Tens of thousands of students in the Southeast are dealing with school disruptions after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc so severe — on homes, campuses and municipal power and water systems — that some districts have no idea when they will reopen.

While virtual learning helped during the COVID-19 school closures, that has not been an option for this crisis because internet and cellphone service has remained spotty since the storm struck in late September. In hard-hit western North Carolina, some districts warn students will miss up to a month of school, and others say they can’t yet determine a timeline for returning to classrooms.

“I feel like a month is a lot, but it’s not something that can’t be overcome,” said Marissa Coleman, who has sent her four children to stay with grandparents in Texas because their home in North Carolina’s Buncombe County has no running water. “But if we get further into Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s like, how are they actually going to make this up?”

The Milton School Committee began a discussion on Sept. 18 about whether to reduce the size of its new building plans by eliminating a planned pre-kindergarten building and just going ahead with the construction of a new upper middle school.

Many in town responded with sticker shock at the cost estimate of  $173 million that was put forward this summer that called for two buildings to ease the overcrowding in Milton Public Schools.

The School Committee discussion on Sept. 18 was described as preliminary and no vote was taken. The committee is expected to continue the discussion on Oct. 9.

Mark Loring, who serves on the School Committee and the School Building Committee, said any decision to drop the pre-k building will depend on whether the district is still “able to meet the needs of the staff and the students with the reduced space.” 

Eliminating the smaller two-story preschool building would drop project costs by roughly $18.4 million. It would leave a $155.2 million request for the larger four-story upper middle school building that includes an auditorium, gymnasium and cafeteria.

The Select Board, which is the body responsible for putting the measure out to vote, in a mixed vote this summer turned down the SBC’s request to put the Proposition 2½  override on a town-wide ballot in November. The debt exclusion override would also require approval from two-thirds of Town Meeting members to pass. The possible impact on the average property tax bill would be an estimated $1,100 a year. 

Despite fierce resistance from parents, Pittsburgh Public Schools remains poised for multiple school closures if the school board approves the final proposal for reconfiguring the district's footprint.

Representatives of Education Resource Strategies (ERS), the Boston-based firm hired to lead a months-long effort to overhaul the district, presented their latest proposal to PPS school board members Tuesday night. The plan would reduce the total number of traditional schools from 54 to 39, along with the closure of three buildings currently serving alternative or special education programs.

“This is about supporting and ensuring equity and ensuring that students have the academic foundations that they need, and having a whole bunch of tiny middle schools is not going to get you there,” said Angela King Smith, a partner at ERS.

Jonathan Travers, president of ERS, and King Smith said these new recommendations reflected feedback the pair received on their initial recommendations presented in August, which proposed grade configurations and 16 school closures.

The final proposal keeps some of ERS’ initial suggestions — including the phasing out of most of the district’s selective magnet elementary schools and restructuring of school grade levels.

The School Construction Committee meeting last Thursday made one thing very clear: $150 million is very unlikely to buy the two new elementary schools and fixes at Meadowbrook and the high school that have long been outlined. Rather, to accomplish everything as currently envisioned would cost $175 million.

So, what decisions need to be made now? 

Town Manager Andy Nota recommended putting aside the cost estimates for the time being, arguing that there are options going forward, including ways to cut costs and, potentially, adding some unspent bond dollars that were approved by voters for earlier school projects. But there is one decision that does need to be made this month, according to project manager Chris Spiegel of LeftField: whether to build new at Hanaford for an estimated $67.6 million or go with an addition-and-renovation for an estimated $63.9 million. 

That’s because the architects need to get to work on final designs that can then be put out to bid for more accurate cost estimates. 

Spiegel spoke somewhat wistfully Thursday night of how this same process works in Massachusetts – where towns don’t put a bond referendum before voters until they have actual construction contracts in hand. In Rhode Island, as per the state, communities must vote on a hoped-for construction dollar amount before any designs are finalized.

More than 800 million children around the world lack access to basic hygiene services, including water and soap, at their schools, according to the United Nations.

The staggering figure, shared ahead of Global Hand washing Day, underscores the urgent need to improve hygiene infrastructure to protect children’s health and well-being.
Marking Global Hand washing Day on Tuesday, UNICEF reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring every child has access to hand washing facilities.
The lack of basic hygiene in schools leaves children vulnerable to a range of preventable diseases, including diarrhoea illnesses and respiratory infections, which can impact school attendance and learning outcomes.

