MARYLAND: Montgomery County Public Schools are asking the state to reconsider the $24 million its willing to pay for construction projects because it's $160.5 million short of what the cash-strapped school system says it should have gotten. Now, school officials are appealing, hoping the state will give them at least $40 million, the amount the county had expected Maryland to contribute to the schools' fiscal 2013 Capital Improvement Program. If the state can't close the funding gap, the county could either pull funds away from other areas of its budget or cancel some school construction projects. "They have to make a decision as to whether there are other sources of funding, or [project] reductions are going to have to be made," said Larry Bowers, chief operating officer of the school system. MCPS requested $184.5 million from the state for 71 construction projects, ranging from roof repairs and renovations to classroom additions and new schools. The county has already committed to funding most of these projects, and the majority are underway.

Kim Spivey, manager of the state's public schools construction program, said that Montgomery's funding request was the largest in the state, and Montgomery received the largest funding allocation as well. The state has $250 million to distribute among its localities but state law allows only 75 percent of that sum to be offered initially. It's likely that Montgomery will receive more than $24 million by the time Maryland distributes the rest of the $250 million in May.

Prince George's County Public Schools also received less than they wanted: $22.9 million instead of $57.7 million. A schools spokesman said the county also would appeal. It's typical for MCPS and other districts to receive less than they request, but more than the state's offers initially. Last year the schools asked for $163.5 million and ultimately received $33 million, which Bowers said was more than the state initially gave them, although he could not recall the exact amount. If the state doesn't fund Montgomery's school construction projects at the expected $40 million, the county could be in a tough spot. Montgomery County Council Chairman Roger Berliner said he supported increased county funding of these projects, especially in light of the state's relatively small offer. "This development may influence my colleagues with respect to what our ultimate figure is going to be," he said. County Executive Ike Leggett has been assertive in cutting capital improvement dollars given that the county faces a $135 million shortfall in fiscal 2013 -- and that's assuming no pay raises for employees. "The likelihood that you would see increases in there is highly, highly unlikely," Leggett said.

Illinois: Half of all Chicago public schools are underused, based on a new building utilization formula unveiled Wednesday. The new formula is a critical one for many CPS schools as underuse can make a school vulnerable to closure or to sharing its building with another school, such as a charter. Both options triggered opposition in the past. Four times more schools are underused than overcrowded under the formula, which includes charter schools.
The breakdown: 336 schools underused, including 68 high schools; 77 schools overcrowded, including eight high schools; and 249 schools used “efficiently,” including 59 high schools“It makes you wonder what was going on under Mayor Daley’s watch that so many of these schools have become underutilized,” said Julie Woestehoff of Parents United for Responsible Education. “Has the taxpayers’ money been completely wasted over the last 15 years building facilities that weren’t needed?”
The new utilization formula, along with data and proposals involving CPS-owned and leased facilities, was posted at cps.edu. New utilization rates were listed at each school’s website.“These reports illuminate the complex facility challenges facing our district,” Chicago Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard said in a statement.

To establish the elementary utilization formula, officials used proportions found in the new elementary school construction prototype, which contains 30 general education classrooms, with 30 students per room and nine “ancillary” rooms holding such things as special education classes, art and science labs. That means roughly 77 percent of all classrooms in prototype buildings hold general education classes of 30 students each. Schools within plus or minus 20 percent of this 77 percent ideal are now considered “efficient.” Rooms with more than 600 square feet can be considered “classrooms,” and in some cases, smaller rooms can be counted as “half-classrooms,” one CPS official said. Contrary to past formulas, the new one counts only “permanent classrooms” — not leased or mobile classrooms.

Don Moore of Designs for Change questioned whether the new formula reserves enough space for the kind of ancillary classes often found in coveted magnet schools. Under the 20-percent leeway allowed in the new formula, up to 97 percent of a school’s classrooms can be devoted to general education classes, leaving only 3 percent of a building’s space for such things as a library and special education rooms with smaller class size.

One CPS official defended CPS’ past building boom, saying the system built schools for years under Daley to relieve severe overcrowding. However, at the other end of the spectrum, the official said, the district previously never set a firm standard on “underuse.’’ It has used both under 40 percent occupied and under 50 percent occupied in the past as thresholds for considering closure. Chicago Teachers Union financial secretary Kristine Mayle said the union was researching the new formula, which she predicted would be used to justify “what schools they want to target for [takeover by or sharing with] charter schools.” Every school’s utilization rate could be found in the past in one spreadsheet on the CPS website, if someone knew where to look for it, Mayle said. CPS claims that the publication of school-by-school utilization rates amounts to increased “transparency’’ are lame, she said. “This is 15 years of the same stuff,” said Mayle about the use of utilization formulas. “They are putting lipstick on a pig. They’ve made it seem like they have done something but they actually haven’t.

ILLINOIS: Half of Chicago Public Schools' buildings enroll fewer students than their classroom space allows, according to new district standards released Wednesday. Under the new formula, 268 of the district's 527 elementary schools are underutilized, as are 68 high schools. Only 249 of the city's 662 public schools were deemed to be efficient in terms of space to student population, according to the district analysis made public for the first time In a statement, schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard said the school-by-school reports "will be helpful tools for guiding our decision making."

But several advocates contend the new calculations aren't flexible enough — for example they don't give enough weight to classrooms needed for one-on-one tutoring or for small group instruction, which schools are legally required to provide for some students with learning challenges. "You can use this as a starting point, as sort of a rough measure," said Don Moore, executive director of Designs for Change and a member of the Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force, a state panel that monitors CPS' compliance with the new law. "But then you have to work with the school and take into consideration all of these other factors that can lead to a quality educational program,"

Chicago schools officials said they now consider an elementary school to be efficient when three-quarters of its classrooms are used for general instruction — with 30 students in every room — and 24 percent of the rooms are reserved for science labs, music or art. The standards include specific levels of use for labeling schools as efficient, underutilized or overcrowded. A school also may be considered inefficient if space constraints hinder academic programs, according to district records. District officials also determined standards for high schools, which for years had not been included in traditional definitions of efficiency because, for the most part, crowding in high schools has not been a problem, district officials said. High schools now will be deemed overcrowded if enrollment exceeds 80 percent of the total number of classrooms multiplied by 30 students.

For the first time, CPS officials published on its website a school-by-school accounting that counts classrooms and students by campus to show whether a building is efficiently run, overcrowded or underutilizedhe public accounting stems from a new state law that requires the nation's third-largest school district to publish by Jan. 1 standards it uses to determine whether a school operates efficiently. By year's end, the district also must publish an annual space utilization report for every school. The reports on space utilization are part of legislation signed by Gov. Pat Quinn in August that require the district to adhere to a strict timeline for school closings with public comment included in nearly every step of the processDistrict officials this fall relied on academic performance as the key factor to determine school closings this year rather than how a school building's space was used. Still, all but one of the four elementary schools targeted for closing and two high schools slated to phase out are considered underutilized under the new standards, according to the reports. District officials Wednesday affirmed the focus on achievement rather than enrollment in determining closings. What the legislation did do, district officials said, is spur them to take a fresh look at how they use space in every school. The formula doesn't count mobile classrooms or leased spaces — only classrooms in permanent brick-and-mortar buildings. The calculation also does not account for facilities like a library, auditorium or cafeteria, district officials said.

Classroom space is only one measure to define a school's efficiency, education experts say. Across the country, some school districts measure a school's capacity by the academic programs in the building rather than the floor plan, while others simply look at the square footage per student, said Mary Filardo, executive director of the 21st Century Schools Fund in Washington. "When you count classrooms, it's really a minimum threshold for what you are looking at when you are looking at schools," Filardo said. "You could have a school with all classrooms and no gym, no auditorium, no commons areas."

ALABAMA: Preservationists should know soon whether one of Alabama's oldest school buildings can be saved after a January fire nearly destroyed the 123-year-old Victorian structure. Sam Frazier, a board member of the Alabama Trust of Historic Preservation and chairman of Birmingham's Design Review Committee, said a cleanup of Powell School is under way in downtown Birmingham, and plans are being drawn for a new roof. "We hope a new roof can stabilize the building," he said.

The fire left the school without a roof, leading to water damage on top of the damage caused by the fire. It is still possible the building will have to be demolished, but Frazier said he hopes it can be stabilized and saved for future development. "We plan on finding a developer who wants to develop it for permanent use," he said. "It could be residential, because it's in a good residential neighborhood. It could be an office building. And, if the money were there, it could be a great public building."
The Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation is the new owner of the Powell School building -- built in 1887 -- and the 1.3 acres of land after the city of Birmingham donated the property along with insurance proceeds. Powell is the oldest school in Birmingham, and preservationists hope to know within a couple of months whether it can be saved. Powell School was named for Col. James R. Powell, president of the Elyton Land Co., which donated the property. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places for both its historical significance and its distinctive Victorian-Gothic architecture. "The only building that even comes close to rivaling it is St. Paul's Cathedral," Frazier said. Michael Calvert, project manager with the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation and former president of Operation New Birmingham, said some work already has been done to the exterior of the building. "Our next step is to get a contractor out there to clean it," he said, adding that there are some asbestos tiles that need removal. "In January, we're cleaning out the mess from the fire, which includes wet rugs, burned timbers, furniture, even student work on bulletin boards, which is kind of incredible."

TEXAS: While utility bills for homes have been increasing, many area school districts have seen their bills drop thanks to a variety of energy conservation programs. And thanks to those bills dropping, the districts can put money back into their general fund, creating less drain on taxpayer dollars. And in at least one case, that has enabled a district to delay putting a levy on the ballot.

Middletown City Schools has seen some of the most dramatic decreases. A little more than three years ago, the district contracted with a Hamilton consulting firm called Innovative Energy Solutions. At that time, the district’s gas/electric bill came out to $1.9 million a year. Now it’s down to $1.2 million a year, said Mark Putnam, the president of that company. Ron Klapper, the district’s manager of operations, estimated that last year alone, the district saved $500,000. Middletown also has eight new elementary school buildings, and all eight of them received an Energy Star certification from the United States Environmental Protection Agency meaning they’re in the lowest 25 percent of energy usage nationwide, “That’s pretty darn amazing ... for two years we have been certified and have received that (rating). That’s more schools than any district in Ohio ” Putnam said.

These savings are achieved through a combination of newer, more energy-efficient buildings, more comprehensive energy plans and modern technology. One of the keys to the program is a complex control center, akin to a very elaborate programmable thermostat. In the control center, each building is divided into specific zones for which temperatures can be controlled individually. These zones can also be put on timers to kick on and off at various times, Putnam said. With the hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings, the district can generate a positive cash flow and use the extra dollars on preventive maintenance it could not previously afford, he added.
Currently, the control centers are only used in the eight elementary schools. The energy plan will be extended to the middle schools and the high school once officials determine the future use of those buildings, Putnam said. Hamilton City Schools’ energy situation is comparable to Middletown’s, in that both districts have new buildings that have netted the district considerable savings, said Jim Boerke, Hamilton’s director of planning, operations and construction management. According to figures provided by Treasurer Robert Hancock, the district’s utility bill dropped from $2.6 million in 2006 to $2.1 million this year. “Some of the savings may be attributable to price fluctuations for utilities from year to year. There is no doubt that our buildings are more energy efficient and that efficiency has contributed greatly to our utility costs not increasing as a result of the larger buildings that were necessary as part of the redesign of the school district facilities,” Hancock said. Like Middletown, Hamilton also has a computerized climate control system, the flexibility of which produces numerous benefits. “We can control it minute by minute and we can see every box to tweak the temperature in the room,” Boerke said. The control center can lead to significant settings with a simple command. When the district has a snow day, the buildings’ boilers can be shut down, saving 2,000 kilowatts of energy per building. Previously, the boilers would have kept running, Boerke said. In so doing, the district saves $1,000 each snow day. And those figures can add up as well. The heat in the buildings is typically turned down on Sunday, and doing so puts $70,000 a year in the district’s pocket,” Boerke, said. Unlike Hamilton, Fairfield doesn’t have numerous new school buildings to contend with — only the high school and East Elementary are recently built structures. Even so, Fairfield City Schools’ utility bill went from $2.2 million four years ago to $1.3 million this year, said the superintendent for business, Chad Lewis. “We saved $1 million after 32 months. I don’t know any district that can’t afford to save $1 million,” he said.

Although Fairfield also uses modern devices like computer-controlled thermostats, their energy-saving efforts rely less on modern technology and more on changing behaviors. The district partnered with a group called Energy Education out of Texas, because it didn’t have any capital dollars to make physical facility improvements. So instead, officials were advised to keep temperatures between 68 and 72 degrees in the winter and 72 to 78 degrees in the warmer months. Then, when people aren’t in the buildings, the systems can be programmed to come on rarely, if ever. “We have big, big savings on unoccupied buildings,” said Lewis. Even the simple act of turning off computers can save a lot of money. If Fairfield left every computer running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, that would mean an extra $60,000 to $70,000 spent. Since the district is saving money, however, “it goes back to the general fund and pays for other things,” Lewis said. That’s partly how the district was able to stave off putting a levy on the ballot between 2004 and this year, he added.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Boston Public schools were recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Center for Green Schools in their Best of Green Schools list. The USCGBC recognized school districts for leadership increating healthy, energy efficient, and academically stimulating learning environments - in their first inaugural Best of Green Schools. Schools from across the nation, from K-12 to higher education, were recognized for a variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures, including energy conservation, LEED-certified buildings, as well as collaborative platforms and policies to green infrastructure.

This year Boston has experienced many green school accomplishments from increasing access to healthy food through the Local Lunch Thursday’s program to saving $75,000 in energy costs by installing occupancy light sensors (the lights turn on only when there is someone in theroom) in 19 schools. Boston also announcer the opening of Boston Green Academy, the first school in the district to integrate concepts of economic, environmental and social equity across the curriculum with the goal of preparing all students to live their lives responsibly and sustainably. USGBC also recognized Boston Mayor Thomas Menino as a “Convener” for hosting the Research Summit on Childhood Health and School Buildings. The summit brought researchers together to explore the connection between school facilities and student health. “The importance of a healthy school building and its impact on the ability to provide a positive learning environment can not be overstated,“ said Menino via press release. “I would like to thank the U.S. Green Building Council for their partnership as we continue to explore how we can be better caretakers of our planet.”

This fall, the Summit on Childhood Health and School Buildings was held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Participants spent a full day analyzing past research successes and challenges. Participants came up with research methods to further studies looking at the connection betwschool facilities, student health and academic performance. Boston representatives included Leo Bethune of the Boston Public Health Commission, Jim Hunt of the City of Boston Environmental Department, John Dalzell from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and Phoebe Beierle - a Boston Public Schools Green School Fellow. Beierle, is one of the first USGBC Center for Green Schools Fellows, who works as a sustainability coordinator working with the school district for three years. The coordinator works with BPS faculty, administration, facilities staff, teachers and students to advance whole-district sustainability initiatives. Recipient schools and regions from across the nation – from K-12 to higher education – were recognized for a variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures, including energy conservation, record numbers of LEED® certified buildings and collaborative platforms and policies to green U.S. school infrastructure. Their commitments to measurable and innovative sustainable building goals serve as models for schools and campuses everywhere.
This year alone, Boston has experienced many green school accomplishments from increasing access to healthy food through the Local Lunch Thursday’s program to saving $75,000 in energy costs by installing occupancy light sensors (the lights turn on only when there is someone in theroom) in 19 schools, to opening Boston Green Academy, the first school in the district to integrate concepts of economic, environmental and social equity across the curriculum with the goal of preparing all students to live their lives responsibly and sustainably.

ILLINOIS: The muscular brick buildings with ornate carvings that defined a generation of schoolhouses in Chicago more than a century ago have left a rich architectural legacy that continues to weigh heavily on the district's bottom line. The Chicago Public Schools pays about $380 million a year to operate and maintain its aging and far-flung network of buildings. That includes energy bills, cleaning services, replacing broken or outdated equipment and simple repairs. Correcting structural imbalances like cracked brick facades or deteriorating foundations requires a much more significant investment. CPS officials recently announced $660 million in capital project expenditures for the next fiscal year, money that will be used to build two schools, build additions to three others and make exterior structural improvements to 16 more.
The investments come as CPS' new leadership team is trying to understand how deep the building crisis runs in the nation's third-largest school district. The average CPS school is 73 years old. Eight out of every 10 boilers is more than 50 years old. More than half the schools lack air conditioning in all or parts of their buildings.
A CPS survey earlier this year showed a remarkable 56 schools still in use that had been built before 1900; only 25 have been built since 2000.

The historical and architectural significance of these buildings is a point of pride in Chicago but creates a vexing problem for the cash-strapped school district. The district simply doesn't have the money to make all of the structural repairs and improvements that need to be done, forcing CPS officials to make tough choices each year about what to spend and where. "There's more there than we can afford to do, sadly," CPS chief administrative officer Tim Cawley. "I wish we could snap our fingers and fix every building. We have a lot of need out there, and we need to prioritize." Buildings that are unsafe immediately go to the top of the list, Cawley said. Officials plan to spend about $75 million next year to repair the weather-beaten and cracked exterior and make other critical upgrades at Chicago Vocational and Career Academy, built in 1949, where CPS has had to install netting to keep loose bricks in place.

At Morgan Park, a sprawling South Side high school completed in 1921, officials will spend part of an $81 million major renovation fund to fix a slew of problems inside and out. "The walls are unstable. The roof is in bad shape," Cawley said. "There is a (wheelchair) lift in there that doesn't work anymore. The windows are obsolete. There is a 50-year-old heating system that doesn't work the way it's supposed to." More than $33 million will be spent to replace roofs at schools such as Cameron Elementary, built in 1897, or to restore the structural integrity to water-damaged brick walls at Roosevelt High School, built in 1927. When student safety is not a factor, Cawley said, officials need to invest their money in schools with long-term potential. Schools targeted for turnaround get priority funding; so do higher-performing schools where enrollment is at capacity but there is little room to grow.

Most CPS schools must simply wait their turn; and officials acknowledge time is not on their side. "A lot of these buildings are historic, but they're really not treated as pristine historic buildings. They're kind of just taken care of," said Ken Schroeder, an architect with SMNG-A, a firm that contracts with the city's Public Building Commission to build new CPS schools. "It's taking care of your investment, which is always sort of late in coming," Schroeder said. "You don't realize what you have until it starts to deteriorate."

Over the last five years, the district has been trying to make up for lost time. In 2006, the city launched the Modern Schools Across Chicago initiative, an aggressive push to build new schools and renovate those that had fallen into disrepair. The billion-dollar effort already has spawned 16 new schools, including modernist gems such as Westinghouse College Prep High School, a gleaming stone and glass fortress built amid shuttered homes and abandoned factories on the West Side. With wide, airy hallways, a finely manicured courtyard and natural light beaming through walls of glass, Westinghouse shares little in common with the cramped confines of CPS' earliest schoolhouses. Instead, it is part of a new wave of Chicago public schools built around green concepts of energy and water efficiency, use of recyclable materials and natural light. Educators there say the school's atmosphere has had a measurable impact on student attitudes and even performance. "You see the pride students have in this school when they walk through the door," said Westinghouse's assistant principal, Gregory Jones. "We haven't had one act of vandalism or graffiti at this school since it opened," in 2009. By the time Westinghouse was completed, CPS had implemented a new Environmental Action Plan for the district to improve recycling, promote school gardens and earth-friendly landscaping techniques. Pushed by former Mayor Richard M. Daley, the action plan also measures CPS schools on their energy use and efficiency compared with national benchmarks established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

OHIO: Hundreds of people gathered in Linden 10 years ago this month to take a leap of faith — breaking ground on the first new school building in the Columbus City Schools in more than a quarter century. A band played and schoolchildren sang as construction of the $10.5?million Linden Elementary School was launched, replacing two buildings constructed in 1905 and 1920. The new building at 2626 Cleveland Ave. was designed to show wary voters that the district could manage a huge school-reconstruction plan being pushed by the state, which was offering a 30?percent funding match. The next November, 54?percent of district voters approved a $392 million bond issue funding the first two segments of construction, and voters kept the ball rolling in 2008 with another $126 million. The state has kicked in $175 million, bringing the total budget to almost $700 million.

To date, 45 new or renovated schools have opened or will be done by the end of 2014. That represents almost 40 percent of the district’s current 118 schools. There have been no major problems or scandals, as some feared might happen with such a large undertaking. The first two segments ended with about $25?million in contingency money to spare, and the current segment is on budget, said Carole Olshavsky, who runs the program. “We had no lawsuits at all and no major (contractor) claims that couldn’t be resolved from within the funds available,” Olshavsky said. While Olshavsky said that she’d like to take credit for how smoothly things have gone, she said it was the process that the district put together — with a community oversight panel and its committees — that truly deserves the praise.

CALIFORNIA: Helen Bernstein was supposed to be a new kind of high school - a project that would serve 2,100 students on a footprint of only 12.4 acres, with views of the Hollywood sign and the Griffith Observatory. Work on the campus started in 2004 - part of a $20 billion building program launched by the Los Angeles Unified School District. But construction was troubled almost from the start. Four years in, the state supervising structural engineer learned that more than 1,320 changes were made without the state's approval. Engineers say some of those changes could weaken structures and put students at risk in an earthquake.
In several cases, subcontractors for the general contractor, Tutor-Saliba Corp., had built over construction flaws - despite objections from school inspectors, records obtained by California Watch and interviews show. Before the work was hidden by plaster and cement, inspectors photographed missing anchors, damaged bolts, lopsided walls and crooked floor frames.
Yet neither the Los Angeles Unified School District nor the state stepped in to stop Tutor-Saliba or its subcontractors. Despite receiving thousands of non-compliance notices, including a list of uncorrected structural problems, school officials moved children, teachers and staff into the buildings three years ago. The conditions at Helen Bernstein High School illustrate a festering problem in scores of California schools. Bernstein and 85 other projects - including seven projects at one Santa Barbara County school district - were flagged by state structural engineers for serious safety issues. And yet, local school districts have allowed more than 42,000 students to attend these schools without resolving many of the safety concerns, records and interviews show.

Tim Buresh, former chief operating officer for the school district and a former vice president of Tutor Perini Corp., Tutor-Saliba’s parent company, said the district and contractor agreed to keep the project moving despite the notices. "If you stopped the work every time you found a problem, when it was taking many months for (the architect) to resolve any one issue, you would simply not be able to get it done," said Buresh, who was interviewed this month about his role. He went to work on California's high-speed rail initiative in June. Construction defects include ceiling braces inside the library and student dining area that a state field engineer said could be too weak to withstand shaking in an earthquake and large lighting fixtures in the practice gym that the inspector was unable to thoroughly review. These problems still have not been fixed. "These are serious issues," said Dan Shapiro, a structural engineer and former Seismic Safety Commission member who reviewed building plans, construction photos and inspection reports regarding Helen Bernstein for California Watch.
Kelly Schmader, Los Angeles Unified’s chief facilities executive, acknowledged mistakes were made. "This definitely is not one of our proudest moments at Helen Bernstein High School," he said. "This project has been a struggle for us."

In April, California Watch identified thousands of schools across the state that had failed to meet the state's rigorous seismic safety standards. A report by the state auditor released this month confirmed those findings, noting that weak oversight has potentially put children at risk. This group of 86 projects has been designated by the state as posing the greatest potential risk to students and teachers. At these sites, which cost more than $300 million to build, regulators from the Division of the State Architect and local school district administrators were told of illegal work or dangerous shortcuts in time to intervene, records and interviews show. Instead, supervisors ignored the warnings and charged ahead. State regulators have pledged to keep problems at these 86 projects on the radar until they are resolved, although they insist that none of the projects pose an imminent threat to children. The Division of the State Architect, which oversees public school construction, is now supposed to send periodic notifications to these districts about any remaining building issues, according to Eric Lamoureux, a spokesman for the Department of General Services, the parent agency of the state architect's office. In most cases, repeated notifications had not been sent to school districts in the past.

More than a third of the 86 projects are in seismically active Los Angeles County, where problems include walls that were not properly connected to the foundations. Nearly half of the building projects have remained on the state’s uncertified school list for 10 years or longer, according to state records. In one case, the state architect's office sent a letter to the Newman-Crows Landing Unified School District in Stanislaus County saying the concrete columns supporting the press box at Orestimba High School appeared to be overstressed. The letter, sent in 1994, requested documentation showing the press box was safe. The state architect’s office has no record that the district ever responded. After the California Watch series in April, the state architect’s office sent another letter reminding Newman-Crows Landing of its safety issues. As a result, the district’s superintendent, Ed Felt, closed the press box until the district could verify that it meets safety standards.

WASHINGTON: Eight years ago, when Corwin Beverage searched for a location to build a modern facility with increased storage space for its soft drink distribution business, Ridgefield’s combination of land availability and its location off Interstate 5 sold company officials. Since relocating its facilities from Vancouver and Kelso to Ridgefield in 2003, the company has relied on the area to supply it with entry-level workers, many of whom are fresh out of high school. While not a chief determining factor in Corwin Beverage’s relocation, school district quality remains important to the “blue collar” business — not only does it hire local workers, but it often promotes within, said Heidi Schultz, vice president of human resources. “The schools aren’t going to be a deal-breaker for a distribution warehouse,” she said, “but it’s an attractive benefit.”

That’s probably good news for Ridgefield, population 4,763. The city is on the verge of tremendous business and population growth over the next 20 years, thanks to land availability along I-5, officials say. However, the promise of ample space and opportunity along the corridor runs contrary to the realities found in the city’s school district, where facilities are overcrowded, outdated and in desperate need of a facelift, according to school officials. In February, Ridgefield’s school district will attempt to pass a $47 million bond to upgrade its four schools over the next 20 years. If the bond passes, residents would pay $1.73 per $1,000 of assessed valuation on their home. A bond failure would not ultimately slow business growth in Ridgefield any more than the recession already has, but it could cause some companies second thoughts about moving there, Clark County business leaders say. It could also put Ridgefield, which has passed only two school bonds in the past 20 years, at a competitive disadvantage. Cities across Clark County are attempting to sell businesses on their merits amid the current recession. While land availability and price, quality of workforce and taxes often carry the most weight for businesses looking to relocate, the quality of K-12 and post-secondary education also receives consideration, local business leaders said. “I don’t think you can separate the school district driving business development and business development driving school districts,” said Paul Dennis, head of the Camas-Washougal Economic Development Association. “They’re interrelated.”

A community’s willingness to support itself can make a lasting impression on the businesses it is attempting to court, business leaders said. This includes spending money on roads, schools and parks that increase a community’s quality of life. A company whose workforce is its greatest asset would consider quality of life issues more than a business whose higher production rate resulted in a lower profit margin. “If a community is not willing to invest in itself they’ll have a harder time attracting business,” Dennis said. It does not necessarily make it impossible, he noted. Businesses realize a community’s ability to pass bonds is often cyclical based on the economy, but a city that consistently fails to pass bonds may scare businesses, said Lisa Nisenfeld, executive director of the Columbia River Economic Development Council. “The education system, particularly the K-12 system, is part of our infrastructure as much as freeways and water on the tap,” Nisenfeld said. “We tend to take them for granted but they are important for having a foundation (for a) healthy business climate.” ‘Some concern’ Whether it is more important to have strong schools in place to support business or a strong business presence first to provide tax dollars to enhance schools is something of a chicken-or-egg proposition. Which entity comes first in the equation can be tough to decipher. “It’s certainly a symbiotic relationship,” Ridgefield City Administrator Justin Clary said. “Thankfully, the Ridgefield School District has been able to benefit from businesses at the I-5 junction.”
The importance of having up-to-date school facilities is not lost on Clary. Portable buildings are prevalent in Ridgefield. They are not adequate to meet students’ safety or learning needs, school officials said. Ridgefield Superintendent Art Edgerly did not return phone calls this week for this story. Clary bristles at the appearance that the city does not support its own infrastructure. “There is certainly some concern,” Clary said, regarding the bond proposal. “The quality of education does play a key role in businesses’ decisionmaking. It’s been shown time and again.” Corwin Beverage’s Schultz agreed. “Schools are a huge part of any community, especially a small town like Ridgefield,” she said, noting the city’s schools have a good reputation. Leaders of the 700-member Building Industry Association of Clark County articulated a position similar to Clary’s and Nisenfeld’s this week when they announced their support of the Ridgefield school bond proposal. “Good schools not only attract new home buyers but also new companies are more likely to locate in an area that places a high value on public education,” said BIACC President Mike Kinnaman in a prepared statement released by the Building Industry Group, the BIACC’s political action committee.

