BOSTON (SHNS) – Suburban districts are disproportionately benefiting through the state program used to help fund large school building projects across Massachusetts, and a new report calls on policymakers to reexamine why and how the state could address the resulting inequity.

Despite major public investments in recent years, the report by the MassINC Policy Center and the Worcester Regional Research Bureau found that students in Boston and “gateway cities” are more likely than their suburban counterparts to “learn in buildings that are deteriorating, lacking in basic features, and often cramped and overcrowded.”

“We’re seeing, just based on the invitation outcomes, who’s being invited to do these significant rebuilds or these significant renovation projects. We’re seeing suburban districts benefiting more than our urban and gateway city schools,” Anthony Clough, research associate at the Worcester Regional Research Bureau, said Tuesday at a briefing following the report’s release. 

The report, co-authored by Clough, found that schools with the best “building condition ratings” have received nearly two-thirds of program invitations since 2015. 

At its October work session, the Waseca School Board went over the comprehensive facilities condition assessment prepared by consulting firm ICS for the first time, a week after the District Facilities Committee reviewed the building by building reports.

Superintendent Eric Hudspith praised ICS for providing thorough assessments of facilities needs at each of the district buildings, providing a “report card” of sorts for each building while ranking the priority level of each needed repair on a 1-4 scale.

The report also provided a broad overview of the systems across each of the district’s buildings, with Hudspith expressing relief that no systems in any building were rated as in “critical” condition, the category in most urgent need of repairs.

The report comes in the context of continued work on the Long Term Facilities Maintenance Plan, a top board priority this year. In particular, Hartley Elementary School is known to have particularly acute facilities maintenance needs as the district’s second oldest building.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 503 into law on October 1, 2025. Effective immediately, AB 503 amends the Civic Center Act (Education Code section 38130 et seq.) to restore the definition of “Direct Costs” that expired on January 1, 2025.

Under the Civic Center Act, school districts may charge outside entities an amount not exceeding their direct costs for the use of school facilities and grounds. “Direct Costs” include the expenses for supplies, utilities, janitorial services, services of school district employees, and salaries paid to school district employees necessitated by the entity’s use of the facilities or grounds, commonly referred to as operating costs.

In 2012, SB 1404 expanded “Direct Costs” to also include a proportionate share of maintenance, repair, restoration, and refurbishment costs—commonly known as capital costs—based on the outside entity’s use of the school facilities and grounds. This provision was set to expire on January 1, 2020, but was extended to January 1, 2025, by AB 1303 in 2019.

SOUTHBURY — A group charged with assessing the future of Region 15’s two oldest school buildings has recommended constructing new schools rather than renovating the existing ones. 
The Feasibility Study Committee’s preferred options for updating Gainfield and Pomperaug elementary schools in Southbury include: combining the two schools on a new campus; constructing new buildings on the existing school sites; or building a new Pomperaug Elementary School at a new location, while Gainfield would get a new building at its existing Old Field Road site, according to Jeffrey Wyszynski, a principal at Tecton Architects, the firm hired to oversee the study. 

LAFAYETTE, La. (NEWS 15) — Lafayette Parish School System is moving ahead with plans to invest more than $30 million in school upgrades across the district. The school board unanimously approved the spending plan, which includes the construction of over 40 classrooms at three elementary schools.

Broussard Elementary, Ernest Gallet Elementary, and Westside Elementary will see significant improvements, including replacing outdated portable buildings with new permanent structures.

Broadmoor Elementary is set to receive an upgrade worth over $8 million. The A-rated school will add a two-story building, replacing 11 Butler buildings that currently hold 19 classrooms.

"And then, children transitioning outside, to go from class to class, in an open environment. Like, weather days, it is rough if you have really bad weather, then you have to move them inside to shelter and keep them safe," Broadmoor Elementary Principal Tracy Sanders said.

Green grass instead of asphalt now takes center stage at the playground at Riverwest Elementary School through a Green and Healthy Schoolyard project.

Milwaukee Public Schools and its partners held a celebration Oct 1. to mark the completion of that playground and four others.

Work was completed in September at Humboldt Park School, Albert E. Kagel School, Riverwest Elementary School, Samuel Clemens School and Walt Whitman School. At each school, asphalt was removed and more "play-friendly" features were installed, including soccer fields, green play areas, other recreational areas, outdoor classrooms and more. The projects also included stormwater green infrastructure.

Each year, the nonprofit Reflo works with MPS, the City of Milwaukee and other groups through its Green and Healthy Schoolyards program to design and redevelop five greener, healthier schoolyards. The five schools completed this year bring the total number of schools with Green and Healthy Schoolyards to 36. This year's projects cost $7.6 million and were paid for through a combination of grants, partnership and philanthropic support and school fundraisers.

STANFORD, Ky. — The Lincoln County Facility Planning Committee voted Sept. 25 to approve a draft plan outlining future school construction and renovation priorities. The plan now moves to the Board of Education for consideration in November.  The committee voted 7-4 in favor of the plan, which designates each school in the district as either “permanent” or “transitional.” Schools listed as permanent are eligible for restricted funds for reconstruction or repairs, while schools listed as transitional are not, except in emergencies.
Under the new plan, Hustonville Elementary is the only school designated as transitional. Highland Elementary and Waynesburg Elementary, both previously listed as transitional, are now marked permanent, making them eligible for restricted facility funds.
 

