay a lot later.”
 

The Cedar Rapids Community School Board has unanimously approved $7.5 million to purchase 50 acres of land in northeast Cedar Rapids for a new middle school to replace Harding Middle School.

While district officials argue the move addresses long-term growth and educational needs, some community members are concerned about the timing and financial prudence, while raising questions about the board's priorities and transparency.

Sticker shock hit the Community School District (CSD) Board of Trustees Jan. 8. Estimates for prioritized repairs to both schools came in around $1 million higher than expected, mostly for a new dry sprinkler system at the elementary school. 

“It was a surprise,” Chair Troy Lewis told the Register.  

In October, the board requested estimates to update old prices for a potential bond to repair what they defined as critical issues. The district said it prioritized repairs to systems that could cause significant disruptions to learning and cost significantly more if they fail.  

Wednesday, Alternative Organizational Structure 98 Superintendent Robert Kahler and Director of Facilities Dave Benner updated the trustees: After further research and several bids from contractors, the total estimate had increased from around $1.66 million to around $2.7 million.  

Repair issues at the high school include the roof, a fuel tank, two entrances and the heating and ventilation control system. At the elementary school, projects include the roof and parapets, and another fuel tank. Kahler reported estimates totaling $734,564 at the high school and $1,923,150 at the elementary school. 

DANVERS — Danvers Electric announced Wednesday that the newly installed solar arrays on Smith Elementary, Highlands Elementary and Danvers High School are now live.

The panels installed on these school rooftops are now generating clean, renewable energy directly integrated into towns public power supply.

Danvers Electric partnered with Solect Energy to complete the project that installed enough solar panels to generate 1.2 megawatts of power into Danvers homes each year.

“We are thrilled to bring these three systems online, delivering carbon-free, in-town electricity to our customers,” Electric Utility Director Clint Allen said.

“By leveraging this clean energy, we can reduce reliance on natural gas power plants and offset 950 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year, equivalent to removing over 200 gasoline-powered vehicles from the road.”

The Greenon Local School District is planning to put a permanent improvement levy on the May ballot after voters rejected a similar one in November.

The proposed five-year, 2.78-mill property tax levy would fund the construction of a new transportation facility, a multipurpose room at the athletic facility and the finishing of the “white space” of the K-6 elementary building, according to Superintendent Darrin Knapke. The board has other small projects as well such as updating the weight room and track repair plans.

The levy would generate $1,042,873 a year and cost a taxpayer $97.30 per $100,000 in appraised property value. The estimated cost of the new transportation facility is $1.5 million, plus $1.75 million for the elementary school work, and $400,000 for the multipurpose room, and other improvement projects around the district.

For Irina Contreras, a program manager for Los Angeles County's Department of Arts and Culture, outdoor education was a refuge for both her and her daughter during the pandemic.

Now, much of that refuge has been burned in the raging wildfires around Los Angeles.

Her 7-year-old daughter, Ceiba, hikes with a kid's adventure group called Hawks and attended Matilija, a bilingual forest school for preschool and kindergarten. Rain or shine, she and her friends would spend their days climbing, jumping, hiking, and swimming in places like Eaton Canyon Nature Area, a 77-hectare (190-acre) preserve near Altadena, now destroyed by fire.

Ceiba learned to ask plants for permission before taking samples to glue into her nature journal. Once, her group discovered a hidden path that led behind a waterfall. Ceiba couldn't stop talking about it for days.

For parents like Contreras, the wildfires have been devastating not just because of the loss of life and thousands of homes. They are mourning natural and educational areas that served as sanctuaries and learning spaces for local families, especially in the years since the pandemic. The fires have torn through natural areas that served every type of educational setting: public and private schools, nature-based preschools, homeschool groups, summer camps and more.

TOPEKA — Two Kansas legislators prefiled a bill that would deliver millions in voter-approved school bonds that were blocked earlier this year because of a strict ruling from the Kansas attorney general.

Voters in the Greeley County school district approved in May a $4.6 million school bond that was to be used for upgrades and renovations, but because the county — the smallest in Kansas with a population of just less than 1,200 — doesn’t have an elections website, the Kansas Attorney General’s Office refused to release the funds.

The Attorney General’s Office, which is responsible for validating every bond election in the state, decided the bond election didn’t meet legal standards. County officials didn’t adhere to a recent law requiring them to publish notice of a bond election three weeks in advance on a county elections website, in addition to a traditional newspaper notice, the office said.

