The 2025–26 school year was the first year of universal transitional kindergarten (TK), with all California four-year-olds eligible to attend. The gradual expansion of TK over the past several years has partially offset enrollment declines in all other grades. TK enrollment increased sharply—by nearly 36,000 students (or 20%) this past year—while access was expanding, but now that the program is universal, future growth will depend on increased take-up among families with four-year-olds.

Since 2020–21, statewide enrollment has fallen by roughly 271,000 students. Without the gradual expansion of TK eligibility—from 25% to 100% of the state’s four-year-olds—the overall decline would have been about 416,000. The state projects a decline of nearly 583,000 students over the coming decade, or nearly 614,000 students in all grades except TK.

Preparations and budget discussions are already underway for the 2028 Executive Branch Biennial Budget. Every budget passed by the House Majority reflects our priority to positively impact Kentuckians and the commonwealth. The July meeting agenda of the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue highlighted one of Kentucky's most important investments: ensuring students have safe, modern schools while protecting taxpayers from unnecessary costs.

School construction is one of the largest long-term commitments the Commonwealth makes. Lawmakers heard from the Kentucky Department of Education and the School Facilities Construction Commission, the process of planning and financing new schools involves careful coordination between state and local partners. Facility needs are evaluated, funding formulas are applied and projects are prioritized to make sure resources go where they are needed most.

K-12 school security and safety are growing concerns nationwide as facilities teams and administrators face increasing pressure to protect students, staff and visitors while maintaining smooth daily operations.  

Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

There’s the old saying that a failure to plan is a plan to fail. It’s a perspective we know well in the A/E/C industry, clients included. We can’t successfully design building solutions if we don’t define and understand the needs these solutions aim to address, which is why master planning is such a vital task in the overall process of managing facilities.

In California’s Central Valley, the Porterville Unified School District (PUSD) is launching a zero-emission transportation infrastructure project and microgrid that will reshape the way it handles energy, transportation and resilience over the next three decades.

The 1,171-kW microgrid will integrate solar, energy storage and electric vehicle chargers to support both the district’s operations and the broader grid.

ForeFront Power, a San Francisco-based commercial and industrial-scale renewable energy solutions provider, will integrate a 408-kW / 1632-kWh battery energy storage system with a 763 kW solar array on existing shade structures at two of the district’s parking lots.

A North Texas school district will ask voters to approve a nearly $1 billion bond package to improve aging school facilities.

On Monday, the Irving Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a $952 million bond package, which will go to voters in November to help fund replacement campuses, updates to technology, safety, student programs, facilities, and district infrastructure.

Top Takeaways

Low-wealth districts argue that the state’s formula for distributing funds to upgrade and repair facilities unfairly favors districts with higher property values per student.
Districts’ matching money from the state comes from $4 billion of a state construction bond that voters passed in 2024.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Patrick McKinney said that students and parents have “some reasonable probability” that they would win at trial.

AUGUSTA (WGME) -- Maine's next governor will inherit one of the state's biggest infrastructure challenges: how to address an estimated $11 billion in school construction needs over the next two decades.

Last month, the CBS13 I-Team reported that lawmakers failed to fund legislation that would have helped implement recommendations from the Governor's Commission on School Construction, effectively delaying significant action until the next administration takes office and a new legislature convenes.

A dozen Alaska schools closed their doors in May, the most closures in a single year in the last two decades, according to the state education department.

Clusters of school closures in urban areas of the state had been uncommon until recently, but are part of a larger trend as public school enrollment declines nationwide. School district officials have framed closures as a means to bridge multimillion-dollar deficits, but some research suggests districts don’t realize meaningful savings. Closures can also have negative impacts on students and families.

Over the past few months, San Diego Unified officials have been ironing out the details of a new construction bond measure, set to go before voters in November. Construction bonds, if passed, raise property taxes to fund school construction and renovation.  

At a board meeting late last month, staff gave the public its first real look at the new $3.5 billion bond ask.  

When the school year wrapped up, it also marked the end of the line for several Columbus City Schools buildings.

The district plans to shut down eight buildings over the next few years to plug a massive budget deficit.

Trenton, NJ - The New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) today joined the Trenton School District, along with local officials and students, at a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate construction of the new Betty V. Coles Elementary School and the Miguel A. Hernandez Intermediate School.

The final adoption of Virginia’s budget has authorized all localities to ask voters for permission to increase the sales tax by 1 percent to fund public school modernization and construction projects. If the electorate consents in November, $15 million a year will be generated for Charlottesville.

Fluvanna County supervisors have already adopted a resolution seeking permission from the Circuit Court to put the question on the ballot. The tax increase would only be allowed for 20 years. 

When the school day begins, the quality of air, light and surroundings can shape everything from student comfort to classroom performance. That idea is at the center of the inaugural Healthy Schools for Healthy Kids Summit, a national event designed to develop a health-first vision for America’s schools and create a roadmap for healthier learning environments.  

Nearly two years after lawmakers created the Virgin Islands Bureau of School Construction and Maintenance to address decades of deteriorating school facilities, the agency says it still lacks the funding needed to move beyond emergency repairs, leaving hundreds of maintenance requests unresolved across the territory.

WARRENTON, Ga. (Farm Monitor) — A Georgia school garden is helping students connect with agriculture through hands-on learning.

Known as the 4-H Farm and School Garden, the project was created to get students outside while teaching them where their food comes from.

Organizers say the lessons are extending beyond the classroom, with students encouraging their families to try new vegetables and even explore raising livestock.

Dive Brief:

St. Louis Public Schools is considering closing up to a third of its schools — 22 out of 62 total, according to a preliminary proposal released by the district on June 29.
The initial closure plan, which St. Louis Public Schools emphasizes is not a final recommendation, comes as the district reports a significant drop in enrollment over the past three decades. Specifically, the number of its enrolled students sharply declined by 58.5% — decreasing from 43,284 in 1991 to 17,981 in 2025. 
The district is currently engaging with community stakeholders to discuss its preliminary proposal. The district will present a final recommendation to the Board of Education of the City of St. Louis in August.

Scoping is underway across the winning cohort as Attune moves from selection to rollout, bringing real-time building visibility to schools in 13 states

VIENNA, Va., July 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Attune, the unified IoT platform for smart building management, today announced that implementation of its inaugural Future-Ready Facilities Grant is now underway. Just weeks after naming the 16 recipient districts, Attune has begun scoping work across the cohort and will start deploying monitoring technology in the coming weeks.

Key Takeaways

AI readiness depends on facilities readiness: Districts need reliable connectivity, sufficient power capacity, secure networks, integrated building systems, and accurate facility data to support AI across instruction, operations, safety, and decision-making.

Institutional memory is a growing operational risk: Many facilities teams still rely on paper plans, undocumented building knowledge, and veteran staff experience, creating vulnerability as employees retire and critical infrastructure knowledge is lost.

Accurate building data improves safety and resilience: Centralized facility documentation, interactive floor plans, digital maps, and dashboards help teams locate shutoffs, manage maintenance, support contractors, prioritize budgets, and respond faster during emergencies.