Declining birth rates have driven a significant reduction in school-aged children in the state. Some districts are seeing an outflow of students due to high home prices and rent.
Colorado’s school population has declined by about 30,000 students since a peak of 913,223 in 2019. Some areas are declining fast, while others are growing rapidly. And it may be a while before the birth rate rebounds.
And it’s not just Colorado. Nationally, enrollment has fallen mostly due to declining birth rates over the past decade.
That has meant districts have been forced to shut down schools — Jefferson County shut down 16 elementary schools last year.
Several listeners like Glenn Straziar, Dave Pence, and others wondered: What’s happening with all the buildings?
School districts are taking a variety of approaches to what to do with the closed buildings, including repurposing them for other district uses or even selling them, which has its own challenges. 
Many are repurposed for magnet schools or early childhood centers — and some communities would prefer a park with a pool. Some districts need money from the real estate they’re sitting on. The last school that Denver Public Schools sold turned into a parking lot. Here’s a look at what districts are doing with all their empty buildings.

The San Antonio Independent School District board of trustees voted 5-2 Monday to close 15 schools and merge others, capping a four-month process that will shutter over 15% of the shrinking urban school district’s educational facilities.
Trustees voted, after a lengthy discussion, on a list of closures and mergers finalized by district staff that was formulated based on student enrollment, facility usage and cost per pupil. The moves are designed to better align the district’s resources with the student population. 
Trustees Art Valdez, Christina Martinez, Alicia Sebastian, Leticia Ozuna and Ed Garza voted for the measure while Stephanie Torres and Sarah Sorensen voted against it. 
Before the vote, Sorensen attempted to remove six schools from the closure list, and then two, but both adjustments failed on 5-2 votes.
Parents, teachers and community members continued to protest the closures until the final hour, with 57 speakers signing up to comment during the meeting, mostly in opposition to the closures. 
Many pointed to an equity audit that, among other findings, explored past school closures in the district, which resulted in academic declines. 
 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The annual statewide school safety report shows areas of improvement remain.
The report was released by the state Department of Education last week.
The safety measure requirements for each school defined in the report include hiring a school resource officer, installing weapon detection systems, upgrading school building’s doors and windows, among other measures.
State School Facilities Director Micah Whitlow said during the state BOE meeting that the administration at each school has been instructed to report back to the department regarding any updates to their school’s safety and security measures, and the department has compiled the data based on what they have received from each school’s assessment this year.
 

The Virgin Islands Department of Education (VIDE) released its 30-day project list for public schools within the St. Croix School District in October. This list was comprised of maintenance repairs and ongoing projects that were actively being managed by the operations, facilities and maintenance divisions of the St. Croix District. As part of the Department of Education’s commitment to transparency, it is sharing updates on the status of these outlined projects with the public.

Each school had its own specific set of projects to be accomplished within the 30-day timeframe. The detailed documents, which include the project type and status for each school, can be accessed online at www.vide.vi or via the Virgin Islands Department of Education’s Facebook page.

Considering the nature of these projects, multiple phases are involved before work can commence for some tasks. Some projects necessitated the solicitation of bids, development of scopes of work, securing of contracts, execution of purchase orders and requests made to the United States Department of Education for the reappropriation of federal funds.

The process from start to finish for certain projects is still ongoing.

Gov. Phil Murphy promises $51.9 million of federal money for New Jersey preschools.
The Murphy Administration said the money is going to 23 school districts to support 30 projects that will enable the creation, expansion and renovation of preschool facilities statewide. This is money that goes back to the American Rescue Plan that was passed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Murphy made the announcement Thursday while appearing at the teachers' union convention. In a statement, Murphy said the funding will enable more districts to expand their capacity to offer full-day preschool programming to more students.
“Equitable access to early childhood education across the board is key to ensuring the long-term success of our children and our state as a whole. My administration will continue to work toward bringing free, full-day pre-K to every district throughout New Jersey,” Murphy said in statement.

“This does not impact every student,” explained Superintendent Denise Watts, Ed.D., of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) Long-Range Facilities Plan.

According to SCCPSS, the plan "calls for the shifting of attendance zone boundaries for a number of schools, as well as the closure of two schools and repurposing of those facilities. The changes will also better align school attendance boundaries to improve transportation efficiencies and reduce the distances many students currently travel to school.”