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Teachers at McKinley Elementary School in North Park say their classrooms have been unbearably hot for months, and they argue that the San Diego Unified School District is not moving fast enough to address the problem.
For nearly 10 weeks, Kindergarten teacher Frances Mackenzie said she has asked the district to repair the school’s outdated air conditioning system, which dates back to 1997.
months
Teachers at McKinley Elementary School in North Park say their classrooms have been unbearably hot for months, and they argue that the San Diego Unified School District is not moving fast enough.
By: Dani Miskell
Posted 9:35 PM, Sep 30, 2025 and last updated 7:43 PM, Oct 03, 2025
SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Teachers at McKinley Elementary School in North Park say their classrooms have been unbearably hot for months, and they argue that the San Diego Unified School District is not moving fast enough to address the problem.
For nearly 10 weeks, Kindergarten teacher Frances Mackenzie said she has asked the district to repair the school’s outdated air conditioning system, which dates back to 1997.






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Mackenzie said she has 24 kindergartners in her class. Still, many students and staff members in nine different classrooms are also enduring the same miserable heat, which are connected or adjacent to hers.
“We have headaches. We’ve had students with bloody noses, and by the end of the day, you are fatigued, you are exhausted,” Mackenzie said. “Every day, multiple staff, over 100 students walk into classrooms that are not properly ventilated. We’re fed up. It’s unacceptable.”
 

Cities across the commonwealth – from Philadelphia to Scranton to Pittsburgh – have long dealt with a myriad of menaces inside their school buildings, from mold and asbestos in walls and ceilings to lead in the drinking water, prompting schools to partially close, move or even cancel classes over the years due to the need for remediation. 

Roughly three-quarters of the state’s 3,200 schools were built before the 1980s. The average age of a school building in the commonwealth is roughly 70 years old – 20 years older than the national average – meaning that students and staff spend their days in structures with asbestos-containing materials that insulate pipes and cover floors, and are thus more likely to be exposed to those construction materials, which have since been banned as health hazards.

“Common with a lot of old infrastructure and older school districts, we have asbestos-containing building materials, lead in paint and other typical environmental concerns,” Sanjeeb Manandhar, Pittsburgh Public Schools’ environmental sustainability manager, told City & State. “Our focus is on proactive management of those materials and safe removal before hazards arrive.”

Alexandria City Council and School Board members agreed Monday during a joint work session to update the city’s long-range school facilities plan as middle schools operate at more than 120% capacity and some elementary buildings approach 90 years old.

The decision to revise the decade-old planning document comes as officials confront both immediate overcrowding and long-term infrastructure decay that officials say redistricting alone cannot solve.

“It became very, very apparent that redistricting alone is not going to solve our middle school challenges,” School Board member Kelly Booz said. “Our schools would still hover around the 120% or more utilization no matter what.”

The Long Range Educational Facilities Plan, last comprehensively updated in 2015, would guide school construction and renovation decisions for the next 10 to 15 years. Officials said it needs to be updated to reflect changed demographics, enrollment projections, and fiscal realities following the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHITE SALMON —  After a year of study that included site visits and community conversations, the White Salmon Valley School District (WSVSD) Facilities Advisory Committee has unanimously recommended the district consolidate its schools into a one-campus model located at the current middle school / high school site.

Superintendent Rich Polkinghorn said the plan will create one K-6 and one 7-12 school, “each designed to meet the developmental and academic needs of their students.” It will require significant modernization of the Henkle Middle / Wallace & Priscilla Stevenson Intermediate School, and the addition of new classrooms and a multi-purpose area at Columbia High School (CHS).

Anchorage School District officials say they are coupling this year’s effort to close more elementary schools with a plan to add child care operations to vacant classrooms.
A proposal for where those child care centers will be located is set to be released alongside the district’s recommended school closures at an Oct. 7 Anchorage School Board meeting. The plan is subject to school board approval and would expand access to child care for Anchorage School District employees, city workers and the community at large.
“It’s not just about closing schools. It’s about being smart about how we use extra space in our elementary school buildings,” Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt said of the plan at a Sept. 17 event at King Tech High School.
During a Sept. 16 presentation to the school board, ASD Chief Operating Officer Jim Anderson said the co-located child care centers could be at elementary or secondary school buildings.
“This is the heart and soul of ‘rightsizing’ this year, is looking at it in terms of potential for helping out the community and not just closing every school that is low capacity,” Anderson said.
 

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District announced significant facility improvements during a board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 18, with all schools now receiving good ratings on state inspections after years of substandard conditions at multiple campuses.

The district's maintenance team completed 477 work orders during an intensive summer campaign, reducing the backlog from 661 pending requests to 184 by the end of July. The effort resulted in every school in the district improving its Facility Inspection Tool (FIT) scores, with several schools jumping from poor or fair ratings to good status.

