Students, parents, and advocates are calling for the School District of Philadelphia and elected officials to rebuild public school facilities by creating an open, participating plan for fixing environmental health and safety issues.
“In the last four months, we have seen no change in school infrastructure even though the district had more than a year to address the issues in school buildings,” said Ashley Tellez of the Latinx advocacy organization Juntos.
“Our schools deserve a reinvestment because this is where we build our future, where ideas flourish and where minds grow,” she added.
The proposed plan includes: information being transparent and accessible to school communities; data being shared by the city, school district and individual impacted schools; and an independent citywide board, separate from the school district, that will oversee spending priorities, construction progress, and decide on best practices for construction processes and environmental testing.
The plan also asks the school district to create a master facilities plan with input from school community members to rebuild or repair every school, remediate environmental toxins, and reduce each school’s carbon emissions using union labor and minority-owned companies.
 

A solar power project will cut energy costs and offset nearly half the electricity needs for a Virginia school district.

The project will provide the Isle of Wight County Schools a 3.3 megawatt solar system, which is being implemented by Standard Solar. The solar project will be installed on the rooftops of seven schools and provide 4,252 megawatt hours of clean energy a year.

The project is part of the Virginia Clean Economy Act, the state’s plan to transition to 100% clean energy by 2050. Virginia ranks 11th in the county in solar energy installations, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

A report by Generation 180 says 89 schools in Virginia had implemented solar projects by 2019, with the number tripling between 2017 and 2019. Standard Solar will own and operate the Wight County systems.

“Incorporating solar energy is cost-effective and helps the environment while reducing energy expenses and funneling savings to resources that directly impact student success,” says Dr. Jim Thornton, division superintendent of Isle of Wight County Schools.

Schools have been active in making improvements regarding energy efficiency. Many efforts revolve around improving lighting systems in buildings and HVAC systems.

One such project for St. Joseph School District in Missouri is expected to save it $2.1 million over a 15-year agreement with Schneider Electric. Another at Jeanette City School District in Pennsylvania is expected to save $3.6 million in energy costs.

Larger scale renewable energy projects are proving more difficult. The Miami Herald reported that the Miami-Dade Schools are seeking 100% renewable energy by 2030, but without a big increase in funding and cooperation from the local utilities.

COLUMBIA - Columbia Public Schools is starting to phase out trailers and work on more construction projects within the district.
Long-term projects are being developed as students are coming back to in-person learning after being online last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
CPS is the fifth largest school district in Missouri with more than 18,000 students enrolled in preschool through 12th grade. 
School trailers are known to have a variety of issues, like leaking ceilings, mold and animals invading the interior of the building.
During the 2006-2007 school year, CPS had 173 trailers. By 2022, there will be less than 21 trailers in use, according to the district.
To move beyond trailers, CPS is starting construction projects to update school buildings and promote better learning environments.
CPS conducted an analysis that found trailers were cost inefficient and that it was time for a long-term plan for bricks and mortars as a foundation for schools. 
Michelle Baumstark, chief communications officer for CPS, said the community has been supportive of replacing trailers and having updated resources for all schools. 
"Our community has been amazingly supportive of our long-range facility plan in our school district to replace trailers and to make sure that our students have high quality learning facilities," Baumstark said. 
 

HARRISBURG, PA. (ErieNewsNow) - This week, testimony in the Pennsylvania public education funding lawsuit highlighted serious issues facing schools around the Commonwealth. 
Witnesses painted a grim picture of what a normal school day looks like for many students throughout Pennsylvania, and how the COVID-19 Pandemic made things worse. 
Especially issues dealing with infrastructure like classroom space and capacity, ventilation systems, and more. 
“We also heard a lot about facility issues in underfunded schools. Storage closets and locker rooms are being used as classrooms,” Deborah Gordon Klehr the Executive Director of the Education Law Center. 
The Education Law Center and the Public Interest Law Center are the two law centers that filed the suit on behalf of the petitioners on Nov. 12. 
“We heard about a section of a school where 125 young children have to share one toilet,” she added. 
“Their facility-challenges predated COVID, but certainly have been exacerbated,” said Gordon Klehr. 
Local superintendents agree public school funding is inequitable throughout the Commonwealth. 
“It's had a major impact on the district,” said Brian Polito, Superintendent for Erie Public Schools. 
Polito says that non-English speaking students and students living in poverty are just a few populations that require more resources from the district.
Maintaining infrastructure and keeping schools warm during the winter also requires more funding.
“We have challenges that many other school districts don't have, and yet we were spending less than 93% of school districts across the state,” said Polito. 
 