In other words, hundreds of students' and families' assigned schools will change.

“This does not impact every school or every family,” Watts continued while speaking at a press conference on Nov. 6, at the Whitney Administrative Complex, 2 Laura Ave. She introduced the plan at the Nov. 1 School Board Informal Session, and the plan will be voted on at the next board meeting on Dec. 6.  She stressed that stakeholders should understand that only certain groups of families will be affected by shifting facilities based on where they live. SCCPSS.com has a dedicated Family Planning Guide available for review online.

ODESSA — Delma Abalos was stunned.
In the years she has served as a vice president of the school board in Ector County, there was never enough cash to pay for every pressing maintenance repair that came up. She would fret over every loose wire, broken air conditioning unit, or portable classroom, never mind building new facilities.
The lifelong Odessan had attempted over the last decade to bring together her community to create a blueprint she and the school board would translate into a bond proposal, one of few ways schools can obtain cash for large-scale infrastructure projects by asking voters to approve new debt.
Voters said no. Until Tuesday night.
Ector County voters surprised Abalos this week when they approved the school board’s plea for over $400 million to finance extensive upkeep in the local schools, which public school officials and civic leaders have said was long overdue.
“It’s unbelievable,” Abalos said at the school district’s watch party. “But now the real work starts.”
Similar scenes took place across Texas as school leaders crowded around laptops examining results of bond elections trickle in. Seventy-five Texas school districts put bond measures on the ballot, asking voters to allow districts to borrow nearly $18 billion, according to the Texas Bond Review Board.
According to an early analysis of results by The Texas Tribune, at least 50% of those proposals passed and some 30% failed. Failed bond proposals included the construction of new athletic facilities, such as swimming pools and football stadiums, and some new school buildings.
 

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Families with kids in Grand Rapids Public Schools will find out next week what schools could close or be renovated during a special meeting, following overwhelming support for the district’s $305 million bond on Tuesday.
The bond plan aims to improve facilities and provide a better learning environment for students. GRPS is moving into the next phase of its ongoing campus restructuring plan. Funding from the bond will support an effort to consolidate and reorganize resources to “right-size” the district for a smaller student body.
Superintendent Leadriane Roby said the election results signaled a major vote of confidence from GRPS families, as the district works to serve its children in more effective, efficient and equitable ways and ensure students have the best educational experience.
The bond passed with 16,440 yes votes (74%) to 5,720 no votes (25%), according to unofficial election results from the Kent County Clerk’s Office.
 

The Mountain Home Public School Board held a special meeting and training session on Thursday to tackle the district’s facilities master plan for 2024.

The school district is currently racing against the clock to add a transitional facility plan to next year’s master plan before Feb. 1 of next year after being notified by the Arkansas Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation that failure to meet the deadline would result in the district being placed in “facilities distress”.

The meeting, which included an hour-long public discussion, was attended by Arkansas Association of School Facilities Planner Aliza Jones, who attempted to set the record straight on the situation surrounding the district and its high school.

Jones also cleared up questions surrounding her employment by stating that while she worked for the division in the past, she was no longer a state employee. Jones is a member of the Arkansas Association of School Facilities Planners and was hired by the district to assist with its master plan.   

Melissa Pacheco remembers multiple days when her daughter and nephews came home from school with headaches from overheating. One day, her nephew vomited as a result, she said.
She blamed the lack of central air at Academia de Lenguaje y Bellas Artes, a South Side Milwaukee public school that teaches bilingually from preschool to eighth grade.
Pacheco tried to organize other parents to push for investments in air conditioning, but school leaders prioritized recreational equipment instead, she said. She elevated her heat concerns to the Milwaukee Public Schools board as it planned for students to return to in-person learning earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic.
After that didn’t work, Pacheco during the 2021-2022 school year pulled her seventh-grade daughter from the school she attended since kindergarten.
“I was like, ‘I’m so done with them. Nothing gets done,’” the 41-year-old mother said.
Academia de Lenguaje y Bellas Artes is among about half of public schools in Milwaukee — and thousands nationally — that lack full or partial indoor air conditioning, according to district officials. That shortcoming has caused school closures and left students struggling to concentrate when temperatures rise.
Milwaukee Public Schools has long acknowledged difficulties in keeping classrooms cool, and the pandemic highlighted another indoor air quality challenge: how to limit the spread of COVID-19 and other diseases. But it also provided an opportunity. The federal government created a program — the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Education Relief Fund — to address pandemic-related needs, including upgrading ventilation and air filtration.
 

