How can idle or underused public schools be turned into revenue to support the maintenance of active campuses? Lawmakers discussed a bill that aims to do just that, drawing support from education officials at a recent public hearing. 

It’s a straightforward measure in intent, but one with far-reaching potential to support the Guam Department of Education. Senator Joe San Agustin introduced Bill 70, which aims to allow GDOE to execute long-term leases for underutilized or vacant school properties.  The funds generated could then be used to maintain schools that are still in active use.

He said, “Even though you do have a law that authorizes you to rent your unoccupied schools, if the bill is signed, and I hope it gets passed, you can start renting them today and then be prepared to do the lease. And once it passes, you can foresee the funding to come into your lap.”

GDOE superintendent Dr. Kenneth Swanson voiced his support for the bill, noting that it creates a legal avenue to repair, modernize, and replace aging facilities beyond appropriations.  “Currently, we have three campuses that are surplus to our classroom space needs, and there is interest in leasing them over time for other government operations and charter school activities," he said.

The North Little Rock School Board could settle on an official site plan for the district’s new middle school as soon as Thursday.
The middle school project, which is estimated to cost $68 million by the time of completion, is being funded with $20.8 million in state partnership funding and $70 million generated from a 4-mill property tax increase passed by voters during a May 13 special election.
At its board workshop last week, board members were briefed on three plans for the layout of the middle school project.
Superintendent Greg Pilewski prefaced Taggart’s presentation, saying that the three site plans were drafted based on feedback from district principals and site visits to other schools to determine the most cost effective and the least disruptive option to move forward with.
Each plan, though resulting in various campus configurations, would involve phased demolitions and construction of multiple new buildings, as well as the renovation of others and the addition of more green spaces for students.
 

STAMFORD, CT — Mayor Caroline Simmons on Thursday announced that $576 million in total state funding has been authorized for the Westhill High School and Roxbury Elementary School projects.
The authorization was included in the state bond act, House Bill 7288, which passed on Wednesday, June 4.
With the latest authorization, the maximum state grant commitment totals $434.8 million for both projects, $356.8 million for the Westhill High School project, and $78 million for the Roxbury Elementary School project, according to Simmons announcement.
In 2022, Mayor Simmons worked in partnership with the Stamford legislative delegation and Stamford Public Schools and secured an increase in state reimbursement rates for school construction.

An 11th-hour Portland Public Schools Board resolution to prioritize seismic safety in the district’s $1.83 billion bond may have helped it find success among Portland voters, as parents whose children attend school in dangerous brick buildings rallied behind the tax measure.

Now, in its first update to the School Board as required by that resolution, PPS officials presented a working draft of how they plan to determine which schools will be first in line for improvements. The algorithm would rate buildings both by an objective, data-driven “seismic risk score” and PPS criteria that inform an “importance score.”

The June 3 memo updates School Board members on the district’s progress on three key steps. Those comprise working with a structural engineering consultant to complete a high-level assessment report, a process the district has completed (producing a study of high-risk buildings); using that engineering firm to develop priority recommendations, which the district has been working on since late 2024; and ultimately evaluating those recommendations through PPS’s priority criteria, a step still to be completed.

Cheyenne, Wyo. - Shelby Carlson, School Facilities Division Administrator for the Wyoming State Construction department says, "that building (East High School) is over capacity currently and is projected to be over capacity for a number of years."

A three phase study was conducted and completed by the FEA for the State Construction Department, School Facilities Division to address capacity needs which have been concerns at East High School.

The FEA went to East High at different times in 2024 (both in and out of school session) to collect information on both East capacity, and condition (The FEA says East's condition meets what is needed) and created the study to find out what the Most Cost Effective Remedy (MCER) is needed to address the capacity concerns.

Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month is in May, and it presents a timely opportunity to consider the factors that influence asthma, which is one of the most common chronic diseases among children. Nearly five million American kids live with asthma today—a figure that has increased by 160% since 1980—and, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), it causes an estimated 14 million missed school days annually.
While the educational impact of these absences is generally understood, what often goes overlooked is the critical connection between school facility conditions and student respiratory health. When indoor air quality (IAQ) is poor, the health of children with asthma is increasingly put at risk.  
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), the average American school building is 49 years old. Even more striking, more than one-third of schools have never undergone a major renovation. Outdated HVAC systems, poor ventilation, and building materials past their prime are more than just operational headaches; they contribute to indoor air that is often more polluted than the air outdoors. Dust mites, mold spores, chemical irritants, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) build up in stagnant indoor environments and can have health consequences even for healthy students and staff. 
 

