MACON, Ga. — Some Central Georgians are already headed back to school. In Macon-Bibb one elementary school is so excited for the new school year, that they decided to walk through the halls for a grand tour a week before classes start.
At Springdale Elementary, everyone's excited for the first day of school.
"I think the excitement on the children's faces when they walk in and see it all brand new, I think that's what I'm looking forward to the most," media specialist Meagin Jiles said.
In May, Jiles told 13WMAZ she's wanted to teach at Springdale since she was a student in the '90s. 
This year, she's getting some upgrades to her library, like better storage, better technology and a special library feature the superintendent is a big fan of.
"There's this stage area where students can sit and listen, have a story told, or get to do some mini-performances," Superintendent Dan Sims said. "I just see so much life coming out of that one corner of the building, that's kinda cool to me."
In addition to the renovated classrooms and larger cafeteria, the school's natural lighting is one of the first things you'll notice when you enter the new building.
Amore Edwards graduated from Mercer in May and this school year will be her first as a teacher. She thinks the school's upgrades will make a big impact.
"The windows are really big and there's a lot of them in the building so I think it'll uplift the spirits of everyone in the building," third-grade teacher Amore Edwards said. "Natural light's really healthy for you so I'm excited about that."
 

Tacoma Public Schools is celebrating the completion of 17 new playgrounds, marking a significant milestone in the district’s commitment to fostering vibrant and inclusive recreational spaces.

Stanley Elementary recently unveiled its new Pre-k and K-5 playground set. The Pre-k play area is designed to support students with diverse needs. The K-5 playground equipment includes an outdoor fitness obstacle course, safety surfacing, slides, shaded area, swings and climbing structures that are ADA compliant. The new play structures have perimeter fencing that secures the site while also providing access for the public to use the play areas during non-school hours. 

Newly constructed schools Skyline, Downing, Fawcett, and Bryant (currently under construction) also got new playgrounds with their new building.

Additionally, as part of the Community School Yard program, Reed and Stafford received new playgrounds, while Mann, Larchmont and Whitman elementary schools will receive new playgrounds next year.

Community School Yards is a national project of The Trust for Public Lands in partnership with Metro Parks Tacoma. Learn more at metroparkstacoma.org/project/community-schoolyards.

With the start of the 2024-2025 academic year right around the corner, several Pikes Peak region school districts have completed or are in the process of completing new facilities and upgrades .
Harrison School District 2
The southeast Colorado Springs district has undertaken a number of sweeping renovation and improvement projects in recent years, thanks to a $180 million bond issue approved by voters in November 2018.
When Panorama Middle School students return to school on Aug. 12, they will walk through the doors of a newly-renovated building, according to district spokeswoman Christine O’Brien.
Improvements include: New paint, flooring, windows and lighting, upgrades to restrooms and locker rooms, upgrades to cafeteria and gymnasiums, new pod-style flexible classrooms and small group rooms, a new entryway, makerspace and learning commons, landscaping, electrical, and upgrades to office spaces, officials said.
“I (recently) got a sneak peek,” O’Brien told The Gazette. “It’s going to be great!”
Panorama will host students from Turman Elementary this fall while the grade school undergoes bond work, officials said. To help ease the strain of additional pick-up and drop-off traffic, Turman families will have their own staggered start and dismissal times.
The district has also renamed the former Stratmoor Hills Elementary School building after a beloved former principal and current school board member.
 

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine — A group of residents in Cape Elizabeth is threatening to take legal action against the town council—and, by extension, the town—over a proposal to renovate the town’s school buildings that was submitted by the council chair and undercuts a version approved by the school board.

Earlier this month, the council sent two different school building improvement plans forward for public comment, the next step before a measure can land on the ballot. The first proposal was approved by the school board. It calls for $89.9 million to go toward refurbishing schools in Cape Elizabeth and reconstructing the middle school entirely.

The council approved this plan, but also pushed forward an alternative proposal by the chair, Timothy Reiniger, to instead use $42 million on the school projects and hold off on building a new middle school. The Cape Elizabeth School Board had voted against this plan.

