AUGUSTA — The Maine House on Thursday advanced a bill to help local cities and towns repurpose old schools into housing.

Across the state, 24 former schools have been identified as potential sites for housing redevelopment, Rep. Traci Gere (D-Kennebunkport) said during debate in the House. 

“Converting vacant schools into housing is a commonsense approach to creating affordable and attainable housing and this bill will help provide housing that is desperately needed,” she said.

As amended, the bill, LD 2164 allocates $5 million a year to the Maine Redevelopment Land Bank Authority for the creation of a new Maine School Conversion Fund program. 

Speaking in opposition, Rep. Amanda Collamore (R-Pittsfield), said the authority is relatively new and not well positioned to administer another program. Also, she said $5 million a year likely won’t come near to covering the costs of a school renovation, particularly given the need to address asbestos and groundwater issues.

“It’s probably only going to support one school building instead of multiple,” she said. 

Geothermal dehumidification systems have already injected new life into two historic Winona Area Public Schools elementary schools. 

Now, a federal tax credit tied to those projects will open the door for the possibilities of additional improvements to the educational environment for Winona area students, staff and community members. 

Superintendent Brad Berzinski on Thursday night shared with the school board that the district has received a check for $5.5 million, the culmination of two years of work to apply for a federal tax credit available to entities that meet certain criteria for energy efficiency projects.

“I am grateful,” school board chair Nancy Denzer said. “I am excited about what this means and appreciative of all the people who spent so much time on this.”

Charlottesville City Schools (CCS) and the City of Charlottesville (City) are pleased to announce the successful execution of a major Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that will significantly advance community sustainability goals while delivering long-term financial benefits. A PPA is an arrangement in which a third-party developer installs, owns, and operates an energy system (e.g., solar) on a customer’s property. The customer purchases the system’s electric output for a predetermined period. 

Under this new agreement, a 1.318 MWdc size solar energy system will be installed at Charlottesville High School (CHS). Once operational, the system is expected to generate approximately 1,738,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable energy each year. This production will offset an estimated 59% of CHS’s total annual electricity use.

Over the 25-year term of the PPA, the project is forecast to achieve approximately $2.3 million in avoided electricity costs. The environmental benefits are equally significant. The project will avoid more than 40,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which is equivalent to removing roughly 8,400 gas-powered cars from the road for an entire year. This initiative represents a substantial contribution toward the City’s long-term climate and sustainability goals.

NORTHAMPTON — The City Council this week approved a new five-year Capital Improvement Plan for funding infrastructure projects across the city, with much of the debate at Tuesday’s meeting focused on specific, immediate projects such as repairs to City Hall’s roof and various school district initiatives. 

The Capital Improvement Plan, or CIP, includes plans for projects spanning from 2027-2031 — a total of about $132.3 million in projected spending across all departments over that time period. 

Much of the focus at a public hearing on March 19 and at Tuesday’s meeting was on the first year of the plan, in fiscal 2027.

ABILENE  – Students at Wylie East Junior High moved from one classroom to another on Wednesday morning as part of a shelter-in-place drill.

The class they left had an exterior-facing wall, while the room they relocated to was an interior space, offering more protection. Students then remained in the interior classroom for the remainder of the drill.

However, for some students in the Wylie Independent School District, these drills will look different in the upcoming school year.

Wylie South Elementary School’s gymnasium will also act as a storm shelter in the case of severe weather when the school opens this fall. The shelter will be surrounded by 16 inches of concrete and will have its own power and water sources, separate from the rest of the building.

Johnny Heredia expects to spend an upcoming summer digging up pipes at Chase Avenue Elementary School.

As director of facilities, maintenance and operations for Cajon Valley Union School District, he’s the one called when sewage backs up into bathrooms or playgrounds. It happens often.

Digging up the pipes, he acknowledges, would destroy the floors and sidewalks. But those need to be replaced anyway. While he’s at it, he could finally bring the bathrooms into compliance with disabilities law and maybe replace the floors’ terrazzo — it’s expensive, he acknowledges, but it lasts forever.