Peter Drucker famously said, “You can’t improve what you don’t measure.” Data on facilities helps public schools to make equitable decisions, prevent environmental health risks, ensure regular maintenance, and conduct long-term planning. Publicly available data increases transparency and accountability, resulting in more informed decision making and quality analysis. Across the U.S., public schools lack the resources to track their facilities and operations, resulting in missed opportunities to ensure equitable access to high quality learning environments. As public schools face increasing challenges to infrastructure, such as climate change, this data gap becomes more pronounced.

Why Do We Need Data On School Facilities?
School facilities affect student health and learning. The conditions of a school building directly impact the health and learning outcomes of students. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the importance of indoor air quality into the public consciousness. Many other chronic diseases are exacerbated by inadequate facilities, causing absenteeism and learning loss. From asthma to obesity to lead poisoning, the condition of the places where children spend their time impacts their health, wellbeing, and ability to learn. Better data on the physical environment helps us understand the conditions that hinder student learning. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has allocated $53 million in funding to build a temporary school in West Maui, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said today.

The temporary school in Pulelehua will replace King Kamehameha III Elementary School, which was located at 611 Front St. and destroyed by the Aug. 8 wildfires. It is expected to provide students and staff from the school with additional facilities to continue instruction as a permanent structure is designed and rebuilt, officials said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers separately announced today that it has awarded a $53.7 million base contract to Pono Aina Management, LLC, a Waianae-based Native Hawaiian company, to build the temporary school.

“The children of Lahaina have gone through a heartbreaking trauma, and the Corps of Engineers, the Department of Defense and our partners can now help the state bring back a bit of normalcy to these young lives,” Col. Jess Curry, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Recovery Field Office commander, said in a news release. “This school may be temporary but will stand as a reminder that despite the grief and loss, Lahaina’s children will have a space to continue to learn, to dream and to thrive. We are proud to be here for them in this moment.”

Voters in five New Jersey school districts are being asked to approve more funding for school security when they vote this Election Day.

The fiver security-related referendums are among more than 30 school district ballot questions that will be decided by local voters Tuesday. They include questions about approving school construction projects, hiring additional teachers, reducing the number of seats on school boards, and more.

The five school construction projects on the ballots total $57.15 million for school renovations and other upgrades in Millburn, Woodbury, Princeton, South River and Lakehurst, according to the New Jersey Schools Boards Association. If the projects are approved by voters, the total cost of the construction projects will be partially offset by $20.6 million in state aid.

Separately, the five security-related referendums add up to just over $4 million and appear to reflect a trend. Voters are being asked to approve the funding as school districts in New Jersey and elsewhere continue to wrestle with safety considerations after high-profile school violence incidents — including the mass shooting that killed 21 people last year at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

GREENSBORO — A parent whose children attended Lindley Elementary is mounting an effort to save a portion of the aged school from being demolished.
“If you believe that the Guilford County school board should preserve and renovate the 1928 historic building for continued use ... please sign this,” parent Samuel Cook wrote in a petition he posted this week on change.org.
He also called for preservation of the wooded trails, open landscape and community garden on campus.
The petition had 166 signatures as of early Friday evening.
Superintendent Whitney Oakley said Thursday that a previously planned school board vote on a contract for a design to replace the school is still on pause.
“It’s the recommendation of the designer, but we are in conversation with the community and will continue to be,” she said.
The school administration, she added, will continue to hold more community meetings.
Oakley said there’s a possibility she might bring the issue to the board in December.
“We haven’t put it back on the board agenda because we are still working with the Lindley community — we’ll keep doing that,” she said.
Julius Monk, the district’s deputy superintendent for business and operations, explained last week that three or four additions have been made to the original 1928 structure. He said the conversations the district is having now are about whether work could be done to save just that 1928 section and incorporate it with a new building.
He clarified that district plans call for Lindley to remain an elementary school. In negotiating for the contract design, Monk said the potential designer reported that the site wasn’t conducive for a kindergarten through eighth-grade school as leaders had hoped.
 

