A sixth Philadelphia school has closed because of damaged asbestos.
Universal Vare, a charter school on South 24th Street in South Philadelphia, closed Friday after damaged asbestos was found in plaster above second-floor ceiling tiles during a routine inspection.
It’s unclear how widespread the problem is, or when the school might reopen.
“Given the scope of the work, the Universal Vare building will remain temporarily closed due to the confirmed asbestos fiber release episodes that were identified,” Universal CEO Penny Nixon said in an email to Vare families. “Portions of the building are still being assessed and the complete scope of asbestos abatement needs will be determined over the the next few days.
The school, a charter run by Universal Companies Inc., operates in a district building constructed in 1924.
Standardized testing complicates the closure; students are currently taking their Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) exams, and still must take science and math tests, Universal officials said.
Students will be bused to Universal Audenried High School on assigned test days to take their exams; classes will otherwise be virtual, Nixon said.
“We will provide an update early next week on the status of the Universal Vare building,” wrote Nixon. “We appreciate your cooperation, and we will continue to engage with you as information becomes available.”
 

It’s finally happening. After decades of discussion and planning, the city will begin rebuilding Buford Middle School in June. It’s now a more than $90 million project that will take about three years to complete.
Plans for the new middle school are fairly grand. When finished, all the buildings will be either new structures or entirely re-built. There will be high-tech classrooms, collaborative spaces, a spot for a garden and a new performing arts center.
To really understand the significance of this moment, we need to start from the very beginning.
Buford Middle School and Walker Upper Elementary School both opened in 1966 as two middle schools. During this period in Charlottesville’s history, the city was at the tail end of overt massive resistance to integration, and the city’s neighborhoods remained starkly segregated. As a result, Buford received more Black students and Walker Middle School more white. Buford also served areas of the city where people with lower incomes lived. So it wasn’t long before Buford was perceived as inferior to Walker — and it received less investment as a result.
 

Small rural elementary school districts interested in forming their own high school had one hurdle removed by the Montana Legislature this week. 
House Bill 707, sponsored by Rep. Jodee Etchart, R-Billings, was approved on its third reading Wednesday after having gone through the Senate. It now heads to the governor's desk.
The bill removes the requirement that adjoining elementary districts must consolidate to form a new high school district. Instead, it would allow those small districts to still to operate independently while sending students to the same high school.
Currently, a single K-8 school district has to meet or exceed 1,000 students enrolled to form a high school district. Those districts that don’t have enough students must consolidate with adjoining districts to meet the threshold.
HB 707 was a response to a recent push from Billings West End parents who are exploring the feasibility of building a new high school west of the city. 
 

Some schools across the West Ada School District need some major repairs — with exposed wires, peeling paint, ruined siding and cracked asphalt among them. 
Those are mainly cosmetic issues. But Superintendent Derek Bub said there are bigger, more serious problems as well, like old boiler systems and thin walls that aren't soundproof.
"One thing that we heard from our taxpayers, through our surveys that went out, was, 'we expect you to have a plan,'" Bub said. "'We expect you to have a long-term plan.'"
So, the district hopes to pass a $500 million plant facilities levy during the May 16 election. Bub said the district would get $50 million every year for 10 years to address various issues.
If it passes, he said the district wouldn't ask taxpayers for any additional facility-related levies during the decade.
 

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board agreed Tuesday that it needs more data and a clearer sense of purpose to do the comprehensive review of student assignment that board policy calls for every six years.

The discussion came almost two years after CMS officials started talking about the latest round, and after massive turnover in leadership. Members said among the tasks facing them is defining exactly what they’re reviewing and what they mean by “comprehensive.”

“Me as an individual board member, I don’t have a clear picture still … of what ‘comprehensive’ means. So I feel like we’re kind of running this on a hamster wheel a little bit,” said Vice Chair Stephanie Sneed, one of five new members elected in November.

Student assignment involves redrawing boundaries, revising magnet programs and talking about school segregation and housing patterns — and it’s consistently one of the most controversial things any school board can do. To avoid constant turmoil, the CMS board voted in 2011 to get it all done at once with a big student assignment review every six years.