"We moved all of our scores up to good," said Glen Infuso, Director of Maintenance and Operations. "Every single school improved from last year."

The Charlottesville School Board is currently discussing renovations that need to be carried out on many of the city’s school buildings and infrastructure as many schools across the city are in need of maintenance work due to their age. Planned construction, which may cost millions in the coming years, will lead to major changes in the education system, including the number of school transitions students make.

These major renovations include HVAC system overhauls, roof replacements and potential new construction. Charlottesville School Board Chair Emily Dooley said that in ongoing conversations, the School Board has discussed with the Charlottesville City Council about deferred maintenance in many schools that will soon be due and other immediate concerns that need to be addressed.

“Prior to this construction [at the middle school], the last [school] building that the city built was in 1974 … so our buildings are old,” Dooley said. “Not to say that they haven’t been touched since 1974, but really it’s been a focus on quick hits and infusions of money that can happen over the summer.”

CASPER — When the Wyoming School Facilities Commission sent its budget request to the Legislature’s Select Committee on School Facilities, commissioners were asked to justify their $10 million request for school safety and security.

The budget request is for the 2027-28 biennium budget. The $10 million was split into two piles: $8 million to go to schools based on enrollment, and the other $2 million to secure vestibules and vehicle barricades.

To provide justification for the fund request, the School Facilities Commission had asked each school district to send in how many secure vestibules they had, whether they had vehicle barricades and what their top security projects would cost.

An architectural report on the physical condition of the schools in the Harwood Unified Union School District is complete and school officials this week will begin reviewing its findings.
The report from Burlington architectural firm TruexCullins was requested to inform district leaders as they look to prioritize facility needs and maintenance projects, as well as their ongoing discussions over whether to consolidate the number of schools the district operates. In 45 slides, it details $45,354,980 in work needed across the district’s five elementary schools and Crossett Brook Middle School. An additional $73 million is noted for Harwood Union Middle/High School, as was determined in 2024. The overall pricetag for facility repairs and upgrades in the report totals $118,357,780.
The School Board’s Building Use and Visioning Committee will discuss the report when it meets on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. on Zoom only. The meeting agenda includes the presentation slides from TruexCullins.
 

Due to the unprecedented flooding from Hurricane Helene in September 2024, four school buildings in western North Carolina flooded so severely that students were unable to immediately return to school.

Some schools closed temporarily and are back in their buildings, and some are still in transition while awaiting a more permanent home. EdNC spoke with each school district’s superintendent to learn about the status of the buildings and how their school communities look a year after Helene.

Henderson County
Atkinson Elementary School in Henderson County Public Schools (HCPS) is split by Perry Creek. The gym sits on one side of the creek, the school building on the other. Helene dumped 21.96 inches of rain in Hendersonville, the creek swelled, and both buildings took on two inches of water.

Dr. Mark Garrett, superintendent of HCPS, was no stranger to flooding before Helene. As a principal, he had dealt with water in schools, and during his tenure as the superintendent in McDowell County, he’d faced other natural disasters.

“I think the most challenging part of last year was just dealing with a disaster the magnitude of what we had,” Garrett said. “You sort of think, you know what may or may not be coming, but something of this magnitude — it’s really not anything you can be prepared for.”

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida’s Board of Education has voted to expand the reach of charter schools across the state, building on the "Schools of Hope" program created in 2017.
That program was originally designed to give families in struggling districts more options outside of failing schools.
The backstory:
This year, lawmakers loosened restrictions — allowing charter operators to expand beyond low-performing neighborhoods and even move into high-performing campuses if they have vacant or underused classrooms. The new rule also requires districts to hand over facilities rent-free, while providing utilities and support services.
Supporters, including Governor Ron DeSantis, say the change is about opportunity and competition.

Fort Wayne Community Schools will use about $545,000 in voter-approved funds to fix an ongoing facade issue at Wayne High School that leaders have delayed addressing until savings were available.
The district will also spend nearly $90,000 of its operations fund to address emergency projects at five schools and the transportation center following board approval Monday.
The problem at Wayne involves the exterior finish insulation system. It features an insulation board that is adhered to the building’s exterior and is covered by stucco, said Heather Krebs, facilities director.
It was popular in the 1980s and 1990s, she said, but moisture has become a problem with age.
Krebs told the board the issue was not included in Wayne’s recent renovation, which voters approved in spring 2020 as part of a $130 million referendum that also included major renovations to Blackhawk and Miami middle schools.
 

Just 20% of the state’s school buildings are in satisfactory shape or better, while the other 80% would need “repair, renovation or replacement” to get to that level, according to a report released Thursday.

The report from Comptroller Brooke Lierman said that the state needs to improve its school facilities if it wants to keep its reputation for top-ranked schools, but that doing so will require “a statewide reimagining of funding formulas and revenue streams.” The report did not make recommendations on that reimagining, however.

The report is part of the comptroller’s “State Spending Series” that assesses costs on various projects, impacts on the state and other economic factors. The first report, in March, focused on transit and the second, released in April, on climate change.