On the first day of the 2024 legislative session, state education officials presented lawmakers with the latest estimates for Vermont’s school construction needs — a whopping $6.3 billion in the next 21 years. 

And that number, Agency of Education staff cautioned, is likely a significant underestimate.

Rep. Peter Conlon, D-Cornwall, chair of the House Committee on Education, called the figure “eye popping.” He signaled that his committee would make addressing school construction needs a priority this session.

The cost estimate came as part of a school facilities assessment ordered by the Legislature in 2021, which gathered baseline data on 384 school buildings in Vermont and translated the findings into cost projections for every district statewide. The Agency of Education expects to create a public dashboard with that data later this year. 

From fiscal years 2000-2008, the state provided more than $280 million in construction aid to schools, but amid the Great Recession it suspended state assistance for such projects. This year, lawmakers will consider how the state could revive some funding, though Conlon made clear that footing the entire bill was out of the question.

Nearly 540 million children globally go to a school with no usable toilet, affecting them physically and emotionally during crucial education years. New research from Economist Impact reveals that almost half of these children are affected by 'toilet loss' — toilets have been built in their school, but they have been lost and are not usable due to lack of operation and maintenance (O&M). This hidden worldwide problem puts school infrastructure maintenance sharply in focus.

Economist Impact's year-long study supported by Unilever across Ecuador, India, Nigeria and the Philippines found that poor maintenance led to 1.2 million  'lost' school toilets; that's toilets that have been built but are no longer usable. This equates to a combined infrastructure loss of US$1.9 billion and a societal and economic cost amounting to US$10 billion. The four countries, indicative of others worldwide, could be 10 percent closer to the goal of providing all children access to usable school toilets if toilet construction had been supported by maintenance.

A former special education teacher at Mountain View Elementary School is suing the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and the Kenai Peninsula Borough with and on behalf of her four children, who she says have suffered from medical issues after being exposed to mold and other materials while attending district schools.

Jennifer Harvey-Kindred and two of her adult children, Madeline Kindred and Jillian Kindred, are plaintiffs in the suit, as are two of Harvey-Kindred’s minor children. Between 2004 and 2018, the four children attended at various intervals Aurora Borealis Charter School in Kenai, Soldotna Middle School, Soldotna High School and Kenai Central High School.

School district records published for the KPBSD school board’s Oct. 2, 2023, meeting show that Harvey-Kindred worked as a special education pre-kindergarten teacher at Mountain View Elementary School in Kenai until her resignation effective Oct. 17, 2023.

Whenever the next Big One hits – a magnitude 9 Cascadia megaquake – it sure would be nice if fire trucks could still drive out of their stations and your neighborhood school could function as a shelter. 

Current seismic codes require public buildings to be built strong enough so they don’t fall down in a quake. Now, some emergency preparedness advocates want to raise the bar. Not only should essential buildings resist collapse in a strong earthquake, but also newly constructed schools, in particular, should be built so in the immediate aftermath they can be counted on to serve as relief centers.

This matters to millions of Northwest residents because buildings erected in the near future stand a good chance of being violently shaken by an earthquake. The most recent magnitude 9 rip of the offshore Cascadia Subduction Zone happened over three centuries ago, in 1700. Seismologists say that means the region is now well into the window for the next catastrophic temblor.

Additionally, the Northwest faces risks from a multitude of shallow crustal faults and deep slab quakes. Each of these is capable of unleashing up to 7.0-7.5 magnitude shaking in a more localized area.

In Oregon, the state chapter of the American Institute of Architects intends to press the Legislature to require new schools and community college buildings in earthquake country west of the Cascades and in Klamath County to be built with more resilience. 