As a mother of three, education is a top priority for Ashly Rogers of Smithfield.
"I have twin boys that are 11 and a 5-year-old," she said.
Like many parents, Rogers said she believes getting a good education isn't just about the overall instruction, but also includes the buildings they're learning in.
"As we learned when we got into COVID, ventilation systems are really important and having windows and more space for kids to just spread out and be with each other is important," she said.
School districts across Rhode Island are hoping taxpayers will feel the same way.
State bonds are up for grabs years after a Jacobs report revealed school buildings across Rhode Island were falling apart and needed $2.2 billion in repairs. Districts are now getting the chance to address the longstanding issues, as long as taxpayers are willing to play ball.
Johnston Public Schools is proposing a $215 million bond for school construction, a combination of state and local tax money.
"Heating, air conditioning, classrooms, science labs, technology upgrades and entrance upgrades," Superintendent Bernard DiLullo said those are just some of the changes they're hoping to make.
 

A bond issue that would have invested millions of dollars toward facility upgrades in Colorado Springs’ oldest school district has failed by a razor-thin margin, the El Paso County Clerk’s office announced in a Monday news release.
The county office’s Elections Department on Monday completed a recount of the votes cast on Colorado Springs School District 11 Ballot Issue 4B, a measure that would have allowed the district to borrow $350 million to update, renovate and rebuild its aging infrastructure.
When the votes were counted in the Nov. 2 coordinated election, the vote margin on 4B was just two one-hundredths of a percent, with 50.01% of the votes against the issue and 49.99% in favor. Colorado law triggers an automatic recount for any race where the vote margin is within one-half of 1% of the ballots cast for the winner. 
The county clerk’s office began the recount last Wednesday, officials said. Five days later, the office concluded that Issue 4B had lost by 11 votes.
“Colorado Springs School District 11 Ballot Issue 4B failed both the Coordinated Election and automatic recount with 27,476 'NO' votes and 27,465 'YES' votes,” the news release stated.
 

SUNDERLAND — As the list of repairs and maintenance for Sunderland Elementary School increases, Superintendent Darius Modestow met with the Select Board last week to begin discussions about how to address them.
The group came away from the discussion determining that the Union 38 School District and the town will need to cooperate to evaluate their methods of funding.
“We’re not solving this problem with the current setup and that’s my message tonight,” Modestow said. “The system in which we need to address these capital needs is broken right now. We’re not going to be able to address these needs in the current way we do things.”
Currently, the Union 38 School District’s budget does not include capital improvements. Meanwhile, Sunderland’s capital budget covers the entire town, but does not set aside any money specifically for the school. The discussion led to Select Board Chairman Tom Fydenkevez proposing that the district determine an annual maintenance cost so a designated capital fund can be created.
 

Wichita Falls ISD School Board members have decided to dig into the mammoth tasks of figuring out attendance zone boundaries and how to use school buildings with two new high schools on the horizon.  
During a special meeting Friday, trustees discussed those tasks, the district's declining enrollment, the need to look at possibly closing some campuses and a westward shift of population and development in the city.
They took no official action but agreed to get started on redrawing boundary lines and taking another look at how to use school facilities with the new high schools slated to open in fall 2024.   
Unpopular decisions
They also faced the inevitable when it comes to reconfiguring school attendance zones. 
“We are not going to make everybody happy," Place 1 Trustee Bob Payton said. "I will just tell the board that and tell the public that right now."
 

Atlanta Public Schools is resuming work on its facilities master plan, a document that will guide building decisions over the next decade.
APS halted work on the plan a year ago, citing a need to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic would impact enrollment forecasts.
Now the district is relaunching the planning effort with a virtual meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 13. The session will include information about current and projected enrollment data and what those numbers mean for the district’s future building needs.
 