“You’ve ruined the sidewalks, destroyed the sprinkler system and the grass — and then you start to get into structural issues, as you’re saw-cutting into other things just to replace the sewer system,” he said. “Even though the sewer system’s $1 million, you’ve done $2 million worth of damage.”

If the East County school district could pass a bond, it could address some of these issues at its aging schools. But voters haven’t passed a facilities bond in nearly two decades, and since then, the district’s maintenance budget hasn’t been able to keep up with the needed repairs.

San José’s school district will shutter five elementary schools and relocate another at the end of the year, despite pleas from parents and community members to halt the closure process.
The school board voted three to two late Thursday night in favor of the consolidation plan, which will close Empire Gardens, Lowell, Gardner, Canoas and Terrell elementary schools and relocate Hammer Montessori to the Gardner campus at the end of the year.
School Board Vice President Brian Wheatley and trustee Nicole Gribstad voted against the plan.
“It would not be honest to suggest that a recommendation like this comes without loss. There is grief and change, especially when it touches schools and neighborhoods that people love,” Superintendent Nancy Albarrán said. “But there is also hope … the goal of this work is to create stronger, more stable, more resource school communities for students now and into the future.”
SJUSD staff said it would alert families who will be affected by the closures on Friday and finalize students’ new school assignments by May 1.
The closures come as districts across the Bay Area combat significant enrollment declines. San José Unified School District’s student population has shrunk 20% — a total of 6,000 students — since 2017.
 

 The Southington Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously endorsed a key step in advancing a proposed $86.7 million school facilities bond, sending a positive recommendation to the Southington Town Council following a March 17 meeting.
The commission reviewed a mandatory 8-24 referral for a bond ordinance that would fund projects under the town’s Elementary Facilities Plan.
The proposal includes the construction of a new Kelley Elementary School, renovations at South End Elementary School, and the eventual closure of Flanders Elementary School, with its building repurposed for municipal and community use.
PZC member Todd Chaplinsky cited the town’s 2016 Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) in support of the proposal, reading language that anticipates long-term planning for school facilities and the possibility of consolidation if enrollment declines.
“The Plan of Conservation and Development does not get involved in day-to-day operations of individual departments,” Chaplinsky said, quoting the document. “Rather, the plan seeks to identify potential community facility needs such as buildings and sites so that they can be anticipated and planned for.”
 

 Fairfax County school leaders are exploring a bold, business-style strategy to tackle a growing infrastructure problem: selling naming rights to school facilities.
Facing a staggering $400 million maintenance backlog, Fairfax County Public Schools may allow companies to sponsor stadiums, gyms, and other athletic facilities — similar to naming deals in professional sports. 
The goal is to generate new revenue without raising taxes. 

An Arizona judge has ordered the state to fix its school facilities funding system, a decision that Crane School District says reinforces the state’s responsibility to adequately fund schools.

The ruling, issued March 4, gives lawmakers eight months to create a constitutional funding system. It’s the result of a 2017 lawsuit brought forward by four plaintiff districts, including Crane.

Last August, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Dewain Fox initially determined the state of Arizona was inadequately providing for its public schools.

The Arizona Constitution requires the state to establish and maintain a “general and uniform public school system.” In Glendale Elementary School District v. State of Arizona, plaintiffs successfully argued that the state’s capital funding model creates a divide between schools able to meet basic needs through stronger local tax bases and those that cannot.

Following months of back-and-forth over the form of the ruling, Fox finalized his order with a permanent injunction requiring the state to fix its capital funding system for school buildings and facilities.

BETTENDORF, Iowa — Iowa school districts now must decide whether to pay for digital building maps on their own after the state ended funding for a school safety program launched under Gov. Kim Reynolds’ 2022 School Safety Initiative. 
The program, known as Critical Incident Mapping, provides detailed indoor maps to help first responders navigate schools during emergencies.
TJ Kennedy, president and CEO of GeoComm, the company that partnered with the Iowa Department of Education to implement the program, said the mapping system has been deployed in more than 1,400 schools statewide, covering over 545,000 students.
The maps allow school officials to see the location of 911 calls in real time and help identify evacuation routes and safe areas during severe weather or active shooter incidents. 
 

