A new bipartisan coalition with some high-profile education leaders has released an action plan outlining how the sector can model climate change solutions.
Recommendations include ways schools can reduce carbon emissions, utilize infrastructure as a teaching tool, support communities of color disproportionately affected by weather crises and create pathways for students to pursue green jobs.
“Ultimately, there are a lot of technical fixes that we need in addressing climate change. But we will need people to actually advance a sustainable society,” said Laura Schifter, senior fellow with the Aspen Institute and founder of the new initiative, K12 Climate Action.
Synthesizing a year of listening tours and research, the report connects one of the country’s most sizable public sectors to actionable climate solutions — like mitigating warming effects by replacing the nation’s largest diesel fleet with electric school buses and swapping the common asphalt plots that surround schools with green spaces.
Organized by federal, state and local impact, all recommendations detail what partnerships can and do look like with business, philanthropy, media and advocacy organizations across the country.
In comparison with private homes, public safety offices and businesses, schools lead in the proportion of buildings producing net-zero emissions, according to the New Buildings Institute, a nonprofit that tracks and helps to redesign commercial spaces’ energy performance. Annually, K-12 schools in the U.S. produce emissions equivalent to 18 coal-fired power plants or roughly 15 million cars. Energy is the second most costly expense for school districts on average.
The K12 Climate Action commission of students, teachers, education administrators and environmental leaders includes incoming Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, researcher and president of the Learning Policy Institute Linda-Darling Hammond and the presidents of the country’s two largest teachers unions, representing roughly 4 million educators combined. The group is co-led by Republican Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor and head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush, and Democrat John King, former U.S. secretary of education under President Obama who is now running for Maryland governor.
With the action plan now live, the commission is coalition building with districts and businesses nationwide. Their focus is educating more leaders about how small and large school infrastructure changes or partnerships can support a cleaner environment, so that they’re able to follow through on recommendations.
“All the things that we’re calling for are achievable. There’s someplace somewhere that is doing each of the things we recommend,” King told The 74.
 

The Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) published the FY 2021 Maintenance of Maryland’s Public School Buildings Report, detailing an overview of maintenance assessments conducted at selected schools in each Maryland public school system.

The report provides an overview of all Maryland public schools, based on a sampling of 268 schools from around the state, as well as county-specific profiles on the conditions of school facilities. (The overview begins on page 16 and the county-specific reporting on page 22).

Maintenance costs are generally 100% the responsibility of the county government, and school boards differ in their maintenance programs, some developing highly successful and cost-saving models.

Improvements worth $30 million are underway at William Byrd High School, providing well-needed refreshment to the 50-year-old building, said Principal Tammy Newcomb.
“It’s a complete renovation,” Newcomb said Thursday. “When it’s finished, the building will be practically brand new.”
Early progress on renovations at the 1969 brick-faced high school, located on Washington Avenue in Vinton, are buzzing along, she said. Contractors have been hammering away at the project since spring, and expect to be finished in July 2023.
Roanoke-based companies Avis Construction and Hughes Associates were awarded the $27.5 million contract with Roanoke County Schools. Soft costs for furniture, utility connections, gym flooring and more tally an additional $3.2 million, giving the project its $30.7 million price tag.
Roanoke County plans to approve $22.4 million of school bonds to fund the renovations, to be paid off over years to come, with the other $8.3 million paid for out of pocket.
Previously, the project cost increased by $7.4 million, requiring the county in June to divert funds from other school improvement projects.
 

The way Washington State funds capital improvement school projects is bottlenecking efforts to retrofit schools to protect students during earthquakes, even as hundreds of schools need pressing upgrades. 
In June, the state Department of Natural Resources released a report which found that of the 561 school buildings examined across the state, 63% were high or very high priority for seismic retrofits. These schools pose a significant risk of collapse or trapping students and staff if they collapse due to an earthquake. The median building is expected to be 55% damaged, and a majority of the buildings will be unsafe to occupy. 
Former Rep. Jim Buck (R-24th LD), spent more than $800 in postage sending copies of the report to nearly 2,400 school principals. In a letter to the Wire, he stated the following, which was written in August after the most recent seismic study was released: 
“Washington’s seismic safety efforts are way behind the rest of the west coast. The state has known about the risk for years…our schools can’t wait for more studies, procrastination and excuses from our elected representatives. There can be no more mistakes like neglecting to include tsunamis in the scope of work.”
Buck stated that British Columbia has spent $1.9 million to address high risk seismic projects since 2017, California has spent between $8 to $12 million on retrofits between 1989 and 2018 in just the San Francisco Bay area, and in 2015 Oregon lawmakers spent $300 million to prepare schools. All three have spent significantly more than Washington State. 
The June seismic study is the second phase of an ongoing project which started in 2017 following funding from the Legislature, said Tyler Muench, policy and outreach coordinator for school facilities and organization with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Initial results were released in 2019, meaning the 2020 session was the first where funding could be put towards retrofitting schools. 
“That report came out and we were in a supplemental budget session, which as you know means there wasn’t as much money traditionally available,” Muench said. 
 