WASHINGTON: Eight years ago, when Corwin Beverage searched for a location to build a modern facility with increased storage space for its soft drink distribution business, Ridgefield’s combination of land availability and its location off Interstate 5 sold company officials. Since relocating its facilities from Vancouver and Kelso to Ridgefield in 2003, the company has relied on the area to supply it with entry-level workers, many of whom are fresh out of high school. While not a chief determining factor in Corwin Beverage’s relocation, school district quality remains important to the “blue collar” business — not only does it hire local workers, but it often promotes within, said Heidi Schultz, vice president of human resources. “The schools aren’t going to be a deal-breaker for a distribution warehouse,” she said, “but it’s an attractive benefit.”

That’s probably good news for Ridgefield, population 4,763. The city is on the verge of tremendous business and population growth over the next 20 years, thanks to land availability along I-5, officials say. However, the promise of ample space and opportunity along the corridor runs contrary to the realities found in the city’s school district, where facilities are overcrowded, outdated and in desperate need of a facelift, according to school officials. In February, Ridgefield’s school district will attempt to pass a $47 million bond to upgrade its four schools over the next 20 years. If the bond passes, residents would pay $1.73 per $1,000 of assessed valuation on their home. A bond failure would not ultimately slow business growth in Ridgefield any more than the recession already has, but it could cause some companies second thoughts about moving there, Clark County business leaders say. It could also put Ridgefield, which has passed only two school bonds in the past 20 years, at a competitive disadvantage. Cities across Clark County are attempting to sell businesses on their merits amid the current recession. While land availability and price, quality of workforce and taxes often carry the most weight for businesses looking to relocate, the quality of K-12 and post-secondary education also receives consideration, local business leaders said. “I don’t think you can separate the school district driving business development and business development driving school districts,” said Paul Dennis, head of the Camas-Washougal Economic Development Association. “They’re interrelated.”

A community’s willingness to support itself can make a lasting impression on the businesses it is attempting to court, business leaders said. This includes spending money on roads, schools and parks that increase a community’s quality of life. A company whose workforce is its greatest asset would consider quality of life issues more than a business whose higher production rate resulted in a lower profit margin. “If a community is not willing to invest in itself they’ll have a harder time attracting business,” Dennis said. It does not necessarily make it impossible, he noted. Businesses realize a community’s ability to pass bonds is often cyclical based on the economy, but a city that consistently fails to pass bonds may scare businesses, said Lisa Nisenfeld, executive director of the Columbia River Economic Development Council. “The education system, particularly the K-12 system, is part of our infrastructure as much as freeways and water on the tap,” Nisenfeld said. “We tend to take them for granted but they are important for having a foundation (for a) healthy business climate.” ‘Some concern’ Whether it is more important to have strong schools in place to support business or a strong business presence first to provide tax dollars to enhance schools is something of a chicken-or-egg proposition. Which entity comes first in the equation can be tough to decipher. “It’s certainly a symbiotic relationship,” Ridgefield City Administrator Justin Clary said. “Thankfully, the Ridgefield School District has been able to benefit from businesses at the I-5 junction.”
The importance of having up-to-date school facilities is not lost on Clary. Portable buildings are prevalent in Ridgefield. They are not adequate to meet students’ safety or learning needs, school officials said. Ridgefield Superintendent Art Edgerly did not return phone calls this week for this story. Clary bristles at the appearance that the city does not support its own infrastructure. “There is certainly some concern,” Clary said, regarding the bond proposal. “The quality of education does play a key role in businesses’ decisionmaking. It’s been shown time and again.” Corwin Beverage’s Schultz agreed. “Schools are a huge part of any community, especially a small town like Ridgefield,” she said, noting the city’s schools have a good reputation. Leaders of the 700-member Building Industry Association of Clark County articulated a position similar to Clary’s and Nisenfeld’s this week when they announced their support of the Ridgefield school bond proposal. “Good schools not only attract new home buyers but also new companies are more likely to locate in an area that places a high value on public education,” said BIACC President Mike Kinnaman in a prepared statement released by the Building Industry Group, the BIACC’s political action committee.

NEW YORK: Work is expected to begin next year on the city school district’s $1.7 billion plan to rehabilitate nearly all of its aging buildings. The Board of Education unanimously approved the 15-year plan last week. It calls for replacing three existing schools, building two new ones and making additions and alterations to 23 others.
John Carr, head of school facilities management, said Wednesday that a next step is to seek out partnerships with private investors. One inducement mentioned in planning documents is a “lease-back” arrangement where the district would sell a new school to an investor, then rent the space. The district also is contemplating borrowing to cover the cost of the projects and asking the state for more aid.

The plan comes as the city grapples with crowding in schools that are dark, poorly ventilated and too small, district officials said. Thirty-six of the district’s 38 buildings are rated “unsatisfactory” under state-mandated guidelines. Many fail to meet disability-accessibility standards. Others have inadequate heating, ventilation and plumbing systems. With an average age of 73 years, the schools are also the oldest in the state, district officials said. Officials say the 25,000-student system is already overcrowded by 20 percent, and that a projected 12 percent enrollment growth over the next decade will worsen matters.

The first and most costly phase, from 2012 to 2017, is projected to cost $662 million and boost capacity by 2,839 seats. It includes replacing School 22 and Gorton High School with larger new buildings near their present locations; expanding Riverside High School with a connection to Museum School 25 for a combined pre-K through grade 12 program; and making repairs in 29 other buildings. The first phase alone is expected to create more than 13,560 jobs, according to Russell Davidson of KG&D Architects, which helped the district develop the facilities plan.

LOUISIANA: The Recovery School District released a list of final decisions on where its schools will be housed once the roughly $2 billion school construction push now under way comes to a close. The list is mostly unchanged from the proposed sites the district put out for public discussion last month. There are a few notable exceptions, however, and some lingering controversy.
In a statement, Recovery District Superintendent John White said final decisions will bring "certainty and clarity to our schools," and take the district a step closer to fulfilling the 12 commitments White outlined as his strategic plan for the district earlier this year. The plan includes identifying a permanent home for all of the city schools that are still making do in temporary trailers.

Among the small number of cases where district officials changed their mind since last month, the Dr. King Charter School will grow into a new building slated for construction on the site of the old Lawless High School in the Lower 9th Ward, which was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. "We're excited about it," said King Principal Doris Hicks. "It's what we wanted and what we thought we were going to have when we ventured into high school." The charter began as a K-8 school but now has 200 high school students attending classes in trailers.

CALIFORNIA: It's not quite as magic as Dorothy clicking her ruby slippers to get back to Kansas, but a technique used to fund tech ventures is being hyped as a cash cow for schools and other public entities with big wishes. Adeptly joining various civic desires, a San Francisco company touts crowd-funding as a way to raise $4.5 million to build an all-weather field and track at Joseph George Middle School in San Jose.

The Alum Rock Union School District wants to renovate pitted athletic fields at its middle schools. San Jose residents desperately want more playing fields for recreation. Residents want to see more bang for their tax bucks. Businesses want to get credit for doing civic good. Put them together, the fledgling company Civic Sponsor claims, and donors will raise not only enough for Joseph George, but also $13.5 million for three other Alum Rock middle schools.
"I'm optimistic," said Russ Wallace of Civic Sponsor. "We want to be able to demonstrate to people this is a powerful way to invest in infrastructure." Alum Rock Superintendent Jose Manzo is enthusiastic. "It really leverages both the public and private funders for something meaningful to our community, without any liability to our district."

At Joseph George, the district would like to build an all-weather sports field for football and soccer and an eight-lane track. There also would be bleachers, restrooms, lights and fences. Outside of school hours, the facilities would be accessible by the public.

PENNSYLVANIA: The School District of Philadelphia wants to hear from community members, parents and staff in the West and Southwest sections of the city. District officials stressed this point during a recent community meeting to discuss the Facilities Master Plan (FMP) area data samples and recommendations for schools in the area.
The community forum was held at the new West Philadelphia High School earlier this month. Nearly 100 parents, students and school officials attended the community meeting to discuss the proposed closure of Charles R. Drew Elementary and George Pepper Middle School, grade changes at seven schools and selling two vacant properties in West and Southwest Philadelphia. The old West Philadelphia High School building is one of two properties the District plans to sell. There are proposals for senior citizen housing, condominiums and retail space. District officials shared they will review the proposals with community members before any action is taken. The goal is to reach a balance between the best use of the property and the desires of the community.
There was a presentation on the purpose of the FMP followed by breakout sessions to target more focused groups of parents, community members and District staff. Groups discussed the ten recommendations for West and Southwest Philadelphia as well as general facility concerns.

In the general facilities breakout group, a small group of employees and neighborhood residents were able to share their opinions, concerns and recommendations regarding facility matters and much more. Horace Clouden and Pat Riley are building engineers in Philadelphia area schools. Both men offered ways they could directly improve learning in the schools where they work. “I would really like to find a way to do more, like focus on the engineering specific tasks,” Clouden said. “Maintenance issues are huge, and this is where the majority of my time is spent.”

The small group participants all concurred that a satisfactorily operating school gives its students the potential for greater learning, and the conditions of most of the West and Southwest area schools needed significant improvements. Riley is a building engineer at the new West Philadelphia High School. He has already witnessed improvements when comparing students at West to other city schools. “This school is brand new, and the students share a sense of pride because the building is in good shape,” he said. According to district officials, pride should also be reflected in academic performance.

In April, the district announced its “Imagine Great Schools” FMP, a key component of the five-year strategic plan. The FMP creates a framework to allow the District to standardize grade configuration, reduce excess capacity through building closures and consolidations, develop a new capital improvement program for deferred maintenance and excess capacity, develop a plan for surplus real estate and an opportunity for community engagement and generate revenue. The District will conduct 15 additional community meetings to review the FMP throughout Philadelphia, concluding in Feb. 2012.

NATIONAL: In what is perhaps the biggest demonstration of support yet for the green schools movement, over two-thirds of the nation’s states formally signed up to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools program. Only in its pilot year, this resounding manifestation of support is uniting state departments of education, health, environment and safety to advance the goals of sustainability, environmental literacy and health in our nation’s schools. And don’t think this initiative is exclusive to one area of the country; 17 of the participating states have a Republican governor, 16 have a Democratic governor and 1 has an Independent governor, respectively.

If your school is located in one of the lucky 34 states nationwide, then you have an incredible opportunity to be named one of the greenest and healthiest schools in America! Modeled on the bipartisan success Blue Ribbon Schools program, which awards schools for academic excellence, the Green Ribbon Schools Program will recognize schools that excel in environmental literacy, sustainability facilities and operations, and improved student and staff health. Several states already have their applications out for review and potential submission; the remaining bunch will release their versions in the coming weeks.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: With solar panels, green roofing and an eco-lab, the newly renovated Wilson High School is leading D.C. schools in energy efficiency and going green. The school also changed its curriculum by adding more classes focused on the environment. “Definitely environmentalism and sustainable growth and sustainable use of resources are something these kids care about,” says Alex Wilson, director of academic development.

The new federal green ribbon schools program is aimed at honoring schools that are creating greener, more cost-effective and healthier school environments. To be eligible to win, schools must meet three criteria: First -- are students learning about the environment and sustainability? Second -- is the school a healthy environment? And finally -- is the building energy-efficient and green?

At Sandy Spring Friends School in Montgomery County, environmental stewardship is a big focus. They compost all their lunchtime leftovers and this “We have been doing this approximately eight years,” says Laura Miyoshi, director of operations. “When we initiated the program, we reduced our trash output by 40 percent.” This spring, students will grow food on a new school farm which will then be served in the cafeteria.
Students say they're excited about helping the environment and that this green ribbon program is inspiring. “It gives us encouragement to keep doing other things and new projects,” says 11th grader Gilliam Kramer.

NATIONAL: An audacious plan is under way to build as many as 24 new schools in key markets across the U.S. solely through corporate funding, donated materials and volunteer labor.
Dubbed the Green Schoolhouse Series, the idea sprung from father-and-son team Marshall and Jeff Zotara, co-founders of Cause and Effect Evolutions, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based firm acting as organizer, project manager and public relations firm representing corporations and construction industry firms that have pledged financial or in-kind support for the school construction, estimated to cost more than $200 million in total.

Contractors broke ground this month on the inaugural $4-million schoolhouse, dubbed Safari, in west Phoenix. The 6,291-sq-ft building is being built for Roadrunner Elementary School, which serves 800 students and is—like the other schools to follow—an existing Title 1, low-income, public school campus. Future projects will range from 6,000 to 15,000 sq ft.
The schools are designed to achieve LEED-Platinum certification. "There are only two LEED-Platinum schools in the entire country, and they are both in wealthy communities," Jeff Zotara says. "We wanted to give something at the highest levels of sustainability to an underserved community."

Two more projects are planned for Phoenix, and then San Diego and Los Angeles are next. Future projects are set for Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans and other major U.S. markets "for a public relations standpoint because we want to get the message out there by reaching the greatest number of people," Zotara says. In addition to promoting sustainability and the importance of public education, he says the message is “to share with the public that corporate America is there to help—corporations are made up of people in the same communities that these schools are.”
To be considered for future schoolhouses, school districts submit a grant application which goes through a tight selection process led by the program’s advisory board, comprised of participating corporations, architects, engineers and contractors. Key factors include school board, teacher and community support plus logistical concerns such as if the campus has enough physical space for the schoolhouse.

NEVADA: Amid the worst recession in more than 50 years, the Clark County School District estimates it will need $5.1 billion (with a "b") to repair and modernize its school buildings over the next 10 years — work that was put off because there wasn’t money to do it.
More than $3 billion is needed to fix dilapidated schools. Nine new elementary schools need to be built to alleviate overcrowded classrooms. And the district wants to invest nearly $1 billion in technology and equipment to prepare children for their digital future.

The cash-strapped district is contemplating seeking voter approval to issue bonds to pay for the capital improvements but wouldn’t be in a position to sell those bonds for five years, said Chief Financial Officer Jeff Weiler. And in the meantime, Weiler noted, schools continue to deteriorate.
Paint is peeling, ceiling tiles are falling and air conditioning units are failing at some of the district’s oldest schools. Faced with multimillion budget shortfalls, the district slashed its funding for school maintenance over the past several years, delaying necessary repairs to school facilities. Putting off maintenance might save costs in the short term, but may lead to bigger and costlier problems later — not unlike putting off a routine oil change for a car only to have to buy a new transmission down the road, said Paul Gerner, the district’s associate superintendent of facilities. “It’s a death spiral,” Gerner said, lamenting the budget cuts that have forced the district to defer repairs. “We’re fighting a losing battle.”

In 1998, the district – now the nation’s fifth largest – instituted a voter-approved bond program that generated $4.9 billion to help cover the cost of its unprecedented growth. Most of the money was used to build 120 new and replacement schools; about a third went toward renovating 229 schools. It was a successful capital plan that constructed and rehabilitated more schools than it promised, Weiler said. The last schools built with the bond opened in fall 2010. The district is using about $100 million in leftover funds for high-priority renovations. But that’s not nearly enough to maintain all 357 schools and 35 administrative buildings, Gerner said. The district needs at least $200 million each year for maintenance – more likely upwards of $260 million annually if repairs continue to be deferred, he said.

Even with the 1998 bond, facility maintenance was “grossly underfunded,” Gerner said. The School District on average spends less on maintenance than many of its peer districts. In 2008, the Broward County Public Schools in Florida – the nation’s sixth largest – outspent its larger counterpart in Nevada, $2.68 per square foot to $1.52 per square foot. Moreover, as the economic downturn took its toll on the district, it cut 25 percent of the staff in the facilities department.

Fixing immediate problems means less time spent making the repairs necessary to prevent bigger problems, Shingleton said. A recent report by an outside consulting group — paid through private funds — found that many schools were forgoing repairs that could prevent major problems in the long run. A model school system should spend nearly two thirds of its maintenance resources toward preventative measures, with the rest going toward corrective maintenance, Shingleton said. But in the Clark County School District, only about 11 percent went toward preventative maintenance. It’s like skipping regular dental checkups and only seeing a dentist when there are cavities.

ILLINOIS: On Dec. 14, the Jacksonville School District 117 Board of Education voted unanimously to put a County School Facilities Tax question on the ballot for the March election. That decision may be looked back upon as a turning point for the community similar to that of the downtown square and all of its success. The ballot question has, however, led to many more questions. What is the County School Facilities Tax, how much will it cost me, and why now?

First, the Illinois County School Facility Tax (public act 95-0675) law was enacted by the Illinois Legislature in October 2008, enabling school districts to generate money for “school facility purposes” through a sales tax rather than a property tax. This tax is limited to 1 percent (or one cent for each dollar) on everything in the municipal and county sales tax base except for the following: Cars, trucks, ATVs, boats and RVs, mobile homes, unprepared food, drugs — including over-the-counter and vitamins — farm equipment and parts, and farm inputs. If it is not currently taxed, it will not be taxed. It would cost taxpayers an additional $100 for every $10,000 spent on taxable items. In addition to the purchases you and I make, visitors who come to our community will also be helping to support our schools.

We need improvements to our facilities, and we cannot fund all of them from our current revenue. An additional funding source is needed. The funding committee found that a property tax increase is something the community and the Board of Education has no interest in discussing. The County School Facilities Tax may generate over $2.7 million annually. These funds would be divided among all of the school districts with students in Morgan County on a per-pupil basis. Jacksonville School District 117 would receive an estimated $2 million the first year, with Franklin school district receiving the second highest amount of about $176,000.

There is a correlation between good schools and a strong, growing community. Most would agree you cannot have one without the other. There are many ways to define a strong growing community, but in this case, it is about economic development and community pride in a place where people want to raise a family and invite their friends to visit. Good schools are not just defined by high graduation rates and good test scores; while both are important, good schools must also be places we can be proud of and that speak to the quality and values of our community.
You have heard a lot of talk about curb appeal being important to attracting new businesses and residents, and it really is something lacking in our school district.
Most surely we will have members of the community question whether buildings have an impact on learning. There is clear and convincing evidence that it does. In August, a submission to the U.S .Department of Education Excellence & Equity Commission titled “Facilities: Fairness & Effects” found that in a set of 20 studies analyzed, all but one showed a positive correlation between the achievement of students and the condition of the school facility. All students need a learning environment they can be proud of; they need buildings that can physically handle the technology improvements and needs of a twenty first century classroom.

Not since 1982, when Armstrong Junior High became JHS, has there been a significant remodel/addition or new construction in District 117. Our newest building was constructed 40 years ago, in 1971, and most of our elementary buildings have their origins in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s.
However, we are not alone. The 21st Century School Fund stated that a 2010 state survey found 10 states, including Illinois, reported needing an average of $4,400 per student for deferred maintenance. Although we are not alone in our need for improvements, we are responsible for making them happen.

So the question remains, if not this (County School Facilities Tax), then what? There are several answers to the question of why now? We simply cannot put it off any longer. Our district's schools need immediate attention; most taxpayers do not realize that the district will need to spend nearly $1 million of the Education Fund on operations and maintenance in the 2011-12 budget. That is money that should be going into classrooms instead of roofs, windows and other building maintenance.

COLORADO: The agency that oversees school construction in Colorado will expand its investigation of structural engineering on past projects beyond schools built by one company, the division's head said. Expansion of the inquiry comes as a potential construction problem was found at another school built by the Neenan Co., which is under scrutiny because of unsafe conditions that closed one of its schools and a growing list of more minor issues at others.
Kevin Klein, director of the state Homeland Security Division, said he has no reason to believe problems will emerge beyond the Neenan projects. "While I do not have evidence that structural engineering problems exist in schools other than those identified in the Neenan review, I am not going to be comfortable until we have completed our review of other projects," he said.
In a statement, Neenan president Randy Myers said, "We would welcome a consistent, statewide review process that does what The Neenan Company's current third-party peer review process does — assure everyone that their local schools are safe for students and educators."

The latest concern at a Neenan school was discovered at York International School, a renovated and expanded Mapleton Public Schools building that was dedicated just this week in Adams County. A preliminary structural review found "minor outstanding issues" that require additional study, but no life-safety concerns, said Whei Wong, a district spokeswoman. Any repairs would be done before students occupy the new addition after winter break, she said.

Neenan, a major builder of Colorado schools, has been in the spotlight since its $18.9 million school in Meeker, in northwestern Colorado, was temporarily closed after a review found it was built to the wrong safety codes and susceptible to collapse in severe weather. Neenan agreed to a state Department of Education request for third-party reviews of Neenan-built projects financed through a state grant program. Other districts have asked Neenan for their own reviews, and at least one decided not to wait and conducted its own.

So far, issues have emerged at eight Neenan-built schools, including some known about before the problems that came to light in Meeker. The state Division of Fire Safety, which falls under Homeland Security and oversees school plan reviews and inspections, is reviewing 20 Neenan projects to determine whether a deeper look at the company's projects is warranted. Klein said the priority is to review recently occupied schools, then projects under construction. The state is paying an engineer between $150 and $200 an hour to review school construction projects, Klein said. The expense of checking on projects already constructed is expected to reach about $20,000, then the state is likely to spend several more thousand dollars to "spot-check" structural engineers' work for a yet-undetermined length of time, he said. "Until I am comfortable that I can trust engineers, I'm going to double-check their work," Klein said. But ultimately, he said, "what I don't want to do is spend additional taxpayer dollars on engineers reviewing other engineers reviewing other engineers." The Fire Safety Division issued 604 school building permits last year. About 15 projects each year include high-level structural engineering. School districts must apply for a permit for any construction project from the Fire Safety Division. School districts are required to hire one of the state's 13 inspectors or a private inspector certified by the state to approve numerous stages of construction — foundation, concrete, plumbing, drywall, welding, framing and others. But those inspections are to determine whether design plans are being followed — for example, whether studs are placed every 16 inches as the blueprints say. They are not to determine whether the design is sound. A building does not receive a "certificate of occupancy" from the state unless it has met those requirements and passes a final inspection by a state inspector. That inspection is to make sure "there are no wires hanging from the ceiling and the ceiling tiles are put in place," Klein said.

COLORADO: The agency that oversees school construction in Colorado will expand its investigation of structural engineering on past projects beyond schools built by one company, the division's head said. Expansion of the inquiry comes as a potential construction problem was found at another school built by the Neenan Co., which is under scrutiny because of unsafe conditions that closed one of its schools and a growing list of more minor issues at others.
Kevin Klein, director of the state Homeland Security Division, said he has no reason to believe problems will emerge beyond the Neenan projects. "While I do not have evidence that structural engineering problems exist in schools other than those identified in the Neenan review, I am not going to be comfortable until we have completed our review of other projects," he said.
In a statement, Neenan president Randy Myers said, "We would welcome a consistent, statewide review process that does what The Neenan Company's current third-party peer review process does — assure everyone that their local schools are safe for students and educators."

The latest concern at a Neenan school was discovered at York International School, a renovated and expanded Mapleton Public Schools building that was dedicated just this week in Adams County. A preliminary structural review found "minor outstanding issues" that require additional study, but no life-safety concerns, said Whei Wong, a district spokeswoman. Any repairs would be done before students occupy the new addition after winter break, she said.

Neenan, a major builder of Colorado schools, has been in the spotlight since its $18.9 million school in Meeker, in northwestern Colorado, was temporarily closed after a review found it was built to the wrong safety codes and susceptible to collapse in severe weather. Neenan agreed to a state Department of Education request for third-party reviews of Neenan-built projects financed through a state grant program. Other districts have asked Neenan for their own reviews, and at least one decided not to wait and conducted its own.

So far, issues have emerged at eight Neenan-built schools, including some known about before the problems that came to light in Meeker. The state Division of Fire Safety, which falls under Homeland Security and oversees school plan reviews and inspections, is reviewing 20 Neenan projects to determine whether a deeper look at the company's projects is warranted. Klein said the priority is to review recently occupied schools, then projects under construction. The state is paying an engineer between $150 and $200 an hour to review school construction projects, Klein said. The expense of checking on projects already constructed is expected to reach about $20,000, then the state is likely to spend several more thousand dollars to "spot-check" structural engineers' work for a yet-undetermined length of time, he said. "Until I am comfortable that I can trust engineers, I'm going to double-check their work," Klein said. But ultimately, he said, "what I don't want to do is spend additional taxpayer dollars on engineers reviewing other engineers reviewing other engineers." The Fire Safety Division issued 604 school building permits last year. About 15 projects each year include high-level structural engineering. School districts must apply for a permit for any construction project from the Fire Safety Division. School districts are required to hire one of the state's 13 inspectors or a private inspector certified by the state to approve numerous stages of construction — foundation, concrete, plumbing, drywall, welding, framing and others. But those inspections are to determine whether design plans are being followed — for example, whether studs are placed every 16 inches as the blueprints say. They are not to determine whether the design is sound. A building does not receive a "certificate of occupancy" from the state unless it has met those requirements and passes a final inspection by a state inspector. That inspection is to make sure "there are no wires hanging from the ceiling and the ceiling tiles are put in place," Klein said.

NATIONAL: Going green is cool enough for schools. The Best of Green Schools 2011 list was released this week, commending educational institutions around the country for embracing environmental initiatives. School administrators and government leaders were recognized in 10 categories for a "variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures, including energy conservation, record numbers of LEED® certified buildings and collaborative platforms and policies to green U.S. school infrastructure," according to a press release by Center for Green Schools at U.S. Green Building Council. The press release stated: According to published reports, green schools save on average $100,000 per year on operating costs - enough to hire two new teachers, buy 200 new computers, or purchase 5,000 textbooks. On average, green schools use 33 percent less energy and 32 percent less water than conventionally constructed schools, and if all new U.S. school construction and renovation went green today, the total energy savings alone would be $20 billion over the next 10 years.

As students headed back into the school season this year, many were met with greener schools. A new elementary school in Lexington, Kentucky was lit by solar tubes and had toilets that flushed with collected rainwater. Green schools are making their mark around the world. The first of 20 sustainable schools popped up in the Gaza Strip. According to Inhabitat, the schools will provide peace of mind for students and parents who worry whether their children can go to school if the electricity or water supplies are cut off amid political or financial issues. In the UK, the students themselves want to learn more about the environment than traditional subjects like history or math, according to a survey from earlier this year.

CALIFORNIA: This town is in Napa County, but it's a far cry from the high-priced vineyards and estates to the north. Only recently incorporated, American Canyon sits just across the county line from blue-collar Vallejo, and was historically an unincorporated, low-income community that was the favorite location for facilities and problems the rest of the Napa County didn't want to deal with. After two failed efforts, the community incorporated in 1992 and rapidly developed a remarkable culture of civic engagement and participation.

Tired of bussing their high-school students to distant schools in the northern part of Napa County, American Canyon decided to pass a bond-act and build itself a high school -- but what a high school! Completed three years ago, American Canyon High School is the first in the country to be certified as a "green school" by the Collaborative for High Performance School (CHPS) This November it dedicated its new 1-megawatt solar system, which will save the school district $17 million over the next 25 years and keep 780,000 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air each year.

So it's the perfect place for the Blue-Green Alliance to deliver the message that the time for America to invest in its schools is now. Schools should be places where students can learn, where young people can grow, and where they can be proud. Sadly, too many American schools have decayed to the point where the school itself is a barrier to all three of these goals. But what a difference in feeling this school has -- I tell the audience "I wish I had gone to this school." It simply feels different than a typical American high school -- less tense, less frenzied, more a community -- it's a happier place. And it's had an impact. American Canyon has now become a magnet -- property values are rising here even as they are falling everywhere else, because people want to get into this school district for their children. And gathered at the school is the coalition of hope -- environmentalists, teachers, students, labor union leaders, workers who built the school, local officials, and representatives of the state of California.