The Gillett school district in eastern Wisconsin has three school buildings. None has a sprinkler system installed to put out a fire.
The buildings were constructed between 50 and 100 years ago, well before fire codes were updated to require sprinkler systems for all newly constructed buildings. Installing a modern sprinkler system in the aging facilities would be too expensive. And new buildings, for now, are out of the question.
“The only way we could see to replace these buildings would be a local referendum, which has zero chance of passing,” said Wayne Johnson, the Gillett district’s superintendent. “You’ve got folks that don’t have any money, they’re not going to support a referendum to increase their property taxes.”
The Gillett schools are hardly an outlier.
In a survey conducted between Sept. 27 and Oct. 13, 2023, the EdWeek Research Center asked a nationally representative sample of 110 school principals whether the building where they most often work has working sprinklers.
Forty percent of respondents—2 in 5—said no, translating into tens of thousands of school buildings nationwide. Another 13 percent said they’re not sure if the currently installed sprinklers in their buildings work.
 

Department of Defense schools are preparing for an eventual large increase in military dependent students, and are looking to the Guam Department of Education to help accommodate the overflow. A DoD team recently toured multiple local campuses to see how it can help refurbish them ahead of the transfer of DODEA students.

GDOE superintendent Dr. Kenneth Swanson says the Department of Defense Education Activity team made up of planning and facility experts recently visited four campuses: Southern High, Oceanview Middle, Upi Elementary and Ukkudo High. "So they wanted to get a sense of the condition and the facilities that were there, so it was pretty much a walk and talk over the whole facility," he detailed.

Its not known yet when and how many military dependent students will attend GDOE schools, but the preparations are certainly underway. And Swanson says GDOE has plenty of room for more students.

PHOENIX — A proposed bill in the legislature could make it harder for Arizona school districts to fund new projects.

House Bill 2088, proposed by Republicans, Rep. Laurin Hendrix and Rep. Barbara Parker, said it would prohibit any businesses that give money for school bonds and override campaigns – that pass – from being able to bid on the projects that may happen.

For example, if a school district passes a bond measure to build a new school, the construction companies that donated money to the campaign would not be able to do the construction.

They say there’s a first time for everything. For Lewistown Public Schools’ Maintenance Director Jason Fry, the old adage is certainly true.

Fry was a member of the first cohort to complete the Montana Facilities Director Apprenticeship Program through the state Department of Labor. After wrapping up the program on Oct. 31, Fry, along with public schools maintenance directors from, received his certificate of completion for the apprenticeship last month.

“It was a great opportunity,” Fry said. “I feel like this program could be really beneficial for the future of facilities directors in the state of Montana.”

LINCOLN – In 2023, Lincoln schools celebrated a number of successes as the district’s officials pursued their goal of providing the best education and educational facilities for students.

A major accomplishment of 2023 was unveiling the new Lincoln High School Physical Education Center. The $8.3 million building officially opened for use in November, and per multiple officials, is the result of successful collaboration between the town and the school department.

Despite delays, the PEC was considered substantially complete on time in accordance with Rhode Island Department of Education deadlines, qualifying the town for $4.7 million in state reimbursement.

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - It’s time for Vermont to start paying for school construction, according to House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington.

Vermont has not supported school renovation projects since 2007 and many are in disrepair. Added to that are concerns about PCB contamination in a number of buildings that were built before 1980.

Krowinski says a study committee put forth recommendations on how the state can help and they’re on the table this upcoming session. “We want to look at a sustainable way to help support our schools,” she said. “I don’t think we have a choice at this point. I think the need is so great.”

She says a school construction bill would likely also incorporate PCB testing efforts.

With UNICEF's help, 1,000 classrooms at 192 schools can now stand up to a cyclone. Margarida, 15, witnessed her old school get destroyed by Cyclone Idai in 2019. Attending a climate-proof school, she says, has been life-changing.
A big part of UNICEF’s response to climate change is to blunt its impacts on children — especially those who are most vulnerable to them — through mitigation or adaptation measures.
This includes making systems children rely on — health, water, education — more climate-resilient. It means enabling these systems to stand up to extreme weather and other climate-driven disasters.
Mozambique is highly prone to cyclones and recurring floods. The weather system in that part of the world, the country's long coastline and the nine river basins flowing through it are contributing factors. Increasingly, so is climate change.
 