There are more than 3,000 empty public school seats in New Orleans, each one costing the district money it doesn’t have, according to data shared at a special school board meeting Thursday morning.
“Based on what we are presenting, we are not looking for [charter] applicants who are going to apply and expect to open a school on a normal timeline,” said district superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr.
Instead, Lewis said their focus will be on “rightsizing” the district, which could include condensing, consolidating and closing schools.
“This work is about our students and the viability of our public school system,” he said.
Lewis described Thursday’s presentation as a preview and said enrollment trends and downsizing strategies will be discussed in greater depth at the board’s January meeting.
Litouri Smith, the district’s chief school accountability officer, gave a brief overview of enrollment trends and said moving forward the focus will be on cutting expenses by eliminating seats, and in some cases, entire facilities to ensure remaining schools have enough resources.
“Currently the district has approximately 20% more seats available than students enrolled,” Smith said. “This percentage of unused seats will grow as enrollment continues to decrease.”
Options the district could look into include working with operators to reconfigure school grade offerings and the number of sections or students each school enrolls per grade. Additionally, Smith and Lewis said there are instances in which the district could ask charter operators to consolidate or close schools.
 

ALBANY, N.Y. (WWTI) — The New York State Education Department is requesting more flexibility in the process for identifying schools needing improvement.
New York State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa announced on December 1 that a public comment period has opened on a proposed waiver request to the U.S. Department of Education. This proposal is related to state accountability requirements under the Every Students Success.
Currently, under certain provisions of the federal ESSA, NYSED is required to report school district data from the previous school year, which qualifies them for funding if they are identified as a school for improvement. NYSED is seeking to eliminate accountability indicator requirements to identify these schools as this designation in fall 2022 based on 2021-2022 school year results.
According to Commissioner Rosa and Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young Jr., this waiver is being proposed as schools are still being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,
“The Department is committed to determining the most appropriate timeline and manner for re-starting the ESSA accountability system,” Commissioner Rosa said in a press release. “In a year that tested the resolve and ingenuity of our educators, we continue to work with identified schools to provide support models that encourage growth. Stakeholders may rest assured that even if USDE approves a waiver, the critical work to support our schools will continue.”
“New York’s schools continue to feel the impact of the pandemic and the unprecedented circumstances it has caused,” Chancellor Young, Jr. added.
 

Among the decisions made were those involving the Revolving Loan Fund, cost share formulas, and school facilities assessments. These decisions come after months of meeting and deliberation.

The work group was created via legislation in 2021. It was tasked with evaluating multiple components of school construction projects and facilities conditions by the end of this year, but the process has been less than smooth.

Revolving Loan Fund

The work group was tasked with establishing and implementing the Revolving Loan Fund, which would allow local education agencies (LEAs) to forward fund school construction projects.

Among the decisions made, which Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner and MACo advocated for:

Increasing funding for the program in the out years from the originally proposed $50 million, including an additional  $20.0 million in FY 24, and additional $10.0 million in FY 25 and FY 26;
Priority should be given to counties that have not forward funded in recent years and that have limited debt capacity;
Require repayment with no interest within five years of loan disbursement: Allow waivers from the five-year limit to counties that have not received sufficient State funding to repay the loans at the end of five years; and
To allow loan funds to also be available to support both Capital Improvement Program and Built to Learn projects.

The Clark County School Board voted unanimously Wednesday to give final approval for $3.5 billion in facility projects for the next 14 years.
The board held a joint meeting with the bond oversight committee, which decided Oct. 28 on the project recommendations.
Projects are for the fifth revision to the school district’s 2015 capital improvement program, which allows for issuing bonds for facility projects. The program was originally slated to last for 10 years, but the state Legislature decided this year to extend it through 2035.
Trustees said Wednesday they’re excited about the upcoming projects and thanked district staff.
“I want to commend the work that was done on this,” said Trustee Lisa Guzman, who’s the board liaison to the bond oversight committee.
Guzman, along with a handful of other trustees, asked how the district is addressing concerns raised by the city of Henderson that revision five doesn’t include a new traditional high school in the city, which has experienced school overcrowding.
The revision, though, does include plans for five new high schools, including a 1,000-student “choice” campus in southeast Henderson.
During a public comment period, Tara Phebus, education initiatives officer for the City of Henderson, read a letter from Mayor Debra March into the record.
In the letter, March said revision five doesn’t meet the needs of Henderson and the city can’t support “a proposed revision that continues to ignore the need for another traditional high school to support population growth in west Henderson.”
 