But my final message is simple. In five years, my hope is that the American Canyon is no longer America's greenest school -- I hope it is simply one of hundreds, a very typical experience for American children.

CALIFORNIA: The campus of the University of California, Riverside features many gleaming, brand-new buildings. Among them is a state-of-the-art biomedical research complex that was completed in March, and a medical education centre that will be finished early in the new year. Part of a $750 million program of ongoing or recently completed construction on the campus east of Los Angeles, the buildings were designed to house a new medical school.
But at the moment, only a few administrators work in them. That is because the public university does not have enough money to open the school, which was due to start accepting students next year.
California, in common with many US states, has slashed spending on public higher education; meanwhile, at private institutions, sluggish returns on investment have taken a comparable toll on operating budgets.

Enrollments have been cut. Employees have been laid off and furloughed. Class sizes have swelled. Tuition fees have risen dramatically. But US universities keep building. "People who run universities want to leave a legacy. You can leave a legacy in terms of improved rankings; you can leave a legacy by winning national football championships; or you can leave a legacy by building a lot of buildings," said Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity.
So US higher education institutions keep on building despite huge budget cuts, drawing on money from separate capital accounts, private contributions or higher student fees to do so.
Collectively, they spent $11 billion on construction in each of the past two years (the depths of the economic downturn), more than double their expenditure in 2000, according to market research firm McGraw-Hill Construction. And the spending has continued at the same rate this year.

University officials say the critics are missing the point, which is that money from capital accounts - much of it allocated before the downturn - can be used only for buildings, not for operating expenses. "It's a common misperception," said Steve Springer, spokesman for the Los Angeles Community College District, which has halted $5.7 billion of construction to review, among other things, whether it can afford to operate the buildings once they are finished. "People say: 'Instead of putting the money into all these buildings, put it into hiring more faculty or increasing enrolment.' But it's different money." But students also help to pay for the construction spree through increased fees for new dormitories and gyms, Dr Vedder said. "The notion that this is somehow being financed in some way that is not costing students or taxpayers money is disingenuous in the extreme," he added.

The biggest problem is that the universities are having trouble finding the money to clean, heat, light, cool and maintain the new buildings - cash that has to come out of already overstretched operating budgets.
Construction accounts for only a third of what a building costs over its lifetime, according to APPA (previously known as the Association of Physical Plant Administrators), whose members oversee campus buildings. The price triples when maintenance and repairs are added. New campus buildings are "the gifts that keep on taking", quipped the association's executive vice-president, Lander Medlin. Dr Vedder argued that the building boom is evidence that universities need more business savvy. "There's no bottom line in higher education," he said. "The private sector has a bottom line. So a business person says: 'Do we really have to build this building?'

VIRGINIA: The Fairfax County School Board decided Thursday to permit indoor video surveillance cameras for the first time, capping a months-long debate over whether such monitoring technology is appropriate and effective for public schools. High school principals who can demonstrate community support for surveillance cameras can install them in cafeterias, hallways and other gathering places. The devices won’t be mandated countywide, and they will not be permitted in locker rooms, restrooms or classrooms.

There are no scientific studies on the effectiveness of school cameras as an anti-crime tool. Nevertheless, surveillance cameras are widespread in suburban school systems nationwide, including in Montgomery, Prince George’s, Prince William and Loudoun counties. Fairfax has long resisted cameras out of concern for student privacy.

Fairfax officials estimate that putting cameras in all high schools would cost $880,000, plus about $100,000 annually for maintenance. The money would come from noninstructional funds, school officials said.

ILLINOIS: Nine Chicago Public Schools targeted for turnarounds or closure will reap nearly $110 million of $660 million in construction dollars -- an investment district officials defended Thursday as necessary to give them a true “fresh start." Critics have long complained that CPS should be investing money in struggling schools to help them rise above their challenges, rather than plowing money into them just before they are handed over to new leadership or an outside operator.
CPS believes it gets “more bang for the buck’’ when it couples rehab work on a building with a new academic program or turnaround, CPS Chief Administrative Officer Tim Cawley said. “Creating a positive interior when nothing else has changed at the school doesn’t get you the same return as when it’s a fresh start," Cawley said. “We believe it reinforces that it’s a new day."

Chicago Vocational Career Academy High School would grab the biggest chunk of the “fresh-start” rehab dollars, pulling in $75 million for roof replacement, masonry reconstruction and dining area renovations, among other things. CPS Office of School Improvement is expected to oversee that turnaround, which involves giving the entire staff pink slips. Six schools being turned around by the Academy for Urban School Leadership, where Cawley once worked, will reap $25.7 million in rehab work. Crane High, which is being phased out and eventually taken over by Talent Development Charter High, will net $7.3 million in construction dollars.

Don Moore of Designs for Change said there’s a “circular logic" to the notion that schools shouldn’t be spruced up physically until they are so bad off academically that someone else must take them over. “If you look at what has happened on the near South Side, CPS has systematically neglected the physical needs of those schools and that undermines the academic program,’’ Moore said. “If you have schools with gross physical inadequacies, then it makes it very hard for students to learn."
Cawley said the $660 million capital plan for this school year includes some funding -- such as Federal Communications Commission E-rate funds -- that were kept “under the radar’’ previously. The release of the capital plan is an attempt to “open the curtain and let people come in and see how things get done here." Academy of Urban School Leadership turnaround schools getting rehab money are: Fuller Elementary ($3.2 million); Marquette Elementary ($4 million); Piccolo Elementary ($3.5 million), Stagg Elementary ($1 million); Casals Elementary ($5 million) and Herzl Elementary ($9 million). CPS turnaround schools due for construction dollars are Woodson South ($200,000) and Chicago Vocational

ILLINOIS: Inside Chicago Public Schools, the joke long has been that when a school gets a fresh coat of paint and new windows, you can expect the central office to shut it down and open a charter in the building. On Thursday, as Chicago Public Schools released a detailed list of $660 million in capital construction projects for the coming year, the district's top financial officer acknowledged, for perhaps the first time, that there's a kernel of truth in that.
"If we think there's a chance that a building is going to be closed in the next five to 10 years, if we think it's unlikely it's going to continue to be a school, we're not going to invest in that building," Chief Operating Officer Tim Cawley said. Likewise, he said, if the building houses a school undergoing a turnaround program or could be home to a charter, it's more likely to get interior renovations, bathroom facilities or an addition. "We believe that we get more bang for our capital investment buck when we couple it with a program change in the building," Cawley said. "When we turn a school around, when we add a new gifted program or a language program … we believe there's a synergy that communicates to students and families that it's a new day, that there's new things happening at the school."

Nudged by new state legislation that will require the district keep a five-year capital improvement plan, the new CPS administration released the list Thursday, saying it was an effort to be more transparent about which direction schools were headed. "We know increased transparency could potentially lead to increased conflict," Cawley said. "Somebody sees money going to one school and says, 'Why not us?'"

Nearly one-fifth of the $660 million will be going to low-performing schools that will be closed down, forced to share space with charters or marked for a turnaround. The school board will vote on the closing and turnaround proposals in February. About $25 million will be poured into elementary schools slated for turnarounds that will be managed by the Academy for Urban School Leadership, a mayoral favorite that brought to CPS executives like Cawley and Board of Education President David Vitale. Receiving anywhere from $1 million to $9 million in capital funds, schools like Casals, Herzl, Fuller, Marquette, Piccolo and Stagg will open their doors next fall with new lighting, paint, flooring, masonry work and a play lot. About $81 million will go to turnarounds operated by the district, including to Chicago Vocational Career Academy, which has $75 million in state funds earmarked for retrofitting the building for more career-ready programs. Another $18 million will benefit schools that will be sharing facilities with charter schools. And the district is investing $3.4 million in Lathrop Elementary on the West Side, a school with 80-some students that is a candidate to be shut down at the end of the year. District officials said there are no plans for what would move into that facility.

Julie Woestehoff, executive director of Parents United for Responsible Education, who has watched teachers, parents and community members complain about a lack of investment in their schools at school closing hearings and in front of a state legislative facilities task force, said Cawley's admission was "appalling." "I think it's deliberately starving these schools so that they become weaker and weaker before they're killed off," she said. "It shows that they feel absolutely no responsibility toward schools that are struggling. They're deliberately undermining them."
Another concern that might be raised by the capital improvements list is that the dollars are invested in schools serving more affluent students: Jones College Prep, a selective enrollment high school downtown will get a new $96 million building thanks to funds from a tax increment financing district. Bell Elementary, which houses a neighborhood school with a coveted gifted program, will receive $10 million for an annex constructed with state funds. Edison Park Elementary on the Northwest Side, which has 15.6 percent low-income students, will be getting a new, $15 million facility.
Previous administrations signed off on the Jones project, which would have been as expensive to renovate, Cawley said. The other two schools are dealing with severe crowding, he said, adding that "it's hard to argue that a disproportionate amount of the total investment is going into affluent areas."

The capital dollars will not be paying for bricks-and-mortar projects alone. They go toward school safety programs, early childhood learning initiatives in low-income communities and improving technology. The district also plans to build a new, $45 million school on the Southeast Side.

NEW JERSEY: 2011 did not turn out to be a very good year for school construction in New Jersey. On the heels of the Schools Development Authority launching just a single project so far in one of New Jersey's poorest districts, the suburban districts had their slowest year in a decade as well.

On Tuesday, just two of six projects proposed by districts were approved by voters in the referendum votes that take place five times a year. That makes 2011 the lowest year for both the number of projects approved and projects proposed since the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act was signed in 2000.
Only a quarter of the 24 projects proposed overall this year won voter approval, according to the state's School Boards Association, continuing a trend from the middle of the decade when a majority passed. In 2010, only half were approved. The best year was in 2003, when 93 projects were proposed, and voters passed 73 of them. “It could be a blip on the screen, but if we're seeing any trend, we are definitely in a valley,” said Frank Belluscio, communications director for the association. ”We hope it picks up, especially where districts can show there is a demonstrated need.”

The chief reason for the slowdown is the lagging economy, Belluscio and others said, followed by continuing low expectations that the state will help bear the load of new projects. “That is a major factor in this,” Belluscio said of the state help. “Without the state money, we also have seen fewer proposals in general. It's a reflection of the economy. Districts know what their taxpayers are facing and don't want to add to the burdens.” Still, he said the Facilities Act has led to hundreds of projects since 2000, amounting to more than $7 billion in suburban districts that got a jump start from the state.

This comes as criticism mounts that the state has been slow to help poorer districts that the act was meant to address in the first place, as ordered by the state Supreme Court in the Abbott v. Burke school equity rulings. Just one new SDA project has been put out to bid in two years, with a second expected soon. “From a non-Abbott perspective at least,” Belluscio said. “It has been a success.” Still, the latest round of votes on Tuesday was pretty typical for the year. Virtually all were building repairs and renovations, since the number of new schools has dwindled statewide with the leveling off in enrollment. Also typical, the smaller projects did better than the big-ticket ones.

The two approved were in Randolph, where voters were asked to vote on $11.6 million in renovations and new turf fields and bleachers, and in Greater Egg Harbor, where voters passed $14.2 million in roof, fire alarm, and heating and air conditioning projects. The biggest proposal on the ballot was $48 million in Piscataway for the replacement of roofs in 12 schools with solar panel installations. The district made the argument that the projects would pay for themselves in energy savings, but as the solar industry and solar certificates have taken a dive in the state, it became a tougher sell. “It wasn't a solar referendum but a roofing referendum,” said Robert Copeland, the Piscataway superintendent. “We needed to fix our roofs.” “But in some ways it was hard for people to believe in good news, not with the distrust in government that is still out there,” he said.

ILLINOIS: Critics of CPS' school closing and turnaround policies have long maintained that rather than investing in failing schools, the district has instead put resources in schools slated for turnaround or privately run charter schools. The district's announcement of $660 million in capital construction and school improvement projects for the next fiscal year will only fuel that criticism. All of the schools proposed for turnaround this year will be receiving significant funds as part of the capital investments, including Chicago Vocational Career Academy, which is expected to receive $75 million for a major rehab of its building.

The capital dollars will pay for brick-and-mortar projects as well as school safety programs, early childhood learning initiatives in underserved communities and improving technology. CPS officials do not have an exact breakdown of what each school is expected to receive. District spokeswoman Becky Carroll said the district had mentioned it would be investing resources in schools slated for turnaround when officials announced the list of failing schools that would be either closed down or face staff replacement.
While many traditional CPS schools will also be receiving capital dollars, critics will focus on the money siphoned off for turnarounds – especially to the politically connected Academy for Urban School Leadership -- and buildings planned for charters.

COLORADO: Structural deficiencies have been discovered at two more schools constructed by the Neenan Co., new evidence that inspections of the company's work are unearthing a pattern of problems at schools built by the company statewide. In Moffat County in northwestern Colorado, a wing of 2-year-old Craig Middle School was closed to students this week after a structural analysis found it failed to meet building codes. The superintendent, Joe Petrone, wrote that he made the decision "to reduce the risk to all students," even though the engineering firm that conducted the review does "not believe the structure is dangerous."
And on the other side of the state, in Akron, a school under construction with help from a $17 million state grant needs foundation work and other strengthening after a third-party review requested by the state.

In both cases, Fort Collins-based Neenan has agreed to pay for repairs. Representatives for the firm appeared at school board meetings in both communities Tuesday. Andy Boian, a public-relations specialist hired by Neenan, emphasized that the issues discovered in Craig and Akron are not considered threats to life safety. Neither, he said, do they compare to the serious structural problems that caused the school board in Meeker to temporarily close an $18.9 million school in that rural northwestern Colorado town this fall.

CALIFORNIA: The State Allocation Board (SAB) disbursed $923.8 million to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools for the construction and modernization of 377 schools, said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.
"Our schools and California's budget are in a state of financial emergency," said Torlakson. "These funds will give districts some of the resources they need to construct or rebuild our schools, create jobs in the community to help the state's economic recovery, and provide students with more modern facilities that advance their academic achievement."

Torlakson applauded the SAB's quick action today to continue the successful and popular priority funding program created to fast-track school construction projects while at the same time stimulating the state's economy. The priority funding program requires school districts to have the project under construction within 90 days, versus the 18 months that is typically allowed.
"With my Schools of the Future initiative, we encourage districts to foster 21st century student learning by modernizing their facilities, which might include new technology, solar power, and other renewable power sources," Torlakson said. "Our students deserve to learn in schools that are clean, safe, green, and not in facilities that are relics of the past."

Torlakson is a member of the SAB, which determines policy for programs administered by the Office of Public School Construction. The activities include the School Facility Program, Charter School Facilities Program, Overcrowded Relief Grant Program, Critically Overcrowded School Facilities Program, School Facility Joint-Use Program, Career Technical Education Facilities Program, Emergency Repair Program, and the Deferred Maintenance Program.
The 10-member SAB meets monthly to determine the allocation of state resources, such as proceeds from general obligation bond issues and other designated state funds used for the new construction and modernization of local public school facilities. The SAB also acts on appeals regarding disagreements with the Office of Public School Construction, and adopts policies and regulations regarding SAB programs.

CALIFORNIA: The State Allocation Board (SAB) disbursed $923.8 million to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools for the construction and modernization of 377 schools, said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.
"Our schools and California's budget are in a state of financial emergency," said Torlakson. "These funds will give districts some of the resources they need to construct or rebuild our schools, create jobs in the community to help the state's economic recovery, and provide students with more modern facilities that advance their academic achievement."

Torlakson applauded the SAB's quick action today to continue the successful and popular priority funding program created to fast-track school construction projects while at the same time stimulating the state's economy. The priority funding program requires school districts to have the project under construction within 90 days, versus the 18 months that is typically allowed.
"With my Schools of the Future initiative, we encourage districts to foster 21st century student learning by modernizing their facilities, which might include new technology, solar power, and other renewable power sources," Torlakson said. "Our students deserve to learn in schools that are clean, safe, green, and not in facilities that are relics of the past."

Torlakson is a member of the SAB, which determines policy for programs administered by the Office of Public School Construction. The activities include the School Facility Program, Charter School Facilities Program, Overcrowded Relief Grant Program, Critically Overcrowded School Facilities Program, School Facility Joint-Use Program, Career Technical Education Facilities Program, Emergency Repair Program, and the Deferred Maintenance Program.
The 10-member SAB meets monthly to determine the allocation of state resources, such as proceeds from general obligation bond issues and other designated state funds used for the new construction and modernization of local public school facilities. The SAB also acts on appeals regarding disagreements with the Office of Public School Construction, and adopts policies and regulations regarding SAB programs.

MASSACHUSETTS: Triumph Modular Incorporated, a premier provider of high quality relocatable and permanent modular buildings, provided 30 modular classrooms which will occupy over 35,000 square feet at the Newman Elementary School for the Town of Needham, Mass. These temporary classrooms house up to 500 students grades two through six while the school is being renovated. “Aside from its sheer size, what makes this project unique is the type of classroom being provided. In a dramatic shift away from the past, this building’s state-of-the-art design and construction define a larger movement in the industry that provides temporary education space. These buildings – made up of modules that come together to form a larger structure – are the next generation of temporary classrooms,” said Cliff Cort, president of Triumph Modular Incorporated. “Designed with green features and elements of permanent design, they are permanent buildings in terms of form, function, look, feel and energy efficiency. In almost no way do they resemble modular classrooms of the past.”

Town officials opted to use modular classrooms to provide a safe, healthy learning environment for the students and teachers at the school during renovation construction, which is scheduled to take approximately one year. Modular classrooms offer fast delivery, ease of relocation, low-cost reconfiguration and enormous flexibility, not to mention faster sequencing than conventional construction, allowing students and teachers to move into their new, green classrooms with minimal downtime and fewer risks commonly associated with occupied renovations. The Town of Needham is getting a modern educational swing space of permanent quality incorporating numerous sustainable features.

When school renovations are complete in August 2012, Needham could move the building to another location or it could be made available to other school districts seeking additional space. The buildings have a life span comparable to stick-built structures and can be used by multiple school districts over the course of their lifetime, including charter schools seeking a permanent, green solution that offers the benefits of new construction without the cost and time horizon attributed with capital projects.
Triumph Modular is providing turnkey services and will deliver and install a temporary building comprised of 38 modules, including classrooms, staff offices, a nurse’s station, restrooms, and a teacher conference area, all of which will be completed in time for the start of classes.

MARYLAND: Hailing it as a landmark event in state solar power achievement, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman cut the ribbon Tuesday morning on a system of solar panels that will be responsible for powering an elementary school. “This is Maryland’s only solar-powered school,” Ulman told those gathered. “It’s an example of what we can do when we’re all working together.”

State and local officials, including Howard County School Superintendent Sydney Cousin, joined Ulman in celebrating the unveiling of the solar array landfill project during a ceremony at Worthington Elementary School. Ulman essentially “flipped the switch" on the 2,000 solar panels recently installed on two acres of the county's landfill cap, which is situated on a plot of land behind the school.
According to officials, the energy produced by the panels will provide 90 percent of the power used by the school.

According to a press release about the project, the initiative was funded through a $462,000 Project Sunburst Grant from the Maryland Energy Administration, which includes American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: The U.S. Green Building Council's Center for Green Schools named the Council of the District of Columbia the Best Policy Makers of 2011 on its inaugural "Best of Green Schools" list released Dec. 13. The Council was chosen for the passage of the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, authored by Councilmember Mary M. Cheh. The award highlights school administrators and government leaders in 10 categories for efforts to create sustainable learning environments.
"The Healthy Schools Act is one of the most important laws that I have had the privilege to work on during my time on the Council," said Councilmember Cheh. "The District certainly deserves recognition for this landmark legislation, because when a child is in our care, we are responsible for the whole child: their environment, what they are eating, and what they are learning. The Healthy Schools Act ensures that our children are learning in the best buildings, eating the best food we can serve, and getting some exercise while doing so."

"Best of Green Schools" recipient schools and regions from across the nation – from K-12 to higher education – were recognized for a variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures, including energy conservation, record numbers of LEED® certified buildings and collaborative platforms and policies to green U.S. school infrastructure. D.C.'s commitment to measurable and innovative sustainable building goals serves as a model for schools and campuses everywhere.
In May 2010, the D.C. Council unanimously passed the Healthy Schools Act of 2010. 2011 updates to the bill included participation in the U.S. Department of Education's Green Ribbon Schools program, making D.C. the first "state" to sign up for the voluntary federal program. This past August, American University's School of Education, Training, and Health offered a course entitled "Foundations of a Healthy School," focusing solely on the Healthy Schools Act. In September, Councilmember Cheh was awarded the Leadership For Healthy Communities Award for the law's efforts to confront childhood obesity in the District.

UTAH: As part of the Solar for Schools program, solar panels installations are underway at 73 schools across all 41 school districts in Utah. As of press time, 47 out of 73 schools had installed solar photovoltaic arrays on their roofs and three other sites were slated for completion by July 2.
The program was designed and funded by the Utah State Energy Program and made possible by $3 million in federal funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Johnson Controls, a building efficiency and local government solutions company, is managing the project by designing and installing the panels. Johnson Controls is also providing a hands-on renewable energy curriculum for grades K-12 and teacher training, in partnership with the National Energy Foundation.

NEW YORK: At the end of the 2010-2011 school year, Michelle Chapman's 10-year-old daughter started complaining about headaches and fatigue. Her symptoms stopped during the summer, only to return when school started again in the fall. Doctors didn't know what made the girl sick, but Chapman thinks she does: the fluorescent light fixtures at her daughter's school, which are contaminated with sky-high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), one of the most toxic chemicals ever made by man. Long-term exposure can damage a child's ability to learn and a woman's ability to bear healthy babies.

In New York City, 754 schools have fluorescent lights that are likely tainted with PCBs, according to the city's School Construction Authority. The substance may be leaking into the air and building up in the bodies of teachers and children. At first, city officials denied there was a health risk. Now they acknowledge that there is one, but say it will take ten years to remove all the potentially toxic lights.

The Environmental Protection Agency has recommended all of the old lights be replaced in a maximum of five years, as has New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) has said the timeframe for replacement should be two to five years. A year ago, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, a nonprofit civil rights firm that has worked closely with advocates to remove PCBs from schools, said it should be two years. Parents, women's health activists, environmentalists and lawyers have been holding rallies to pressure Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration to act faster. On Monday, more than a dozen elected officials gathered together with other concerned parties on the steps of City Hall. "ABCs not PCBs," they chanted, when Bloomberg made a surprise -- and brief -- appearance.
"Our plan to replace light fixtures in nearly 800 school buildings is unprecedented compared to other cities, and PCBs are a nationwide issue,” Natalie Ravitz, director of communications for the NYC Department of Education, told The Huffington Post via email.
Miranda Massie, the legal director of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, said in response, "The fact that children are being poisoned elsewhere is not a morally attractive argument."

The problem of PCBs in schools isn't limited to New York City, but advocates there have been the most aggressive about it. The chemicals were a popular component of construction materials and electrical products made from the 1950s to 1977, when they were banned and labeled as probable carcinogens. Schools that were renovated during the period PCBs were being used likely have caulk on windows and doorframes, and ballasts, electrical devices commonly found in fluorescent lights, that contain PCBs.
In the last few years, new research has come out that links PCBs to a host of reproductive health problems. Prenatal exposure to PCBs has been found to increase a baby's susceptibility to low birth weight, stunted growth, asthma, immune weakness, Attention Deficit Disorder and memory problems. A 2008 study of 156 nine-year-olds found that in utero exposure to PCBs significantly decreased a child's IQ. "It seems like every week a new study comes out that makes the hair on your back stand up," says Massie.
The dangers of ingesting PCBs, specifically through fish, have been known for a long time. But the risks of being exposed to PCBs through air were discovered relatively recently. The fact that outdated construction in schools is endangering children gives the issue an especially tragic twist, experts say.

NATIONAL: The U.S. Green Building Council's Center for Green Schools, working in conjunction with its founding sponsor, United Technologies Corp., today released its inaugural Best of Green Schools 2011 list recognizing school administrators and government leaders in 10 categories for their efforts to create sustainable learning environments.

Recipient schools and regions from across the nation – from K-12 to higher education – were recognized for a variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures, including energy conservation, record numbers of LEED® certified buildings and collaborative platforms and policies to green U.S. school infrastructure. Their commitments to measurable and innovative sustainable building goals serve as models for schools and campuses everywhere.

"The Best of Green Schools 2011 recipients represent high notes for the green schools movement over the past year and were selected from the thousands of examples of leadership we have seen from schools, districts, campuses, cities and states," said Rachel Gutter, director of the Center for Green Schools at USGBC. "Tomorrow's future leaders are in school today. This year's designees recognize the importance of educating high-performing, 21st century leaders in high-performing, 21st century classrooms. Why green our schools? Three words: education, sustainability and jobs."

According to published reports, green schools save on average $100,000 per year on operating costs — enough to hire two new teachers, buy 200 new computers, or purchase 5,000 textbooks. On average, green schools use 33 percent less energy and 32 percent less water than conventionally constructed schools, and if all new U.S. school construction and renovation went green today, the total energy savings alone would be $20 billion over the next 10 years.

"Our commitment to green schools is a reflection of our belief in the importance of energy efficiency, sustainability and education," said Sandy Diehl, Vice President, Integrated Building Solutions, United Technologies Corp., and a Center for Green Schools advisory board member. "These leaders are taking action today to help improve our schools by saving energy and tax dollars and by creating healthier environments for students and teachers."

NATIONAL: Making school buildings more energy efficient does more than help cut electricity, gas and water bills. Over the long term, the money saved could help schools improve education and expand jobs, according to the US Green Building Council (USGBC). “Why green our schools?” asks Rachel Gutter, director of the USGBC’s Center for Green Schools. “Three words: education, sustainability and jobs.”
Greener schools produce tax and energy savings that can leave more money for equipment, books and teachers. The USGBC points to reports that show more efficient schools save an average of $100,000 per year in operating costs, and use 33 percent less energy and 32 percent less water than conventional school buildings. Those savings could cover the salaries for two new teachers per school, help pay for 200 new computers or buy 5,000 new textbooks. Extended to every new school built and every existing school that’s renovated, improved efficiency could save $20 billion in energy costs alone over the next 10 years.

To recognize US schools that have made an effort to become more efficient, the USGBC and United Technologies Corp., the founding sponsor of the council’s Center for Green Schools, have awarded its first-ever Best of Green Schools list. [see article for list]

MASSACHUSETTS: The Perkins Elementary School in South Boston is barely visible behind rows of nondescript brick buildings inside the Old Colony public housing development. Students make do without the most basic amenities, eating breakfast and lunch at their desks, taking gym classes at a Boys & Girls Club, and checking out books at a neighborhood library.
About three miles away in a crime-ridden Dorchester neighborhood, the Holland Elementary School stands like a beacon. Nestled among fruit trees, Holland sports two cafeterias that serve freshly prepared meals, an indoor basketball court, an Olympic-size heated swimming pool, a soundproof music room with red and white electric guitars, and a library with more than 7,000 books.

The stark differences between these two schools extend well beyond their facilities. Perkins, with its bare-bones surroundings, often propels students in early grades to great academic heights on standardized tests, while Holland struggles to get students to understand reading and math fundamentals.

Across Boston, astonishing inequities exist among the 78 city-run early-education centers, elementary schools, and K-8 schools, according to a Globe analysis of their test scores, facilities, and programs. The conclusions offer a rare glimpse into the state of the city’s public schools: - Half were built between 1896 and 1932, and many buildings lack basic amenities. Four don’t have cafeterias; 22 schools lack auditoriums; 30 are without gymnasiums; and 59 schools, three-quarters of those surveyed, do not have athletic fields. - An impressive facility often does not equate with a stellar academic program. Other schools with meager facilities, such as Bradley in East Boston, Hale in Roxbury, and Mozart in Roslindale, had some of the highest reading and math scores on last spring’s Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams in the third grade. By contrast, some schools with swimming pools - such as Hennigan in Jamaica Plain, Marshall in Dorchester, and Mildred Avenue in Mattapan - landed in the bottom. - Despite their popularity, smaller schools don’t necessarily outperform larger ones. Although small schools tend to dominate the top rankings in MCAS, the School Department in June closed several small schools, such as Farragut in Mission Hill and Emerson in Roxbury, due to poor performance.