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - Montgomery Public Schools and city leaders say they are working to bring a 21st-century education to its current and prospective students while helping the community.
On Monday, Mayor Steven Reed and consultant project management firm Volkert joined MPS officials to announce the latest in a capital project improvement plan for the school system.
Volkert said the project has been in the due diligence phase since early August. Teams assessed facilities and talked with teachers and staff to understand the suitability of the education environments.
Many of the facilities are in significant need of structural and safety updates, said Volkert COO Leon Barkan.
This phase also included a demographic study to get a “good understanding” of enrollment.
The next phase will be to gather community input.
Over the following weeks and months, there will also be community input sessions. Those session dates have not been announced.
“Getting community input, community buy-in is incredibly important to achieving a successful building program,” Barkan said.
Barkan said the hope is that the project will be an economic impact multiplier, impacting students, residents, and businesses by ensuring the money going into the project will also impact the community.
Barkan said the school board passed a policy that required Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, or DBE, participation. They want to help local businesses be able to compete and participate and benefit from the significant investment.
They will hold a participation seminar for businesses that want to learn more about becoming involved in the project. The seminar will be on Oct. 5 at Carver High School.
MPS says the focus of the participation seminars will be to reach women and minority-led businesses.
 

Elevated levels of toxic metals were found in school yard soils at both Butte High School and the AWARE Early Head Start preschool on East Mercury Street, Atlantic Richfield personnel announced Monday.
Exceedances occurred in play areas at the AWARE Early Head Start site, but below two inches deep and a layer of grass.
The elevated levels were detected this summer during sampling conducted by Atlantic Richfield. The sampling was done as part of the expanded Residential Metals Abatement Program required by Superfund agreements. The company presented the results during Monday’s Environmental Protection Agency’s community Superfund discussion for Butte
Preliminary results are in for the yards of all 21 schools and day cares sampled in Butte this year. Of the 21, five had elevated levels of contaminants of concern — lead, arsenic, or both — on the property. No properties tested high for mercury.
The residential soil action levels set by the EPA are 1,200 milligrams per kilogram for lead, and 250 mg/kilogram for arsenic.
Composite samples were taken from sections of all school yards, and the areas will be remediated if they exceeded action levels. Samples were taken at three depth levels: 0-2 inches, 2-6 inches and 6-12 inches.
At the AWARE Early Head Start location at 237 E. Mercury St., exceedances for arsenic were detected in several locations, including two play areas.
 

The Lower Kuskokwim School District has received state funds to demolish the Napakiak school building, which sits on the edge of an eroding riverbank. Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed the state budget bill into law on Sept. 15, which includes $3.1 million for the project.

Napakiak’s principal said that the school is within 30 feet of the Kuskokwim River during high tide. The building needs to be removed soon to avoid it falling into the river. Superintendent Kimberly Hankins said that the district plans to demolish the building this academic year, but not right away.

“We need to move through a process of one, determining which route we’re going to take, and then putting together the demo package and going out to bid for that. So that takes time,” Hankins said. Hankins spoke with KYUK in early September before the funding for the Napakiak school had been fully approved.

She said that the district hasn’t yet decided how much of the school building to demolish.

“If we did a complete demolition, then we would need more portable classroom space. But we are looking at the idea of a partial demolition and then continuing to access a portion of the existing building. But I won’t know much more on that until we actually get feedback from the architects and engineers,” Hankins said.