School districts across the North Country are asking for help from Albany as energy costs surge, warning that residents could see a tax hike if relief doesn’t come.
LaFargeville Superintendent Travis Hoover said the district’s utility bill jumped from $12,000 in January to $26,000 in February, an increase of $14,000 in one month.
“We’ve already expended what we budgeted for this year for electricity, and we know that’s going to keep going so we’re going to be pulling it out of reserves to make sure those costs are met,” Hoover said.
LaFargeville is not the only district seeing higher energy costs.
Sackets Harbor Central School District said its energy bill in January was $19,000, up from $11,000 last January, while only using 8% more energy.
16 districts call for state action
In an effort to find a solution, superintendents from 16 North Country districts wrote a letter to Albany calling for change.
Sackets Harbor Superintendent Jennifer Gaffney helped write the letter calling for energy price regulation, establishing or enhancing assistance programs, and creating an emergency fund for schools struggling with energy costs.
“That is to be shared with our elected officials for the purpose of advocating for an approach to assist public schools to ensure that we are not diverting resources from children to pay our electric bill,” Gaffney said.
 

Because of its aging infrastructure, the Olmsted Falls City School District started a facilities master plan effort more than two years ago that recently culminated in recommendations from a volunteer committee.
The proposal comes with a roughly $87 million price tag.
“The group ultimately decided to make a recommendation to do a combined condense, renovate and replace,” said Olmsted Falls City Schools Director of Business Heath Krakowiak.
He chaired the district’s 40-member volunteer facilities master planning committee.
“That would involve condensing our PreK, K(indergarten) and grades 1-3 facilities, which is the Early Childhood Center and Falls-Lenox Primary School, and creating a new building space,” he said.
“Also, renovating our middle school and high school with needs such as HVAC, electrical and safety.”
 

In the world of institutional management, the calendar is deceptive. We talk about summer maintenance, but from an electrical perspective, the most critical work happens while the snow is still melting. The months of March and April are the best strategic window for your facility to plan for the summer. The difference between a chaotic July and a productive one comes down to the decisions you make now.

While summer is still the best time for major electrical work because buildings are less occupied, the complexity of modern campus systems has increased. Between the integration of EV charging stations, sophisticated HVAC controls, and high-density classroom technology, you don’t want to take a costly ‘wait until it breaks’ approach to maintenance.

In this Ask The Electrician column, we’ll cover what electrical maintenance tasks schools and institutions should prioritize as the 2026 summer shutdown approaches.

At their March 23 meeting, the Medford Comprehensive High School Building Committee voted on six final designs for the high school.
Whittling the potential designs down from 29, committee members discussed design priorities ranging from site safety and security to ensuring strong counseling and community health support. Members also debated how a new pool might be included in the construction and fielded public questions and comments.
The construction plan for Medford’s new high school is in full swing following the presentation of its educational plan in January. Written by the Medford Comprehensive High School Building Committee, the plan envisions improved learning spaces and programming for students, faculty and community members.
Guided by Medford Public Schools Superintendent Suzanne Galusi and Kimberly Talbot, assistant superintendent of academics and instruction, the 58-page plan includes architectural proposals for potential classroom and learning space dimensions as well as educational goals that center on creating “human-centered spaces that support collaboration, movement and multiple modes of teaching and learning,” which are currently lacking in Medford’s high school, according to Talbot.
“The classrooms are small,” Talbot said. “There’s not space for you to get up and move into this small group. … It’s not a respectful professional space for kids to work.”
 

Various summer capital maintenance projects in the Waunakee Community School District were approved by the school board at its meeting on March 9, including more than $2.7 million of work at the high school.

Along with agreeing to establishing a budget of $1 million in capital maintenance work for 2026-27, approval was given only to specific projects that will cost $25,000 or above. Separately, the board approved bids for summer projects at the high school, scheduled to begin in June and expected to be finished in August.