UNICEF’s ongoing efforts focus on expanding access to clean water and soap in schools across the world, especially in low-income regions.
 

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (WJAR) — Rhode Island is working to build better schools following decades of crumbling infrastructure, old technology, and high rates of student absenteeism.
In the past five years across the state, more than $5 billion has been used to build better schools.
Just this year, $1.3 billion has been allocated to nearly 60 projects in 11 districts.
That money comes from taxpayers. The state claims it will impact more than 30,000 students.
"Well, this was something that we talked about for a long time because it's not just about new buildings, it's also about renovating, upgrading schools that are already in existence because our kids can't learn 21st century skills if they're not in 21st century buildings," Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said. "That is a fact."
A fact that the state Department of Education will no longer ignore.
 

As Maine residents face challenges getting in at the doctor’s office, some school districts are bringing providers into schools, making it easier and faster for students to access care. The Bangor School Department is expanding clinics to its middle schools, and offering care to students of all ages.

At the James F. Doughty School recently, students move between classes, stopping at their lockers and rushing past the unassuming entrance to the school’s nearly complete health clinic.

It’s one of two new clinics at the district’s two middle schools, built with the help of the city after the success of a clinic at the high school.

“We have to really start rethinking what it is that we’re doing and how we are supporting not only the whole child, but also families,” said Marie Robinson, superintendent of the Bangor School Department.

ALBANY — State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball has announced, during Farm-to-School Month, that $10 million is now available through Round 2 of New York’s Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program. The program will support projects in New York schools that improve meal preparation and distribution for Kindergarten through Grade 12 students. First announced in Governor Kathy Hochul’s 2023 State of the State, the program will provide $50 million over five years to eligible applicants to facilitate the on-site processing and preparation of fresh, nutritious meals, increase the use of more healthy, local New York food products, and provide a boost to New York farmers.

Commissioner Ball said, “Here at the Department, we are working hard to ensure our farmers are New York’s best and first customer across the board, and that includes our schools. The Regional School Food Infrastructure program provides a tremendous opportunity to collaborate with our partners across the state to strengthen our food system and provide delicious, healthy and locally sourced meals to our students by ensuring our schools have the equipment they need to cook from scratch and use ingredients made by our farmers and producers. I’m excited to see the progress made by one of the first recipients of this program and encourage eligible organizations across the state to apply to the second round.”

NORTHBROOK, IL — With each of its schools aged between 58 and 75 years old, officials from Northbrook District 28 are seeking input from residents regarding the future of Greenbriar School, Meadowbrook School, Westmoor School and Northbrook Junior High School.

In January, potential building improvements, adding up to a total of $80 million,were proposed at the four schools as part of a 10-year facilities master plan. The recommendations were made by DLA Architects at a board of education meeting.

Officials said the improvements would address the areas of accessibility, life safety, operation and maintenance, and capital improvements, with the proposed money spread out as follows:

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Shelby County Schools is taking a close look at all of the buildings it owns to help determine if some schools should close or consolidate.
For the first time in a decade, a top-to-bottom assessment of all of MSCS’s 200 buildings could impact future school closures, consolidations, and school district investments.
This week, during a school board committee meeting, Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins unveiled that the results from an evaluation she had requested had been completed and she wanted the findings before moving forward with decisions on buildings owned by MSCS.
Earlier this summer, Dr. Feagins talked about how the school district has accumulated $1 billion in deferred maintenance while addressing aging infrastructure and air conditioning problems.
“We face an aging infrastructure that continues to plague our best opportunity to provide the type of educational experience that our students desire,” said Dr. Feagins.
The MSCS school building evaluations are expected to examine conditions and replacement expenses for improving the district’s buildings.
 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - Monday, October 7 in the Laramie County School District #1's Board of Trustees meeting, The Wyoming State Construction Department FEA Committee's recommendation of the Most Cost Effective Remedy study (MCER) for LCSD#1 elementary schools was passed.
In speaking with the School Facilities Division Administrator, which is a branch of State Construction Department they say that their job is to annually evaluate all statewide educational facilities for issues with either capacity or condition.
And this study was created to address the issues found within Cheyenne elementary schools.
Shelby Carlson, School Facilities Division Administrator says, "evaluation identified seven elementary schools in the Cheyenne area that either had a capacity or condition concern, and so the study was put in place to look to evaluate those needs."
The results of this study as according to Carlson means that around town schools will be changing.
Some changes will be the building of the new Arp and a new 5 and 6th grade school in the South Triad. Hobbs will be upgraded in the Central Triad. And building of a new school that is currently called "Saddle Ridge II" in the East Triad
 