RICHMOND, Va. (WDBJ) - A group of Virginia lawmakers focused on outdated and inadequate school buildings Wednesday, offering up recommendations to the General Assembly.

The Commission on School Construction and Modernization approved several recommendations they hope will free up more money for construction.

One would create a grant program with a dedicated funding stream for school divisions that have difficulty financing improvements.

“We’ve got a huge problem,” said Del. Shelly Simonds (D-Newport News). “And there are going to have to be many many different solutions.

SOUTH BEND — The South Bend school corporation is moving forward this month with efforts to outsource district maintenance and custodial services.
The South Bend school board first gave administrators the greenlight to seek proposals from interested vendors in August after corporation leaders described departments stretched thin because of staffing shortages, coronavirus demands and deferred maintenance projects.
Companies submitted their proposals to the district in late September and, after a series of virtual presentations, administrators brought one vendor back to the school board — Knoxville, Tennessee-based SSC Services for Education — for their consideration.
The school board gave administrators approval this month to pursue a contract with SSC, but the decision hasn’t been received warmly by everyone.
Multiple school board members, along with the union representing maintenance and custodial workers, have repeatedly called on the district to take a step back from outsourcing. Board member Jeanette McCullough said in a recent school board meeting that she’s heard “nothing but problems and complaints” about other services outsourced by the district. 
Superintendent Todd Cummings said in that meeting that the practice puts the district in a position to be fiscally responsible as it cuts costs to sustain revenue lost to tax caps and negotiates raises for teachers. Talks with teachers entered mediation in mid-November.
 

GENTRY -- The Gentry School Board approved several personnel items and discussed the facility use policy as it relates to the community Nov. 15 during its regular meeting.
The board accepted the resignations of Charlie Hancock as a custodian and Brenda Coones as a primary school cafeteria worker. It approved the hiring of Chad Haslett as the new transportation/fleet manager, and Haslett was introduced at the meeting.
Also approved was the hiring of Brittany Balloun as a resource teacher at the primary school, effective Nov. 16, and Kayleigh Bowlds as a speech pathologist, effective Dec. 6.
Board members reviewed a facility usage policy recommendation, which establishes a priority for usage of school facilities, giving school use first priority, widely accepted community organizations such as the Gentry Youth Organization second priority and other organizations such as travel teams third priority as long as the coaches are registered volunteers or school employees coaching for the School District, with the added requirement that teams must be made up of at least 50% Gentry students.
After some discussion between board members and School District staff, as well as registered volunteer coach Joey Spivey, it was recommended that the policy include a provision to allow outside organizations such as traveling teams four years to get the percentage numbers for Gentry students up to 50%.
 

Another capital project update was given to the School Board of Lee County last week, with many projects going before the capital committee to discuss costs.
Construction Project Management Director Scott Reichenbacher began the discussion with G. Weaver Hipps Elementary School new construction for the pre- K addition. He said with the current requirement of 30,000 square feet, there has been a scope done on the project.
On Oct. 22, the design team was informed the addition will need to be designed as a shelter.
“We talked at the last construction meeting involving this, it looks like GMP will come in between $14 to $15 million. The original concept was 20,000 square feet, which is similar to what we did at James Stephens,” he said.
With additional square footage and an interior play area required the district had to move the existing bus loop out on the campus, which Reichenbacher said was a million dollars worth of site work.
“Everything snowballed,” he said, as the playground had to be moved, too. “So we put that out there. We are going to be discussing that further internally in the capital committee to see if we could fund and move forward.”
The new J elementary school and MM (LAMS) addition was also discussed.
The MM addition, as of Nov. 4, had a 90 percent completed drawing of the structure.
“I have alerted to the potential look at some of the steel at AAA if you choose not to go forward to that,” Reichenbacher said. “That would repurpose that steel if I need to, if we cannot get a credit for it.”
 