The disparities add an agonizing layer to the school-selection process, underway for the next school year, as parents weigh what matters most for their child’s education and happiness: A nice building or solid academics? An outstanding music program or rigorous science instruction? A school near home or one with an after-school program? THE UNEVEN distribution of great facilities and programs underpins Boston’s elaborate school-lottery system, which was designed to give students a chance of getting into the best schools, and is also the reason the process is so harrowing. Some students win, gaining access to one of the city’s best schools, while other deserving students are consigned to schools with poor records of achievement, substandard facilities, or both.

OHIO: Ohio leads the country with more green school projects under way than any other state, the U.S. Green Building Council said in a report. The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit released its first Best of Green Schools list recognizing recipients from across the country — from K-12 to higher education — for a variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures including energy conservation. In the state category, Ohio is the leader with 315 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building-registered and -certified projects, including 19 schools registered this year.
The rating system contains nationally accepted benchmarks for the design, construction and operation of high performing green buildings.

“It’s wonderful and such an honor to receive this award because it shows the rest of the United States what’s happening truly in our state,” said Sue Meyer, a spokeswoman for the Ohio School Facilities Commission. She also credited OSFC partners, including school districts, architects and construction teams. Ohio has spent about $9.4 billion on renovation and construction of schools, Meyer said. So far, more than 860 new or renovated buildings have been occupied. Approximately 175 schools are under construction and 60 more schools are in the active design phase, Meyer said.

The council estimates that, on average, green schools save about $100,000 a year on operating costs, including energy and water savings. That translates into the Dayton Public district saving an estimated $2.6 million a year for its new schools as well as better air quality and a healthier all-around environment for students and staff. Meyer said these days it doesn’t cost more to build a green school than a traditional one. “Probably in the early phases years ago when we were new at this and we didn’t know what to expect we actually did build in a little additional funding,” she said. “But we’re seeing now a lot of the LEED projects are coming in on budget or under budget, which is very exciting news for us.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE: New Hampshire has helped pay for public school construction since 1955 without limits on who could get aid, but the rising costs of projects coupled with tight finances could force the state to prioritize who gets money.
The House is to vote early next year on a pair of bills that would create a ranking system similar to one used by Maine to determine which projects get state aid. Senate Education Chairwoman Nancy Stiles, R-Hampton, is introducing a similar bill in the Senate. The bills' goal is to target state aid to communities with the greatest need, something Democratic Gov. John Lynch has been calling for to ease the cost to the state while helping poorer communities renovate and replace schools. "Establishing criteria is going to help assure school districts that need the money will get it," said state Rep. Gary Richardson, D-Hopkinton.

The ranking system would end the state's current blank-check approach to funding local aid requests. The state would instead choose projects that meet criteria that's being developed by the Department of Education over the next two years, adds state Rep. Randy Foose, who worked with Richardson and others on one of the House bills.
Criteria would include: unsafe conditions; obsolete, inefficient or unsuitable facilities; enrollment shifts; and any other conditions the state thought necessary, which could include whether the community had maintained older buildings partially paid for with state aid. Projects deemed worthy of aid would be ranked.

Critics say denying construction support to all could run afoul of the state's mandated duty to provide a constitutionally adequate education to students. "You're making the availability of discretionary dollars determine aid, not the need," said Mark Joyce, executive director of the New Hampshire School Administrators Association.
One bill would cap aid at $50 million per year, but most of that money would be used to pay the state's roughly $540 million share of 360 existing projects, said state Rep. Lynne Ober, chairwoman of the special House Committee on Education Funding Reform. That would leave only a few million dollars for new projects over the next few years. It will take 30 years to pay off the projects already in progress, but as the state pays the debt more money would become available for new projects, she said.

Under the current construction aid system, the state pays a share each year of the principal borrowed to build or renovate a school and stretches payments over the life of the school bond. The state's share ranges from 30 to 60 percent of the principal. Under the proposed system, the state would pay its percentage up front so local taxpayers did not have to borrow as much or pay interest on a larger bond. The state's share could change before a final amount is agreed upon, supporters said.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: New Hampshire has helped pay for public school construction since 1955 without limits on who could get aid, but the rising costs of projects coupled with tight finances could force the state to prioritize who gets money.
The House is to vote early next year on a pair of bills that would create a ranking system similar to one used by Maine to determine which projects get state aid. Senate Education Chairwoman Nancy Stiles, R-Hampton, is introducing a similar bill in the Senate. The bills' goal is to target state aid to communities with the greatest need, something Democratic Gov. John Lynch has been calling for to ease the cost to the state while helping poorer communities renovate and replace schools. "Establishing criteria is going to help assure school districts that need the money will get it," said state Rep. Gary Richardson, D-Hopkinton.

The ranking system would end the state's current blank-check approach to funding local aid requests. The state would instead choose projects that meet criteria that's being developed by the Department of Education over the next two years, adds state Rep. Randy Foose, who worked with Richardson and others on one of the House bills.
Criteria would include: unsafe conditions; obsolete, inefficient or unsuitable facilities; enrollment shifts; and any other conditions the state thought necessary, which could include whether the community had maintained older buildings partially paid for with state aid. Projects deemed worthy of aid would be ranked.

Critics say denying construction support to all could run afoul of the state's mandated duty to provide a constitutionally adequate education to students. "You're making the availability of discretionary dollars determine aid, not the need," said Mark Joyce, executive director of the New Hampshire School Administrators Association.
One bill would cap aid at $50 million per year, but most of that money would be used to pay the state's roughly $540 million share of 360 existing projects, said state Rep. Lynne Ober, chairwoman of the special House Committee on Education Funding Reform. That would leave only a few million dollars for new projects over the next few years. It will take 30 years to pay off the projects already in progress, but as the state pays the debt more money would become available for new projects, she said.

Under the current construction aid system, the state pays a share each year of the principal borrowed to build or renovate a school and stretches payments over the life of the school bond. The state's share ranges from 30 to 60 percent of the principal. Under the proposed system, the state would pay its percentage up front so local taxpayers did not have to borrow as much or pay interest on a larger bond. The state's share could change before a final amount is agreed upon, supporters said.

KENTUCKY: Hundreds of public schools across Kentucky need billions of dollars in repairs because they don’t meet state standards, though officials say the deficiencies aren’t endangering students.
According to a new report issued by the Kentucky Department of Education and released last week, 500 schools across the state, including 76 in Jefferson County, need moderate to major repairs. And while $3.7 billion is needed to fix them, money is limited. The list is the result of a new state law designed to assess the physical condition, educational suitability and technological readiness of public schools and how close they come to meeting Kentucky’s regulations and standards.

Lisa Gross, a spokeswoman for the state Education Department, said the report “should not generate panic.” “The law was designed to help schools, districts and legislators prioritize limited funds,” she said. “These reports take an in-depth look at the school’s physical condition, whether it’s wired for Internet access and if the building’s overall condition is providing the things students need to have the best learning experience.” The state measures schools’ conditions on a scale of one to five, with five being the worst. The report focused on schools with rankings of a three or four, meaning they are in either average or fair condition, Gross said.

MICHIGAN: The Detroit Public Schools announced that hundreds of administrators are moving from controversial and expensive leased office space into district-owned property, saving about $1.8 million a year. By Jan. 31, the district plans to complete a 60-day relocation process from leased space in four buildings in the New Center area. The employees will move into condo space DPS owns in the Fisher Building, space in underutilized schools and into the DPS operations hub near Eastern Market. The move is expected to result in a net reduction of 98,400 square feet. DPS will pay onetime relocation costs of $1.3 million but reap the full savings in ensuing years.

Roy Roberts, the DPS emergency manager, said the move makes sense. "People come down here to see us, they have to go to three different buildings. I want people together, eyeball to eyeball, solving problems," he said. "To get more productive." With cuts to central office staff, the district no longer needs the space. DPS will vacate leased spaces in the New Center One, Albert Kahn and Lothrop Landing buildings and leased space on the 18th floor of the Fisher Building, officials confirmed. The school board office will move to the Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men, 2001 W. Warren.

The DPS move comes after a 2009 investigation into a deal that led DPS to sell its Maccabees Schools Center Building to Wayne State University. DPS then bought and leased office space from Farbman. DPS paid Farbman about $24 million to purchase five floors in the 29-story Fisher Building in 2002, along with concourse space and parking spaces. It paid another $17 million for renovations. The previous year, Farbman paid $31 million for the entire 28-story Fisher and 11-story Kahn buildings. A report from the DPS Office of Inspector General filed this year determined that the DPS-Farbman deal was "grossly overpriced" and held no financial benefit for DPS.

NEW YORK: When Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in 2008 that he wanted city buildings to lower their energy consumption by 30% within a decade, one area seemed ripe for reductions: the city's 1,700 schools, spread across 1,200 buildings. Studded with new technology like smartboards and energy-gobbling appliances such as boilers, schools accounted for about a quarter of the city's overall energy use. So John Shea, the head of school facilities for the Department of Education, decided to enlist an unlikely ally to shave energy costs: students.

On Friday, officials were scheduled to announce a competition for 30 schools participating in a pilot program that is run in conjunction with Solar One, a nonprofit environmental education organization. The contest will award a total of $30,000 to the schools that reduce their energy use the most. "It is unusual to have a curriculum issue come out of the department of the people who mop the floors and stock the toilet paper," Mr. Shea acknowledged with a smile during a recent interview. But it was a perfect fit, he said. "The fact is we've got school buildings all over the city that are their own learning laboratories," he said.
The Green Design Lab—a pilot project that started in 10 schools last year and has expanded to 30—brings Solar One teachers into the schools for up to 24 weeks. Through lessons, labs, and projects such as installing green roofs and gardens, Solar One instructors spend one or two classroom periods a week teaching five different units, including energy, air, water, materials and food. The group hopes to expand to 150 schools in the next three years.
The Green Design Lab is not the only sustainability initiative being embraced by New York City schools. On Thursday, the New York State Education Department announced that it was joining the federal Green Ribbon Schools program, which honors the most environmentally progressive schools. The same day, the New York City Council approved construction of the city's first "energy neutral" school. But the Solar One program may be the most ambitious, bringing together custodians, principals and teachers. It is largely privately funded: Organizers said they expected the program to cost $900,000 this academic year, with 10% coming from the Department of Education and the City Council. "The basic premise of the program has kind of a triple bottom line impact," said Executive Director Chris Collins. "Reduce energy use, reduce CO2 emissions, and save the school money and increase student knowledge."

CALIFORNIA: State regulators charged with overseeing school construction have failed to ensure that the buildings children occupy are safe, according to a state audit. The report by the California state auditor's office found that the Division of the State Architect has limited authority to penalize school districts for not complying with California's landmark earthquake safety law for public schools and that its oversight is "neither effective nor comprehensive."
Legislators called for the audit in May after a California Watch investigation revealed that the state had allowed children and teachers to occupy buildings with structural flaws and potential safety hazards reported during construction.

In a written response to the audit, Fred Klass, director of the Department of General Services, said the audit's findings were consistent with his agency's own internal review. The department, he wrote, "is fully committed to promptly and completely addressing the issues identified in the audit report. In general, the actions recommended by the (Bureau of State Audits) have merit and will be promptly addressed." State auditors found nearly a quarter of school construction projects completed during the last three fiscal years were not certified as safe by the state. They said the state doesn't adequately document the safety issues it identifies and does not prioritize projects with safety concerns.

California Watch's report revealed that at least 20,000 projects had been completed without receiving final certification. The state audit, which was limited in scope, found more than 16,000 projects still lack certification required by the Field Act, the earthquake safety law. School board members, builders, architects and inspectors can be charged with a felony for failing to follow the Field Act's provisions. School board members could face additional criminal charges if a student or staff member dies or is injured by earthquake damage at a school without Field Act certification.

But under the law, even if the Division of the State Architect denies safety certification to a school construction project, districts can fill them with children and teachers anyway. The law does not give regulators authority to penalize school districts for occupying uncertified buildings, the report said.
Still, auditors found, the state rarely uses the enforcement tools it does have. When regulators identify safety concerns, they can issue an order to comply, which tells the district it must resolve problems or the division may order construction to stop, or a stop-work order, which shuts down construction until the district resolves the problems. The state issued only 23 orders to comply and six stop-work orders during the last three fiscal years, auditors found.

ILLINOIS: Brace yourself for architectural shock if you're driving on Chicago's Southwest Side. At 51st Street and Homan Avenue, amid a workaday assortment of three-flats, body shops, carwashes, storefront churches and warehouses, you'll whiz past a futuristic, powerfully sculpted new elementary school (left). No, it's not a mirage. Last week, it won an award from the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
Sheathed in shingles of light-grabbing stainless steel, the same material that clads Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, the striking steel-framed structure was developed by the influential United Neighborhood Organization, or UNO, which runs 11 charter schools in mostly Hispanic Chicago neighborhoods. To fund the project, which cost $26 million and is its first from-the-ground-up school, UNO drew from a $98 million school construction grant it pushed through the Illinois General Assembly two years ago. Is this another over-the-top, “wow” building? Yes. Yet scratch beneath the surface and you'll discover that it's more than a piece of eye candy.

The school, called the UNO Soccer Academy, was designed, permitted and constructed in roughly a year, which is lightning-fast by any standard. Nearly three months after its opening, student attendance is averaging 98.5 percent. In economically austere times, the building shows, we don't have to build boring, unimaginative architecture.
What the building also reveals is that good architecture is impossible without good clients, which is undoubtedly why it was one of five projects that won the foundation's Patron of the Year Award last week. The patron, in this case, is UNO's CEO, Juan Rangel. When UNO held a design competition for the project in 2010, Rangel told participating architects that he didn't want any Aztec pyramids, murals of charismatic revolutionary Che Guevara or other cliches that designers often inflict on Latino projects.

Rangel was after something different — something aspirational, something that would challenge the Mexican-American families in the Gage Park neighborhood to think that you don't have to go to Northside College Prep or the Latin School of Chicago to be the best. And that's what he got from Chicago architect Juan Moreno, 46, who worked on the project with his former firm, the Chicago office of Ghafari Associates, which also served as the project's contractor.
Born in Bogota, Colombia, Moreno studied and practiced architecture in the Los Angeles area before settling in Chicago. His freestyle LA roots are evident in the school's assertive diagonals (left), its apparent disregard for its physical surroundings and its unorthodox floor plan, which resembles a boomerang whose bent contours invite you to hurl it into the sky. But there's a method to the madly exuberant design.
Its eastern side, which contains three floors of classrooms, dutifully frames the corner of 51st and Homan before the building bends away from the street, swooping upward as it enfolds such functions as an expansive, window-lined gymnasium (with 24-foot ceilings) that doubles as a lunchroom. Beneath the bend is a sheltered outdoor space, nicely outfitted with tables and seats, that leads to a protected courtyard, complete with a small, rubber-surfaced soccer field. It's one of several soccer-themed touches at the K-8 school. Classrooms are named for countries or continents that have hosted the World Cup. Soccer drills are integrated into gym classes. The idea is to use soccer, the favorite sport of many Mexican-Americans, to hook kids who might otherwise not be interested in learning. Appropriately, then, the design has a latent athleticism, its muscular masses of glass and stainless steel thrusting boldly into space. A similar intelligence informs the floor plan, which consists of thin, interconnected bars rather than a massive rectangle.

CALIFORNIA: The federal government awarded $1.6 million to school-based health centers in California for expansion and modernization, funds that will help the clinics treat more students and community members, officials announced.
The centers receiving money are Asian Pacific Health Care Venture in Los Angeles, Valley Community Clinic in North Hollywood, Centro De Salud De La Comunidad in San Ysidro and the Oakland Unified School District.

The health centers are typically located on school campuses and offer preventive and primary care services to students and their families. They are said to increase student attendance and reduce the costly use of hospital emergency rooms. Nationwide, more than $14 million in grants to 45 school-based health centers were announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, marking the second installment of funding under the federal health reform law.
"The Affordable Care Act will help ensure our children get the high-quality healthcare they need and deserve," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

NEW YORK: Nine months after the city announced a 10-year plan to find and remove fluorescent light fixtures in schools that may contain hazardous chemicals, the city’s School Construction Authority has released a list of 754 school buildings that have been flagged for follow-up.
The list is the product of a survey of buildings the city completed last year, but it has never before been released, according to a legal group that has been pushing for faster cleanup. The document was released last month, shortly after NYLPI filed a Freedom of Information Law request. That request yielded a more complete accounting of schools with suspect lights, which NYPLI has published on its website.

The chemicals in question, referred to as polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, were present inside of some florescent lights installed in schools before 1979, when the federal government banned their use. City officials have said the lights pose no immediate health risk to students. But many elected officials and public health advocates charge that the department is not moving quickly enough to remove the chemicals. [Includes list of schools]

CALIFORNIA: Going green is much more than reducing your carbon and/or your environmental footprint. Conserving energy and water while using alternate forms of energy are essential actions we should all strive do more of. I think it is also just as important to introduce students to the real green, nature. After all if students don’t know and appreciate the natural world around them, then they don’t understand why we need to reduce the human impact on the planet.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has set the goal of becoming one of the greenest school districts in the country. Through district initiatives, partnerships and individual efforts there are many opportunities for students, teachers and the community to learn about and become involved in programs that teach you how make a difference.

The LAUSD district wide energy and water conservation program is named the School Conservation Project (SCP) and is headed by the Facilities Service Division (FSD) and Kim Kennedy Interim Director of Sustainability/ LEED. This year schools will receive 50% of the cost savings realized for their site based reduction in cost in water and electricity due to conservation efforts. This increase in award amount creates a greater incentive for schools to participate in the program and conserve. Last year, Washington Preparatory Senior High School under the leadership of Principal Dr. Ullah, led the district with over $45,000 in savings and receiving almost $20,000 dollars for the schools general budget. To learn more about this program go to http://mo.laschools.org/sustainability/

The SCAQMD and LADWP have partnered with LAUSD to help green one of the largest energy and transportation users in the state. The SCAQMD has provided the school district with over 9 million dollars to purchase 100 compressed natural gas busses to bring the total number of CNG busses to 233, the largest such bus fleet in the state. These busses not only are cleaner and more energy efficient they allow thousands of students to travel safely to school free from exhaust fumes wafting in from the bus.

PENNSYLVANIA: City Controller Alan Butkovitz accused the School District of Philadelphia of letting eight shuttered district buildings deteriorate into dangerously unsafe condition, and called the empty facilities “catastrophes waiting to happen.” Each of the buildings—which includes schools closed as long ago as 1998 and 2001—were examined by investigators from the controller’s office and a licensed civil engineer.
What they found, documented in photos and video, were broken windows, unsealed buildings, empty hypodermic needles and used condoms, human waste, garbage, empty liquor bottles, ominously large cracks in outer walls and other evidence of neglect.
Conditions are so bad at the former Roberto Clemente Middle School (at 5th and Rising Sun Avenue) that the building should be demolished immediately, Butkovitz said. Indeed, the report contends that each of the buildings should be torn down, partly for safety’s sake, partly to make the sites more appealing to would-be developers, a job that would cost as estimated $5 million.

Butkovitz did not share his findings with the school district before releasing them this morning to the press, and the district did not immediately return a request for comment. But in the past, district officials have said the eight surplus properties cited in the controller’s report would be some of the first to be disposed of using the district’s newly drafted adaptive reuse policy. That policy calls for creating evaluation teams comprised of district, community and politically appointed members to consider new uses proposed by non-profit and for-profit developers for shuttered school buildings. The same policy is intended to speed the sale of future shuttered schools, including the nine closures recommended by district staff last month.

It isn’t entirely clear how much private-sector interest there will be for some of these sites, particularly those with aging facilities in low-income neighborhoods. Others, such as the enormous West Philadelphia High building (which was vacated only this year, and thus was not included on the surplus property list examined by the controller’s office) seem certain to attract intense developer interest.

ILLINOIS: Nearly a decade ago, Chicago Public Schools announced it would shut down three chronically low-performing schools-Williams, Dodge and Terrell. It was Chicago's introduction to "renaissance," to the hope that an entirely new staff- or even some entity other than the school district-could create a high-performing school from the ashes of a struggling one.

Since then, the announcement of school actions-turnarounds, closings and reconfigurations-has become an annual occurrence. Last week, CPS announced it wants to turn around 10 schools (firing all staff) and wholly or partially close eight others.

If the proposals are approved by the district's Board of Education, Chicago will shutter its 100th school since Williams, Terrell and Dodge. WBEZ and Catalyst plotted out annual school closings and turnarounds over the last decade in Chicago. The sortable chart and maps show where schools have been closed or turned around, what's become of the school buildings and how well new schools in those buildings are performing.

ILLINOIS: Nearly a decade ago, Chicago Public Schools announced it would shut down three chronically low-performing schools-Williams, Dodge and Terrell. It was Chicago's introduction to "renaissance," to the hope that an entirely new staff- or even some entity other than the school district-could create a high-performing school from the ashes of a struggling one.

Since then, the announcement of school actions-turnarounds, closings and reconfigurations-has become an annual occurrence. Last week, CPS announced it wants to turn around 10 schools (firing all staff) and wholly or partially close eight others.

If the proposals are approved by the district's Board of Education, Chicago will shutter its 100th school since Williams, Terrell and Dodge. WBEZ and Catalyst plotted out annual school closings and turnarounds over the last decade in Chicago. The sortable chart and maps show where schools have been closed or turned around, what's become of the school buildings and how well new schools in those buildings are performing.

NATIONAL: With its new "Green Ribbon" program, announced in April, the Department of Education will honor public schools of all levels that are taking steps to be environmentally conscious. States will begin nominating schools this month, and the awards will be announced sometime this spring. Many schools are catching the green bug, even if they weren't originally built to be sustainable—but all schools can take easy steps to lower their carbon footprints, experts say.

"Pretty much any school can save about 30 percent of [its] energy bill with behavior modification," says Ted Bardacke, a senior associate at Global Green USA, a nonprofit focused on sustainability and environmental awareness. "Just having a green building does not a green school make."
Schools need a culture change, Bardacke says. By keeping thermostats set at 68 degrees in the winter and 74 degrees in the summer, diligently turning off lights, and turning off computers at night, schools can make a huge impact in their energy usage.
Yesterday, Bardacke's organization awarded $130,000 in the Green School Makeover Competition to the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin to help it become more sustainable. The school has been open since 1857, long before environmental issues came into the national consciousness. A green culture "can be done whether you've got the newest, greenest, hippest school built from the ground up, all the way down to the leakiest, most inefficient building," Bardacke says. "That sort of behavior modification is a no-cost option that every school ought to pursue."

NEW YORK: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a Bronx church's case on whether it can hold worship services in New York City public schools. The decision ends a 16-year legal battle over the rights of churches in city schools and means 160 area churches have roughly two months to find new places to hold worship services.
Lawyers for the Bronx Household of Faith, an evangelical congregation that meets at P.S. 15 in the Bronx, filed a petition in late September asking the court to review a June appeals-court ruling barring churches from holding worship services on school property. Now that congregation, along with dozens of others, has until Feb. 12 to find a substitute house of worship.

Under the current arrangement, churches pay nominal fees to hold worship services in schools. That arrangement has saved fledgling churches from paying market-rate rents for space in meeting centers or hotels. Churches continued meeting in public schools while the Supreme Court's decision was pending.
A growing number of religious groups rely on schools. In the 2008-09 school year, 60 churches had permits to hold worship services in DOE facilities. During the 2010-11 school year, the Department of Education said 160 congregations were granted permits for worship services.
A 2001 Supreme Court ruling found that a school couldn't deny a Bible study group access to school facilities. But the Bronx case applied specifically to worship services, allowing the appeals court to rule in favor of city schools, according to information provided by the city's Law Department.

MISSOURI: Walk through the halls of Parkway West High School and you will quickly notice that many lockers are unlocked and sit empty. Not too far away at Ladue Horton Watkins High School you see locks on the lockers, but the majority of students aren't stopping at them between periods to get books. "I do have a locker assigned to me, but I couldn't tell you the number or where it is," Junior, Samantha Shanker said. All of the students we spoke with at Parkway West and Ladue, estimate about 95% of upperclassmen don't use lockers.
"I see a lot of students carrying around very heavy backpacks, with their locker with them, a portable locker," said Eileen Kiser, spanish teacher at Parkway West.

Several reasons are given when you ask "why" students today don't use lockers; don't have as many books because of newer technology, rather carry all items with them, and lockers are no longer used as a gathering spot to talk to classmates. "Our lockers aren't meeting places anymore because we are talking a lot through texts, so we don't have to meet and share gossip at the lockers or anything," Shanker said.

While we found no schools locally that have done away with lockers, a recent USA Today article says it's a growing trend. KAI Design and Build, an architecture firm based in St. Louis, has designed two schools without lockers in Texas. KAI President, Darren James feels its only a matter of time before you see new schools in St. Louis being built lockerless. James says their statistics also show about 95 percent of students don't use lockers. Some local teachers also feel, lockerless schools could be in the future.
"I asked the kids, 'how would you feel if we built a new building and it didn't have lockers?' they said 'forget the lockers, we don't need them, we don't need them.'" Many local parents weighing in on the USA Today article, don't want to see lockers go away because they feel the large backpacks are bad for their child's back.

GEORGIA: The GREENGUARD Environmental Institute—in collaboration with architecture firm Perkins+Will, the Georgia Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Choate Construction, JE Dunn Construction, the Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA), and the Georgia School Superintendents Association (GSSA)—unveiled last week a life-size model classroom whose revolutionary high-performance design is intended to promote student health and wellness.

The High Performance Healthy Classroom, displayed for the first time at the GSBA/GSSA's Annual Conference in Cobb County, Ga., boasted a variety of environmentally-preferable design features, including GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certified desks, flooring, insulation, and casework.
"As architects, we want to provide not only innovative design solutions, but also a healthier indoor environment," says Shannon Goodman of Perkins+Will, one of the designers of the classroom. "We know GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certified products can help improve a classroom's indoor air quality and reduce students' and teachers' risk of chemical exposure. That's why we chose to incorporate GREENGUARD Certified products into the High Performance Healthy Classroom."

GREENGUARD Children & Schools Certified products are independently, scientifically tested and verified to meet some of the most stringent chemical emissions standards in the world. With strict emission limits on over 360 chemicals, as well as a cap on the combined emissions of all chemicals, products certified to the GREENGUARD Children & Schools Standard help mitigate the risk of compromised indoor air quality, thus reducing exposure to airborne toxins.

Among the GREENGUARD Certified low-emitting products featured in the classroom were KI desks and chairs, Nora rubber modular flooring, Owens Corning insulation, and Fleetwood casework.
"In addition to providing school systems with much needed operational savings due to the inclusion of high-efficiency lighting and controls, a high performance, healthy classroom is a place where students can see clearly, hear easily, breathe safely, touch without harm, and learn better," says Leesa Carter, executive director of the USGBC-Georgia Chapter. "It just makes sense that GREENGUARD Certified products were among the products used to construct and furnish this healthy classroom."

Other classroom design highlights included: Access to natural daylighting to improve student performance and reduce lighting loads; High-efficiency, dimmable, LED lighting technology to reduce energy costs; Raised flooring with underfloor air distribution to reduce germ spread and provide more thermal comfort.
The High Performance Healthy Classroom prototype is intended to inspire and educate Georgia teachers, school administrators, parents, lawmakers, and others about the benefits of learning in a more healthful indoor environment.

NEW YORK: A small Bronx evangelical church on Monday lost the final round of its 16-year legal battle to force New York City to permit religious worship services in public schools, setting the stage for the city to eject dozens of churches and religious organizations that have been using schools for prayer.
The Supreme Court announced that it would not review a lower-court decision that backed the city’s decision to ban the evangelical congregation, the Bronx Household of Faith, from holding its Sunday services at Public School 15, where it has worshiped since 2002.