WASHINGTON — Lewis Ferebee, chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools, stands at the top of a staircase at John Lewis Elementary when he’s approached by a couple of his constituents for handshakes. He has to reach down a bit — the third-grade boys only stand about waist-high to Ferebee.

The school got a face-lift three years ago. The renovations transformed the noisy, open-concept hallways — relics of the Open Education Movement from the ’60s and ’70s — into individual classrooms. Teachers can now talk to their students without the distracting din of chatter from other classrooms, but the garage doors that double as windows can be opened when teachers want to do activities that involve getting students from multiple classrooms working together.

The work that went into John Lewis Elementary highlights something unique about DC Public Schools. Since 2007, its Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization has kept and systematically worked through a schedule for upgrading schools. At the time, the district reportedly had a backlog of 20,000 work orders.

The oldest wooden schoolhouse in the U.S. is a small building in St. Augustine, Fla., with records that date back to 1740. While this particular building is no longer used for teaching and learning, plenty of other classes across the country take place in dignified and historic structures.
Divide Public School, in Montana, was built in 1870. It is the only school in Divide School District 4, serving six students ranging from first to fifth grade. The Divide School is an example — albeit an extreme one — of what these historic school buildings often have in common: They are home to rural, private, charter and independent schools.
Whether schools are protecting six students or 6,000, technology can help them maintain physical security. Today’s camera systems are proactive. They have video analytics that identify and track potential concerns, and they back up footage to a cloud database that isn’t erased after only a few days.
Outdated systems, on the other hand, are reactive, forcing IT professionals or first responders to manually sift through hours of low-quality video to identify an individual or investigate an incident.
Too often, historic school buildings have security systems that are 20 years old or older. They have none of the capabilities of newer systems, and thanks to the often fragile infrastructure and red tape associated with historic buildings, they can be difficult to upgrade.
 

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Independent School District released a short survey on Wednesday to solicit ideas on how its closed schools can be repurposed into facilities for the community’s use.
The fifteen schools, which were closed last September as part of the district’s “rightsizing” plan, would be used to meet community needs, according to San Antonio ISD.
Available buildings could have a range of uses, from educational services to affordable housing centers. Other recommendations include senior centers, playgrounds, mental health resources and fine arts buildings.
Community members will be able to select the level of priority they give each repurposing option in the survey.
 

Funding for public schools is a big issue on the November ballot with more than ten billion dollars on the line in the statewide ballot measure Prop 2. 
The proposition would help school districts repair, upgrade, and construct new facilities, though opponents say it would just overburden taxpayers with more debt.
Ongoing construction at West Portal Elementary in San Francisco will replace rows of portable classrooms into a state-of-the art facility.  
"A lot of students were in our temporary classrooms that were decades old," said West Portal Elementary teacher Emily Harris. 
Harris has seen the challenges students and faculty face daily.  
"When students are in those kinds of learning environments, they don't have enough space for their own physical bodies," said Harris. 
SFUSD parent Satindar Dhillon has two children who have attended classes inside what they call "portables." He's voting yes on Prop 2 to upgrade more schools across the state. 
"When you see nice facilities, it does make you feel better and more comfortable about going to the school," said Dhillon. 
But opponents say wealthier districts have an advantage over underserved communities since local districts are required to match funds to secure state school bond money. 
 

Seven school districts will share more than $360 million in new state lottery-funded grant awards for school construction, renovation projects and other capital improvements. Among the projects funded by the grants are plans to consolidate schools into one campus, increasing access to career and technical education and modernizing facilities for students, faculty and the surrounding community.