The Hawaii Department of Education has a new official responsible for overseeing campus facilities as it struggles to handle millions of dollars in capital improvement project funds. 

Audrey Hidano was appointed as interim assistant superintendent of the Office of Facilities and Operations last week, according to DOE’s website. Before joining the DOE earlier this year, Hidano served as deputy comptroller for the state Department of Accounting and General Services as well as deputy director of the Department of Transportation and the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

She was also co-founder of Hidano Construction Inc., which specialized in residential projects before it dissolved in 2016.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — It’s been an unusual school year for Southern Elementary School in Greensboro, N.C.
Earlier this school year, every book in its media center was thrown out after a cleaning of the carpet discovered mold.
“It’s just disappointing that maybe thousands of books were going away because of mold,” said Abby Hopper, a fifth-grader at the school.
Replacing an entire library’s books is not easy and not cheap. But the school was able to take advantage of a unique program in the nation’s capital.
In the basement of the historic Library of Congress in Washington is a little-known room that houses the Surplus Books Program.
Much of the collection is made up of extra books the Library of Congress' cataloging office and the copyright office receives from publishers.
Those books, of all different genres, are available to take for free.
The goal of the Surplus Books Program is to build library collections around the country and U.S. territories. Eligible groups can apply to participate in the program through the Library of Congress.
 

The holiday break offers time for the Guam Department of Education to roll up its sleeves and get back to fixing what they can at local schools.  A good plan, as students are out of the classroom. Now, meet some of the members that make up the small team working to get 41 public schools up to par.

Aging facilities, mold, and more. Ray Meno with GDOE told KUAM News when asked about the largest challenges for the very small team working on the campuses, “Getting materials and having enough man power to do the work and coordinating everything.”  

Meno has worked with the Facilities and Maintenance Divsion for 27 years.  KUAM linked up with him and his crew at Harry S. Truman in Santa Rita. The crew getting those materials like bathroom sinks, which must be ADA compliant, other requirements include installing exhaust fans in a restroom, along with lighting, and making sure bathroom stalls are at the proper height.

Supervisor John Palomo added, “You’re implementing standards now that we have to abide with  and we’re not prepared…so we’re trying to get prepared and we’re trying to get  whatever materials we need to start.” 

RUMFORD — Mountain Valley High School opened its doors Wednesday to serve meals and provide clothing and toiletries to all area residents needing help due to the storm Monday.

Regional School Unit 10 schools in Rumford, Mexico, Buckfield and Sumner closed for the week on Tuesday because of electrical power outages and impassable roads in the district’s towns, administrators wrote on the district’s website.

RSU 10 Assistant Superintendent Matt Gilbert said by email to the Rumford Falls Times on Friday that he wanted to recognize several people “who have led the charge (and) who deserve to be recognized for going above and beyond the call of duty (at the high school).”

Gilbert listed staff including School Nutrition Director Jeannie LaPointe and her husband, Steve LaPointe, along with the MVHS “lunch ladies” staff, “(who) have been in the kitchen every day since the shelter opened to make sure people are being fed healthy meals.”

LORAIN — Lorain Schools’ “new” buildings aren’t looking so new, with maintenance needs making themselves known as some buildings hit the 15- to 20-year-old mark. 

The district has estimated a nearly $35 million price tag over the next five years to keep its facilities in working order — with everything from parking lots to HVAC systems now in need of routine maintenance, repair or replacement. 

But other issues are also making themselves known, like cracks in walls at Washington Elementary School. Those cracks point to potential structural issues in the 20-year-old space, and the storm in August highlighting potential inadequacies in the masonry. 

“You realize you don’t do anything to your house for 20 years and see what kind of shape it’s in,” Executive Director of Operations Mary Mayse said. 

At a school board meeting last month, Director of Operations Tony Dimacchia gave an overview of the projects he said the district needs to complete to maintain its buildings. Earlier this week, Dimacchia, Superintendent Jeff Graham and Mayse met with The Chronicle-Telegram about those upcoming costs. 