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Greenville County is growing and so is the number of students attending South Carolina’s largest school district.

On Tuesday, the Greenville County School Board voted to unanimously update the Long-Range Facilities Plan and Capitol Improvement Program, which helps guide the district on when, where, and what to build.

“We review it, and we revise it annually so that we’re constantly watching growth patterns to make sure, again, that we’re staying just ahead of growth in the county,” said GCS Superintendent Dr. Burke Royster.

Eleven projects, ranging from brand new buildings to renovations to additions to schools, are having their timelines moved up in the update.

Data the district has collected projects the number of students in elementary and high schools will increase over the next five years.

For years, Bellows Free Academy Fairfax has needed renovations.
The sprawling pre-K-12 school was constructed piecemeal over the better part of a century. The oldest section is roughly 80 years old. The newest dates back to the turn of the millennium.
As such — and as the district’s population grows — the school needs upgrades. A dearth of space has forced administrators to pack pre-K students into one classroom and teach elementary school classes in the high school section. Many rooms are cramped and lack proper infrastructure. 
The whole building needs to be outfitted with a sprinkler system in case of a fire. (The original BFA Fairfax was destroyed in a 1941 inferno.)
“We do regular upgrades on things,” said John Tague, the superintendent of Franklin West Supervisory Union and former principal of BFA Fairfax. “But, you know, to be able to really do a major project (that) requires any kind of expansion is going to require more money than we can set aside in a single year's budget.”
For Fairfax, however, passing a bond to finance such an expansion has not been easy. 
In 2017, voters rejected a $16 million bond for expansion and upgrades. Two years later, voters turned down a second, roughly $26 million bond. 
Last October, the district finally succeeded in getting voters to approve a $36.4 million bond — a sum more than twice the original amount, due to the rising costs of labor and materials. 
Even that vote, however, did not end the school’s saga. 
 

The U.S. Senate passed legislation Wednesday to require the cleanup of Jana Elementary School, a measure introduced by U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo.

If it becomes law, the bill also would mandate further testing for radioactive contamination throughout the Hazelwood School District.

Hawley said this cleanup process should have happened decades ago.

“This community in St. Louis has been asked to live with the fallout of the federal government's actions for decades,” Hawley said. “This is just the latest instance.”

In the U.S. House on Tuesday, Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis County, introduced companion legislation.

“No one should have to live with hazardous radiation in our community, let alone elementary school children. Parents and community members deserve to know that our children’s learning environment is safe,” Bush said in a statement. “Our government created this waste to construct the most deadly nuclear weapon in history. They have a responsibility to clean it up and ensure that the safety and well-being of our community is a top priority.”

The bill goes beyond St. Louis, establishing a fund for any school that has been financially affected by radioactive contamination related to U.S. government atomic projects.

Philadelphia’s school system cannot manage the massive scale of its facilities needs, so an independent authority should bond and manage building repairs and new construction projects, City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas said Tuesday.

Thomas will call for hearings on the subject in a Council resolution to be introduced Thursday, and wants to fast-track the process to take advantage of a historic budget surplus in Harrisburg, the education committee chairman said. Thomas and others want the state to give $5 billion over five years for improvements to school buildings across Pennsylvania, with a significant chunk dedicated to Philadelphia.

“This issue is an emergency,” said Thomas.

The move reflects both the scope of environmental and other facilities issues in a district now beset by an asbestos crisis and the district’s capacity to address the problems, Thomas said. It also attempts to diminish the historic distrust many state-level politicians have for Philadelphia’s school system.

State Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor, secured $27.5 million in state funds to rebuild two schools in the Oak Harbor School District.

The earmark made it through both chambers in Olympia and will be used as matching funds to secure an additional $106 million from the federal government to construct two new school buildings. The Department of Defense promised to pay 80% of the cost for the two projects if Oak Harbor Public Schools came up with the additional 20%.

The federal funds seemed out of reach after a $121 million school bond measure failed to receive a supermajority in February, but the district will now be able to rebuild two of the three schools that were on the ballot.

The state’s capital construction budget will provide $13.9 million to construct a new building that houses both Hand-in-Hand and HomeConnection, which offers early learning programs and classes for home-schooled children. Another $13.6 million is allocated to Crescent Harbor Elementary School.

