More than two dozen school districts across North Carolina will share nearly $400 million in new state lottery-funded grant awards for school construction, renovation projects and other capital improvements.

Among the projects to be funded by the grants, aimed at districts in economically distressed counties, are 14 new or replacement school buildings, including four high schools, a Career and Technical Education Center, and a pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school.

The grants, awarded under the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund, 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, from which all districts receive an allocation each year.

 State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt said the needs-based grants are a key support for districts where local tax resources fall short of needs for modernizing or replacing aging school facilities.

 “Just as all students in North Carolina need an excellent teacher in every classroom,” she said, “students and teachers need high quality schools in good repair that help support learning. These needs-based grants are an important boost for many districts and communities – and most importantly, their students.”

 In all, districts in 28 counties are benefiting from this year’s round of needs-based grants, with 42 individual projects that include new schools, improvements such as roof replacements, renovations, and new classroom additions. Thirteen of the 28 districts had previously been awarded needs-based grants, but construction of the funded projects had not been started.

As the School District of Philadelphia determines the best use for each of its aging buildings, officials have unveiled a new website that will detail the state of each facility. The yearlong review process will allow district officials to make recommendations on how to improve the buildings' conditions and make them safer for students. 
Each of the more than 200 buildings operated by the district will be scored on four key factors: facility condition, suitability for providing education, the weighted combined score of the first two factors and the utilization of each building. The recommendations will be presented to the Board of Education next spring.
The launch of the website follows years of concern over the crumbling conditions of some school buildings. In the fall of 2019, the district began its Comprehensive School Planning Review, which worked with a small subset of schools to determine the condition and best use of each school building. 
That work, like much of the work the district has done to remediate asbestos and lead in its school buildings, was paused due to COVID-19. Now, after more than two years, officials have decided to expand that building review to include every school in the district. 
The district will utilize $325 million in federal stimulus funds over the next four years to pay for improvements to facilities. The funding is a portion of more than $1 billion in American Rescue Plan funding the district is eligible to receive. It must be spent by September 2024. 
 

The entrance to Washington, D.C.’s newest elementary school building leads right to an open-space library painted in blue, green and yellow, with a makerspace that hangs above like a treehouse. On the side, a massive touchscreen invites students to tap away at an interactive dashboard with real-time data detailing how the building is performing for a new climate reality.
“Students can see bar charts of how much energy their building is generating and consuming — for the kitchen, for the mechanical systems, and for the lights,” says Juan Guarin, a sustainability expert at the architecture firm Perkins Eastman. “We also try to use it to teach topics like climate change, social and environmental justice, and human health.”
Guarin is part of the team behind John Lewis Elementary School and the Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, the district’s first net-zero schools — meaning they are supposed to eventually consume only as much energy as they generate on-site annually. 
Both have sustainability features that prioritize natural lighting and fresh air flow, with expansive windows and a beefed-up ventilation system. Geothermal wells beneath the playground provide heating and cooling. Cafeteria kitchens use electric rather than gas stoves. The city is also in the process of contracting with a solar developer to install photovoltaic panels throughout the rooftops, which will help offset energy use. 
The new facilities are part of D.C.’s ongoing school modernization effort funded through the city’s Capital Improvement Plan, and their debut this school year comes as the U.S. is increasingly targeting schools for greening efforts.
 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Andover Public Schools has announced that due to "significant" damage to the Prairie Creek Elementary building, after a tornado tore through the area Friday, school will not take place at the building for the remainder of the school year.
The district said that there will be no school for Prairie Creek students through Friday as leaders work to find alternate in-person locations to continue classes. School sessions are expected to resume May 9.
All other students in the district will resume May 3.
Photos of the damage dealt to the school was shared in a district Facebook post.
No school through Friday
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Photo by: Courtesy Jason Knipp | Provided by KSNW
By: Jack AnstinePosted at 6:43 AM, May 01, 2022 and last updated 7:48 AM, May 01, 2022
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Andover Public Schools has announced that due to "significant" damage to the Prairie Creek Elementary building, after a tornado tore through the area Friday, school will not take place at the building for the remainder of the school year.
The district said that there will be no school for Prairie Creek students through Friday as leaders work to find alternate in-person locations to continue classes. School sessions are expected to resume May 9.
All other students in the district will resume May 3.
Photos of the damage dealt to the school was shared in a district Facebook post.