As a result, the city said it would move to end the hundreds of prayer services that had been held in schools in recent years — some 160 congregations used school buildings for worship services in the 2010-11 school year alone — by Feb. 12, 2012.

“We view this as a victory for the city’s schoolchildren and their families,” Jane Gordon, the senior counsel of the New York City Law Department, said in a statement. She added that the Education Department “was quite properly concerned about having any school in this diverse city identified with one particular religious belief or practice.”

The case of the Bronx Household of Faith was nationally watched because it pit the First Amendment claims of churches against the concept of the separation of church and state. In many school districts around the country, religious organizations are permitted to use public schools for worship. But in New York, a city regulation, permitted under state law, blocks the practice.

NEW JERSEY: Something seemed to be growing inside a first-grade classroom at Middle Township Elementary School No. 1. And it wasn’t the 6-year-olds who sit at the desks. According to parents, a serious mold problem seemed to inhabit the classroom. Toys, glue sticks, and even the American flag, new in September, had mold growing on it, said classroom parents. According to school Superintendent Michael Kopakowski, “We did have reports that something was going on. We’re not sure if it was HVAC-related or not.” In the meantime, the school custodial staff found themselves at school on Sat., Dec. 3. “We brought in some of our people,” Kopakowski told the Herald. “They cleaned it up, and everything looks okay.” Not so fast, say some parents. According to them, there’s a mold problem in the building. Kopakowski said having a mold problem this late in the year is very unusual. He said that normally, mold problems occur in the heat and humidity of August, when the school is shut up tight. “This is something that, when it occurs, we take it very seriously. We normally don’t see this kind of issue,” Kopakowski said.

Mold infestation has become a serious problem in schools throughout the state. In 2007, a brand-new school in Neptune was torn down before a student even walked through its doors because of mold.

When the Herald called Cape May County Health Department, it was told that mold problems are investigated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Elias Rodriguez, a representative of the EPA, told the Herald that the agency offers schools free program to address indoor air quality in schools called, “Tools for Schools.”

NATIONAL: Last May, a report issued by the American Institute of Architects and the U.S. Green Building Council found that "green schools" are not only better for students, teachers, and the environment, but are also benefiting the bottom line. At a time when districts everywhere are facing major budget shortfalls, a school system in Mississippi is putting the theory to the test.

In Mississippi, Oxford area officials say the district has saved over $23,000 in energy costs in the past year while participating in the Tennessee Valley Authority Green School Initiative, a program designed to save on costly utility bills in schools.
Oxford School District Interim Superintendent Brian Harvey called the program beneficial on multiple levels. From helping schools save money on energy costs, to protecting the environment, and allowing students to participate in the process, the whole community stands to benefit. "And they can build a model so other schools in the TVA coverage area can replicate it," Harvey stressed. The two-year pilot program began last year and involved five schools in the Oxford district and three schools in the Lafayette County School District, a more rural setting.
Alisa Fye, who works with the TVA program in Mississippi, said each school saved differently and found various ways to save energy across the board. While Oxford and Lafayette County were the only systems to participate in the pilot program due to their close proximity to the University of Mississippi, a TVA Green Campus partner, new districts are on deck to begin the venture in the coming year. Following the success of the pilot program, the TVA Green Schools program is being expanded to 60 additional schools in the entire region.

In Oxford's Bramlett Elementary School alone, the school saved nearly $10,000 from its yearly utility bills by turning off lights in classrooms and offices and turning off computers at the end of the day. Schools across the participating districts plan to apply these easy cost-saving methods and many more, including adopting specific energy policies for each individual school.
Clearly when schools are savings thousands just by efficient use of utilities, stated policies on energy efficiency and green school initiatives could become school staples in the years to come.

COLORADO: Revelations that a new, $18.9 million school in rural Meeker was built to dangerously substandard levels have raised questions about the adequacy of Colorado's school design oversight. State officials are waiting for the results of examinations of other school construction projects before they can determine whether this was an aberration or the sign of a larger problem.

It's an important question, and one that has an air of deja vu about it. In 2007, we editorialized about a 93-page state audit that found "Colorado has done a shockingly poor job of overseeing the construction of K-12 schools." The report detailed how the state had been conducting only perfunctory reviews of school construction plans, and engaged in very few on-site inspections. In response, the state increased staffing with a goal of doing a better job ensuring schools were built to appropriate standards. A different division within state government is now responsible for overseeing school construction plans.

We are hoping the review of structural engineering on 15 additional school projects that got state grant money through BEST, which stands for Building Excellent Schools Today, will provide clarity on the construction oversight process. The issue re-emerged on the public policy stage earlier this month with a Post story by reporters Eric Gorski and David Olinger that detailed appalling design problems at a gradeschool in Meeker, a small town in northwest Colorado. The story said the school had been designed "with a building code standard used for storage sheds and was at risk of collapse in severe weather." Children had gone to classes there for an entire school year before the facility was closed. State officials acknowledge the errors should have been caught in an initial plan review.

The Neenan Co., a Fort Collins design-and-build firm, has taken responsibility for the issues and has promised to pay for repairs. We're glad to see that, and hope the issues at the school can be resolved without costly litigation and delay. However, a subsequent story by Gorski and Olinger said structural issues have emerged at another school that Neenan is building. The company also has agreed to pay for repairs to Monte Vista High School, in southern Colorado.
Last month, the state division responsible for reviewing school construction plans began using a consulting engineer to examine plans for complicated projects. That is a good move, to be sure, but it's unclear at this point whether that will be enough to ensure adequate reviews of school plans. As education dollars become ever more scarce, taxpayers can ill afford to pay good money for school buildings that aren't up to snuff.

MISSISSIPPI: Oxford school officials say the district has saved more than $23,000 in energy costs in the past year with participation in the TVA Green School Initiative program. Brian Harvey, interim superintendent for the Oxford School District, says that the program helps schools save money on energy costs, protects the environment and allows students to participate in the process. "And they can build a model so other schools in the TVA coverage area can replicate it," Harvey said.

The two-year pilot program began last year and involved five schools in the city district and three schools in the Lafayette County School District. The county energy savings were not available. Alisa Fye, who works with the TVA program, said each school saved differently and found different ways to save energy. Fye said the Oxford and Lafayette County schools were the only ones in the state to participate in the pilot program. She said they were selected because of their proximity to the University of Mississippi, which is a TVA Green Campus partner. After the success recorded by the Oxford and Lafayette County schools, Fye said the program is being expanded to 60 additional schools in the TVA region. Oxford's Bramlett Elementary School shaved nearly $10,000 from its utility bill by turning off lights in classrooms and offices that weren't being used and turning off computers at the end of the day. In the second year, Fye said the schools plan to do more of the same, in addition to adopting an energy policy for each individual school.
The TVA paid for the pilot project.

ILLINOIS: Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s education team made its first attempt at improving struggling schools last week, and the negative reviews came quickly. State legislators and community leaders called the proposed closing or restructuring of 21 schools “very troubling” and said administrators were violating the intent of a new state law.

Chicago Public Schools designated 10 schools for turnaround — a controversial process in which existing staff members are fired and changes are made in the school’s curriculum and learning climate. Four elementary schools will be closed, two high schools will be phased out, and six schools, one of which will also begin phasing out, will share buildings.
About 7,800 students will be affected by the proposed changes, and more than 600 teachers and other employees could lose their jobs. All the designated schools are on the city’s South and West Sides.

Legislation signed in August by Gov. Pat Quinn requires the district to follow a strict timeline for school closings and requires public comment at nearly every step of the process. The district is allowed to set the guidelines for determining which schools are subject to turnaround or closing. District officials are relying on academic achievement as the key factor in those decisions.
But academic performance at the designated schools varies widely. For example, the school district is proposing a turnaround at Pablo Casals Elementary School, where 62 percent of the students met or exceeded state standards in math and reading. At the same time, they also plan to turn around Fuller Elementary School, which had just 37 percent of students meeting or exceeding standards.

Members of the Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force, a state entity that monitors Chicago Public Schools’ compliance with the new law, said the proposed guidelines were too vague and the process was not transparent enough to satisfy the law’s requirements. Representative Cynthia Soto, Democrat of Chicago, one of the bill’s sponsors, said, “We need explanations, specific explanations” for the decisions to close or restructure the schools. Becky Carroll, the school district’s chief communications officer, said the district had “followed every single requirement” of the new law. Ms. Carroll said school officials had held more than 40 meetings with community groups and elected officials, in addition to two public meetings required by the law. She estimated that 60 more meetings would be held by February, when the Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the proposed actions.

But members of the task force said the public comments fell on deaf ears; no formal revisions were made to the draft criteria before district leaders finalized them at the end of November. In a written statement, Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, called the proposed changes “the same old, ineffective policies couched in new and exciting public relations boosting language.” Mary Filardo, executive director of the 21st Century School Fund, a nonprofit advocacy group, said the district’s guidelines “enable them to close whatever they want.” Ms. Filardo helped draft the law governing the school board’s decision-making process.

Under the guidelines, more than 140 schools were eligible to be closed, and district leaders said there could have been many more on the list. “We could not do the entire city in one year,” said Jean-Claude Brizard, the Chicago Public Schools chief executive.

Andrea Lee, a member of the educational facilities task force and an education organizer for the Grand Boulevard Federation, said the Bronzeville community on the South Side had been disproportionately affected by school closings and turnarounds. She said 24 schools had closed in the past several years, and this year six area schools are affected. Ms. Lee said the passage of the new law had initially made her cautiously optimistic, but she was “not that optimistic anymore.”

ILLINOIS: Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s education team made its first attempt at improving struggling schools last week, and the negative reviews came quickly. State legislators and community leaders called the proposed closing or restructuring of 21 schools “very troubling” and said administrators were violating the intent of a new state law.

Chicago Public Schools designated 10 schools for turnaround — a controversial process in which existing staff members are fired and changes are made in the school’s curriculum and learning climate. Four elementary schools will be closed, two high schools will be phased out, and six schools, one of which will also begin phasing out, will share buildings.
About 7,800 students will be affected by the proposed changes, and more than 600 teachers and other employees could lose their jobs. All the designated schools are on the city’s South and West Sides.

Legislation signed in August by Gov. Pat Quinn requires the district to follow a strict timeline for school closings and requires public comment at nearly every step of the process. The district is allowed to set the guidelines for determining which schools are subject to turnaround or closing. District officials are relying on academic achievement as the key factor in those decisions.
But academic performance at the designated schools varies widely. For example, the school district is proposing a turnaround at Pablo Casals Elementary School, where 62 percent of the students met or exceeded state standards in math and reading. At the same time, they also plan to turn around Fuller Elementary School, which had just 37 percent of students meeting or exceeding standards.

Members of the Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force, a state entity that monitors Chicago Public Schools’ compliance with the new law, said the proposed guidelines were too vague and the process was not transparent enough to satisfy the law’s requirements. Representative Cynthia Soto, Democrat of Chicago, one of the bill’s sponsors, said, “We need explanations, specific explanations” for the decisions to close or restructure the schools. Becky Carroll, the school district’s chief communications officer, said the district had “followed every single requirement” of the new law. Ms. Carroll said school officials had held more than 40 meetings with community groups and elected officials, in addition to two public meetings required by the law. She estimated that 60 more meetings would be held by February, when the Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the proposed actions.

But members of the task force said the public comments fell on deaf ears; no formal revisions were made to the draft criteria before district leaders finalized them at the end of November. In a written statement, Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, called the proposed changes “the same old, ineffective policies couched in new and exciting public relations boosting language.” Mary Filardo, executive director of the 21st Century School Fund, a nonprofit advocacy group, said the district’s guidelines “enable them to close whatever they want.” Ms. Filardo helped draft the law governing the school board’s decision-making process.

Under the guidelines, more than 140 schools were eligible to be closed, and district leaders said there could have been many more on the list. “We could not do the entire city in one year,” said Jean-Claude Brizard, the Chicago Public Schools chief executive.

Andrea Lee, a member of the educational facilities task force and an education organizer for the Grand Boulevard Federation, said the Bronzeville community on the South Side had been disproportionately affected by school closings and turnarounds. She said 24 schools had closed in the past several years, and this year six area schools are affected. Ms. Lee said the passage of the new law had initially made her cautiously optimistic, but she was “not that optimistic anymore.”

NATIONAL: The White House has announced that some college and university buildings will be part of a $4-billion program to improve energy efficiency over the next two years. The program—which is part of the Better Buildings Initiative, an effort to improve building efficiency by 20 percent—will get $2-billion from government agencies through a presidential memorandum, and colleges and universities, cities, private companies, and other entities will collectively contribute the other $2-billion.

Allegheny College, Delaware State University, the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Michigan State University, the University of California at Irvine, the University of Hawaii-Manoa, and the University of Utah will be part of the program.
Allegheny College, for example, will reduce energy consumption by 20 percent in 1.3-million square feet of space by 2020, and the Kentucky technical-college system will meet the same goal in sevem million square feet. Over the coming year, UC-Irvine has committed to cutting energy consumption by nearly 9 percent in seven million square feet of space.

A wide variety of other institutions and entities will be part of the program, including companies like GE and Supervalu, the Houston Independent School District, the cities of Denver and the District of Columbia, and the states of Minnesota and Iowa. Officials hope the program will be a major job generator in the construction sector.

NATIONAL: Architects working in the education sector may be the zaniest innovators around. It’s driven in part by what schools and universities are doing to attract students and educate them more effectively. And design firms are stepping up to the plate, incorporating novel layouts, materials and products into this next generation of teaching places.

TENNESSEE: A closed, decaying school can bring blight to a vibrant area or add more blight to an area that is tumbling into decline.
There's a reason why residents usually push hard to prevent the closing of a neighborhood school. That's especially true in solid residential areas, where the school is usually the neighborhood's anchor -- the place where generations of students found a safe educational haven. There also are long-term, sometimes negative, implications for neighborhoods when schools close.

Memphis City Schools has scheduled a series of public hearings to gather responses for "rightsizing," a term that could potentially lead to the closing of Lakeview, Georgia Avenue and Graceland elementary schools.
Budget issues probably make closing these schools inevitable. If the closings occur, the city and school district need to make sure that these facilities don't sit decaying, creating blight in well-preserved residential areas, or adding to the blight of decaying neighborhoods or neighborhoods trying to rebound. The same principles apply when deciding how the sites will be redeveloped or reused.

VIRGINIA: Perhaps the saddest aspect of the debate by Fairfax County school officials over the use of indoor surveillance cameras is that any notion of schools as safe havens for learning comes across as old-fashioned. There can be no denying, though, that times have changed; in a world where cameras are ubiquitous and every action is chronicled in social media, expectations of privacy are forever shrinking. Hence, the push by school officials for another tool to monitor student behavior is not only understandable but probably prudent.

The county’s Board of Education is set to vote this month on a measure that would lift a long-standing ban on the use of indoor surveillance cameras. The proposal would not require their installation but would allow high school principals, on a case-by-case basis and drawing on school and community input, to use video cameras to monitor common areas such as cafeterias and hallways, where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. Classrooms, bathrooms and locker rooms would be off-limits. Conversations would not be recorded.

The idea originated with high school principals following a rash of cafeteria food fights during the 2010-11 school year. They unanimously argue that the cameras would deter misbehavior and, when misbehavior does occur, would provide valuable information for disciplinary or administrative action. Teachers could spend less time monitoring lunchrooms and more teaching in classrooms. Fairfax reports that exterior cameras and those stationed on school buses have reduced vandalism and bus rowdiness. A number of Virginia districts, including Loudoun and Prince William, already use interior cameras, as do Montgomery and Prince George’s and the District.

Nonetheless, the proposal has caused a firestorm; it was an issue in the recent school board election, and there is some sentiment for the outgoing board to defer a decision. But the incumbents have spent countless hours over months studying and debating the issue; they should not kick the decision to a new board that will have plenty to keep it busy, including finding a new superintendent. The issues are clear, and there’s no good reason to deny principals the tools they say they need to enhance both learning and safety. Nostalgia for a simpler time may be a reason, but it’s not a good one.

CALIFORNIA: California's High Sierra Mountains are home to more than majestic peaks, world-class ski resorts, old west towns, and giant sequoias. This mountainous region features some of the finest high school education facilities in the nation, especially when it comes to Career Technical Education (CTE) programs. Designed by California-based Architecture Firm, LPA Inc., the CTE facilities at South Tahoe High School include the "Green" Construction and Transportation Academy-completed in 2010, the Tahoe Arts and Design Academy (TADA)-completed in 2011, and the Sports Medicine Academy-to be completed in 2013.

Paid for by grants and other financial aid, these programs are part of a five-phase construction program, which also includes a $12 million Overcrowding Relief Grant (ORG) funded classroom building-completed in 2010, and a new Campus Commons Student Union-to be completed in 2012.
As we enter the holiday season, students perform their first full production in the TADA building, "42nd Street." The $9.3 million facility has been called, by some, a "miracle at 6,300 feet," and by others, a "mini Pixar Studio." The 28,000-square-foot building features editing suites, sound proof recording studios, dozens of big-screen LCD televisions, a tiered orchestra room and a professional-grade theater. Inspiration for this career tech success story, was drawn from actual, Hollywood production studios. Leaders from the Lake Tahoe Unified School District joined faculty members and students from South Tahoe High School and the K-12 school designers at LPA, for a tour of several Hollywood production studios, including POP Sound in Santa Monica, Calif.

"The school district was really the seed," recounts school architect Steve Newsom. "They knew about career tech education and the programs to fund it so they developed their application and we assisted, from the design side, by creating facilities completely driven by the curriculum ... their thoughts, desires, and goals drove the solution."

The architecture of the South Tahoe High School CTE facilities has been well received. The one-year-old "Green" Construction and Transportation Academy has already been awarded by California's Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH)-which recognizes design solutions that creatively meet educational program needs, the American Institute of Architects, and the Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada.
According to Superintendent Jim Tarwater, in a recent Tahoe Daily Tribune story, the high school will be monitoring enrollment, graduation rates and average grade-point average to see if the new facilities have a noticeable impact. "We may not fully comprehend the success of these facilities until we hear from students-who were maybe considering dropping out-how these programs gave them a sense of direction, and passion for what they could do with their future," continues Newsom.

For districts interested in CTE funding for their school facilities, Newsom recommends starting to plan now so that submissions score highly. "With each of the last three rounds-for career tech monies-applications, and the level of detail and thoughtfulness in developing those, have increased dramatically," finishes Newsom. "It's a competitive program, and we're hoping to see state funds available in 2012."

NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina courts have once again struck down locally assessed impact fees designed to fund construction of schools and classrooms in areas facing rapid growth. Impact fees, known in North Carolina as “facilities fees” most often come to life as Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances (APFO) enacted by local boards and councils.
In November, the North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the 2010 Court of Appeals decision striking down Cary’s APFO, which had been assessed on developers of subdivisions in areas where schools were deemed overcrowded. The impact fees were to be used to facilitate expansion of school facilities. The Supreme Court decision resulted in a 3-3 tie, with one justice abstaining.

The Currituck proposal drew fire from local and state homebuilder’s associations. Across North Carolina, homebuilders and Realtor groups have strenuously opposed impact fees. Cash-strapped local governments, especially those in areas experiencing rapid growth of school-aged populations, see impact fees as a reasonable method to pay for schools. Developers would pass the fees along to home buyers by raising the price of homes or lots, and existing residents would be spared tax increases caused by the sudden influx of school-aged children. The North Carolina General Assembly prohibits municipal governments from imposing impact fees unless specific legislation is passed for the locality.
Over the past decade, Durham, Union County, and Cabarrus County have passed impact fee legislation, usually seeking to skirt the state-level prohibition through creative assessment techniques. All three of those fees were also refuted by the courts

TENNESSEE: Sitting behind Sale Creek Middle/High School are enough double-wide mobile trailers to start a small trailer park. The trailers, covered in a chipped beige paint, are connected by a maze of wood decking and leaky metal overhangs. Inside, it doesn't get much better. The trailer that houses classrooms is fraught with water, insect and vermin problems. Aside from the physical problems, the teachers say they and their students can feel disconnected from the main school. And they're definitely not alone -- all of Sale Creek's middle school students are housed in portable classrooms, save one class.
These portable classrooms have become the norm for dozens of Hamilton County teachers and hundreds of students. What started as a temporary Band-Aid more than 35 years ago to alleviate overcrowding has turned into a long-term solution. About 30 of the district's 79 schools currently have portables.

Such use of trailers as classrooms is common fare for schools across the United States. The Modular Building Institute, the trade group for modular construction, estimates there are 180,000 portable classrooms currently in use across the nation's school districts. More than half of those units are in the high-growth states of California, Florida and Texas.

Some education officials now say Hamilton County has grown too reliant on its aging stock of 110 portables, most of which are at least 30 years old. The district has only purchased about a dozen new portables in the last 35 years, said Assistant Superintendent for Auxiliary Services Gary Waters. "It's become convenient to have a portable classroom," said School Board Chairman Mike Evatt. "It is a very short-term fix that has become a long-term problem." Evatt said the district's outdated units need to be removed. "We just need to get rid of them," he said. "They're high-maintenance and too costly to relocate." It costs between $20,000 and $23,000 each time a portable is transported, Waters said, a price which includes utility connections and installation of awnings and sidewalks.
The alternatives, though -- renovations, additions or new construction -- are even more expensive, sometimes running into the millions of dollars. A double-wide portable trailer containing two classrooms costs about $65,000. Planned renovations and additions in Hamilton County Schools are projected to cost between $2.2 million and $10.5 million each. As for an entire new school, the 1,000-student Ooltewah Elementary -- Hamilton County's next planned school construction project -- is estimated to cost $23 million. Portables are "far cheaper," Waters said, "but you don't get the longevity."

And as Sale Creek has learned, portables can't always be the answer to growth. The school had a few portables before a wing of permanent classrooms was added in 2003. But by the next school year, portables were necessary again, officials said. Today, Sale Creek has 10 classrooms in five portables. But because of issues with underground septic systems, the school is now unable to add more portables, said Principal Robin Copp. Sale Creek is on phase I of the district's facility plan for a $10.5 million addition, though some officials are considering building a new school entirely.*

The physical distance between portable classrooms and other parts of a school's main building can sometimes be an inconvenience for teachers. Students and teachers usually must brave the elements to go to the bathroom, go to lunch or get a drink of water. And switching classes takes longer with portables, especially at Sale Creek, where students must venture into the main building to visit their lockers. When they do travel from their classroom to the main building, Mulder, a sixth-grade math and social studies teacher, said the covered walkway leaks during rain and gets icy in the winter. Inside the classrooms, rain seeps into the carpet near the entrance and leaves a musty smell. It's also significantly louder during storms.

VIRGINIA: The Brunswick County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance of Qualified Zone Academy Bonds for facility upgrades for Brunswick County Public Schools in the amount of $1,500,000. The local match would be approximately $100,000.
Michael Graff with McQuire Woods said schools pool their resources through the Virginia Public School Authority and the VPSA intends to issue a portion of the Qualified Zone Academy Bonds in the fall of 2011. He said with federal subsidies the interest rate would be close to zero percent.
According to Rick Rush, director of business for Brunswick County Public Schools, the recommended application for interest free QZAB funds would be for roof repairs/maintenance. He said the 15-year warranty for the roof at Totaro Elementary School will be expiring in 2013; the 15-year warranty for the roof at the Brunswick High Tech Center expires in 2011 and the 15-year warranty for the roof at the Brunswick High School expires in 2011. Rush said the QZAB bonds must be issued by Dec. 31, 2011.

The QZAB initiative is a federal program that allows lending institutions and schools to form a mutually beneficial partnership to support education. The QZAB allocation that is available to Brunswick County Public Schools is from Virginia's calendar year 2009 allocation, which was approved by recent federal legislation. QZAB funds can be used for rehabilitation or repairing eligible public school facilities; providing equipment for use at an academy; developing course materials for education to be provided at an academy; or training teachers and other school personnel in an academy. The QZAB program allows a bank or other lending institution to purchase a special no-interest bond on behalf of a school. The lending institution may then claim the interest they would have earned on that loan as a federal tax credit. The Office of the Secretary of Education is authorized to approve $26,025,000 of the bonds for calendar year 2009. State law as well as federal regulation mandate that all allocations be used at schools that are either located in a federal enterprise community or where 35 percent or more of the students are eligible for free lunch.

COLORADO: Structural issues have emerged at another school being constructed by the Neenan Co., a major builder of rural Colorado schools that already has admitted making mistakes that closed an $18.9 million school in Meeker. Neenan has agreed to pay for repairs at Monte Vista High School in southern Colorado "to stiffen it up in case of a catastrophic event like an earthquake," the district's superintendent, Dwayne Newman, told The Denver Post. He said Neenan plans to strengthen the connections between columns and a large metal beam in the gym, as well as perform additional work on the foundation.
The school district received a $27.6 million state grant to help pay for the new high school — which is scheduled to open in August — as well as an elementary-school renovation and addition.

Neenan already has agreed to a Colorado Department of Education request that it hire an outside firm to review the structural engineering on 15 school projects that won $150 million in grants through the Building Excellent Schools Today program, or BEST. Issues with the school in Monte Vista, however, came to light in mid-September during a separate outside review, said Andy Boian, a spokesman for Neenan. Newman said Neenan offered an outside review after problems surfaced at Meeker's school, which was closed last summer when school officials learned it was built to the wrong safety codes and at risk of collapse in extreme weather. Newman said the Monte Vista high school was built to the correct occupancy code.
Neenan did not agree with the proposed fix in Monte Vista but agreed to carry it out anyway, Boian said. He said that neither Neenan nor the outside reviewer — Computerized Structural Design — considered the situation a "life-safety issue." "This revolves around a difference of opinion, and we opted to go with the recommendation of the peer review engineer firm," Boian said.

Because of the problems in Meeker, the company had previously announced other reforms — including third-party peer reviews of its structural engineering designs and drawings on new projects. "I am disappointed in the errors we made in constructing Meeker Elementary School, and I want to assure everyone that we will take any and all steps necessary to make it right," Myers said in a statement.

VIRGINIA: Republicans and Democrats agreed in 1986 on a private capital approach to modernize America’s oldest buildings. Congress authorized a federal rehabilitation tax credit, worth up to 20 percent of construction costs, for rehabilitating historic buildings. This policy has proved successful, except in one crucial category — older school buildings.
Because of a limitation on using the tax credits for tax-exempt property, public schools cannot generally benefit from this. In addition, an Internal Revenue Service rule, known as “prior use,” generally prohibits private investors from earning this credit if they renovate an older school into a more modern public educational facility.
These restrictions are preventing major — and much needed — renovations at a time when the average K-12 facility is considered obsolete, built for a 20th-century curriculum when our children need a 21st-century education. It is time we improve those schools by fixing this policy. In Virginia, we’ve seen firsthand what this change can do.
With that in mind, we all support the Rehabilitation of Historic Schools Act, legislation that would eliminate this roadblock to school renovation and allow local governments to use the historic building rehabilitation tax credit. The legislation isn’t a silver bullet. But it is the only proposal before Congress to leverage private capital to help modernize our public schools.

VIRGINIA: Republicans and Democrats agreed in 1986 on a private capital approach to modernize America’s oldest buildings. Congress authorized a federal rehabilitation tax credit, worth up to 20 percent of construction costs, for rehabilitating historic buildings. This policy has proved successful, except in one crucial category — older school buildings.
Because of a limitation on using the tax credits for tax-exempt property, public schools cannot generally benefit from this. In addition, an Internal Revenue Service rule, known as “prior use,” generally prohibits private investors from earning this credit if they renovate an older school into a more modern public educational facility.
These restrictions are preventing major — and much needed — renovations at a time when the average K-12 facility is considered obsolete, built for a 20th-century curriculum when our children need a 21st-century education. It is time we improve those schools by fixing this policy. In Virginia, we’ve seen firsthand what this change can do.
With that in mind, we all support the Rehabilitation of Historic Schools Act, legislation that would eliminate this roadblock to school renovation and allow local governments to use the historic building rehabilitation tax credit. The legislation isn’t a silver bullet. But it is the only proposal before Congress to leverage private capital to help modernize our public schools.