A proposal for a brand new high school building for the Winchester School District appears to be off the table.
Members of St. Louis-based marketing and research firm Creative Entourage Research presented the results of a community-wide survey conducted over the last two months to the Winchester School Board on Tuesday night.
The survey received 840 responses across the district. The survey graded perceptions of the school district, perceptions of the state of the high school building, perceptions of perceived costs to build a new building or renovate the current building, and any perceptions of current need for new construction.
According to an executive summary, about half of the respondents to the survey said that they had a positive view of the education provided by the district.
Approximately 74% of respondents said they could not afford a raise on property taxes no matter the cause in the county. Similarly, approximately the same amount said they would not support the building of a new facility. Meanwhile, another portion of the survey demonstrated that there was a perceived need for updates and/or there is a problem with the school’s current facilities. More than 40% said one of the biggest problems was that the current high school is not ADA compliant, while about 32% said that there was a general perception of need for improvement at the building.
 

FORT KNOX, Kentucky – The Department of Defense Education Activity will open its remodeled, state-of-the art, 21st century Van Voorhis Elementary School August 13.

The oldest school on post, 63 years old, will now have an open concept, with instructional spaces grouped together in neighborhoods where each has a learning hub, a central space used for projects, breakout sessions and activities. Learning hubs have learning studios and classrooms paired for collaborative instruction and group learning. There are also smaller spaces for one-to-one work. Neighborhoods also have easy access to outdoor learning and play spaces.

“We build a lot of things the Soldier is going to use to improve their lethality or ability to move, shoot, and communicate on the battlefield. This is a way to show the Soldier we’re also taking care of their families,” said Lt. Col. Guillermo Guandique, deputy commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District. “We’re giving them world-class opportunities for their children. We’re growing future leaders of our country, of our communities, of our Army, with a facility like this.”

A school district in San Juan County — small in student population, huge in land area — says it is in a precarious financial position as the Public Service Company of New Mexico transitions from coal-fired power to renewable energy.
Lawmakers and officials with the Central Consolidated School District are calling on the state's biggest utility to live up to the promises of a "just transition" promised in the Energy Transition Act of 2018. The legislation promised replacement power generation to be developed within boundaries of the school district as the company moved away from coal, long a key economic driver in the area.
The school district, consisting of 15 schools, a technical center and several preschools spread over nearly 3,000 square miles in northwest New Mexico, have complained about funding shortfalls following the closure of San Juan Generating Station, and worry about a future closure of the nearby Four Corners Power Plant. Both have been critical contributors to the school district's tax base.
The district serves about 5,000 students; more than 90 percent are Native American.
 

About nine months after construction kicked into high gear on Amherst County High School’s addition and renovation project, the county board of supervisors and school board took a recent tour of the work being done.

The $32 million project includes a new 1,400-seat auditorium with three classrooms in the back of the school, a remodel of the cafeteria into a new dining commons area, a new fieldhouse next to the baseball field and conversion of existing space into more career and technical education (CTE) classrooms.

“Pretty much we’re on schedule and feel good,” Amherst County Public Schools Superintendent William Wells told the group of local officials July 16.

Wells said the hope is the new dining commons area can be used in the February and March timeframe and the new auditorium and adjoining classrooms for theater, band and chorus can be ready by late March or early April.

GILBERT, AZ — From classes to friends, so much about the first day of school is new, however, some things never change.
At Higley’s Traditional Academy, a school bell in front of the campus has been there for more than 100 years. The bell is from 1909 and rings fewer than five times a year.
School staff will ring it for the end of the school year, when a distinguished teacher retires, or before the start of the very first day of school.
”The greatest thing about it is the kids really respect it...you’d think being out here in the open, kids would ring it, but they really don’t,” said Caryn Bacon, the principal of Higley Traditional Academy.
While history should be preserved, some parts of the campus need renovation.
She shared with us that the newest parts of the campus are 30 years old. We’re told the HVAC system needs to be updated and the same goes for the roof.
 

PITTSBURGH — Several parents, students and community members rallied in front of the PPS Administration building Monday chanting, “Closed minds close schools.”
They want their message to get across to administrators with Pittsburgh Public Schools. They’re demanding more answers as to what the facilities utilization plan means for students.
“We’re not hearing the transparency,” said a woman with 412Justice, an education rights group.
Some parents said there is still a lot of confusion about what the plan entails even after going to several town halls.
“It’s all about finances and buildings and there’s really nothing in there with what’s going to happen with our kids,” said PPS parent Jessie Merlin.
The plan takes a look at a number of schools operating at a capacity of 50% or less. As enrollment continues to decline and the school district’s massive budget gap grows, administrators have repeatedly said school closures are possible but won’t say that for sure.
“I want you to know our approach did not identify any schools for closure. This does not mean that will not happen,” Superintendent Dr. Wayne Walters said in a video posted to the PPS website.
Jessie Merlin has two daughters who go to Woolslair Elementary, a school that’s been saved from the chopping block before. She said closing schools would only hurt students’ education.
 