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"Some rooms were untouched, while others were heavily damaged. Prairie Creek was the only school building that suffered damage," the post said.
 

STEVENSVILLE — After more than $20 million and over two years of disruption, the biggest school renovation in Bitterroot is finally complete.
When Stevensville School leaders proposed, and voters approved, two major bond issues in 2019 the district embarked on an ambitious path to renovate both the elementary and high school. No one knew of the pandemic and disruption to come.
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By: Dennis BraggPosted at 3:56 PM, Apr 30, 2022 and last updated 12:31 PM, May 02, 2022
STEVENSVILLE — After more than $20 million and over two years of disruption, the biggest school renovation in Bitterroot is finally complete.
When Stevensville School leaders proposed, and voters approved, two major bond issues in 2019 the district embarked on an ambitious path to renovate both the elementary and high school. No one knew of the pandemic and disruption to come.
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"They were difficult times for us in the education field and really transitioning to offsite," Stevensville School Superintendent Bob Moore said this week, sitting inside the new Commons at the renovated high school, just minutes after it was opened for the first time.
"It did help us in the construction project quite frankly because when the students weren't here, they were able to accomplish a lot of projects that you wouldn't normally have been able to do while we were in session."
In fact, the timing was everything. The district was also able to tap into historically-low bond rates and lock down the project before all the supply issues and spiking construction costs. And Thursday, the community got to see the results. A dramatic transformation.
 

JACKSONVILLE, Arkansas — Several schools across Arkansas will soon get a makeover thanks to funds from the state.
But like any form of construction, there's some road blocks in the way.
The state is giving nearly $92 million to 58 different building projects across 45 Arkansas school districts. 
That's a large sum but Tim Cain, Director of the State Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation, said inflation may make things a little tricky.
"As you know, it's a national problem that we're facing," he said.
Like most national problems, this one is trickling down and it's impacting where Arkansas students learn.
"It means different things for different districts, but it does present a big challenge for some districts in meeting their budget," Cain said.
He is on the commission that approved the millions of dollars for school building projects on Thursday, April 28.
According to Cain, the money can be used for anything-- from brand new buildings, to roofing, to even AC and security systems.
"It's going to address both growth needs and warm, safe and dry needs," he said.
Those needs are coming at a higher price this year though, as construction costs continue to rise. 
 

The Cheshire Board of Education has been knee-deep in discussions over future efforts to modernize local school buildings.

Last week, the group took a step that should help provide options for sustainability when shovels finally meet dirt.

On Thursday, April 21, the BOE voted in favor of modifying language specific to educational specifications for new school buildings that will provide for more design options. The amendment modifies one sentence in the wording pertaining to building systems when constructing new school facilities — important language, officials stated, as the Board and Town Council are considering a multi-million dollar school modernization plan.

Originally, the regulation stated that the building systems for new construction would have to be designed in accordance with state and LEED silver rating standards, as well as consideration of renewable energy resources and net zero emissions. The new language, introduced by Board member Samantha Rosenberg and read aloud by Chief Operating Officer Vincent Masciana, modifies the standards to state: “In addition, utilizing renewable energy resources including solar and geothermal as well as net zero energy and/or emissions will be considered in the building design in the context of a 50-year estimated useful life.”

The Prince George’s County school system is embarking on a climate action plan that would reduce its carbon footprint and offer more robust curriculums on environmental justice.

The plan includes 58 recommendations from a work group of students, parents, teachers and administrators and was unanimously approved by the school board Thursday. The recommendations include initiatives that would reduce the amount of food waste and nonrenewable energy from the school system. The plan also includes adding lessons for students on topics like construction design using recyclable materials.