PALMDALE — Palmdale School District’s Board of Trustees approved standards for an Outdoor Learning-Garden Facilities program to be used as a guideline for the development of Outdoor Learning-Garden space or spaces.
The goal is to maintain equity across the district’s campuses and expand the classroom environment outdoors to provide additional space at a lower cost, according to a description. The learning-garden would be defined with planter boxes, seat wells, landscaping or benches to allow students to experience a different space and fresh air.
The Board unanimously approved the program standards  at the Sept. 21 meeting with no discussion.
Jaime Ortiz, CEO of High Performing Learning Environments, explained the concept at the Board’s Sept. 7 meeting.
“The benefits of outdoor learning, we all know what they are — students breathe fresh air,  they experience a different environment than they are on the inside,” Ortiz said at the Sept. 7 meeting.
A programming committee comprised of students, parents, elementary school principals, teachers and district administrators met via Zoom over a couple of months to develop the guideline for the development of the spaces.
With the addition of a shade structure, the students would have a secondary learning space that can be used for longer periods of time throughout the year.
 

For the third time in 18 months Louisiana public school students are engulfed in turmoil, this time because of Hurricane Ida.

Roughly 300,000 students were forced out of their classrooms because of the storm, which is more than 40% of enrollment statewide.

Nearly 105,000 students remained out of school last week, nearly one month after the Category 4 hurricane landed near Port Fourchon.

Educators said the Terrebonne, Lafourche, Jefferson and St. Charles school districts suffered the heaviest damage, and in some cases schools are expected to remain closed until late October.

“I’ve worked for Lafourche Parish for 40 years and been through several hurricanes and never have I experienced or seen such damage and devastation to our schools and communities,” said Sandy Holloway, a Thibodaux educator and president of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.

More than $650 million in taxpayer-approved funding in the Dayton area is going toward an unusually large number of school districts constructing new school buildings, moving into new buildings this fall, or preparing for new building projects.

The school facilities work ranges from a massive five-year, $158 million project at the Miami Valley Career Tech Center, to a tentative plan for a $7 million addition in Huber Heights, to an $18 million project in Oakwood that just renovated existing buildings.
Fairborn schools are in the middle of a large school construction project, and district treasurer Kevin Philo’s list of reasons why the multimillion-dollar investment is worthwhile echoed some other districts.
Philo cited 50-70-year-old school infrastructure that doesn’t fit with changing education and technology needs, adding that education itself if more important in a knowledge economy. He also cited competition, as people moving to the area a few years ago chose Huber Heights’ new buildings rather than Fairborn’s water leaks and lack of air conditioning.
And Fairborn officials cited two financial reasons. Philo said the interest rates they got last year (2.65%) were the lowest in 50 years, allowing Fairborn to get “more building for the money.”
 

What a year 1925 was. The Scopes Monkey Trial ended with a Tennessee high school science teacher found guilty of teaching evolution. F. Scott Fitzgerald published the Great Gatsby. Calvin Coolidge continued his presidency after winning the 1924 election and, the building that would eventually house Grand River Academy was built. It’s still in use.

Grand River Academy is far from the only school in Mesa County School District 51 that could qualify for social security benefits. Gateway High School was originally built in 1942. Fruita Middle School dates back to 1936. Appleton Elementary School came along two years later.

All those schools have had improvements and additions that came later, but the average age for a school in D51 is 42 years old, according to district data, and the average building age is about 30.

CHESTER, Vt. — The Green Mountain Unified School District board heard recommendations on Thursday, Sept. 16, for facility improvements across all three schools in the district based on a report by Energy Efficient Investments (EEI) with options and cost breakdowns also provided.

EEI had been tasked with doing full building energy efficiency and performance evaluations for all schools in the district over the past several years. In addition to their assessment of air quality systems in each school, their presentation also included recommendations based on categories for safety, accessibility, and interior and exterior maintenance.

According to the report, none of the schools — Green Mountain Union High School, Chester Andover Elementary School, or Cavendish Town Elementary School — meet the current guidelines for filtration and dehumidification.

Green Mountain Union High School is in the most need of upgrades and has not had any major renovations since it was built in 1971 and has a ventilation system controlled by pneumatic air technology that has not been used since the 1980s. The windows are also a part of that system so replacing the system would also require window replacement as well.

Safety issues brought forward include the lack of sprinkler systems in both Green Mountain Union High School and Chester Andover Elementary School and classrooms without egress windows, which are a requirement with no sprinkler system.