Jay Thomsen, vice president of the district’s construction partner, Vogel Bros., laid out the timing of the work to be done between the existing middle school and high school.

“We’re still working out final details in terms of letting teachers be able to get stuff out of the spaces we need to be in,” said Thomsen. “There are new gates. That’s going to be likely the most critical work in terms of the duration, and so, that’s an area we would likely start on quickly as well. And then turn the space back over to the district in August.”

Those gates, according to Steve Summers, executive director of operations for the school district, will be installed on Community Drive between the high school and the Middle School to provide a safer path for students to cross between buildings.

 The state School Building Authority has granted extensions to school construction projects taking place in 10 counties.
The approval came during the SBA’s quarterly meeting in Charleston.
SBA Executive Director Andy Neptune said the reasons for the extensions vary. He said some of them are linked to winter weather and supply chain issues.
“Both of those, especially the weather, was a huge factor. Now we’re coming out of it, the sun is shining and they’re ready to work but the materials are there it. We’re okay with it,” Neptune told MetroNews.
The extensions are going to a joint project for Calhoun-Gilmer counties and projects in Cabell, Barbour, Webster, Putnam, Berkeley, Pocahontas, Taylor, Grant and a project at the South Branch Community and Technical Center in Petersburg.
Neptune said there are currently 121 active SBA projects. He said it’s not unusual to have some delays.
 

Several times a year, a heat wave rolls through the East Bay, leaving hundreds of Oakland classrooms sweltering. 

In aging buildings, which mostly lack adequate cooling systems, teachers have tried all sorts of creative ways to keep their students and their classrooms cool. At Sequoia Elementary School, Susan Chiodo once dipped bandanas in icy water for her third graders to put on their foreheads and necks. Minutes later, they all had droplets of colored water, leaching dye from the bandanas, running down their faces. Kindergarten teacher Natasha Saleski keeps a spray bottle to mist students who get overheated on toasty days at Manzanita SEED Elementary School. 

Some teachers have purchased blackout curtains, some crack their windows overnight, and others keep popsicles stocked to help students cool off. But those fixes have a limited effect on what is a districtwide infrastructure problem. More than 75% of schools’ indoor space — roughly 2,100 classrooms — lack cooling systems.

City officials said they will likely miss a deadline to comply with a class-size mandate set by state law.
The admission came amid an hours long City Council hearing where local lawmakers pressed school construction officials about their compliance.
A 2022 state law requires city public schools to cap class sizes between 20 and 25 students — depending on the grade — by September 2028. The schools chancellor alluded to the challenge.
“I think it’s going to be very difficult to get to 80% by September,” Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels said.
City officials said they plan to add 4,600 new seats by this fall to meet the requirement.
On average, it takes four years for a new school or an addition to a school to be built, according to city officials.
On the minds of council members was also the city’s budget gap and financial headwinds.
“If our bond rating is lowered, would that increase the cost to borrow money?” Bronx Councilmember Eric Dinowitz said.
“We might need someone from OMB to really speak to that one. We’re not funding experts. We just use the funding provided by OMB,” Cora Liu, capital planning management, School Construction Authority, said. “I would surmise that if it would cost more to borrow money, I would really love SCA’s opinion.”
 

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill delivered her inaugural budget address earlier this month, outlining her administration’s plan to protect children’s futures through a $12.4 billion investment in K-12 schools for FY 2027.

“My budget is focused on ensuring kids in New Jersey have access to the best education and brightest possible future,” said Sherrill. “The budget includes a record level of K-12 school funding, while acknowledging that much more work is needed to make sure students and taxpayers get the best return on our investment. It lays the foundation for future improvements – like stronger academic and mental health outcomes, shared services, and more efficient spending – to better support children from birth through graduation and strengthen schools statewide.”

The $60.7 billion budget includes a proposed surplus of $5.4 billion, while redirecting over 74 percent of the total budget back into New Jersey communities in the form of grants-in-aid for property tax relief, social services, and higher education, as well as state aid to schools, municipalities, and counties.