The plan started developing last year after students pushed the board of education to prioritize climate action initiatives. In March 2021, the board passed a resolution that included pledges to run the school system on 100 percent clean-sourced energy by 2030, and contribute zero landfill waste by 2040.

Godfrey-Lee — Chilling wind and rain did not dampen a long-awaited  celebration at Lee Middle and High School.
District leaders, students, staff, community members and project partners gathered to break ground on a two-year restoration and expansion project. Over 100 years old, the building experienced a structural failure in June 2019, causing part of the roof to collapse. 
In November 2020, the community voted in support of a $17.9 million bond program to fund a major transformation to the building.
“This is an exciting time for our students, staff and community,” Superintendent Michael Burde said. “This project is a testament to our community’s unity and support. Together, we are restoring and improving the school, to ensure it serves our students well for decades to come.”
Burde thanked the Godfrey-Lee community for its “tremendous support” and for the “staff’s perseverance after the building collapsed.” He described the construction project as “student centered” and said it will incorporate new technologies, opportunities for community connections and collaborative teaching and creative spaces. 
He added: “It will be worth the wait.” 
Godfrey-Lee Board of Education President Erik Mockerman also praised the community’s support. 
“Our community steps up and it shows,” Mockerman said. “Our kids consistently exceed our high expectations and now they will have spaces worthy of their caliber.”
 

DOVER, Del. – Delaware Senator Stephanie Hansen filed legislation on Thursday to create the first uniform standards for evaluating the physical condition and air quality at more than 200 schools and other educational facilities operated by Delaware’s public school districts.

Currently, each of the state’s 19 school districts conducts its own internal needs assessments for school facilities with each district examining a different set of conditions at various frequencies based on its own standards. Officials say that when deficiencies are found, funding requests from the districts for minor capital improvements valued at less than $1 million are submitted to the Department of Education before being collectively presented to the Joint Capital Improvement Committee.

Over the past decade, most capital improvement funding has been allocated to major capital projects such as new school construction, with only $10 million to $15 million in state funds annually dedicated to minor capital projects statewide. This minimal funding makes it difficult for individual districts to keep up with maintenance on school buildings. We’re told the total value of deferred minor capital improvement funding requested by the state’s school districts is currently estimated at more than $1.1 billion, with nearly 50% of that cost coming from projects sought by the Christina and Red Clay Consolidated school districts alone.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The cafeteria at Duval County’s Cedar Hills Elementary School was shut down as maintenance staff and exterminators work to solve a rodent infestation at the campus.

Families were notified by a message from the school’s principal, Marva McKinney, who emphasized the importance of full transparency with regard to any situation that might affect student education.

“I am calling to share that rodents have been spotted on our campus and inside our school building,” McKinney’s message said. “Because of this, we are taking several measures using guidance from our pest control contractor and district maintenance staff.”

McKinney said the school closed down the school’s cafeteria, the main spot where rodents were found, allowing exterminators to carry out an “aggressive treatment plan” and minimize the impact on school operations.

The principal’s message noted that the plan includes “trapping and safely removing” the rodents. While the extermination efforts proceed, the school will have food prepared offsite and served to students outside the cafeteria.

It has been six years since Camas School District voters passed a $120 million capital facilities bond to improve capacity and safety throughout the school district, built Discovery High School and Lacamas Lake Elementary School and purchased property to accommodate future schools.

Now, Camas school officials are taking a deeper look at student capacity needs over the next six years.

“We’re looking at the enrollment trends and facility needs going into the future,” Camas School District’s director of business services and operations, Jasen McEathron, told Camas School Board members during the Board’s April 18 workshop. “Plans have changed, right? Enrollment has slowed down. We completed all the projects that we said we’d deliver (in the 2016 bond) and then had an enrollment decline. So we’re sitting in a pretty good spot capacity-wise, but there are some pain points.”

School board members reviewed a draft of the district’s 2022-28 Capital Facilities Plan during the April 18 workshop and are expected to discuss the school district’s six-year building and capacity needs during their regular meeting on May 23.