Other Green Mountain Union High School recommendations include replacing the elevator and several non-American Disabilities Act compliant features including lack of compliant bathrooms, ramp handrails, multilevel drinking fountains, and lack of access to the stage in the auditorium. Other recommended improvements include upgrading floors, kitchen equipment, and doors throughout.

Recommendation for the Chester Andover Elementary School included adding sprinkler system, providing an ADA-compliant toilet and shower in the nurse’s office, providing multilevel drinking fountains, and providing access to the stage. Other upgrades to floors, windows, and kitchen equipment were also included. EEI also included several scenarios for possible expansion.

Cavendish Town Elementary School was in the best shape with minimal upgrades recommended but including changes to insulation to prevent ice damming as well as other upgrades.

Its iconic tower is perhaps the best-known feature of the 90-year-old, Gothic-style Topeka High School building.

But a brick thought to have come from ancient Rome's Appian Way, a rare chimes system that still works and a spar from the Navy ship the USS Constitution, launched in 1797, are among other distinctive features of that property at 800 S.W. 10th Ave.

Joan Barker, executive secretary of the Topeka High Historical Society and a member of the Topeka High Class of 1971, discussed the school's uniqueness as she gave a tour this week to a reporter and photographer from The Topeka Capital-Journal.

"What public high school has stained glass windows?" she asked. "What public high school has marble walls? What public high school has a working chimes system? What public high school has a greenhouse?

Complaints ranged from undrinkable water to termites to even sewer flies. There was extreme overcrowding near a world-class golf resort. Old air conditioners trigger water leaks, mold and breathing concerns but not enough cold air.
No, these were not conditions inside tenement apartments. They are reports from our children’s public schools.
As classroom teachers with almost 60 combined years of experience, we know we’ve never faced headwinds like now. A pandemic still burns through our communities. A statewide shortage of teachers and school bus drivers is real. And just when we need them most, our schools have too few nurses and social workers.
Then there’s the deplorable condition of too many school buildings. The state’s Department of Public Instruction reports that the price to renovate and rebuild North Carolina’s public schools jumped 58% over the last five years to $12.8 billion. The report was overshadowed by a statewide school bus driver shortage and news of five schools in Guilford County temporarily closing because of failing air conditioners. The average school is 55 years old in Guilford County and 1,000 AC work orders from 40 schools flooded an understaffed maintenance crew as classes began in late August.
Guilford County is not an outlier. After the first month of classes, the N.C. Association of Educators surveyed educators on school building conditions. The responses were startling:
 

School capacity was the main topic of conversation at the joint Town Council and Board of Education meeting held on Tuesday, Sept. 21.

As the Town has continued to review ways in which it can overhaul its school infrastructure, projections indicate that in roughly two years, most of Cheshire’s schools will be either at or exceeding capacity and will need additional support trailers or other expansion options.

So far, the Town has entertained two modernization plans – Scenario 6 and Scenario 2a – which were presented back in April by the School Modernization Committee.

Phase One of Scenario 6, offered by the SMC as the primary option, would cost the Town approximately $159.4 million to complete, while Phase One of Scenario 2a is estimated to cost $160 million.

Scenario 6 focuses on the creation of two new elementary schools in the north and south end of towns, to replace Norton and Chapman Schools, as well as the demolition of Darcey School. Subsequent phases would include upgrades to all other school buildings and is estimated to cost the town, after state reimbursements, between $258 and $329 million to complete over a period of years. 

Phase One of Scenario 2a would focus on the building of a new 6th through 8th grade middle school, and the razing of Chapman School, with a new elementary school building being built on the existing property. 

Currently, the Council has been focused on Scenario 6.

It’s been a rocky start to the school year for Middletown Township Public School District. Less than two weeks after the district announced it was pushing back its start date due to mold found in several buildings, newly imparted documents reveal lead has been detected in the water at three-fourths of district schools.

Results from water quality monitoring tests conducted over the summer show lead levels in 12 of 16 schools were found to be greater than the action level of 15 parts per billion, according to analysis prepared by RAMM Environmental Services, an environmental consulting firm in Fair Lawn. The testing was conducted from July 19-22 and results were communicated to the district in early August.