The grants, awarded under the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund (NBPSCF), represent the largest annual allocation under the program, created by the General Assembly in 2017 from state lottery revenues. The grants are in addition to the state’s lottery-supported Public School Building Capital Fund and the Public School Building Repair and Renovation Fund, from which all 115 districts receive an allocation each year.

In Fresno Unified, the state’s third-largest school district with 71,000 students, the watchword for repairing schools is “worst, first.”
Two-thirds of the 103 schools are more than 50 years old, and with age comes burst pipes, air conditioning on the fritz and other demands. Add a commitment to property owners in this largely low-income community to stabilize property taxes, and the result is tough decisions and compromises.
Its neighbor Central Unified faces similar challenges to address the needs of aging buildings with limited resources.
A small tax base per student limits the taxing capacity in many Central Valley communities. Modesto City Schools has been patiently addressing cramped quarters in its elementary schools one bond at a time. Eventually, every school will have a multipurpose room serving as a spacious cafeteria and auditorium so that every school can do assemblies. Measure X, if it passes, will mark another milestone toward that goal.
In California, the list of school buildings needing attention is long and growing. This year, a record 252 school districts are seeking $40 billion worth of renovation and new construction projects, including classrooms for the youngest students, transitional kindergartners, and space for “maker labs” and innovative career explorations for high schoolers.
 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the New York State Department of Health $5 million to address indoor air quality issues and greenhouse gas reduction in schools.
According to a press release from the department, the funds will be used to expand the already existing New York State School Environmental Health Program, which provides information on policies, practices and free resources to schools that want to improve their environments.
Healio spoke with Michele Herdt, MPH, PhD, director of the New York State School Environmental Health Program, about the funding and how it will be used to improve indoor air quality in schools as well as mitigate its harmful effects.
Healio: Where does poor air quality come from in schools?
Herdt: The entire building is considered when discussing air quality. Contaminants (chemicals, dust/particles, odors) contribute to poor air quality. Contaminants come from outdoor sources such as vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, construction activities, wildfire smoke and pollen. Contaminants could also come from indoor sources such as cleaning supplies, carpets, cooking, pests, renovations and building repairs. Building systems may also affect air quality. Classrooms need to get enough fresh air and exhaust stale air, maintain appropriate classroom temperatures and humidity, and must address water damage and signs of mold if they appear.
 

This week, green schoolyards will be inaugurated at five more Milwaukee Public Schools thanks to Reflo’s Green and Healthy Schools program in partnership with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.
The five schoolyards this year, serving six schools – Milwaukee Sign Language School and Morse Middle School for the Gifted and Talented; Forest Home Avenue School; Greenfield Bilingual School; Lincoln Avenue School and Story Elementary School – were funded with $8.4 million from these partners and others, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
An official unveiling is set for Tuesday morning at Milwaukee Sign Language School and Morse Middle School for the Gifted and Talented, 7900 W. Acacia St., where the largest schoolyard greening project so far includes a densely planted and biodiverse microforest.
Forest Home Avenue School, appropriately, has also gotten a microforest.
Thirty-one schools in MPS have now taken part in the project, not counting schools like Maryland Avenue Montessori, which created its own greening project with some of the same partners before the Reflo program started in 2018.
As part of the greening, large sections of nonporous pavement at the schoolyards is removed and replaced with natural areas that not only serve as play and learning spaces but also help keep hundreds of thousands of gallons of stormwater on site and out of the combined sewer system.
The schools take part in the planning of each schoolyard transformation.
This helps prevent sewage releases into Lake Michigan.
 

PORTLAND (WGME) -- For the first time in more than 25 years, the state will take a hard look at school construction and renovation needs, plus how to pay for it.
Governor Janet Mills says she recognizes all Maine kids should be able to attend a safe, modern, efficient and accessible school regardless of where they live.
Now, leaders will figure out how to get there.
With a quiet bill signing, Mills created a new Commission on School Construction.
“I think we've seen in recent years a great disparity among communities,” Mills said.
"We'll have 120 students here this year. Pre-K to 5," Sebago Elementary School Superintendent Steve Connolly said.
The CBS13 I-Team recently surveyed every school district in Maine.
Out of nearly 550 schools, the average age of a building is 54 years old.
Sebago Elementary School is one of the oldest.
"One side of the hall was constructed in 1954,” Connolly said. “1986 they constructed the other side of hall."