The district’s 2016 bond may have built enough capacity for existing and new students through 2028, according to the executive summary of the draft six-year Capital Facilities Plan.

“Thanks to the 2016 bond, which provided an increase in educational facility capacity of 192 students at the elementary level, 360 students in middle school and 600 students in high school, the projected number of students by 2028 can be accommodated in the (school district’s) existing educational facilities and portable classrooms,” according to the draft plan presented to school board members earlier this month.

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — The Defense Department on Monday announced a $96 million award to Hawaii for construction of a new elementary school at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Oahu.

The new school will replace the dilapidated Mokapu Elementary School, which had earned a “poor” rating for its condition on the DOD’s most recent “Public Schools on Military Installations Priority List.”

All Hawaii public schools, including those on military bases, are administered by the state Department of Education.

Mokapu Elementary is made up of 12 permanent buildings constructed about 70 years ago and 10 portable structures that have been added for classroom space as the student body has grown through the years, the Marine Corps said in a news release Tuesday.

The complex sits on about 14 acres, with 813 students enrolled this school year, which concludes at the end of May.

The DOD priority list states that the existing school should have an enrollment no larger than 627 students.

Vermont Business Magazine As Vermont continues its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to build resilience for future challenges, schools across the state are investing in ventilation systems to improve indoor air quality and make classrooms healthier for students and staff.

This spring, the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE) and Efficiency Vermont launched the second round of the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Grant Program, which makes $13.5 million of federal funds available to schools with qualifying projects, through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.

This year’s effort builds on the success of a previous round of IAQ programming, which in 2020 leveraged $17 million in federal funding to help 365 Vermont schools improve indoor air quality through HVAC upgrades and air quality monitoring. As a result, more than 62,000 students and 6,500 teachers now spend time in K-12 schools with improved HVAC systems that bring fresh outside air into the building. More than 140 companies, including contracted engineers and tradespeople, worked on these projects.

“Vermont’s experience with COVID-19 demonstrates how important indoor air quality is to student health, safety and ability to learn,” said Secretary of Education Dan French. “Air handling systems often come with high upfront costs, especially when buildings are older, as many of our schools are. This grant program, along with technical assistance from Efficiency Vermont, brings important upgrades to these systems within reach. Studies show that improving indoor air quality mitigates the spread of airborne viruses and leads to better health and education outcomes. This is an important measure that will have wide ranging benefits beyond COVID-19 mitigation.”

“Engaging so many schools and contractors within a short period of time, was a substantial undertaking”, French added. “With its statewide platform and decades of experience helping schools invest in energy efficiency upgrades, Efficiency Vermont has been a valuable partner in this undertaking.”

There is strong evidence that improving ventilation and filtration can slow the transmission of infectious diseases like COVID-19. The anticipated eligible projects under the program align with COVID-19-specific guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

When Muriel E. Bowser (D) first ran for mayor in 2014, she vowed to be the “education mayor.” She would transform the city’s lowest-performing schools and tackle a problem that has long vexed District leaders: middle schools.

But seven years later, as she runs for a third term, her promises are still unfulfilled in the city’s poorest wards. While she has poured more money into these schools, families continue to abandon the system after elementary school, choosing charter schools and campuses in wealthier areas over their assigned neighborhood schools.

The middle schools serving the most low-income populations are struggling, and the challenges are most acute at the five middle schools east of the Anacostia River in Wards 7 and 8, according to an analysis of city data and interviews with more than 20 parents and education leaders. Despite funding schools at unprecedented levels, the poor reputations of the five campuses in these wards persist — and standardized test scores show academic outcomes are still lagging far behind city averages.