WINCHESTER — The Winchester school board has approved issuing up to $7 million in bonds to replace the heating and air conditioning and fire suppression systems at Winchester High School, along with making other renovations.
The resolution to cover the renovation costs passed unanimously, Superintendent Kevin Blankenship said.
The $7 million would cover the purchase and installation of a new HVAC system, asbestos removal, renovating the school's home economics classroom and cafeteria, and installation of a new fire-suppression system and intercom system. 
It will not cover the renovation of bathrooms and the addition of a lift or elevator to make the building Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant. 
The work will be completed this summer.
"Work has already begun and we hope to have children in the classrooms by the first day of school," Blankenship said. 
 

Philadelphia is getting its first new charter school in nearly a decade — a major milestone for a district that had not granted a new charter since the days of the state-run School Reform Commission.
Early College Charter School of Philadelphia will give about 800 sixth through 12 graders early college and career exposure and either college courses or industry certifications. It will open in 2026 in Center City but recruit students from underserved neighborhoods.
The school board voted 8-1 to approve the application Thursday. It was the second try for the school, whose application got voted down in February over concerns about finances, student interest, and academics.
But the revised application, and $2.6 million in private donations secured in a reserve account, helped seal the deal and sway votes from board members Sarah-Ashley Andrews, Cheryl Harper, ChauWing Lam, Joan Stern, and Reginald Streater, all of whom had voted no last time. Board member Joyce Wilkerson cast Thursday’s lone no vote.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker is viewed as more charter-friendly than former Mayor Jim Kenney, emphasizing unity in the sector and across the city. And board member Whitney Jones acknowledged that in expressing support for Early College, which he said presented a strong application.
“When we made our oath for these seats, we said that we were looking to support Mayor Parker in her vision for one Philadelphia, governing one system of public education that includes both traditional public schools and charter schools,” said Jones, who has worked in the charter sector. While the board has work to do in authorizing and monitoring charters, “I do not think we can hold one individual applicant for the gaps in the system.”

Back in 2022, lawmakers allocated $5 million for school districts to explore consolidation. 

No one took the lawmakers up on it in the first year. 

But the following year, 16 districts got money to study consolidation. Still, no local district has actually consolidated.

K-12 enrollment in public schools is declining amid lower birth rates in Michigan and policies that give parents more choice in where to send their children to school. 

That has left some districts with far more capacity than they need. But rather than merge with neighbors, Michigan school districts are closing buildings and expanding programs they think will increase enrollment. 

Merging districts remains unpopular. Experts say consolidation is hard for several reasons: residents like the identity of their local schools, there are logistical challenges and managing joint debt is tricky.

“It’s a challenge to consolidate districts,” Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross told Bridge Michigan. “People really value their own identity. They value local control, especially in Michigan.” 

WALHALLA, N.D. — A school district in northern North Dakota is looking toward a mill increase vote with the goal to relieve pressure on its general fund to pay for building maintenance and a 20-year bond payment for previous renovations.

North Border School District Superintendent Seth Engelstad said the increase will not only assist the district in maintaining its buildings, but also act as an incentive for future employees in the competition to hire school staff in a teacher shortage.

"Just trying to stay competitive in a market that's very tight right now," he said. "There's a shortage of teachers — there's a shortage of pretty much most positions."

The district will hold the vote Thursday, June 5, at its schools in Pembina and Walhalla. Both schools, as well as a bus barn in Walhalla and a gym in Neche, are buildings the school maintains. The Walhalla school was the subject of a renovation project around 2015, Engelstad said, and the district is halfway through paying a 20-year bond for the work. The vote is for an increase of up to five additional mills, which could raise the current five mills to 10 for the district. A similar vote was conducted last year, but was about 6% to 8% short of the 60% majority needed to pass.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Planning to demolish up to 60% of Hartford High School and Hartford Area Career and Technical Center is on hold while the school district further investigates the presence of toxic building materials and develops a strategy for how the contamination might be removed.
The decision comes after school and state Department of Conservation officials met earlier this month to discuss next steps.
“The plan we have to date has not changed a whole lot,” Hartford facilities director Jonathan Garthwaite said during a School Board meeting last Wednesday. “The timeline has changed a little.”
There are no plans to relocate students to other areas of the school for the 2025-2026 school year. “We’re not going to move athletic programs out of the gym in September,” he told the board.
Previously, school officials had said that they’d like to remove polychlorinated biphenyls — chemicals more commonly referred to as PCBs that were added to construction materials from the 1930s until they were banned by the federal government in 1979 — “as quickly as possible.”
 