RHODE ISLAND: High schools across Rhode Island are getting an opportunity to meet all of their energy needs thanks to a project headed by one of the state's top experts on solar and wind energy. Bob Chew, founder of Alteris Renewables and Solar Wrights, is a familiar face among the state's alternative energy policy and development sector. His latest company, R.W. Chew LLC, will offer many of the same consulting services for solar, wind and geothermal energy, wood-chip boilers and methane digesters, as well as overall energy-efficiency assessments. One of his first initiatives, dubbed the Net Zero Energy project, will create plans at each high school for developing an all-encompassing alternative energy system.

A $123,244 federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant run through Bryant University will allow each of 53 public high schools and technology centers in Rhode Island to be evaluated for the most beneficial green-energy supply. Each plan will show how individual high schools can achieve net-zero energy, meaning the school will generate energy equal to or greater than its consumption. Energy systems under consideration include photovoltaics, solar hot water and solar hot air systems, wind turbines, wood-chip boilers, methane digesters, geothermal heating and cooling systems, and micro-hydro systems.

Chew said he started the project to offer unbiased guidance for generating on-site electricity, heat and hot water. "Since most renewable energy companies are experts in just one of the renewable energy technologies and often only have one product to sell, schools might not be given all the information that they need to make an informed decision," he said.
The project also intends to speed up the slow pace of renewable energy system installations, he said, and this study will show the state the potential size of renewable energy in Rhode Island.
It's also an economic stimulant. In past economic downturns, Chew said, the housing industry has helped end recessions. "This time, the housing industry won’t be able to rescue the economy but the green economy will, if we look at creative ways to fund the projects."

The studies are well underway. Reports for each school will provide probable costs and predicted savings. School officials will be able to discuss the reports during a seminar at Bryant University in February. "The Net Zero Energy project can help our school buildings operate efficiently, and it will also provide an opportunity for students to learn about energy systems, renewable resources and environmental science," said Deborah Gist, commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education for Rhode Island.

COLORADO: Solar panels recently placed on 29 schools and at Shea Stadium in Douglas County will save the school district $200,000 annually, or $5.5 million over the next 25 years. The solar panels will provide about a third of the energy needed to keep elementary schools running, slightly less for the larger middle and high school facilities.

Bill Moffitt, executive director of operations for the Douglas County School District, said the district signed a power-purchase agreement with REgeneration Finance, a solar finance and development firm. It also partnered with Xcel Energy? to secure energy rebates for the solar-panel program. The firm sells Douglas County the power generated from the solar panels at a reduced rate over time, Moffitt said. REgeneration Finance paid for the panels and covers maintenance.

The solar panels also are being used as a learning experience for students. In the classroom, students study and analyze the data from the solar panels. "It's positive and really aligns with our legacy of innovation and efficiency," Moffitt said. "This is one tool that we use to save energy." The solar panels fit right in with the effort the district has made to go green and teach that philosophy along the way.
About 1,230 students at 58 schools in Douglas County conduct energy audits. Among their tasks: making sure things that are not being used are unplugged. The district says the audit program saved it more than $11 million between 2006 and 2010.

CALIFORNIA: As soon as the school day ended, the rush at the health clinic began. Two high school seniors asked for sports physicals. A group of teenagers lined up for free condoms. A girl told a counselor she needed a pregnancy test. The clinic, at Belmont High School near downtown Los Angeles, is part of a rapidly expanding network of school-based centers around the nation offering free or low-cost medical care to students and their families.

In California, there are 183 school health centers, up from 121 in 2004. Twelve more are expected to open by next summer, according to the California School Health Centers Assn. The centers have become a small but important part of the nation's healthcare safety net, experts say, treating low-income patients who might otherwise not have regular medical care. Now, they add, campus clinics are serving as a model for health officials trying to reduce costs.
Academic research has shown that school-based health clinics, which typically promote prevention and provide comprehensive services, reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations. They also improve students' school attendance, reduce Medicaid costs and promote more healthful eating, according to studies.
Recently, school-based health centers got a fiscal boost from the healthcare reform law, which allocated $200 million nationwide. California won $14 million in grants this summer to open new clinics and expand existing ones. Los Angeles County received about $4.3 million of that.

Most centers are based in low-income neighborhoods and staffed by doctors and nurse practitioners. They offer a range of healthcare services, including checkups, physicals, immunizations, mental health treatment, dental care and drug counseling. The clinics also monitor students' chronic diseases, such as asthma, and treat their illnesses so they don't miss school. "There are so many reasons why students are not really ready to learn," said Serena Clayton, executive director of the California School Health Centers Assn. "Teachers, principals and staff members are recognizing they are not going to be successful with kids if they don't address these underlying health issues." Clinics on school grounds are uniquely placed to find and treat those health issues. There may be a shortage of food in the house that causes stress and physical problems, or drug use that leads to frequent absences.
"You just cannot ignore the reality of the patients' lives," said Julia Lear, senior advisor for the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools at George Washington University. "You step out into the hallways and there it is."

OHIO: Columbus City Schools are going green in a big way, pursuing six major geothermal construction projects that promise to reduce the cost of heating and cooling schools. The district effort will add to about 25 school geothermal projects across the state that use wells dug deep into the ground to keep circulating water at a constant 55?degrees, according to the Ohio School Facilities Commission. In the summer, the system will cool the buildings. In the winter, it can help warm them. Supplemental heating systems make up the difference to bring buildings to a comfortable temperature.

The geothermal wells are part of the Columbus schools’ strategy to reduce energy costs, said Carole Olshavsky, the district’s head of facilities. “We’re able to design building systems that are over 30 percent more efficient than standard buildings,” Olshavsky said.

Six buildings will get geothermal units installed as part of their rebuilding projects: Olde Orchard Alternative, Georgian Heights Alternative, Liberty and Cedarwood Alternative elementaries; the new Alum Crest High/Clearview Middle school building; and the Starling/Dana pre-K-8 renovation. All the projects are either under construction or being designed, she said. Although geothermal is more expensive to build, the district was able to keep the overall project costs roughly the same, she said.

Contractors will drill as many as 120 wells up to 400 feet deep at each site, Olshavsky said. Water will circulate through pipes in the wells, soaking up heat from the earth in the winter and transmitting it into the buildings. In the summer, it does the reverse. The water will run to electric-powered heat pumps scattered throughout the buildings — roughly one for every two classrooms.

Geothermal is one of the options that districts can choose when building or renovating a school co-funded by the Ohio School Facilities Commission. “All we’re doing in these projects is pumping water down and allowing the earth to work as a heat sink,” said Franklin Brown, director of planning with the facilities commission. Using geothermal raises the installation cost of the heating and ventilating system from about $24 per square foot to as high as $30 per square foot, but the investment gets paid back through lower energy costs, Brown said.

ALABAMA: Technology is a key classroom component in every school, with teachers relying on computers to store lesson plans, tabulate grades, record attendance and any number of other tasks. But the April storms took down cell towers and ripped up network connections in addition to destroying buildings and wrecking lives. Some school systems went days without power. Others struggled to assemble makeshift classrooms so learning could continue. Several systems had to cope with significant damage to technology, while many used it to keep parents and students informed and help communities in critical situations.

WYOMING: School administrators around the state are watching the Natrona County School District and its case against the state School Facilities Commission. The state does not pay for "enhancements," or building features that do not support curriculum, such as bleachers or stadium lights.
Natrona County officials and school board trustees say the state should pay for enhancements with ties to curriculum, such as swimming pools, citing a 2008 court case between Campbell County School District 1 and the State of Wyoming. District officials requested regular major maintenance funds to repair the swimming pool at Kelly Walsh and the artificial turf at Natrona County high schools during the summer, but the commission rejected the request.

Trustees voted in May to enter into a "reservation of rights and tolling" agreement with the commission. The agreement allowed the district to repair the enhancements without penalty while pursuing an "informal review" of its request to use major maintenance funding for the projects.
The commission will hear the district's case during an informal review. The decision could add millions of dollars in facilities to those the state is currently responsible to build and maintain.

ARIZONA: The Cave Creek Unified School District will appeal a Superior Court ruling that deemed unconstitutional a portion of a law that would have allowed Arizona school districts to spend unused bond money on other construction projects.

NORTH CAROLINA: Mike Austin became the energy coordinator for the Rowan-Salisbury School System before going green was in style. When he started the job a decade ago there were no computer programs to help him analyze the district's monthly energy consumption. He did all that by hand, drafting his own spreadsheets to keep up with the changes. I started out tracking every utility bill and every meter,” he said. Austin said the first step he took to conserve energy was finding and then eliminating all of the district’s inactive meters that were still drawing electricity. Next, he started looking for trends. If Austin noticed a spike one month, he’d go out to the building to investigate the culprit, checking for everything from cracked windows to mechanical issues. “We concentrated on a common sense approach,” he said. “Let’s control waste and operate the best we can.”

Austin said things got a little easier when the district teamed up with EduCon, a Winston-Salem-based energy conservation consulting company, about seven years ago. The company has software that helps Austin analyze trends, identify potential problems and calculate energy and dollar savings. It also allows him to set controls in each building to make sure the heating and air conditioning units switch to an unoccupied mode when school is out. In the winter, the thermostat at each school is set to 70 degrees while the building is occupied. When it warms up, the air conditioning is set for 74 degrees. Austin said those temperatures might not be ideal for everyone, but they are a good middle ground to keep heating and cooling expenses down. “We don’t want people to be uncomfortable; that’s not part of our energy program,” he said.

The school system has saved more than $5 million in the past seven years by working with EduCon. And 33 of the district’s 39 buildings have received Energy Star designation, scoring a 75 or higher on Environmental Protection Agency’s 1-100 energy performance scale. That score indicates the facility performs better than at least 75 percent of similar buildings nationwide. Austin said those savings came about in a variety of ways, including replacing older light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs and being vigilant about heating and cooling practices.
Education has also been key. Austin said since he’s not in every building, every day, it’s important that school personnel know what to do. That includes turning off lights at the end of the day, shutting down computers and scheduling after school activities in one portion of the building so that only one zone has to be heated or cooled instead of the entire building. “We had to get full cooperation in order for this to work,” Austin said. “Whether it’s saving money or the Earth, we have to find out what motivates them to change their habits.”
After educating people, Austin checks in to ensure that people are following through. He visits each school building at least twice a year. During the after hours visit, he conducts an audit to ensure that lights and computers are off and all systems are in proper working order. He leaves the audit with the principal to go over with the staff. Austin said although the district has already saved a hefty amount, he knows they haven’t reached a plateau just yet.

Last year, every middle and high school gym had their lighting systems upgraded to compact florescent. Austin said the district only had to use half the wattage because the bulbs are so bright. During the installation process, motion sensors were also put in so the lights would go off when the gym is empty. The money for that project came from a $200,000 grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Austin said each soda machine has also had the lights removed, a measure called delamping. That saves about $50 per machine, each year. As old air conditioning and boiler systems start to die out, Austin said he works to find the replacement that is the most green. “We can’t afford to take out what we’ve got and replace it with all new stuff, but we can make sure we are getting the most energy efficient replacement,” he said.

Watching the market is another way Austin helps the school system save. With the cost of heating oil going up, he said it’s now cheaper to run things using natural gas. The district saved an estimated $237,000 last year, but that’s not enough for Austin. “I’m always looking for ways to save more,” he said.

CALIFORNIA: The San Diego Unified school district has reaped less and less from a $2.1 billion school construction bond as the financial crisis hurt San Diego housing values. Now that crisis threatens to completely stall school construction. When San Diego Unified drew up its plans for renovating and building schools with bond money three years ago, it assumed housing values would grow 5 percent every year. Under the bond, voters allowed San Diego Unified to collect a property tax of $66.70 for every $100,000 a house is worth. Higher housing values bring in money faster.

But after the housing market crashed, the school district realized its assumption was too optimistic. San Diego Unified redrew its plans and delayed projects because the money was coming in slower than expected. That same money goes toward paying off the debt from another, earlier bond that built schools.
But the housing market hasn't picked up. The shortfall in bond money has continued, getting so bad that school district administrators and a watchdog committee are urging San Diego Unified to halt construction. The district has already stopped awarding new work.

Lee Dulgeroff, who oversees the bond, says financial experts estimate that San Diego Unified will only reap enough money to pay off the debt from the last bond, leaving it no money to take on new projects. The Union-Tribune reports the suspension will halt four major classroom construction projects until the district figures out how to finance them. The district is trying to refinance debt from the earlier bond to free up more money, but the U-T points out that could be harder now that San Diego Unified has gotten its credit rating downgraded by two different agencies. Delaying the projects also means San Diego Unified will likely have to pay more for them, since prices go up with time. The ultimate fear is that the school district won't be able to build everything it promised.

The timing is bad for San Diego Unified. The district is now exploring a new bond measure to help with its budget woes. Though bond money can only be spent on school construction and renovation, San Diego Unified hopes it could free up money for classrooms by using the money for billions of dollars in overdue repairs that are now paid for from its day-to-day budget.

CALIFORNIA: Besides offsetting energy costs at schools, solar panels are providing hands-on learning for students. At informational kiosks on the Las Positas Community College campus in Livermore, students can find out how solar power works and track how much energy it generates, said Jeffrey Kingston, vice chancellor of facilities. The kiosks were part of the solar project built by Chevron Energy Solutions. "Several high school engineering courses have come on field trips to the site," Kingston said.

Pacific Gas &Electric has developed a Solar Schools program that includes lesson plans developed in partnership with the National Energy Education Development project. Since 2004, the company has distributed educational materials to 3,000 teachers in 125 schools serving about 200,000 students, according to its website. SunPower also plans to create lessons with Project Lead the Way engineering academies in California high schools, said Bill Kelly, the company's managing director. "Students are really anxious to learn about the technology and career options that are available in clean technology," he said. and finance -- explained how a project is developed from beginning to end, Kelly said. The program included a field trip to SunPower and $1,000 scholarships for each participant, district spokesman Terry Koehne said. In addition, the SunPower Foundation and other organizations have created a "100 People Under the Sun" lesson plan for elementary students.

Teens in science classrooms in San Jose's East Side Union High School District use solar energy kits provided by Chevron to learn how the photovoltaic panels on their campus carports work. "It's particularly useful in physics classes," said Frank Biehl, school board vice president. "You've got photons coming from the sun. They're measuring them. It makes it real, rather than just theoretical. It's actually something you can see -- the effect of the laws of the universe."
This past summer, the company piloted a Solar Academy internship for 16 high school students in the San Ramon Valley district, which celebrated the completion of its 3.3 megawatt project on five campuses in October. During the two-week program, professionals from various departments in SunPower -- including engineering and finance -- explained how a project is developed from beginning to end, Kelly said. The program included a field trip to SunPower and $1,000 scholarships for each participant, district spokesman Terry Koehne said. In addition, the SunPower Foundation and other organizations have created a "100 People Under the Sun" lesson plan for elementary students.

Teens in science classrooms in San Jose's East Side Union High School District use solar energy kits provided by Chevron to learn how the photovoltaic panels on their campus carports work. "It's particularly useful in physics classes," said Frank Biehl, school board vice president. "You've got photons coming from the sun. They're measuring them. It makes it real, rather than just theoretical. It's actually something you can see -- the effect of the laws of the universe."

CALIFORNIA: Besides offsetting energy costs at schools, solar panels are providing hands-on learning for students. At informational kiosks on the Las Positas Community College campus in Livermore, students can find out how solar power works and track how much energy it generates, said Jeffrey Kingston, vice chancellor of facilities. The kiosks were part of the solar project built by Chevron Energy Solutions. "Several high school engineering courses have come on field trips to the site," Kingston said.

Pacific Gas &Electric has developed a Solar Schools program that includes lesson plans developed in partnership with the National Energy Education Development project. Since 2004, the company has distributed educational materials to 3,000 teachers in 125 schools serving about 200,000 students, according to its website. SunPower also plans to create lessons with Project Lead the Way engineering academies in California high schools, said Bill Kelly, the company's managing director. "Students are really anxious to learn about the technology and career options that are available in clean technology," he said. and finance -- explained how a project is developed from beginning to end, Kelly said. The program included a field trip to SunPower and $1,000 scholarships for each participant, district spokesman Terry Koehne said. In addition, the SunPower Foundation and other organizations have created a "100 People Under the Sun" lesson plan for elementary students.

Teens in science classrooms in San Jose's East Side Union High School District use solar energy kits provided by Chevron to learn how the photovoltaic panels on their campus carports work. "It's particularly useful in physics classes," said Frank Biehl, school board vice president. "You've got photons coming from the sun. They're measuring them. It makes it real, rather than just theoretical. It's actually something you can see -- the effect of the laws of the universe."
This past summer, the company piloted a Solar Academy internship for 16 high school students in the San Ramon Valley district, which celebrated the completion of its 3.3 megawatt project on five campuses in October. During the two-week program, professionals from various departments in SunPower -- including engineering and finance -- explained how a project is developed from beginning to end, Kelly said. The program included a field trip to SunPower and $1,000 scholarships for each participant, district spokesman Terry Koehne said. In addition, the SunPower Foundation and other organizations have created a "100 People Under the Sun" lesson plan for elementary students.

Teens in science classrooms in San Jose's East Side Union High School District use solar energy kits provided by Chevron to learn how the photovoltaic panels on their campus carports work. "It's particularly useful in physics classes," said Frank Biehl, school board vice president. "You've got photons coming from the sun. They're measuring them. It makes it real, rather than just theoretical. It's actually something you can see -- the effect of the laws of the universe."

NATIONAL: Classroom furniture is coldly utilitarian at best – it gets the job done, but you wouldn’t consider decorating your home with it. But how realistically can it be improved? This was the challenge posed to last year’s eighth grade class at The School at Columbia University, an independent school in New York City. Rinat Aruh, co-founder of design firm aruliden, joined forces with Don Buckley, The School’s director of innovation, to incorporate a full redesign of desks, chairs and lockers across the eighth grade curriculum. Though the stated end goal was to create classroom furniture that better fits the needs of today’s students, the “big idea” was to teach the process of design thinking.
“To really feel design you need to integrate it as a process, because it’s not so much about the end product,” said Aruh. “We really want to engage the students throughout the thinking and the problem solving and the ideation process. Basically the process that we go through every day.”
So, The School’s eighth grade class went through the design process – beginning with research, identifying problems, finding solutions, creating models, and ending with real prototypes produced by furniture design company Bernhardt Design. The kids unveiled these prototypes at the 2011 International Contemporary Furniture Fair.

NEW YORK: Local parents are fighting to clean up their kids’ schools as they grapple with the statistic that 800 public school buildings across New York City, including five in Morningside Heights and West Harlem, have lighting fixtures with traces of toxic chemicals. City agencies have developed a plan that would remove all lighting with caulking that tests positive for toxic PCBs. But their 10-year timeline isn’t sitting well with parents.
“In a K-8 school under this plan, my second-grader could risk exposure for nine years,” Julie Golden, co-president of the PTA at P.S. 334 on 77th Street, said at a Community Board 7 meeting last week. “That’s simply unacceptable.”

The Environmental Protection Agency has reported that prolonged exposure to PCBs—elements used in construction until outlawed in 1978—is known to cause acne, rashes, liver damage, and possibly cancer. To determine the risks of the PCB levels, the New York City School Construction Authority established a pilot program to test schools around the city. But because the program was the first of its kind, Holden said that it has been difficult to get started. “This type of program has never been done before,” Ross Holden, SCA executive vice president, said. “We have a certain amount of funding and the schedule has been established for that.”

John Gorman, a representative from the EPA, said that SCA workers are moving as fast as the budget allows them. The pilot program currently determines the order in which schools should have PCBs removed based on their initial test results—a tedious but necessary process, he said. “EPA advocated a two-year plan first, but that’s not what the city is advocating,” he said. “Our biggest concern is with young children and pregnant women, which is why we are dealing with schools first.” And Gorman noted that it is difficult to remove all traces of PCBs in schools in a short time. “PCB caulk is everywhere all over the country and it’s not something that can be taken care of overnight,” Gorman said. “We wanted a faster schedule and the city is doing what they can to speed up their schedule.”

Pam Factor-Litvak, an associate professor of clinical epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health who has researched how PCBs affect pregnancies, said that the current risk level is still significant. “I think they should probably move faster than 10 years,” she said. “The city should be acting prudently to remove the exposure.” It is reasonable for parents to have concerns about their children, considering the uncertainty of the effects, Factor-Litvak said—but the environmental contaminants don’t directly show how severely the chemicals are affecting children. “The levels of exposure are not extraordinarily high, so I think that the level of concern should match the level of exposure,” she said. “They’re high, but not extraordinarily high.”

COLORADO: The new grade school sits empty up Sulphur Creek Road. The doors are locked. A sign taped to the window tells delivery drivers to take their packages elsewhere.
Children attended classes in the $18.9 million building for an entire school year before it was deemed unsafe to occupy — the result of mistakes by the company that designed and built it, a state agency that missed a glaring error and local school officials who kept the building open despite repeated warnings, The Denver Post has found.

The first sign that something was wrong came in October 2010, when dirt piled outside the gym caused a wall to lean a few inches. When Meeker School District RE-1 finally brought in an outside firm to review the structural integrity of the school nine months later, much deeper problems became apparent: The school had been designed with a building-code standard used for storage sheds and was at risk of collapse in severe weather.

The Neenan Co., the Fort Collins design-and-build firm the district hired, has acknowledged making mistakes and pledged to pay for repairs. School district officials, meanwhile, say they are committed to safety and careful oversight.
But already, reverberations are being felt well beyond this no-stoplight town of 2,500. Two state agencies are reviewing other Neenan school projects, including work in eight districts financed with $150 million in state money. Over little more than a decade, Neenan has built or upgraded nearly 100 schools in Colorado, most in rural districts. And the failures in Meeker invite questions about the state's ability to spot whether other schools were designed to safety standards.

MARYLAND: This week, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake finally made a serious attempt to address one of the city's biggest problems: the $2.8 billion backlog in school construction, repairs and renovation that both hinders academic achievement among students and creates a disincentive for their parents to remain in the city. By proposing to fund her plan in part through an expansion of the city's controversial bottle tax — the very levy she nearly failed to enact in a budget balancing effort two years ago — it is clear that she is willing to expend some political capital to advance the cause. She deserves tremendous credit for taking an issue that advocates in the community, most notably the ACLU, have been pushing for years and bringing it to the center of attention.

However, after deferring questions on the topic for months while waiting for an oft-delayed task force report that has not yet been made, Ms. Rawlings-Blake is suddenly in a hurry to address the issue. She is demanding that the City Council pass her proposal immediately and has even pressured members to enact the bottle tax increase by amending it onto an existing bill rather than creating new legislation and holding hearings on the matter. The council should be in no such rush.

We endorsed the bottle tax before and still believe it was the right thing to do. Nonetheless, the beverage industry deserves a chance to make its case based on a year's worth of of data about the impact of the tax. But more importantly, the council needs to consider whether this plan is the best, most effective way to tackle the capital needs of Baltimore schools. There are a number of important questions to be answered.

LOUISIANA: The Orleans Parish School Board settled with the state-run Recovery School District this week over insurance proceeds stemming from Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, agreeing to split $24 million that will help finance projects outlined in the city's master plan for school construction and renovation. Overall, attorneys for the board have managed to collect about $60 million for storm damage from Lexington Insurance Co. and the federal government's National Flood Insurance Program.

The board is not done going after insurance proceeds, however. Lexington is one of four insurance companies on a policy that covered the city's school facilities for up to $200 million. The School Board is scheduled to be back in court next year, arguing the district is entitled to another $150 million of that total. Whatever the board manages to wrestle from the insurance companies, it has agreed with the Recovery District to put any further proceeds directly into the master plan, a step aimed at avoiding future conflict between the two districts.

After a months-long community input process during the summer, the School Board and the Recovery District came up with a set of revisions to the construction plan, looking for new sources of revenue and ways to stretch the money already committed. The plan as it stands now assumes the school system will get another $60 million worth of insurance proceeds. Stan Smith, the School Board's chief financial officer, said that number was their best estimate, but the district will still have to win it in court. The bulk of the plan, which calls for rebuilding or renovating more than 80 school buildings across the city, is being paid for by a $1.8 billion settlement from FEMA.

HAWAII: Hawaii's new Ewa Makai Middle School, which opened in January, has already exceeded lofty environmental sustainability expectations and could save the Department of Education as much as $22,000 per year in utility costs.
The department announced on Friday that Ewa Makai received Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for its energy-efficient construction and environmentally friendly design — a step higher than the Silver certification expected.

The middle school is equipped with an air conditioning system that works with day lighting to conserve energy. Contractors were also required to use green materials, include special control for storm water runoff, and test for material emissions before students moved into the building. Its energy efficiency has the potential to save the department up to $22,000 per year in utilities. That's a boon to a department that earlier this year predicted it would cost $1.5 billion to air condition all of Hawaii's public school campuses. The 175,900-square-foot campus in Ewa Beach cost $64.8 million to build and is one of the first single-structure schools in Hawaii. But more like it are in the planning stage in anticipation of rapid population growth on the west side of Oahu.

TEXAS: For a lesson in energy efficiency and sustainability, teacher Julie Clark needs only to walk her fourth grade students through the halls of Ridgeview Elementary School in the Keller. This semester, Ridgeview, part of the Keller Independent School District, joined numerous new and renovated schools around the North Texas area that were designed to be more energy-efficient and sustainable.
Every few days, Clark said that she and her students monitor a garden plot outside their classroom where they’ve planted corn, squash and pumpkins. They talk about how the weather and drainage are affecting growth.Clark points out the new building’s solar panels for a lesson plan on renewable energy.
When a certain amount of sunlight shines into Clark’s classroom, she said the overhead lights closest to the windows automatically turn off. Windows and skylights limit the amount of artificial light needed in the hallways. “I’ve taught in schools built in the 50s and I’ve taught in schools built this year. For the kids having that natural light and just the openness and just the lightness of it, I really see a difference in the kids because I think they feel a little bit more free to do kind of out of the box things,” said Clark. “And it kind of has acalming effect on them and just contributes to a very positive, happy atmosphere in the school.”

In addition to the sustainability measures described by Clark, construction at Ridgeview maintained natural site grades and cafeteria recycling stations provide compost for the student gardens, said Kristen Allbritton, marketing coordinator for VLK Architects, which worked on the school.
Ridgeview has registered with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which was developed by the nonprofit organization U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED Rating System “provides building owners and operators with a framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions,” according to the USGBC website.
Karen Benson, chair of the green schools committee for the USGBC - North Texas, said she has seen a trend of more North Texas school districts building green schools. “The perception is, ‘Oh, I can’t do green. It’s too expensive. That’s for those rich school districts,’ kind of thing. But actually, building green saves a lot of money. It also reduces absenteeism and raises test scores and all sorts of great benefits. So if they find out all the advantages, then they definitely want to build green,” said Benson. Benson said that two big reasons she believes it’s important to invest in green schools are improved indoor air quality and reduction in utility costs.

This year the Irving Independent School District opened the “largest net-zero middle school in the nation,” meaning the school produces enough energy to offset its consumption, according to the district’s website. Lady Bird Johnson Middle School uses solar panels, wind turbines, a rain water harvesting irrigation system and geothermal technology for heating and air conditioning, according to a news release from IISD.

Some school districts are also addressing sustainability demands by turning to the Collaborative for High Performing Schools, a nonprofit founded in California that now has a presence in a dozen states. High performance schools, as determined by CHPS, are designed, constructed and operated to be energy and resource efficient, according to CHPS.net.
“What we do is to bring basically tools and resources that can be used by schools to build better, healthier learning environments, save natural resources and reduce the operating expenses and also reduce basically the environmental impact of schools,” said CHPS executive director Bill Orr.
As part of its 2007 Capital Improvement Program, the Fort Worth Independent School District is building five schools that adhere to Texas CHPS criteria. The Dallas Independent School District also completed four high performance-designed schools for the start of the 2011-2012 school year as part of its 2008 Dallas ISD Bond Program. “I believe that school districts are building high performance schools because it is all about the kids -- making a learning environment that is healthy and helps them learn which ensures success,” said Orr.