Tucked into a $3.6 billion capital plan released by Mayor Michelle Wu this month is a proposal to get the ball rolling on a half-dozen school construction projects across the city, including new elementary schools in Dorchester and Roxbury.
Details are scant, but — if approved — the plan would launch studies on the six projects and could pave the way for a building boom for a school district that has seen few upgrades to its aging facilities in recent years.
The studies, which would cost about $150,000 to $175,000 each, would develop building plans and consider locations, mostly for elementary schools. Some line items include no information beyond the neighborhood and grade levels. More details on the school facilities plan will emerge in the course of the budget process, according to a city spokesperson.
“Every student in Boston deserves to learn in a space that is safe, healthy, energy-efficient, and inspiring,” the spokesperson said in an e-mail. “Mayor Wu has made it a top priority to invest in our school facilities, and we will have more details to share about the Mayor’s vision for district-wide facilities planning in the coming weeks.”
In total, the plan features $788 million in school spending, including funds from the Massachusetts School Building Authority. It would put the district on pace to hit the $1 billion over 10 years target envisioned in its BuildBPS planning process. It also represents a $47 million increase over district capital spending in the prior five-year plan.
 

STAMFORD — About $12 million of the COVID-19 relief funds sent to Stamford schools will go toward ventilation projects.
Kevin McCarthy, director of facilities operations, told Board of Education members last week that the school district has identified 23 air quality projects to tackle.
Some $10.5 million for the projects will come mostly from the third installment of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, also known as ESSER III.
The other $1.5 million will come from the second installment of ESSER, which was a $14.5 million allotment in relief funds, and runs out in September of 2023.
Stamford schools received $32.6 million in ESSER III money that must be spent by September 2024.
 

DeKalb County Superintendent Cheryl Watson-Harris is asking for “a little grace” as her administration tries to figure out the ramifications of a surprising decision by the school board about districtwide building repairs.
At a meeting this week, the board voted 5-2 in the final hour to put critical maintenance needs across the district first rather than major projects at a shorter list of schools. That was a blow to supporters hoping for modernization of Druid Hills High School, estimated to cost up to $60 million.
“We’re in a process of digesting what was presented and doing an analysis of how that fits into what we were planning to do anyway,” Watson-Harris said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Before Monday’s vote, she had urged the board to give staff time to vet the proposal. The school district has previously been accused of misusing taxpayer dollars and not keeping promises made to the community, she said.
But five members of the board decided not to heed the caution of Watson-Harris, who assumed her post nearly two years ago — the district’s sixth superintendent in almost a decade.
“We have to unpack what’s already been done, what we had already planned to do, what are the priority items that can be easily completed, our capital projects and the new priorities,” she told the AJC on Wednesday.
 

The Daviess County Public Schools Board of Education on Thursday approved a resolution that will speed up its building projects exponentially by removing the Kentucky Department of Education from the approval process for construction projects until June 20, 2024.

This resolution is made possible through House Bill 678.

According to the bill, which was signed by the governor earlier this month, the requirement for boards of education to receive approval from the state “to commence the funding, financing, design, construction, renovation or modification of district facilities” will be suspended.

This will, the bill states, “provide for an expedited process for approval of district facility plans and the acquisition and disposal of property.”

Sara Harley, DCPS director of finance, updated board members on this bill earlier this week during a luncheon meeting, at which point she said this bill means the district will not have to go through the “extra hoops” of sending construction items to Frankfort before they begin. She also told board members about a situation the district is dealing with at this time that will be impacted by the resolution.

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (KRQE) – A former employee for the New Mexico Public School Facilities Authority is suing the state after he says he was retaliated against for questioning a massive budget increase in his department. Jeffrey Eaton oversaw budgets for school projects and says he discovered staff at that Facilities Authority were being pressured to exceed the budget for a Los Niños Elementary School project in Las Vegas, New Mexico, by nearly half a million dollars. 

Las Vegas teacher alleges she was fired for whistleblowing
“There was no legal authority to increase the budget for this project by almost $500,000.” There was enormous political pressure to get this done even though it broke the law and he was fired for not wanting to break the law,” said Eaton’s attorney, Jacob Candelaria.

The Facilities Authority claims there has never been a budget increase for the Los Niños project, and the project never exceeded its awarded amount. They also say Eaton was never fired, but that he resigned. According to the lawsuit, Eaton alleges the Facilities Authority forced him to resign, in retaliation for him blowing the whistle about the unlawful increase in the Los Niños budget.