According to the Trust for Public Land, 50% of Los Angeles County residents lack access to a public park.
The American Psychological Association reports that exposure to nature, particularly green spaces, has been linked to a host of benefits, including improved attention, lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders and even upticks in empathy and cooperation.
Given the long list of benefits associated with being close to nature and in light of the fact that the vast majority of school yards in Los Angeles are covered with asphalt, the Trust for Public Land and the Los Angeles Living Schoolyard Coalition conducted a study on health, educational equity, and climate benefits of a Green Schoolyard Initiative for Los Angeles.
The study, which was recently released and is embeded below, underscores how green schoolyards can reduce the harmful effects of climate-related heat, increase park access and access to green space, and address park equity and disparities for millions in Los Angeles.
The Trust for Public Land along with its partners in the Los Angeles Living Schoolyards Coalition released this groundbreaking new study, “Green Schoolyards for Los Angeles: The Smart Policy Solution for Equity, Health, and Climate Resilience,” as part of an overall effort to ensure that students, teachers, staff and the community surrounding the schools have access to public green spaces.
“Transforming asphalt-covered schoolyards into vibrant, green spaces, with natural play structures and outdoor classrooms that are unlocked for public use after school hours can greatly help provide park access for the 1.5 million Angelenos who lack it,” said Guillermo Rodriguez, California State Director for The Trust for Public Land. “Green schoolyards can not only address the park equity gap but students, teachers, and staff will benefit with increased shading that reduces the harmful impacts of increased
heat,” added Rodriguez.
 

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids schools starting this week are getting upgrades to some heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems intended to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

Technology called needlepoint bi-polar ionization is being added to some schools’ heating, ventilation and air cooling systems to help filter particles out of the air, including viruses like COVID-19, bacteria, mold, dust, dander and smoke. The district did not identify which schools are adding the technology.

The project is being paid for from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. Total cost of the equipment is approximately $1.6 million and the cost of installation will be about $600,000, said Jonathan Galbraith, the Cedar Rapids Community School District’s buildings and grounds manager. The district received $32.4 million from the U.S. Department of Education and American Rescue Plan to help offset costs during the pandemic.

Air quality has been a topic of conversation since the start of the pandemic because COVID-19 can be transmitted through the air. Needlepoint bi-polar ionization is possibly one way to combat the virus. Another mitigation strategy is to wear masks.

Cedar Rapids schools reinstated a mask mandate for all students, staff and visitors Sept. 15. Masks also are required for Cedar Rapids-based day care programs, with masks encouraged during school activities beyond the school day.

Cedar Rapids school officials will consider ending the district’s mask requirement for students, staff and visitors if the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the county and schools decreases.

UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- The city's known as the concrete jungle. But it's also becoming known for the scaffolding that surrounds that concrete. If you lined up all of the sidewalk sheds in the city, they'd stretch to more than 340 miles.
No one knows that better than the parents at P.S. 333 on W. 93rd Street on the city's Upper West Side.
"It's an eyesore," said Gui Stampur, a parent of a son in kindergarten. "It's dangerous and it's really unfair."
It's a beautiful landmark school that was built 80 years ago, but you wouldn't know it by looking at it now. The entire building is covered in scaffolding, boards and netting.
"You really can't see a single inch of the school building itself," said Olivia Greer, who has two children who attend the school.
"It took a year and 46 days to build the Empire State building, it has taken over seven years to fix the roof and the facade, it's unacceptable," said Stampur.
They're not just concerned about how it looks. They're most concerned about safety.
"We hear terrifying stories of what happens in New York sometimes of bricks falling off of buildings and you've got 700 kids here," said Greer.
While the city does not have information available about how many buildings have scaffolding, it does track how many buildings have sidewalk sheds.
7 On Your Side Investigates found more than 9,000 buildings have sidewalk sheds in the New York City area.