Montgomery County’s school system is asking teachers and other staff members to help with basic cleaning as it tries to hire more custodians.

But two school board members said that they do not see asking staff to take on extra work as the solution to an ongoing problem at the county’s 19 schools and associated facilities.

“As I have been saying for several years Montgomery County has to adjust our salary and benefits to be able to attract employees,” school board member Penny Franklin wrote in an email Wednesday. “Asking employees to work extra hours is not the answer and has caused concerns with many employees.”

Earlier this month, schools Human Resources Director Amanda Weidner emailed staff members to ask for help with a “special initiative” — working nights or weekends to clean school buildings. Pay for the extra work would start at $21.60 per hour and staff could put in two to eight hours per week, the email said.

Hawaii’s school superintendent is promising to reorganize his department to deal with a huge backlog of school construction projects.
The pressure is coming primarily from lawmakers, but public school advocates think the priorities may be misplaced. At Thursday’s meeting of the Hawaii Board of Education, teachers union president Osa Tui told members they should be asking tougher questions of school executives.
“The integrity of the department, which is overseen by this board, is on the line as legislators become increasingly distrustful of what they hear from the Department,” Tui said.
A day earlier at the state Capitol, state senators grilled Superintendent Keith Hayashi over about $2 billion in unspent construction dollars, including nearly half a billion in dollars that could be lapsed — and taken off the books — after missing construction deadlines.
State Sen. Donna Kim said she was shocked that Hayashi didn’t learn about the lapsing projects until late November.
“It’s it’s crazy that you folks are not aware of like the billion dollars’ worth of projects that’s sitting there and you don’t have all the funding,” Kim said.
Molokai and East Maui Sen. Lynne DeCoite said lawmakers can’t assume that projects they’ve approved and funded are making progress.
 

Maryland’s Interagency Commission on School Construction, or IAC, didn’t allocate any state funding to Buckingham Elementary’s replacement project in the agency’s preliminary 2025 capital improvement plan budget, but this could change once the budget is finalized in May. 

At a meeting over Zoom last Thursday, the IAC approved staff recommendations for preliminary allocations and planning approvals for the 75 percent authorization round of their 2025 capital improvement plan after hearing testimony from the leaders of several education agencies in Maryland. 

Superintendent of Worcester County Schools Lou Taylor, State Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-38) and County Commissioner President Chip Bertino testified for Buckingham’s construction funding. 

Today, House Appropriations Committee Majority Chairman Jordan Harris, D-Phila., hosted a news conference at South Philadelphia High School discussing school facilities funding in the 2023-24 state budget.

The budget includes $175 million for school facility improvements.

Pennsylvania has some of the oldest schools in the country. The average school building is around 70 years old and was built when lead pipes and asbestos were standard building materials.

Discoveries of asbestos and other toxins have led to school closures across the Commonwealth, including seven Philadelphia schools in 2023 alone. In the same year, 100 schools statewide closed due to excessive heat.

Harris stated that he believes this funding will help to address this issue that’s plagued Pennsylvania schools for a long time.

“This funding is paramount to improving the health and safety of our educators, students and school staff, Harris said. “This major Democratic priority is a significant investment and critical step toward ensuring that receiving an education in Pennsylvania does not equate to sick or injured students, teachers, or staff. There is more work to do, and we intend to continue our work until every Pennsylvania school is a safe learning environment for our children.”

Harris was joined by members of the Philadelphia House Delegation, including state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Phila., and members of the House Appropriations and Education committees, including Education Committee Majority Chairman Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh. 

Schweyer said this funding will allow schools to properly address issues with their facilities.

“For the first time in nearly a decade, the General Assembly has recognized the need for funding which allows school districts to address facility repairs and upgrades,” said Schweyer. “As a father of two in the Allentown School District, I have seen firsthand the need for funding so schools can provide the safe and comfortable learning environments that parents expect, and children deserve.”