Schools across Pennsylvania can now receive free assistance in applying for funds for solar enhancements.
Pennsylvania’s General Assembly and Gov. Josh Shapiro recently passed ‘Solar for Schools,’ a bill that aims to fund solar energy projects throughout Pennsylvania, including public K-12 schools, community colleges, and career technical schools. In addition to the passing of this bill, $25 million from the state budget will be utilized to fund the program to allow schools to transition to solar energy.
Schools can access funds through the GET Solar Schools program, which is led by the Pennsylvania Solar Center, a nonprofit that aims to provide trusted guidance and help Pennsylvanians enter a clean energy economy.
According to the PA Solar Center, roughly 5 percent of Pennsylvania schools have already gone solar, offsetting between 65% and 110% of their previous energy costs per year. Some have even eliminated their energy bills, and receive revenue for excess energy that they reinvest back into their classrooms.
 

NEWPORT — Despite mitigation efforts, a surprise spike in PCB levels at North Country Union High School has district leaders worrying the school might not be able to open on time — or at all — this coming school year.

An expedited $5 million mitigation and abatement project is underway at the school over the summer. But whether those efforts will be effective, and what state health officials will ultimately decide about school operations, remains unknown. 

“This puts the opening of school in person on time in jeopardy,” Chris Young, the high school’s principal, told VTDigger last week. “The most important thing to us is that we get kids back on time, in person.”

Last year, elevated PCB levels resulted in limited access to some parts of the school’s “C-wing,” part of the school primarily dedicated to North Country Career Center. The district undertook a nearly $500,000 mitigation project last Christmas that, based on later testing, appeared ineffective. 

The more recent tests, from late this spring, showed elevated levels in “B-wing,” the academic hub of the school, stoking fear that students might have limited access or no access at all to even more classrooms. 

A group of educators, staff and parents are suing the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) for failing to address poor building conditions, teacher vacancies and violating the rights of students, particularly Black, lower-income and multilingual learners.

The lawsuit, filed late Friday by civil rights law firm Public Advocates and pro bono counsel Munger, Tolles & Olson, comes months after 48 Williams complaints were submitted to the district. It’s the first time a school district has been sued under the landmark Williams v. California settlement in 2004, which established the complaint process, the right to textbooks, clean, safe schools, and qualified teachers for all California public school students, said Karissa Provenza, Public Advocates attorney.

“The petitioners in the case are seeking a court order to compel WCCUSD to immediately remedy these violations, respond to complainants, and finally provide students with the safe and healthy school environment to which they are entitled,” a statement from Public Advocates said.

NORMAL — For the 12 weeks of summer break, school teachers prep their upcoming classes, students enjoy what freedom they can, families go on vacation and administrators hammer down plans for the upcoming year. 
But maintenance technicians have to sprint through whatever repairs and upgrades the actual school buildings need in a very short amount of time while the buildings remain mostly empty.
"We have 148 projects this summer to do in 45 working days," said Tom Rockwell, operations manager for McLean County Unit 5.
The maintenance staff of 13 has roughly three projects a day to complete this summer between school years. 
Those projects include everything from installing portable classrooms, repairing geothermal water pumps, refinishing basketball courts and pools, all the way down to painting offices, Rockwell said.
 

MODESTO, Calif. — There was no silent reading time at James C. Enochs High School in Modesto Thursday. Instead, the on-campus scene involved cones, caution tape, scissor lifts and drills.
"We’re painting the exterior and we’re also adding a solar array in the front large student parking lot," said Roger Orth, senior director of Maintenance and Operations for Modesto City Schools. "We’re also adding a synthetic track and field."
The ruckus doesn't stop at Enochs High School.
"In the 36 years I have been in the school district, we've never done anything close to what we're doing right now," Orth said. "We have 34 total schools. Most of our campuses have work going on right now and that includes new gyms, cafeterias, solar projects and shop buildings."
With just 26 days until the hard hats are replaced with backpacks for the Aug. 13 start of the fall semester, it’s crunch time.
"All the projects that entail having instructional space ready for the start of school... those will all be ready for school to start," Orth said. "These other projects will run into the fall and sometimes beyond the fall."
 