WALLACE, Va. — Wallace Middle School is now celebrating a century since the core of the iconic school building was constructed on the outskirts of Bristol, Virginia.

The school remains the center of the Wallace community — once served by its own post office, railroad depot and mill along the banks of Clear Creek.

Today, the name of early community leader John Houston Wallace remains on the school, the nearby Wallace Meadows housing subdivision and an automobile repair shop — among other landmarks.

A portion of the school — the auditorium and four classrooms — was constructed in 1923. Over time, the school has expanded. A new wing was built about a dozen years ago.

Wallace has served as a high school and elementary school and has now been a middle school for more than 30 years.

Clark-Pleasant School District officially broke ground Monday morning on Whiteland Community High School’s $235 million complex that will unify the students under one roof.

The multi-phase project will bring new additions to the school and renovate the current building in preparation to better accommodate the school district’s growing population. The endeavor marks the most expensive capital project in Clark-Pleasant schools’ history, school officials said back in February.

Superintendent Tim Edsell said that this undertaking will strengthen the three primary facets that attract families to the district: academics, fine arts and athletics.

“A three-legged stool has to have all three legs in order to be operational,” Edsell said. “In the school system, what attracts families is those three elements: great academics, great fine arts and great athletics. We are so excited to be able to see what the next five years are going to produce. There are going to be some headaches and some challenges. It is not going to be a bowl full of roses.”

QUICKSBURG, Va. (WHSV) - A major student-led project is coming to life at North Fork Middle School in Quicksburg. Carpentry students from Triplett Tech are building an outdoor classroom on the side of the school.

“A couple years ago I received an award that had some money attached to it and the goal was to use that money for an educational advancement at our school. Immediately the outdoor classroom came to mind so it can enrich students’ educational opportunities and experiences,” said Dara Booher, an Agriscience Teacher at North Fork.

The goal is to provide an outdoor learning experience for students and to get them out in the fresh air.

Over the summer Booher asked some North Fork students if they would help with the project and five students in the FFA became spokespersons for the project. Over the past few months, the students worked to make the project a reality.

Lockport Township High School District 205 has some immediate and long-term solutions to make for its Central Campus following a collapse of a classroom ceiling on Thursday.
The immediate needs are where to educate the students – freshmen and some special education students – who currently attend the 114-year-old building.
Lockport Township High School District 205 has some immediate and long-term solutions to make for its Central Campus following a collapse of a classroom ceiling on Thursday.
The immediate needs are where to educate the students – freshmen and some special education students – who currently attend the 114-year-old building.
 

The backhoes and bulldozers and earth movers are ready to go, but first, a groundbreaking ceremony must be held to mark the occasion. The new James S. Rickards Middle School campus is officially under construction.

“On behalf of the Rickards family, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” said principal Erick Gurreonero.

It’s an $82 million project, and it’s state-of-the-art in every way.

“It’s important that every child gets to walk through the doors of a beautiful school and this is going to be a beautiful, beautiful place,” said Dr. Peter Licata, superintendent of Broward County Public Schools.

The old building was demolished after a section of the roof collapsed in 2021. Students have been learning in portable classrooms since then, actually, a small city of temporary structures. The community had been asking for a new school even before the roof collapsed, so for some, this is a better-late-than-never situation.

SHELLEY — In rural East Idaho, a tiny school district is making a big bet: that voters will approve a $67.8 million bond measure for a new high school. 

Statewide, it’s the biggest education ask on the November ballot. 

The odds of any bond passing in Idaho are less than a coin toss, thanks in part to the required 66.67% supermajority approval — one of the highest thresholds in the nation. And in smaller communities, passing bonds of this size can be especially unlikely since fewer residents can mean larger tax burdens. 

But in Shelley, a small community surrounded by farmland — where russets are the mascot and its one high school is dubbed ‘the spud cellar’ —  Superintendent Chad Williams seemed hopeful as he ran through the numbers.