Pennsylvania’s Financing Authority announced that 25 Philly-area schools and community colleges have received grants of up to $500,000 for solar installations, as part of the $22.6 million in state funding distributed across Pennsylvania.
The funding comes from the Solar for Schools Program, originally introduced as a bill by state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Philadelphia, and signed into law in 2024.
“I am so happy for each of these schools and excited to see names from nearly every corner of the state,” Fiedler said in a release about the first-ever grant recipients.
“I’ve heard from rural schools who plan to include their solar panels in agricultural education and from city schools that are thinking strategically about rooftop solar with limited space. I have no doubt that the recipients will benefit from the program’s flexibility to meet their school’s needs and to make the most of their strengths,” she added.
Grants cover up to half the cost of equipment, installation, permit fees, energy storage and utility interconnection, helping to reduce the financial burden of going solar.
 

KALAMAZOO, MI -- For years, the Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency has offered career classes to students across Kalamazoo County.
But those classes were scattered in various buildings across the county. Some students would have to travel up to an hour.
Next year, those challenges will be a thing of the past.
Construction has finished on KRESA’s new Career Connect facility at 3500 Vanrick Drive, just off I-94 near Sprinkle Road. The 162,000-square-foot facility provides a centralized location where Kalamazoo County students can take classes in 22 career fields.
KRESA wanted to focus on the career fields where students only need an associate’s degree to enter the field, said Eric Stewart, KRESA assistant superintendent.
“People need jobs that pay well, that bring a wage that can help them exit generational poverty and that‘s the opportunity for our kids,” said Jeff Thoenes, superintendent of Comstock Public Schools.
For every 10 jobs on the labor market, one requires a master’s degree, two require a bachelor’s degree and seven require an associate’s degree or less, Stewart said.
“This project has given me, and dare I say many of us, a new deep appreciation for the spaces we’re in and the people who make them possible,” Stewart said at the building’s ribbon cutting. “This place will produce the next generation of builders, after all.”
Each classroom in the building has a label indicating what career the space is designed for.
 

A team of high school interns is on a treasure hunt for energy savings around the Wenatchee Valley in Washington State. So far, their work shows the potential to cut electricity use up to half at large facilities, including Wenatchee High School in Wenatchee, Wash, Chelan PUD said on May 16.

The Advanced Energy Management Program is a paid internship that provides real-world training in energy efficiency. 

The interns – all sophomores at Wenatchee High School – use data from Chelan PUD’s advanced metering system to identify opportunities to reduce energy in the buildings.

The students also conduct on-site visits, scouring unoccupied classrooms, kitchens, attics and hallways searching for equipment that is running unnecessarily, equipment failures, thermostat settings adjustments, and lighting control opportunities.

Over the last six months, the students audited about 10 facilities, including JC Penney, North Central Educational Service District, Town Toyota Center, Confluence Technology Center, Foothills Middle School and several Wenatchee elementary schools. 

More than a dozen school districts throughout Oregon asked voters this week for their financial support to refurbish aging school buildings and shore up declining operations budgets.
For the most part, Oregonians delivered. But in some districts, finding the support and votes to pass a bond or levy continues to be out of reach.
The most recent count of ballots from the May 20 special election shows voters backing 10 out of the 13 school bond and levy measures on the ballot throughout the state.
Some efforts, like Portland Public Schools’ nearly $1.83 billion construction bond, passed with a comfortable margin on election night. Mount Hood Community College’s $136 million general obligation bond is still too close to call. The college’s bond is passing by the slimmest of margins, with just over 100 more votes approving the measure than votes rejecting it.
On the other hand, school districts that have been hard pressed to pass a bond for years or even decades — such as the Central Linn School District — received a resounding “no, thank you” from voters in their area.
There are several factors to consider when it comes to the success of a school bond or levy measure, like how large a district’s tax base is, the age and income of the electorate, voter turnout and the general health of the state and national economy.
“During economic uncertainty, it becomes harder to pass bonds and levies,” said Emielle Nischik, executive director of the Oregon School Boards Association.
Nischik noted that the bleak state revenue forecast, released by Oregon economists last week, most likely had an impact on voters’ attitudes coming into this election.
“Taking on an additional tax is a challenging thing for folks to do right now,” she said.
 

As part of an effort to increase access to parks for Tacoma residents, two elementary schools in Tacoma saw new schoolyards open on May 19.

The new schoolyards at Whitman and Mann elementary schools will be accessible to students during the school day and open to the public as a park after school hours and on weekends. They are the result of a partnership between the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, Tacoma Public Schools and Parks Tacoma, and cost about $2 million. The three partner organizations and other groups like Kaiser Permanente, the State of Washington and Boeing contributed funding to the project.

“We want all kids to have safe, welcoming spaces to learn and play, and that’s exactly what this does,” Korey Strozier, president of the Tacoma Public Schools Board, said in a release.