Parents and staff became privy to the test results on Sept. 10, through letters sent by Business Administrator Amy Doherty to each school community. The communication came just three days before the start of school, which had been pushed to Sept. 13 after surface mold was discovered in several buildings.

Efforts to keep schools safe during a pandemic and continually aging facilities have public school districts drowning in deficits soaring into the billions for facility funding. 

A report, the 2021 State of Our Schools Report: America’s PK-12 Public School Facilities, projected that the U.S. faces an $85 billion shortfall in school facility funding yearly despite spending $110 billion yearly on maintenance, operations, and capital construction. 

The study attributes the gap to rising school construction costs, building inventory increases, and significant declines in facility expenditures. 

The gap in funding has grown dramatically since 2016, the last year of the report, when there was an annual gap of $46 billion in school facilities funding. The pandemic’s impact only contributes to the crisis. 

PHOENIX — The Arizona School Facilities Board has not been inspecting school buildings properly and could be giving schools access to grant funds they should not be entitled to, according to the Arizona Auditor General.  
A recent review of the board, which regulates the conditions of Arizona's classrooms, found it lacked sufficient staff to inspect schools and failed to have a formal review process in place.
"The Board has not conducted statutorily-required school building inspections since at least January 2017, except for 4 inspections it did not document," the auditor's report states. 
The board further admitted to not conducting any inspections in the fiscal year 2021, telling auditors that they instead focused on lobbying for legislation that could improve the board's ability to inspect schools. 
Arizona law obligates the board to annually publish a list of the state's vacant or partially-used school buildings. Auditors noted how this list could contain misleading data if the board wasn't routinely conducting campus inspections. 
"If the information the Board publishes or provides to meet this requirement is incomplete or inaccurate, districts may miss opportunities to reduce their building maintenance costs and increase revenue by leasing or selling vacant buildings," the report states.
 

A growing coalition of municipalities, teachers, school administrators and others challenged Gov. Ned Lamont Thursday to enhance state funding to improve school air management systems as Connecticut grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and the state’s Council of Small Towns both objected this summer upon learning that existing school construction policy limits when state funds can be used to help towns pay for new ventilation, air conditioning and air quality control systems.

Thursday they were joined by the state’s two largest teachers’ unions — the Connecticut Education Association and AFT CT — the statewide associations for municipal school boards and for school superintendents, and CSEA-SEIU Local 2001, which represents teaching assistants in public schools.

“There is an overwhelming need for funding from the state to municipalities and their boards of education to upgrade HVAC systems to ensure adequate air quality in public schools as Connecticut continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Joe DeLong, CCM’s executive director. “This dire situation cannot just be left to property taxpayers to shoulder the fiscal burden. … It is frankly bizarre that the state recognizes an end of life for a roof or a window but believes an air quality system never requires updates or replacement,” DeLong said.

VALDOSTA – Lowndes High School construction has been delayed, pushing the move-in date back to next year.

“We are not comfortable with sticking to the schedule to move in by Nov 1,” Jeff Hill, Lowndes County Schools executive director of facilities and operation, said. “We have had many setbacks due to unforeseen things and we wanted to make the call sooner than later.”

There have been several factors that contribute to the change in schedule, including labor shortage, inclement weather and material delays.

The new move-in date for LHS has been moved to February 2022.

Lowndes County school board also heard concerns from parents and teachers regarding COVID-19 procedures at the board meeting earlier this week. 

Dr. Treva Gear, Lowndes High School instructional coach, spoke on behalf of teachers across the school district who are fatigued and stressed.

“I do not want to see another teacher come to me crying, anxious and stressed out. We are being overexposed, even those that wear masks and are vaccinated are getting sick.” Gear said. “I come to you asking for compassion because teachers do not feel like you all care. We are not OK.”

Amanda Bushey, a parent of two children in the Lowndes County school system, brought her concerns to the board.

“Since the beginning of the school year, the only communication you all have had with the community is the relaxing of the quarantine plan.” Bushey said, “You have lost the trust of students, parents and the community.”

The board reviewed the return to school policy implemented in August.

“All of the data information within the return to school plan reflect recommendations from the three agencies (Georgia Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control, pediatrics) emphasized the need for students to be face to face and they all recommend masks which is the basis for our plan,” Lowndes County Superintendent Wes Taylor said.