BESSEMER, Ala. —
As the state school superintendent decides whether to intervene and take over the Bessemer City School System, Bessemer board members are moving forward, looking at their capital budget plan for the next five years.
Many schools in the district are in rough shape. Some have failing ceiling tiles, and officials often have to bring in portable air conditioners to keep students cool.
But if the state takes over, the work they put in on their five-year plan may not matter.
Greenwood Elementary School is 90 years old, built before air conditioning. So, it and Abrams Elementary have been retrofitted with a boiler for heat and a chiller for cooling.
Now, the Capital Improvements Committee discussed possibly spending right at $3 million to make repairs and upgrades to the two schools.
School Board President Lee Jones said, “Rather than, like I have mentioned before, to keep putting money into these old buildings, we need to build a new building. We may be able to consolidate some schools to eliminate some of these old buildings.”
But that doesn't address the hot classrooms students could return to in a few weeks.
 

Liberty County Board of Education members may be taking a look at increasing the fees charged for use of school facilities.

But not all members are apparently eager to put new fees in place.

School system officials proposed raising fees for use of buildings, gymnasiums and athletic fields. The existing fee structure for district facilities has not changed since 2006, according to school system officials. Meanwhile, electrical costs have increased 22% in the last two years, water and sewer costs have gone up 40% in the last 10 years and labor costs have risen 46% in the last 10 years.

“We’re not trying to make any money. We’re trying to offset the cost we have,” Superintendent Dr. Franklin Perry told board members.

School system officials recommended the facility use fee hike to cover operational expenses because current fees were not covering the costs of hosting events, they said.

Most Idaho school districts want their new facilities money all at once.
House Bill 521, passed into law this year, will deliver $1 billion to schools for facilities upgrades, and districts have the option to take their share in a lump sum or in annualized installments over the next decade. 
The $1 billion comes from state bonds, part of a total $1.5 billion investment in school facilities through HB 521. The Department of Education — which is responsible for distributing the funds — doesn’t yet have concrete data on school districts’ preferred method for receiving the money. 
“But everything we’re hearing from schools anecdotally is that most plan to take the lump sum payment,” said Scott Graf, communications director for the department. 
That includes large and small districts. Murtaugh School District — enrollment 388 — plans to take the lump sum, said Superintendent Michele Capps. Same goes for the Lewiston Independent School District, which has 4,512 students. 
Lewiston will receive about $17 million from HB 521. The money is slated for upgrades to windows and doors along with potential building expansions that would give programs, such as orchestra, more space, according to Lewiston Superintendent Lance Hansen.
Hansen said there are a couple reasons that the lump sum is more advantageous. First, districts can maximize the value of the money in the short term. Facilities construction and maintenance costs increase regularly, making far-off expenses difficult to predict. 
“We’ve seen projects escalate 10, 15, 20% just in a year,” Hansen said. 
At the same time, inflation is driving down the value of the dollar, meaning $1.7 million — what Lewiston would receive in 10-year installments — won’t go as far in years to come if inflation persists.
 

Later this summer, states will find out if they'll get millions of dollars to reduce planet-warming pollution. The money comes from the Inflation Reduction Act the Democrats and President Biden pushed through Congress two years ago. Earlier this year, states submitted plans for how to lower emissions, but every state has a different idea of what that looks like. In one conservative state, the plan is largely about schools. Here's Ellis Juhlin with Montana Public Radio.

ELLIS JUHLIN, BYLINE: The high school in Big Sandy, Mont., was built in the 1930s and is in desperate need of upgrades to make it energy efficient, including a new boiler.

DAN SCHROCK: It's so bad that we actually have to turn our heat off to try to regulate the heat as opposed to simply turning the thermostats down.

JUHLIN: This is superintendent Dan Schrock.

SCHROCK: You can only do more with less for so long before you're actually doing less with less, and then you're compounding the actual cost of that deferred maintenance down the road.

JUHLIN: Big Sandy isn't alone. Many districts can't pay for major updates without help. But a coalition of environmental groups and retired teachers see the need for updating schools as an opportunity to help the state reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

WINONA RACHEL: At some point, we're going to have to deal with it.

Wake County system schools will need to operate a “fire watch” after inspectors discovered more than two dozen schools’ fire alarms could no longer signal needed maintenance to school staff.

The school system has been operating under a fire watch since Wednesday, the school system announced Thursday. That means a staff member walks the entire building searching for fires when the buildings are occupied. They can’t do any other tasks, per state law on fire watches.

The problems with the fire alarms don’t affect how they function when a fire is detected; the alarm would still sound and sprinklers would still go off, the announcement states. However, the affected alarms can currently only signal a need for maintenance — similar to how a home smoke detector beeps when it needs new batteries — to off-campus officials.