John Leahy knows a lot about paint.
The former School Committee member and District 3 / Belvidere Lowell City Councilor owned and operated Leahy Painting for 25 of the 40 years that he’s been a professional painter.
He gave up his private contracting business to take a position as the School Deputy Facilities Director in the Facilities Department of the Lowell Public Schools. In his new role, one of the things he immediately questioned was the quality of the paint in the completed sections of the almost $400 million Lowell High rebuild/renovation project.
“They were using the ProMar 200,” Leahy said by phone Monday afternoon. “They should be using the ProMar HP.”
By “they,” Leahy is referring to the LHS paint contractor Sherwin-Williams. The “HP” stands for high performance.
According to the company website, the Sherwin-Williams’s ProMar 200 is a “popular, professional-grade, interior latex paint…It’s known for its durability, easy application, and good coverage.”
In contrast, the company describes its high-performance paint as made for commercial or light industrial jobs because of its “high-performance durability, abrasion resistant formula, and outstanding hide.”
Leahy brought his concerns to the Dec. 19 meeting of the School Building Committee, of which the former mayor is also a member. He told Perkins Eastman Project Manager Robin Greenberg that the newly painted walls were already “getting beat up.”
“Maybe use a semi-gloss finish to keep the walls cleaner,” Leahy said. “A better quality so it holds up over the years.”
Greenberg said “We’ll look into that.”
At the April 3 meeting, Leahy again asked Greenberg for an update on the paint being used on the project’s interior spaces.
“I’m not happy with the finishes,” he said. “You’re using construction-grade eggshell paint on all the walls. By the time you guys leave, we’ll have to start painting again.”
Greenberg said she still was not prepared to answer that question, although she said, “We believe it is a school-durable paint.”
 

Voters appeared to have approved Portland Public Schools’ proposed $1.83 billion bond to rebuild or modernize three high schools and carry out seismic retrofits and other upgrades at its aging middle and elementary schools.
In partial returns tallied at around midnight, the bond was passing 58% to 42%, a margin that had improved as the night went on and more votes were counted.
The last time Portland voters weighed in on a school construction bond, in 2020, it passed by a 3-to-1 margin.
The vote marks the fifth time in the past 14 years that the district’s voters have weighed in on a construction and maintenance bond and the fourth straight time that they have approved such an ask.
Portland Public Schools Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong declared victory soon after 8 p.m. Tuesday.
“With the passage of the 2025 school bond, you’ve made it clear that our students matter, and that safe, modern and inspiring learning environments are a shared priority,” she wrote in a message to families. “Thanks to your support, we will continue the critical work of rebuilding and restoring Portland’s aging school buildings.”
 

The Fort Worth Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 8-0 with no discussion or comments, to approve a plan developed by district administrators to close 18 campuses, mostly elementary schools, over the next five years.

Parents from Briscoe and De Zavala elementary schools packed the board room Tuesday night, many took a back seat and allowed their children to speak about why their schools should stay home.

"I really enjoy my teachers not only are they hardworking and kind, but they helped me be a better student in the future," said a former Briscoe student.

“I’m hoping that the district reconsiders the list, and they don't vote yes right now,” Stephany Velez said.

Velez’s two children attend De Zavala Elementary School.

“They won't be voting on each school. They'll be voting on the whole plan, which includes all of the schools. So, I just hope that they take a step back and they rethink some of the things.”

Velez said she chose De Zavala for its dual-language program, high rating and overall community environment.

“It's an A-rated school, and there's four elementary schools in the whole district that have that rating,” Velez said. “It’s the only one that's on the list that has A-rating … It's also a school that has a 95.7% attendance rate, so the students are there every day. There's no suspension rate as well.”

Velez said it should be communities over dollars as the board decides whether to close 14 of its campuses.

Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco issued an update Sunday, addressing mounting community concerns about contaminated soil at nearly half the district’s schools following the release of Eaton Fire soil testing results last week.

The detailed email communication aimed to reassure parents and community members about safety protocols as the district works to address contamination found at 11 of the district’s 23 campuses. Test results showed more than 40% of schools had lead exceeding state health-based limits, with one site showing levels triple the allowable limits in one portion of the campus.

“Your concerns have been heard, and they are guiding our work every step of the way,” Blanco wrote in the community email, directly acknowledging widespread anxiety among parents about potential health risks to their children.

The Superintendent’s message came days after the district released soil testing results showing severe contamination at several sites, including Blair High School’s tennis courts, where lead levels reached more than three times the state’s allowable limit of 80 milligrams per kilogram of soil. Four elementary schools showed lead levels more than double the state limit.

Dr. Parveen Kaur, acting health officer at the Pasadena Public Health Department, provided context in the email about health implications.