A New Hampshire elementary school was closed for inspection after hundreds of large bats were found hibernating in the building, forcing staff to dodge the flying pests.
Richards Elementary School in Newport was closed on Monday after staff began falling ill from the infestation. 
Newport School District Superintendent Donna Magoon told WMUR that hundreds of 'huge' bats were discovered at the school.
'They were hiding in poles, they were hanging from ceilings, they were everywhere,' she said. 
'I think people are thinking it's little, tiny black bats. It's not! It's huge,' she added.
Magoon added that the situation was worse than some may have thought.
'People are saying "it's just a bat", but bats carry rabies,' she told Valley News. 'If you work with young kids, [you know] if they see a bat they're going to try to touch it.'
The discovery came after staff illnesses prompted air-quality testing, Magoon told WMUR. 
'There's no type of mold or anything in our air, so what else could it be,' she said. 
The New Hampshire Department of Education said in a statement that it 'is aware of the situation...and has been in communication with its school leaders.'
'NHED will continue to correspond with school officials to ensure that students have a safe and healthy place to learn and that the bat infestation is adequately resolved,' it wrote. 

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- A local elementary school has been recognized for its efforts to reduce energy usage and its carbon footprint.

Johnson Elementary School has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Certification for superior energy performance.

According to a release, such buildings are verified to perform in the top 25 percent of buildings in the country, based on weather normalized source energy use that considers occupancy, hours of operation and other metrics.

“We’re honored to earn the ENERGY STAR for superior energy performance at Johnson Elementary School and appreciate the efforts of everyone who has been involved in its efficient operation,” said Kirk Vizzier, the City of Charlottesville’s energy management coordinator. “Saving energy is just one of the ways we show our community we care, and that we’re committed to doing our part to protect the environment and public health, both today and for future generations.”

Nobody in a school district knows the school campus and grounds better than maintenance and engineering managers, says Kenneth Trump, president, National School Safety and Security Service.  
“Facility managers should have a seat at the table and be an integral part of each school’s and district’s safety and emergency teams,” Trump says. “They not onlyknow the physical operations but also, along with their staff, are the ‘eyes and ears’ of the school, who know who is coming, going and present on campus all day and evening.” 
Using these insights, managers can tailor safety protocols to each emergency. For example, in weather-related emergencies, the focus might be on securing windows, doors and electrical equipment. 
 

WASHINGTON — Several public schools in the District are working to fix heating issues in the frigid cold. According to a DC Public Schools spokesperson, families at eleven schools have been notified of the issues. 

Deal Middle School Principal Diedre Neal sent a letter to parents saying the school is working with the DCPS Operations and Facilities team and the Department of General Services (DGS) to get a handle on the issue.

"DGS has dispatched contractors to evaluate the system and initiate repairs. While we await the permanent fix, we will continue working with our DCPS and DGS partners to arrange temporary heating solutions such as space or hanging heaters, or moving students to warmer spaces when necessary and possible," Neal wrote.

The Albia School Board heard a presentation on the facilities Master Plan for the district during their November meeting before approving it.
They heard from superintendent Richard Montgomery, Laura Peterson from Invision Architecture and Pete Perez from Boyd Jones as well as Kristin Mick and Ryan Ammons as members of the task force. that helped shape the plan.
Superintendent Montgomery stated that a lot of work had been done over the past year to help develop a master plan to present to the board.
The process began after the community failed to support a PPEL levy. The board and district decided to take a step back to evaluate their plans and to get more input from more community members about what they wanted the future of the district to look like. 
 “The Master Plan is intended to be fluid,,” said Perez. “It’s intended to be a live working document as you move through several years of facility improvements at the various locations.
Perez said that the district completed a facility assessment around 2017 and that spurred some improvements in the district. It also gave the district some priorities to focus on if they could get funding in place.
 

A work group tasked with reviewing school construction funding in Frederick County Public Schools does not recommend having private companies work in partnership with the district to design, build, manage or finance new or renovated schools.

School construction funding in FCPS has been a topic of concern due to a rapidly growing student population, which in turn overpopulates schools and leads to an aging school infrastructure.

Due to the rapid growth, and a lack of state funding, the school district is struggling to maintain old school buildings and build new schools with the state funding available.

The Frederick County School Construction Master Plan work group met for a final time last month and released a report on Dec. 19 with recommendations on how to balance funding with the educational demands of FCPS.

The work group recommended not moving forward with public-private partnerships because the construction projects are completed more slowly and cost more.

County Mayor Weston Wamp and Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Justin Robertson on Wednesday proposed $32 million to address deferred maintenance and facility improvements across the district.

This funding is part of $60 million designated from the bond issue in August, the result of a budget compromise between the county and the school system in FY2024.

County Mayor Wamp said, “This investment is an important step to ensuring our county’s school facilities meet the needs of students, empower teachers, and give condence to parents.

"The majority of projects will focus on essential maintenance, including HVAC upgrades, roof replacements, athletic facility improvements, and other critical infrastructure investments aimed at strengthening the safety, functionality, and longevity of school facilities. This initial expenditure underscores the county and school system’s shared commitment to leveraging funds eciently and eectively to benet students, teachers, and the broader community.