Schools across the country are being asked to take part in a huge citizen science project to help monitor and evaluate the quality of the air in our classrooms.
It is hoped more than 1,500 schools will sign up to SAMHE (Schools’ Air quality Monitoring for Health and Education) and help provide important data to scientists studying the quality of classroom air. 
It is expected to be the biggest study of air quality in schools anywhere in the world.
Experiments
SAMHE schools will get a free high-spec air quality monitor that measures carbon dioxide (CO2), total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), particulate matter (PM), temperature and relative humidity. 
Through the SAMHE Web App, teachers and pupils can view the data in a range of interactive chart and graph formats and see how air quality changes over the course of hours, days or weeks and months.
 

Jan Bayer sank into the couch in the family room of her Bonners Ferry, Idaho, home and stared at her phone, nervously awaiting a call. Her twin teenage daughters were nearby, equally anxious.

It was election night in March 2022, and Bayer, the superintendent of the Boundary County School District in a remote part of Idaho on the Canadian border, had spent months educating voters about a bond that would raise property taxes to replace one of her district’s oldest and most dangerous buildings: Valley View Elementary School. Built just after World War II, the school was falling apart.

The walls were cracked. The pipes were disintegrating. The ceilings were water-stained. The electrical system was maxed out and the insulation was nearly nonexistent. Classrooms froze in the winter and baked in the summer. The roof, part of which had already collapsed once, was nearing the end of its lifespan. Outside, potholes pocked the parking lot and deep splits formed in warped sidewalks. The kindergarten playground, weathered from decades of brutal winters, had turned hazardous; at times, sharp screws protruded from some of the equipment, and kids routinely got splinters from the wooden crossbeams.

HUDSONVILLE, MI – Hudsonville Public Schools is on track to open its new $36 million intermediate and upper elementary school building for the start of the 2023-24 school year.

The 112,000-square-foot facility for grades 5 and 6 will feature state-of-the-art technology, ample natural lighting, open spaces for student collaboration, and breakout rooms for small group instruction.

A $139.9 million dollar bond approved by voters in 2019 supported the construction of the new Georgetown 5/6 school, which was proposed by school leaders to adapt for a growing student body. The school will address space issues at the elementary schools in the area and middle school, eliminating the need to redistrict or move kids to different buildings.

Alabama Power and the Chilton County Board of Education are partnering to pursue a Renew America’s Schools grant for energy efficiency upgrades.  Danielle Crowder of Alabama Power presented information about the partnership during the April 18 BOE meeting.
“Alabama Power is really excited to partner (with the school system),” Crowder said. “This grant program focuses on rural, disadvantaged communities, (those) school systems that have a high percentage of students that are eligible for free and reduced lunch.”  Renew America’s Schools is a grant program through the U.S. Department of Energy. The funding is specifically for energy efficiency improvements and addressing building-related health issues. At the national level, $80 million will be distributed in this funding cycle.
 

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has fully committed the $180 million budgeted for the School and Small Business Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program (SSBP), aimed at helping schools and small businesses reduce their water and energy consumption and improve indoor air quality for children and small businesses. The program is closed and no longer accepting applications.

“Through the Schools and Small Business grant program, we are putting the health of our children first and ensuring small businesses have access to the tools they need to streamline energy and water use and improve indoor air quality in their establishments,” said NJBPU President Joseph L. Fiordaliso. “As we rise to the challenges of climate change and the ongoing pandemic, these grants will enable the direct benefits of cleaner facilities, as well as the economic boost in local labor needed to complete these projects, especially in underserved communities.”

“As one of the prime sponsors of the law that established the School and Small Business Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program, I am incredibly proud that it has been so successful,” said Senator Troy Singleton. “This program is providing the necessary funding to allow these already cash-strapped businesses and school districts to upgrade their HVAC and plumbing systems, which will improve the air our residents breathe and the water they drink overall.”

TALLAHASSEE — A proposal that would require school districts to share local property-tax revenue with charter schools is teed up for consideration by the full House, after a committee debate Monday about whether it could bring “parity.”