United Kingdom: In a week where the national focus has been on anti-bullying, Manchester teachers and students have spoken out about how the physical design of their schools has helped them to feel safe and protected. Manchester's £509m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme covers the rebuilding or refurbishment of 33 of the city's schools. In each case, buildings have been designed in ways to prevent bullying.

The more open plan designs allow for greater visibility along with key features such as: Wider corridors with better lighting and clear sightlines; Glass balustrades in stairwells to increase visibility; Open plan toilet layouts (with cubicles for privacy); Vision panels in all doors (except toilets) to allow rooms to be easily supervised; Use of transparent, perspex shelters and cycle sheds, again to increase visibility; Staff offices built in key locations, instead of one centralised staffroom, so supervision can be maintained in different locations.

In addition to the physical design benefits, many of the schools have CCTV systems. Cedar Mount High School in Gorton Education Village is one of the schools that has benefited from a £25m rebuild through the BSF programme. Tracey Bishop, Assistant Head at Cedar Mount High School and also Campus Director of Gorton Education Village, said: "The Council has given us a wonderful new learning environment based on wide, open spaces which puts child safety first. There's lots of light and excellent visibility around the school. We always maintain that if children feel safe and happy then that promotes good learning. "In addition we have CCTV, which can be used retrospectively in appropriate instances. The pupils know that if there has been an issue that needs checking we can look back over the footage. This is about making the pupils feel safer - and it's definitely not about making them feel watched."

CALIFORNIA: American Canyon High School hosted a dedication ceremony for its new solar power system — a system that should save the school district millions in energy costs. The 1-megawatt solar power system features 4,000 solar panels mounted on the school’s roof and on the ground in the campus’ northeast corner. The panels will produce more than 1.1 million kilowatt-hours each year — equivalent to providing power to more than 105 average American homes annually. The system cost about $5 million, said Don Evans, head of school planning and construction. Sixty-five percent of the cost was paid by the school construction budget — the remaining 35 percent was paid for with PG&E rebates, Evans said.

By switching to solar power, Napa Valley Unified could save up to $17 million over the next 25 years, said Jennifer Montelone, vice president of marketing at SPG Solar. Some of that savings will depend on how conscientous students are about energy use, Evans said. The school district will receive solar renewable energy credits for any unused electricity generated by the solar panels. This could create significant cost savings — especially during the summer months. The system will also keep more than 780,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the air each year, said Joshua Townsend, government relations manager at PG&E.

NEW YORK: On November 21, the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies will officially open its newly renovated 117,000-square-foot campus home at 7 East 12th Street.

Designed by Mitchell | Giurgola Architects, the building's open design features a dramatic dichroic glass facade that allows those walking past the structure to witness the teaching and learning occurring within, and provides students with the sense that they are a part of a larger learning environment - New York City. The atrium-style lobby incorporates a grand elliptical staircase that ascends from the concourse level, through the lobby, to the second floor. State-of-the-art classrooms, wireless-access student lounges, private study rooms, computer labs, and conference space combine form and function.

NEW YORK: On November 21, the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies will officially open its newly renovated 117,000-square-foot campus home at 7 East 12th Street.

Designed by Mitchell | Giurgola Architects, the building's open design features a dramatic dichroic glass facade that allows those walking past the structure to witness the teaching and learning occurring within, and provides students with the sense that they are a part of a larger learning environment - New York City. The atrium-style lobby incorporates a grand elliptical staircase that ascends from the concourse level, through the lobby, to the second floor. State-of-the-art classrooms, wireless-access student lounges, private study rooms, computer labs, and conference space combine form and function.

CALIFORNIA: At Wharton, creating and maintaining a 21st century learning environment is one of our top priorities. When it was decided to move the Wharton| San Francisco campus to a larger space, it was an opportunity to install cutting-edge technologies to impact the executive MBA students and executive education participants in San Francisco.
The biggest change is that the new facility in San Francisco will feature all digital high-definition classrooms designed to support Wharton’s commitment to connected and lifelong learning. Whether it’s a class, a speaker series, or a networking event, the classrooms will be production ready for streaming or broadcasting in HD to students, alumni and the world.
One benefit of the HD is that students will have a more immersive experience – inside the classroom and beyond. Classroom materials, videoconferencing or homework assignments, will all benefit. HD provides a significantly improved quality and sense of connectivity, which is important for a school such as Wharton where it’s not uncommon for high-level guest speakers to give talks from around the globe.

Another innovation is the design of the group study rooms. As team projects are an important part of our curriculum, a design focus has been on designing the spaces so that they foster teamwork and collaboration. Our group study rooms will enable teams to work with each other down the hall, in Philadelphia, or around the world using videoconferencing and innovative controls to create shared digital workspaces.

Whether they are in the classroom, a group study room, or back at home, the executive MBA students will be able to make use of their Wharton provided iPads. Continuing our iPad pilot program that began in May 2010, an Executive MBA Technology Advisory Group continues to study how students consume content, create content, and collaborate which in turn determines how the School can continue to enhance their educational experiences with these devices.
Faculty and guest speakers will find touchscreen technology in all of the classroom podiums, allowing them more interaction with their materials. Not only can they project content, they also can interact with it and capture it via annotation. Knowing how rapidly technology changes, a collaboration with Shen Milsom & Wilke and Crestron to future-proof the new rooms will allow for seamless adoption of new technologies when they become available.

Since construction began in June on Wharton | San Francisco’s new home — the top floor of the Hills Plaza building on the Embarcadero — we’ll soon start testing and refining the new technologies. We are fortunate to have two campuses, as many of the innovations in our San Francisco facility will be brought back to Wharton’s Philadelphia campus. Our goal is to ensure that future business leaders have the most innovative, cutting-edge, and connected facilities possible whether they are in San Francisco or Philadelphia. As one of the top business schools in the world, we continue to create and refine a dynamic, futureproof 21st century learning environment.

TEXAS: A new elementary school in Humble, Texas, has the distinction of being the first school in the state of Texas to achieve "CHPS Verified" status with Collaborative for High Performance Schools’ green school rating program. Atascocita Springs Elementary School, in Humble Independent School District was recognized as the first CHPS Verified School in Texas at a ceremony on the campus last month.
“The state of Texas, along with this community, can be very proud of this new facility,” said Roy Sprague, a member of the CHPS Board of Directors, and Assistant Superintendent of Facilities & Construction at Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Texas. “This facility sets a high bar for the rest of the state for what a high performance, healthy, green sustainable school can be that will serve this community for many years.”

The school will save an estimated 20% in operating costs annually because of efficient air conditioning, lighting and water systems. The project, designed by PBK, involves the use of natural daylight, photovoltaics to generate energy onsite, and a rainwater collection cistern. It was completed on a $149/square foot budget. "Atascocita Springs Elementary School is proud to be Texas' first CHPS Verified School," said Kathy Shealy, principal of Atascocita Springs. “This recognition means that we have built our students a healthy, productive, environmentally responsible learning environment that staff and kids will benefit from for years to come."

The goals of the new school campus were to create a toxics-free learning environment, use resources sustainably and cost-effectively, and engage students at every opportunity. “One essential element of the Texas CHPS Criteria is to design the school as learning tool,” said Bill Orr, Executive Director of CHPS, who traveled to Texas for the ceremony. “What was really striking to me that Atascocita Springs is a learning tool, not just school as learning tool. Not only does the school showcase its high performance features, but it integrates grade level appropriate learning areas including ecosystems, mathematics, and physics.” “It is pulling in and synchronizing curriculum to make sure it is not a place just to go to school but a place to be engaged,” said Martha Buckner, assistant superintendent of Support Services at Humble ISD, said in a recent news article.

NATIONAL: After weeks of deliberation, we announced the 10 finalists for our green school makeover competition, including public, private, and charter schools from a pool of more than 200 entries from across the country. Finalists were chosen based on the clarity and description of the school’s green challenges and need for a makeover. Each of the applications included proposals for green improvements, such as planting organic vegetable gardens, creating recycling programs, and adopting energy efficiency upgrades.

On December 6, one grand prize winner will be selected to receive the ultimate Green School Makeover, which includes $65,000 for school renovations and an additional $65,000 worth of technical assistance. Four runner-up schools will be awarded $2,500 each to make their school more sustainable.

The 10 Finalists for the Green School Makeover Competition: Garlough Environmental Magnet School; West St. Paul, MN. New York French American Charter School; New York, NY. Prosser Career Academy (CPS); Chicago, IL. Samuel Powel Elementary School; Philadelphia, PA. Scattergood Friends School; West Branch, IA. South Berwyn School District (Heritage Middle School); Berwyn, IL. Texas School for the Deaf; Austin, TX. The Academy for Global Citizenship; Chicago, IL. West Miami Middle School; Miami, FL. Zimmerman School House, Inc. d/b/a Abi's Place; Coral Springs, FL.

NEW YORK: Thousands of Lower Hudson Valley children attend aging public schools with poor air quality, leaking roofs, crumbling walls, ancient boilers or insufficient fire safeguards. The revelations of these hazards come in school inspection reports obtained by The Journal News that show one in three buildings in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam's 54 school districts received unsatisfactory ratings this year. [Includes articles, videos, photos, and interactive maps.]

MARYLAND: Frederick County officials don’t always have to rely on the state for school construction money. That is the belief of state Del. Kathy Afzali (R-Dist. 4A) of Middletown, who urged county government and school officials to explore alternative options for funding of school construction. More specifically, Afzali advocated for the use of public-private partnerships without state involvement, which potentially could allow the school system to build schools faster and for less money.
“I am not saying to throw that model out. But maybe for some projects we don’t need state funding,” said Afzali, who conducted a presentation on the issue during the joint meeting of county commissioners and school board members.

Frederick County officials have struggled to keep up with the modernization of aging schools and the construction of new schools in the past few years. The county stepped up a few years ago and forward funded large-scale projects such as the new Oakdale and Linganore high schools, as well as the modernization of West Frederick Middle School and Lincoln Elementary, so schools did not have to wait for state funds. But the school system today still has a long wish list of projects, topped by its three highest priorities — the $26 million replacement of aging and dilapidated North Frederick Elementary, the addition to Waverley Elementary and the long-awaited $72 million modernization of Frederick High School, which originally was built in 1939. Afzali’s presentation was an attempt to give an alternative solution to these problems and gave specific examples for public-private partnerships.

MASSACHUSETTS: MassDevelopment has issued more than $13.7 million in bonds intended to help two Cape Cod charter schools move into new facilities. Sturgis Public Charter School will use $9.75 million in bond proceeds to build a 46,000-square-foot, two-story academic building to meet growing demand to attend the International Baccalaureate high school. In a statement, Sturgis said it expects the project to create 50 jobs. TD Bank and The Property & Casualty Initiative purchased the bonds.
Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School will use $3.96 million in bond proceeds to buy the former Regal Harwich Cinemas and convert it to an academic facility. The renovation project includes dividing the theaters on the first floor into roughly 18 classrooms, a main office, a large multi-purpose common space, and bathrooms. Eastern Bank purchased the bonds.

Both financing packages include Qualified School Construction Bonds, created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 with a 100 percent federal subsidy. The Massachusetts School Building Authority allocated bond authority to MassDevelopment to issue these bonds for school construction, renovation and rehabilitation projects.

"The commonwealth relies on a highly educated workforce, so the offerings of schools like Sturgis and Cape Cod Lighthouse become more critical than ever to grow our economy," said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. "I thank the Massachusetts congressional delegation and the Massachusetts School Building Authority for backing low-cost, innovative financing options for school construction." MassDevelopment, the state's finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions and communities to stimulate economic growth across the commonwealth.

MISSISSIPPI: The Biloxi School Board met to learn how going green can slash millions of dollars from the district's utility bills. The savings come from switching to a new water and energy-saving system. The program has been in the planning and designing stages for three years now. Earlier this year, the district installed thousands of new fixtures and equipment.
About 1,700 computer-controlled thermostats were installed in all of the buildings. They can be set at certain temperatures and programmed to kick on or turn off at certain times. "A great example is when a teacher turns the thermostat on during the day and left and forgot to turn it back down. The system will now override that thermostat at the end of the school day and shut the unit down," said Shane Switzer, Biloxi School District Director of Business Management.

Other changes are also in place to cut energy consumption and utility costs. The administration building has new heating and cooling units, along with new duct work and vents to distribute the air around the room. In nine of the buildings, half the lights have been replaced with lamps and ballasts that are brighter and use less energy. "The power bill's starting to drop, absolutely," said Switzer.
Even the rest rooms are getting an energy make-over. All the urinals and toilets have flush valves that restrict the flow of water. "We also implemented water flow restrictors in the faucets, thereby reducing the amount of water it takes to essentially wash your hands," said Switzer.

The district teamed-up with Schneider Electric of Jackson to design and install this "green" technology. The district invested $3 million for the upgrades, which are funded by an MDA grant and a construction bond. The project is estimated to save the district about $4.5 million over 15 years. That amount is guaranteed. "We are guaranteeing that this project is going to save $250,000 a year, and if they do not save that amount in a given year, we'll write them a check in the amount of the shortfall," said Allie Harris, Schneider Electric Account Executive. The extra dollars will go back into the classrooms, instead of going down the drain.

NEW JERSEY: All schoolchildren should be provided with a learning environment in which the roof and pipes don’t leak, the electrical system poses no hazards and the classroom air isn’t tainted with asbestos, lead, mold or other toxic contaminants. Yet New Jersey today gets an "F" for failing to meet that responsibility.

New Jersey residents desperately need work. School repair and modernization would be one good place to start. Yet Christie has helped pay for the new corporate giveaways by ordering a halt to hundreds of essential school repair projects already approved after inspections by the Department of Education. He also stopped action on at least 53 badly needed school construction projects, according to the nonpartisan and independent Education Law Center.

MARYLAND: Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake gave details of her “Better Schools Initiative,” a push to increase funding to the city’s public schools in part by raising Baltimore’s bottle tax from 2 cents to 5 cents. The plan is aimed at increasing city contributions to the Baltimore City schools’ capital budget by more than $23 million annually by July 2013. The money would be used to improve the physical condition of the city’s aging school buildings, Rawlings-Blake said.
The city says the proposed 5-cent beverage container fee would generate an estimated $10 million annually. The proposal exempts milk, juice, dairy substitutes and “economy size” containers 2 liters or larger to minimize burden on struggling families.

But the mayor’s schools plan goes beyond the battle tax. She outlined some other ways the city will raise revenue for school construction, starting July 1, 2013. Allocate 10 percent of an estimated $12 million the city is supposed to get from its proposed video lottery terminal land-lease, totaling $1.2 million more for school construction. The city will continue to contribute approximately $17 million in bond proceeds. The city is going to need help from the state to boost construction money so Rawlings-Blake also offered up the following plans: Partner with city schools to support General Assembly legislation to increase the school system’s debt capacity with the state. The mayor’s office hopes to increase the current $100 million cap to $200 million for school construction projects.

NEW YORK: During a recent visit to Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, John Carr walked in on workers inspecting a portion of a gym ceiling that had caved in hours before. Chunks of rock were swept into piles. So Carr, who's in charge of the city's school buildings , ordered the gym closed. Hours later, he visited Yonkers Montessori Academy and saw bricks protruding dangerously from an outside wall, the result of long-term water damage. A similar wall had collapsed a few years earlier at Lincoln High School. So Carr ordered a fence be put up to keep passers-by from the wall. It was a standard morning for Carr, who says that his job is to do "triage" for some of the neediest school buildings in the country.

The district, desperate for answers, is pushing a radical approach to rebuild its broken, crowded buildings. Officials last week released a 15-year, $1.7 billion plan to fix it all that could center on a financing partnership with a private corporation. "We're looking for every possible way to finance this, and we have to be creative," said Joseph Bracchitta, chief administrative officer for the schools.

Deteriorating schools are a growing problem everywhere, but they present a particular challenge to urban districts that are being forced to decimate teaching staffs and educational programs due to budget crises. Affluent suburban districts can expect that vital renovations will be made eventually. But poorer districts that can't pay for the basics mostly try to keep their schools safe day by day. "When you're in a community with a deteriorating tax base and people residing in that community are struggling financially, how do you prioritize the repairs?" said Brian Butry of the New York State School Boards Association.

A recent round of state-mandated inspections gave unsatisfactory ratings to all but two of Yonkers' 39 schools and found that they need more than $250 million in immediate work. District officials say they are promoting their $1.7 billion redesign because they have no choice. The first phase, which officials say could create 13,560 jobs, would include renovations of 11 schools and construction of a new Gorton High School.

NEW YORK: During a recent visit to Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, John Carr walked in on workers inspecting a portion of a gym ceiling that had caved in hours before. Chunks of rock were swept into piles. So Carr, who's in charge of the city's school buildings , ordered the gym closed. Hours later, he visited Yonkers Montessori Academy and saw bricks protruding dangerously from an outside wall, the result of long-term water damage. A similar wall had collapsed a few years earlier at Lincoln High School. So Carr ordered a fence be put up to keep passers-by from the wall. It was a standard morning for Carr, who says that his job is to do "triage" for some of the neediest school buildings in the country.

The district, desperate for answers, is pushing a radical approach to rebuild its broken, crowded buildings. Officials last week released a 15-year, $1.7 billion plan to fix it all that could center on a financing partnership with a private corporation. "We're looking for every possible way to finance this, and we have to be creative," said Joseph Bracchitta, chief administrative officer for the schools.

Deteriorating schools are a growing problem everywhere, but they present a particular challenge to urban districts that are being forced to decimate teaching staffs and educational programs due to budget crises. Affluent suburban districts can expect that vital renovations will be made eventually. But poorer districts that can't pay for the basics mostly try to keep their schools safe day by day. "When you're in a community with a deteriorating tax base and people residing in that community are struggling financially, how do you prioritize the repairs?" said Brian Butry of the New York State School Boards Association.

A recent round of state-mandated inspections gave unsatisfactory ratings to all but two of Yonkers' 39 schools and found that they need more than $250 million in immediate work. District officials say they are promoting their $1.7 billion redesign because they have no choice. The first phase, which officials say could create 13,560 jobs, would include renovations of 11 schools and construction of a new Gorton High School.

NATIONAL: Imagine living in a dorm where you encounter a monitor that shows you how much water and electricity is currently being used in the building. This might seem futuristic, but it’s reality for some students at Emory University. And while every school may not quite so high tech, it could be a lot greener than you think.
We’ve all heard about going green, but for many colleges and universities across the country, the commitment to creating a sustainable campus goes far beyond the availability of recycling bins.

Last month, The Princeton Review, in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council, released the 2011 Guide to 311 Green Colleges in free downloadable form. In the guide, colleges are ranked using criteria such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings, transportation alternatives to minimize air pollution, and availability of environmental studies majors and/or courses, among others.

So, what are schools across the country actually doing to go green and how is this affecting the students? Here are some answers to some crucial questions along with some insights from college students regarding how they feel about their school’s sustainability efforts. [see article for details]

NEW YORK: Thousands of Lower Hudson Valley children attend aging public schools with poor air quality, leaking roofs, crumbling walls, ancient boilers or insufficient fire safeguards. The revelations of these hazards come in school inspection reports obtained by The Journal News that show one in three buildings in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam's 54 school districts received unsatisfactory ratings this year. According to a Journal News analysis, the cost of repairs to all 456 buildings could exceed $1 billion over the next five years.

Building lapses run the gamut from evidence of vermin to exposed electrical wires, and are prevalent in rich and poor districts alike. Nationwide, the problem of aging public schools has worsened, with $270 billion now needed to catch up on deferred maintenance and make necessary repairs.

Districts have spent less since the Great Recession began in late 2007, despite worsening conditions. The state Education Department continues to see fewer projects submitted for approval. The economy has made districts reluctant to set aside large sums for repairs or to ask taxpayers to approve hefty bond issues. So aging buildings continue to break down, requiring overworked maintenance crews to patch problems and monitor safety concerns.

MISSOURI: Whether new facilities or old, it costs a good chunk of money to maintain school buildings. The St. Joseph School District budgeted $1.352 million for capital improvement projects this school year. But many times, even that isn’t enough when you have to replace acres of roofs and asphalt and do other repairs on 34 buildings.
Rick Hartigan, the district’s chief executive officer, said this is non-discretionary money. No one gets to decide where the money is spent. The buildings do. “We have 34 buildings and we have $1.3 million to spread among those buildings. Some are over 100 years old,” he said.

As the PACT (Planning A Course Together) long-range planning team enters the final stretch on deciding a facilities plan, the cost of doing nothing — compared to building new buildings and closing others — is an issue.The plan presented by PACT officials to the school board in June calls for reducing the number of schools from 23 to 20. The four-phase plan, if accepted by the board, would build new elementary schools in Midtown and the northeast part of town, and close Noyes, Edison, Hall and Humboldt elementary schools. Renovations would be made to Benton, Central and Lafayette high schools and Mark Twain and Parkway elementary schools. Hosea, Eugene Field, Coleman, Lindbergh, Pershing and Skaith elementary schools would receive larger classrooms. Lake Contrary would be re-purposed and become a middle school, while Hyde would close, with Spring Garden taking its place as an elementary school. Bode Middle School would close, and Pickett would be re-purposed into a middle school. Grade schools would go from kindergarten through fifth grade, and middle schools would expand to sixth through eighth grade. PACT officials are gathering more public input before presenting its final recommendations in January.

Samuel Johnson, with BLDD Architects, said the plan would take anywhere from 18 to 20 years for complete implementation. The cost benefit ratio of the plan is comparable to doing nothing, he said. “If you do nothing, you spend almost the same amount and you get a much lower return on your educational dollars,” he said. “In other words, you don’t have an environment that supports your educational program.”

Mr. Johnson cited studies that showed how school facilities affect academic outcomes. One study by the General Accounting Office illustrated how poor air quality affects learning. Poor indoor air quality can cause irritated eyes, nose and throat, upper respiratory infections, nausea, dizziness, headaches and fatigue. Classroom lighting and acoustics also play a role. In a 1995 study, the GAO found that excessive background noise often competes with the speech of teachers, aides, classmates and audio-educational media. “Everyone knows that a good teacher can teach in a barn. But you take that teacher and those same students out of the barn and put them in a modern classroom, and those students will learn better,” Mr. Johnson said. Mr. Hartigan said the disproportionate number of old buildings in the district makes it hard to keep up with repairs. Much of the work has to be deferred from year to year. If all 34 buildings the district maintains were 25 years or younger, the $1.3 million budget would probably suffice. “There’s the old saying that you can’t escape death and taxes. Well, you can’t escape taxes and the aging of buildings,” Mr. Hartigan said. “Buildings hit a particular threshold at about 60 to 70 years, where they start to age in dog years.”

CALIFORNIA: Every weekday morning, 8-year-old Trevor Barrios puts on his uniform, takes his backpack and lunch box and sets off for school: the 900-square-foot converted guesthouse of his family's Ladera Ranch home. There, under the watchful eye of a tutor, Trevor settles down to three hours of math, science, history and language arts.
Trevor's mother, Dru Barrios consulted with an education expert who said her son — whose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is partly why the family chose home schooling — would thrive in a space dedicated to learning. So in what used to be the guesthouse, a large portion of one wall is painted with white dry-erase paint, so it works as a gigantic wipe board, above. The space has a U-shaped teacher's desk, right, plus shelves stacked with books and a 60-inch television for screening educational DVDs. The cost of the conversion: about $2,000.
“We tried to make it fun and bright with lots of colors,” said Barrios, who added that sometimes Trevor is joined by other kids for his classes. A pool and grassy area in the back allow for swimming, soccer and basketball as part of his P.E. program.

As school funding difficulties drive more parents to consider alternatives to public education, those who venture down the home-schooling path quickly face decisions rooted in design: What should “school” look like? What physical form should the classroom take? Or should there be a classroom in the conventional sense at all?
Barrios is so committed to the idea of replicating a traditional school experience for her son that she has given her classroom a name: University School for Children, with uniforms, a logo and school IDs. “We strive for structure and routine,” she said. Although many home-schooling families steer clear of traditional-school conventions and operate under the theory that algebra problems might be best worked on while the child is, say, perched in a treehouse or sitting on the front lawn, others prefer to approximate a more schoolroom-like environment, down to the blackboard, teacher's desk and kids' cubby holes. “It seems there's a whole new group of us that I refer to as ‘contemporary home-schoolers,'” Barrios said.

Families sometimes resort to drastic measures to create a dedicated learning space. Bridget Lodge demolished a galley-style kitchen in her Garden Grove home to create a school setting. The house had to be extended into the backyard, with a brand-new kitchen built in. “We ripped everything out — the double oven, the sink, everything,” Lodge said of her former kitchen space. “There was only a window left.” Two months and $10,000 later, the family had a place to educate three daughters — 9, 11 and 14, each with her own cubicle. That's where they start at 8 most mornings with a discussion of their artist of the month (perhaps Picasso or Beethoven), followed by studies that might include Greek and Roman history, Latin, theology, math or grammar. Each daughter is given a block of time for focused learning with their mother.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Ashland School Department is doing its part to promote energy efficiency, reduce fuel consumption and promote the green initiative. Ashland’s five school buildings total 555,851 square-feet of space, and they need heating, ventilation and lighting.

As you can imagine, the amount of energy needed for these systems is enormous. In addition, each school building is somewhat unique due to its age and design.
Until 1983, all energy management was done manually. This meant boilers used in the heating systems were turned on manually in the fall and shut off in the spring. Boilers ran at a constant temperature regardless of how warm or cold the day might be, or whether school was in session. In 1983, the first energy management system was installed in Ashland’s public schools. It was a very basic system that controlled only the heating and ventilation systems, and only at the most basic level, but it was an enormous step forward in energy savings. The system controlled boilers in the heating system, rooftop exhaust fans and classroom Univents in the ventilation system, turning them on or off. The system was very limited in its capacity, only allowing the user to identify a building as occupied or unoccupied. However, this meant the heating systems in the buildings could now be shut down, or the temperature set back, on days when a school was unoccupied during evening hours, weekends, holidays and school vacations. Until then, the heating systems and boilers had run constantly once they were turned on for the season. The new system meant a reduction in the schools’ energy consumption, which translated into significant cost savings for the School Department and the community.

The energy management systems received an upgrade as part of the 1997 construction and renovation project at the Warren and Mindess schools, and at the then new Ashland Middle/High School complex. The upgrades allowed for more control and better regulation of the heating systems. Computerized controls would now take indoor air temperature, outdoor air temperature, and the time of day into consideration when regulating the temperature of the boilers. In the simplest of terms, this means that on a very cold day, the boilers will heat the water to a higher temperature before sending it to the circulators, which in turn push heat into the classrooms. Once the set temperature in the building has been reached, less energy is required to maintain the building temperature and one or more of the boilers will shut down. The result was a further reduction in our energy consumption.

In 2001, when the new Ashland High School was still in the design phase, the Building Committee was fortunate to seek out and secure a grant for a green school design. As such, the new high school incorporated energy efficient construction materials, energy efficient heating, ventilating and lighting systems, and energy producing photovoltaic cells on its roof. It also included a state-of-the-art energy management system. The overall design of the building was to capitalize on natural lighting and reduce the need for artificial lighting. The two-story library in the center of the building was designed to allow maximum natural light to flow in. All the computer labs on both the first and second floors were positioned directly off the library. This allows maximum light into the labs while eliminating glare on computer screens. If you walk through the hallways you will notice there are no light switches. The lighting system in this building is fully automated. Lights will only come on if a room is occupied, and only if there is not enough natural light available to sufficiently light the room. Heating and ventilation systems are also fully automated. The heating system records indoor and outdoor temperatures, occupancy levels and time of day to turn the heating systems on or off and to set boiler temperatures up or down as needed. The ventilation system records occupancy levels and carbon dioxide levels and adjusts the amount of airflow to particular areas accordingly. Photovoltaic cells on the high school roof convert sunlight into electricity to supply power to the building. Computer kiosks in the main lobby can then monitor energy production and consumption.
The combination of all these systems and design features has allowed Ashland High to be designated a green school. It also earned the distinction of being named a model school by the Massachusetts School Building Authority for its design, one of only four buildings in the state.