Property taxes collected through discretionary 1.5-mill local levies go toward such things as constructing and renovating traditional public schools and buying land. Meanwhile, charter schools largely receive such money through the state budget.

The Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee voted 20-7 along party lines Monday to approve a bill (HB 1259) that would allow charter schools to receive part of the local money. Charter schools are public schools but often are run by private organizations.

“Eventually, over time, charter school students will be on parity with district public school students in terms of the 1.5 mills,” bill sponsor Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland, said.

Under the bill, school districts would be required to share the money based on charter schools’ “proportionate share of total school district” enrollment. Charter school enrollment next fiscal year is projected to total 371,253 students, according to House analysts, representing about 13.6 percent of enrollment in public schools.

Canady said the bill would provide what she called a “five-year glide path,” which would phase in sharing the property-tax money.

Maine’s third attempt at a rural regional high school is in jeopardy if the four districts involved cannot get state help to pay for an engineering study.

The Maine Department of Education told superintendents from districts around Dexter, Guilford, Milo and Corinth last year they would have to fund pre-construction costs on their own, which would get them through a challenging site selection process. But the superintendents said recently that the state helped school districts in northern Aroostook County with such funding for a similar attempt and should be more supportive. That project ultimately failed.

It’s an effort to pool resources as enrollments decline at most of the rural schools

The state-initiated pilot began about six years ago, and the districts in Piscataquis and Penobscot counties moved up the priority list after previous attempts in Houlton and St. John Valley in Aroostook County fell apart. If the ambitious project succeeds, the school that would serve several established multi-town districts would be the first of its kind in Maine. But the districts are stuck, and superintendents wonder why the St. John Valley project was able to access funding early on to hire an engineering firm, while they cannot.

JEFFERSON CITY — All Missouri school district buildings would be fitted with bullet-resistant doors and windows under a plan House lawmakers gave final approval to on Monday.
The legislation, included in a wide-ranging public safety bill, would require bullet-resistant doors and windows for all first-floor entryways and bullet-resistant glass "for each exterior window large enough for an intruder to enter."
The state Classroom Trust Fund would pay for the installations starting in the 2024-25 school year until completed, according to a summary of the legislation. The requirement is subject to a specific line item in the budget, the bill says.
Legislators advanced the measure to the Senate late Monday on a 116-10 vote, with 26 lawmakers voting present.

WASHINGTON — The warm days are adding up in Alexa Cacibauda's fourth grade math class.
"We are sweltering up there," said Cacibauda. "They're hot, they're sweaty."
With only a few windows that will only open a little, and the heat rising to her third-floor classroom at the Wheatley Education Campus, Cacibauda says her students are suffering.
"My classroom has been 80 to 85 degrees for going on two weeks now," she said.
"A third grade teacher reported that her students were crying today," Cacibauda said. "Students are very cranky. They're miserable."
Twice a year the building's heating and cooling system has to be switched between hot and cold - just one of 500 buildings the Department of General Services has to switch over.
Last week, DGS told the D.C. Council different mechanical systems in different buildings slow the switch over down.
"Some are a lot easier to switch over than others," Delano Hunter, Director of the Department of General Services told councilmembers.
DGS says this transition from hot to cold is a challenge every year - but not at every school, says Cacibauda.
 

For years, students and clean energy advocates have been pushing Miami-Dade County Public Schools to install solar panels in a city seen globally as emblematic of the threats posed by climate change

On Thursday, MDCPS unveiled a 114-panel solar array at MAST@FIU — a magnet high school on the university’s Biscayne Bay campus. According to school officials, the installation is the first of its kind in the district.

“Imagine a school, a community or a nation where carbon-based energy sources have been replaced with clean, affordable energy from the sun or other renewable sources,” said MAST@FIU Principal Matthew Welker. “That's the promise the solar canopy creates in the minds of all those who visit the school.”

Miami is one of the country's most vulnerable cities to climate-related problems, including sea level rise, extreme heat, strong tropical storms and threats to vulnerable wildlife such as manatees. Last month, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a global climate conference in Miami Beach that the area has more days of extreme heat than anywhere else in the U.S.