TEXAS: When people complain about the weather here, Abe Gott, the school superintendent, just smiles. A visit to the campus of the school district of about 160 students shows why. Behind the 1930s-era facade of the Blackwell school 30 miles south of Sweetwater looms a distinctly 21st-century sight: a wind turbine.
Energy development capitalizing on the high winds in the area — which quickly turned sunshine to chill rain one afternoon in late October — has injected sluggish rural communities with new economic lifeblood. More than one local resident has called it the “windfall,” and it has bestowed hundreds of millions of dollars on West Texas schools.
By the 2018-19 school year, Mr. Gott’s district will have received about $35 million from a deal it brokered with a wind farm company in 2005. On the school grounds, $15 million from a combination of bond and wind farm revenue has paid for a new football stadium and academic complex attached to the original school building. About $28 million sits in a foundation earmarked for scholarships; graduates receive $3,000 for each year they have spent in the district, which they can put toward any type of professional advancement, from a beauty school certificate to a bachelor’s degree. The influx of wealth has also enabled the district to buy an iPad for every student, starting in the seventh grade.

About 69 districts across Texas — mostly rural, tiny schools — continue to benefit from a now-extinct quirk in the state’s school finance law that has led to what some consider an embarrassment of riches. How they spend the money, however, could be a valuable experiment in innovation in public education. The money comes from a Chapter 313 agreement, which allows districts to offer breaks on property taxes for select manufacturing, technology and renewable-energy projects as part of the Texas Economic Development Act, which the Legislature passed in 2001.

MARYLAND: County officials fear the state’s track record of stiffing Montgomery on school construction money will continue this year. The County Council’s Education Committee gave the thumbs-up to Montgomery County Public Schools’ official request for $194.7 million in state funding aid for construction in fiscal 2013, out of a total request of $278.8 million. But since 2006, the school system has received on average only about 29 percent of its request for state aid, and only 12 percent of Maryland’s annual funding for school construction statewide.
County Councilman Philip M. Andrews of Gaithersburg claimed the latter number was particularly unfair given that the school system accounted for 17 percent of the state’s total public school population in 24 districts. Last year, county schools received $42 million in state aid for school projects, although $9 million of that was one-time funding coming from a hike in the state alcohol tax. In total, $312 million was distributed by Maryland for school construction out of $612 million in requests. “This allocation is way below what it needs to be,” said Andrews (D-Dist. 3), a member of the Education Committee.

Since fiscal 2008, the school system’s enrollment has increased by nearly 10,000 students to more than 146,000, a rise Andrews said was unmatched elsewhere in the state. “Our increased enrollment hurts us on both sides of the ledger,” said Council President Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring and Education Committee chairwoman, referring to capital and operating budget needs. For fiscal 2013, although its official request is $194.7 million based on eligible projects, the school system assumes it will receive only about $40 million from the state, although that number itself may be high given the last three years of non-alcohol tax funding. For fiscal 2013, as part of the 2013-2018 Capital Improvements Program, Superintendent of Schools Joshua P. Starr’s request of $278.8 million is $50 million higher than previously approved costs for fiscal 2013.

NATIONAL: At least seven colleges and universities now receive 100 percent of the electricity they use from green power sources, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Earlier this year, the EPA’s Green Power Partnership (GPP) announced its top partner rankings, including colleges and universities. The top twenty partners in education represent the institutions that purchased the most green and sustainable energy to support their general operations.

The Green Power Partnership is a program that provides expertise and logistical and technical support to organizations, companies, institutes and community groups that want to reduce their carbon footprints, lower costs of buying electricity and become leaders in environmental protection. Green power sources include wind, solar, biomass and biofuels, and low-impact hydropower. Percentages and other statistics from participants are updated quarterly.
“Addressing climate risk is increasingly recognized as an important strategic issue for businesses and other organizations,” states the GPP website. “Green power purchasing can reduce your organization’s climate risk and identify your organization as an environmental leader to important stakeholder groups, such as customers, Wall Street analysts, shareholders, investors, government officials, and employees.”

The colleges and universities that purchase 100 percent – or more, in some cases – of their electricity from such sources include Oregon State University, Drexel University, University of California in Santa Cruz, American University, the Catholic University of America, Auraria Higher Education Center, Western Washington University and Quinnipiac University. Many of these schools choose to participate in this program as part of larger, school-wide commitments to become carbon neutral or to help slow climate change

CALIFORNIA: The six-county Sacramento region has 60 million square feet of school facilities. The region's older schools are ripe for upgrades that would reduce energy and water bills – money that could be spent on classroom learning. Aging school infrastructure is a challenge, but also a great opportunity. Done right, it could reduce operating costs to school districts, create local jobs and get students, teachers and parents engaged in science learning. The community has the elements in place now to make a real difference.

In his State of the City address in January, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced an ambitious goal. "Over the next 10 years," he said, "we will retrofit 15 million square feet of school facilities" to reduce water and energy usage by 20 percent. He pledged to raise $100 million to "dramatically increase the scale" of retrofit programs. Among other financing ideas, he is exploring an idea by Placer County Treasurer Jenine Windeshausen for area counties to join together to invest bond money in school retrofits instead of investing in Wall Street.

For his part, Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Jonathan Raymond pledged to use $5 million from the existing Measure I bond, approved by voters in 2002. That allows the district to take advantage of statewide Proposition 1D funds that provide matching funds to retrofit schools. One example is The Met Sacramento charter school, where renovations that began in July include energy-efficient windows and lighting, new plumbing and heating. That building will open in January.

Utilities also can help. Using rebates and other programs, SMUD has worked with 30 Sac City Unified schools to finance lighting retrofits that already are saving the district $600,000 per year. SMUD, which recently celebrated its 65th birthday, also is working with area districts to install school "Solar Sunflower" labs to promote hands-on energy education. The prototype has been awarded to Sac City Unified's School of Engineering & Sciences in the Pocket.

Sac City Unified also was selected among 30 districts nationwide for one of two inaugural fellowships launched by the Center for Green Schools. That gives the district a person focused exclusively on school conservation improvements for a three-year term that began in September. That includes everything from doing energy audits to educating staff and students about how to decrease energy and water consumption, incorporating hands-on learning.

Theodore Judah Elementary, built in 1937, is an example of what is possible without spending a lot of resources. That school has involved parents, teachers and students in a schoolwide waste audit and implemented a hands-on garden and science program to reduce waste through recycling and composting.
Another promising avenue is President Barack Obama's American Jobs Act, which proposes $25 billion for school modernization. About $2.8 billion would come to California for rebuilding and modernizing aging school buildings. Sac City Unified would be among 100 districts with the highest need in the country, and could receive nearly $47 million. This would create much-needed jobs for electricians, plumbers and construction workers to install heating and cooling systems, windows improvements, water-conserving toilets and other features that reduce energy and water use.

GEORGIA: Over the next five years, a projected $3.2 billion will flow into metro Atlanta schools after voters approved an extension of a penny sales taxes to fund school construction. Schools in Atlanta, Buford and Decatur, as well as Cherokee, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett and Henry counties will receive funding.

Throughout metro Atlanta, the SPLOST passed despite a struggling economy, heated opposition from tax weary residents and sagging public confidence in several school systems recently rocked by scandal. Voters essentially gave DeKalb County schools, where the former superintendent is facing fraud charges related to previous SPLOST money, $475 million for school construction, including $144 million to replace seven elementary schools.
Atlanta Public Schools, which is in the midst of one of the nation's biggest ever test cheating scandals, could raise $513 million. Two new schools in Buckhead and a new middle school in Midtown are among the projects the 1-cent tax would fund.

Tuesday's vote means voters have yet to turn back a sales tax devoted to education. Proponents, particularly school officials and advocacy groups, sold the tax as way to get needed construction money to schools without raising property taxes. Since the SPLOST is a five-year extension of a sales tax, the burden is spread out among shoppers, including those who come into a community to spend money. During the 15-year life of SPLOST, dozens of schools have been built and hundreds more have received infrastructure upgrades in the districts.

GEORGIA: Over the next five years, a projected $3.2 billion will flow into metro Atlanta schools after voters approved an extension of a penny sales taxes to fund school construction. Schools in Atlanta, Buford and Decatur, as well as Cherokee, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett and Henry counties will receive funding.

Throughout metro Atlanta, the SPLOST passed despite a struggling economy, heated opposition from tax weary residents and sagging public confidence in several school systems recently rocked by scandal. Voters essentially gave DeKalb County schools, where the former superintendent is facing fraud charges related to previous SPLOST money, $475 million for school construction, including $144 million to replace seven elementary schools.
Atlanta Public Schools, which is in the midst of one of the nation's biggest ever test cheating scandals, could raise $513 million. Two new schools in Buckhead and a new middle school in Midtown are among the projects the 1-cent tax would fund.

Tuesday's vote means voters have yet to turn back a sales tax devoted to education. Proponents, particularly school officials and advocacy groups, sold the tax as way to get needed construction money to schools without raising property taxes. Since the SPLOST is a five-year extension of a sales tax, the burden is spread out among shoppers, including those who come into a community to spend money. During the 15-year life of SPLOST, dozens of schools have been built and hundreds more have received infrastructure upgrades in the districts.

OHIO: All five school buildings in the neighborhoods that surround East High School are top-notch. And this, in an odd way, is the problem. The schools the district spent $73.6?million sprucing up are on average only 72 percent full. But the Columbus district, which is on a mission to close under-enrolled schools, won’t consider tossing aside its investment to shutter newly improved buildings.
Neighborhood activists are worried. Some wonder whether the district wasted its money and whether officials checked population projections before the first hammer was swung. “That, to me, is the big question: Why wasn’t that considered when you’re investing that kind of money? Where was the foresight?” asked Willis Brown, president of the Bronzeville Neighborhood Association. “The return on that investment doesn’t look very good.”

Crumbling East Side schools were in the worst shape, so they were among the first to be fixed up in the Columbus district’s huge building project. The projections used as the basis for planning the district’s building project showed that the high-school population at East would be greater than 800, said Carole Olshavsky, who oversees district facilities. “The middle-school numbers were even stronger than that,” Olshavsky said. They showed that Champion would have more than 500 children. But today, the enrollment problem is concentrated in those two schools. Champion is only 49 percent full, and East fills only 56 percent of its building.
The number of children who live around the schools, particularly in the ages that might attend Champion or East, has plummeted in the past decade. Census figures for last year show 32?percent fewer residents ages 10-19 than there were in 2000. And a large public-housing complex that is home to many families is going to be shut.

Brown said he appreciates the new buildings. But he doesn’t want beautiful buildings with no students inside. He and other neighborhood activists want stronger schools that will attract more families with children. Two of the schools have an F rating from the state, one has a D, and two have C’s.
Superintendent Gene Harris said the district is searching for a solution. “We do everything we can not to abandon a neighborhood, to rid a neighborhood of its schools,” she said. Harris said the district did its homework before it added the schools to the construction project, which began in 2002 when voters agreed to support a $392?million bond issue. More than 30 schools, including those in the district’s East zone, were renovated or rebuilt with money from the issue and matching funds from the Ohio School Facilities Commission. Another bond for $164?million passed in 2008 to continue the project, which the district thinks will stretch over at least 15 years. The school facilities commission says the number of children enrolled in the East zone shrunk from 3,307 students in the 2001-02 school year to 2,095 last school year.

INDIANA: About 30 schools were built in Indiana in 2003 and 2004, costing more than $670 million. But in 2009, school projects of any scope practically came to a standstill, halted not just by recession-battered budgets but by state regulations steadily eroding the authority of school board members to build, improve or even maintain their schools.

For years, Indiana had a unique petition and remonstrance process governing any projects that required a school board (or library board, city council, etc.) to issue more than $2 million in property tax bonds. Property owners opposed to a project could collect signatures of 100 registered voters or property owners to trigger petition drives pitting supporters and opponents in a 30-day contest to gather signatures of property owners. If remonstrators prevailed, the project was delayed at least a year; if supporters prevailed, it could proceed. That’s the process followed in 2007, when the FWCS board approved a $500 million long-range building plan. A successful remonstrance campaign killed the project.

The win-loss record for petition and remonstrance projects statewide was almost perfectly even, according to figures from Larry DeBoer, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University-West Lafayette. Between 1995 and 2007, 52 percent of the 94 projects challenged were approved. That was just a small fraction of the projects completed, however. Only those that faced opposition were subject to the dueling petition drives.

property tax uproar in Marion County changed all that. Lawmakers, unnerved by taxpayer protests there and stung by complaints of “Taj Mahal schools” built in some suburban districts, approved property tax caps. They also established a referendum process, wherein voters could approve property tax hikes beyond the tax-cap limits to raise additional money for capital projects or general fund expenses. For construction, any elementary or middle school project totaling less than $10 million or high school project less than $20 million would fall under the dueling petition and remonstrance process; anything more is subject to referendum.

Since the referendum process was set in place, 64.7 percent of construction projects have been rejected, compared to 54.5 percent of general fund referendums, which allow school districts to collect more tax revenue for teacher salaries and other classroom costs.
In a study of Indiana’s new school referendum process, Indiana University’s Center for Evaluation & Education Policy noted the difference between the approval rates for capital projects and general fund tax hikes, attributing it to voters making a distinction between wants and needs. “(G)eneral fund referenda might have been approved at a greater rate because voters viewed those tax increases as a ‘need’ to prevent schools from cutting teachers and increasing class sizes,” according to the study. But John Ellis, executive director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, notes that building expenses in Indiana fall increasingly into the “need” category.

“It’s in the area of trying to keep things up to date where we’re seeing the most construction activity,” he said. “We’re paying now for the end of the baby boom construction. When my peers and the group just after them started school, Indiana built a lot of its schools. We’ve now got a lot of schools that are getting to be 50, 60 years old and they were built cheaply and in a hurry.”

The new state controls on school construction might well be holding down property tax bills, but that’s not to say there isn’t a cost to taxpayers and, more important, to Indiana’s 1.1 million students. They need buildings that are not only safe and efficient, but also offer the learning environment today’s economy demands.
A handful of electrical outlets won’t work when every student is equipped with a laptop or tablet computer. Small classrooms don’t lend themselves to the project-based learning demanded, with instruction that fosters critical thinking instead of rote memorization.
Ironically, now is the ideal time to leverage tax-dollar investments in schools. Decreased demand has pushed construction costs lower, and interest rates are low. But Karyle Green, superintendent of East Allen County Schools, said the remonstrance delay on the Woodlan project will push back a targeted construction start this spring. “I think that the legislators intended to make things tougher, but in this economic environment it’s getting even tougher to do projects.” she said. “If you look at neighboring states, their facilities are just awful. When the rules changed (in Indiana), people knew we were going the way of the other states. We’ve had really good facilities, but that is coming to an end.

ILLINOIS: In 2007 Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill. set a goal to achieve U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Certification. With the help of Siemens Building Technologies Division, Stevenson recently achieved this goal by becoming the first high school in America to be certified LEED Gold for Existing Buildings (EB).

"Earning LEED Gold status is a validation of our 'Green Initiative' to reduce the schools carbon footprint," said Stevenson High School assistant superintendent for Business Mark Michelini, who coordinated the effort. "Part of its mandate directed staff to embrace best practices—in collaboration with Siemens and support from partners Cannon Design and Sodexo, our facilities team created a master plan to address campus energy and resource consumption. We've met and exceeded those targets and the result is our LEED certification—a national benchmark and an achievement we all share—faculty, staff and especially the students."

Stevenson, one of the largest high schools in the U.S., educates more than 4,500 students each year and has received the President's Award for Excellence in Education five times. The sprawling campus features all the amenities and encompasses more than 1 million square feet of classroom, athletic, performing arts and administrative facilities. Through a comprehensive understanding of the technical and operational aspects of the campus' building automation, HVAC systems, lighting and other elements, Siemens was able to help the Stevenson Green Initiative committee develop a broad operational plan to systematically reduce water consumption and help the school cut back on electricity and natural gas use after hours.

Among key deliverables, Siemens provided full transparency of CO2, energy consumption and pricing through the company's cloud-based Energy Monitoring and Control platform. Highly skilled energy technicians using cloud-based tools from Siemens Services group also delivered a comprehensive existing building continuous commissioning program—an essential element of LEED EB certification. As a result, Stevenson was able to achieve its first set of energy consumption reduction targets set forth in its sustainability mission statement: Seven percent lower electricity use and five percent less natural gas consumption. According to Stevenson officials, those measures have saved the school over $100,000 in electricity and natural gas costs over the 22-month certification process.
"With any collaboration, the key is knowledge sharing on the one hand, and then the practical application of that knowledge on the other," said Courtney Shoemaker, Energy Services, Siemens Building Technologies Division. "At the center of it was a comprehensive understanding of the interplay and interdependence of the school's legacy building systems and operational practices, supported by data delivered by Siemens technology."

NEW JERSEY: The national debate about how to jump-start the economy is focused on creating jobs for the 25 million Americans who are unemployed. President Obama is pushing Congress to pass the American Jobs Act, which would put the nation’s hard-hit construction sector to work on long-overdue infrastructure projects, including the rebuilding of crumbling and outmoded public schools. But New Jersey doesn’t have to wait for Congress to act.

Gov. Chris Christie could put thousands of New Jersey’s construction workers, as well as architects, engineers and building suppliers, back to work right now. All he has to do is give the go-ahead to work on school construction projects already approved and designed by the Schools Development Authority, the state agency responsible for improving governance, operations and accountability.
These “shovel-ready” projects will benefit communities all over the state. The list includes Phillipsburg High School, Lanning Square Elementary School in Camden, Gloucester City Middle School, West New York High School and many more. In total, there are 53 major school facilities projects that are ready, or almost ready, to be built.

Yet Christie stopped work on these projects when he took office in January 2010, an order that remains in effect. The governor also halted hundreds of health and safety projects in existing schools, which could put at risk students and teachers in some of the oldest and most dilapidated school buildings in the state.
Christie’s refusal to move forward on these projects is difficult to understand. The SDA already has spent more than $200 million in taxpayer dollars to get the projects ready for construction, and building these schools will bring immediate economic benefits.

A 2008 study by the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers shows that $1 billion spent on school construction would have a significant impact on New Jersey’s economy, generating. In 2008, the Legislature approved an additional $3.9 billion in bond financing to fund school construction projects. The state will have to make debt service payments on the bonds over time, but the impact on the budget will be offset by the substantial tax revenue generated by the thousands of new jobs and contracts created by the program.
The state unemployment rate for construction workers is more than 12 percent, and thousands of children attend schools in desperate need of repair and replacement. It’s time for Christie to put New Jersey back to work.

MARYLAND: Angry and articulate, an army of Baltimore city school children, accompanied by parents and teachers, marched before a crowd of more than 200 last night to demand that Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and other city and state officials do something about “miserable” conditions in city schools.
“How can we concentrate and do well when it’s burning hot in class or freezing cold?” said Kiyea Milledge, a sixth grader from Baltimore Freedom Academy, participating in a Speak-Out sponsored by Transform Baltimore, a community coalition pushing a plan to modernize city schools.
“I’m tired of the overflowing toilets, I don’t like that nasty toilet water on my feet,” Milledge said, going on to sharpen her message to the room full of city council members and state legislators.

But organizers of the event, which brought groups from more than 30 schools downtown to the War Memorial Building, had mustered more than moral outrage and grim photo slideshows – they were offering a solution. The Baltimore Education Coalition has been promoting the Transform Baltimore campaign, a $2.8 billion bond financing strategy that was used successfully in Greenville, S.C. to renovate 70 schools. Using the roughly $61 million that is currently available in annual funds for city school facilities, the group says, a Greenville-type plan in Baltimore could use the money to borrow up-front nearly $1 billion for school facilities. That’s how much the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland figured (in a report last year) would be needed to modernize city schools. About 70% of them need to be renovated or replaced, the report says.

Mayor Rawlings-Blake agrees there’s a need to improve city school facilities, “but she wants a plan that is sustainable and feasible,” Johnson said. The mayor, Johnson said, promised that she is working on the issue and will have an announcement about her strategy in the future. For now, Rawlings-Blake has offered few details about it. “She said she wants to do something big, but we don’t know what and we don’t know when,” she said. In the wake of the ACLU study, Rawlings-Blake appointed a task force last year to find ways to fund school construction but the group’s promised February report has not materialized.

The students came up to the microphone in waves, from schools from across the city. Many spoke of how heating and cooling systems don’t work or windows are stuck open or closed, leaving classrooms uncomfortably hot or cold. Morgan Dow, an eighth grader from City Neighbors Charter School, described the experience: “We’d have jackets and gloves on when we’re taking a test.” “Do you know any lawyers or surgeons that have to work in their coats? I don’t!” said Reonna Hester, a 12th grader from Baltimore Freedom Academy. “These are shameful and embarrassing conditions,” said Cameron J. Bowcock a teacher at the school. “In the winter, my classroom is filled with students who must wear their coats in class.”

Broken cafeteria seats, dingy hallways, bad lighting, missing ceiling tiles, falling-apart doors, cockroaches in the locker rooms and mold on the walls were among other complaints. Gross bathrooms and inoperative drinking fountains were another area of special area of concern.
Latiana Graham said she sends her children to the city’s KIPP schools because of their special curriculum and teaching methods but has been horrified by the condition of the buildings, including a bathroom she saw when she went to the school for a special program. “There was no toilet paper. There were no doors on the stalls,” Graham said. “I, as an adult, couldn’t use the facilities. I had to take the kids down the street.”

IOWA: In the school building hierarchy, middle school facilities are the middle child — too big for elementary, not quite big enough for high school. Perhaps that’s why it seems most middle school buildings are a school district’s hand-me-down. “High school buildings tend to be the most visible school in your district, so as a result they tend to get the most attention,” said Mike Jorgensen, superintendent of the Washington school district. The district is building a new high school, scheduled to open in fall 2012. Once it does, the current high school — which was constructed in 1918, with an addition in 1953 —will become the district’s middle school for sixth through eighth-grade students.
High schools play host to most district events, from athletics to fine arts. In smaller communities, the high school building could be the town’s largest facility, so it doubles as a community building. “Most people in a school district tend to associate with the high school, not the middle school,” Jorgensen said. Then there’s the convenience factor. The average high school is about 160 square feet per student. The average middle school is about 150 square feet per student.
“It’s pretty convenient to turn a high school into a middle school,” said Franklin Brown, planning director at the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission. “It’s not so easy to renovate a high school to an elementary school.”
At the same time, the needs of high school and elementary school students are significantly different. Middle school students’ needs are different, too, but they are closer to the older students’ than the younger crowd.

In a Gazette survey of 53 Eastern Iowa school districts, only 21 districts have middle, or junior high, school buildings. Of that total, more than half served high school students at one time.
Solon Middle School opened as a junior-senior high school in 1917. In 2002, the district opened a new high school, and the old building was renovated for the district’s fifth through eighth-grade students. The middle school underwent a $1 million renovation last year that included new windows and a geothermal heating and cooling system. “It doesn’t really feel like an old building,” Solon Superintendent Sam Miller said of the middle school, which also houses the district’s administrative offices. Miller admits there are parts of the building that don’t feel like a middle school, either. “We’re looking at doing a media center, commons and maybe a lunchroom renovation — projects that will make the building more inviting,” he said. The media center is especially needed when you see media centers at the high school and Lakeview Elementary School, which is undergoing a $6 million renovation. Both are large, airy — places that students want to be. “The elementary and high school have such great spaces for students,” Miller said. “It makes the imbalance even greater, which is why we’re going to address it.”
Imbalance is something students and staff at West in Anamosa have experienced for years. “You have some classrooms that are too hot, some that are too cold,” eighth-grader Sydney Barnes said. With his office in the middle school, Ney can’t ignore the dated heating and cooling system, the lack of handicap-accessibility or the support beams. “I can’t imagine this building ever being a high school, serving four grades,” he said. The building was constructed in 1885. It served as the district’s high school until the new high school opened in fall 1968. Since then, it has been a middle school for sixth through eighth-grade students. Soon, it won’t be serving any students. The district is building a $12.4 million middle school. The project is funded through the state’s Qualified School Construction Bond program after patrons defeated several bond issues. “There are people who thought we should build a high school, but you can’t do that for $12.4 million,” Ney said. “When it comes right down to need, I would say we don’t need a new high school. We need improvements, some additions, but we need a new middle school more.” The new school, which will serve fifth through eighth-grade students, is slated to open next year. “Hopefully, we’re building for the future,” Ney said. shareshare

NATIONAL: The Billion Dollar Green Challenge attracted more than 32 university signatories in its first week, representing a $65 million shared commitment to sustainability investments. The challenge, created by the Sustainable Endowments Institute and 15 partner organizations, asks higher learning institutions to kick in a total of $1 billion, which will serve as a revolving fund to pay for improvements. Savings in operating costs will be reinvested in the fund to support further projects. Initial signees include Harvard, Stanford, Caltech, Dartmouth, and other major institutions.

NATIONAL: School modernization legislation calling for improved classroom acoustics and reduced exposure to environmental noise has been introduced into the U.S. Senate, but observers expect lawmakers to take little or no action on the measure.

ASHA successfully pressed for inclusion of two important stipulations in the funding bill: That funding can be used to reduce noise pollution and that school construction comply with classroom acoustics standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which oversees the creation, promulgation, and use of thousands of standards and guidelines. ANSI revised its classroom acoustics standards in 2010; all ANSI standards, however, are voluntary, and become mandatory only if incorporated into laws such as building codes.
ANSI classroom acoustics standards call for limits on interior-source noise; clarify measurement and evaluation of noise; and require classroom audio distribution/amplification systems.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: In 1998, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported that 70 percent of the facilities under D.C. Public Schools "were in poor physical condition." A 2005 report by the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs called the physical state of the city's schools "deplorable," detailing conditions that "most people associate with slums." By 2007, city officials reported a backlog of 20,000 work orders, hinting at a system that wasn't just sinking, but failing to do even the most basic repairs to stay afloat. The same year, Cardozo was declared a "failing school."

But this September, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray proudly announced that Cardozo would undergo a year-and-a-half-long modernization. When the school reopens in 2013, it will feature a brand new 24,000-square-foot gymnasium, renovated classrooms, improved technological capacity, and new windows, doors and exterior treatments. It will, many hope, become the splendid civic monument Ittner conceived it to be. The new Cardozo will be but a small part of an ambitious plan to renovate, rehabilitate, modernize and, in some cases, replace the 123 D.C. Public Schools facilities that serve the system's 45,000 students but have suffered severe institutional decay that has built up over decades.

In fact, years before President Barack Obama's current jobs proposal to rehabilitate aging school buildings across the nation as a way to stimulate the U.S. economy, the nation's capital began a major drive to radically overhaul its own troubled public school system. In 2007, then Mayor Adrian Fenty engineered legislation that granted him almost absolute control of school governance and established the Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization (OPEFM), an independent agency that would lead the charge in fixing public schools across the District's eight wards. Under the leadership of former Executive Director Allen Lew — who called the state of the city's schools a "monumental calamity" — OPEFM was tasked with spearheading an unprecedented 15-year, $3.5 billion capital campaign to attend to schools that in many cases had not seen any concerted rehabilitation efforts in a generation. Just as former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee famously fought her way to improve academic standards, Lew — former chief executive of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission — took to creating the buildings in which teachers could better educate and students could better learn. "We knew that a piecemeal approach drawn out over a long period of time would be doomed to repeat the failures of the past. We needed a new concept, massive funding and a 'get it done' attitude to save our school facilities," Fenty said at the time.

By many measures, the results to date have been impressive. According to OPEFM, from 2007 to 2010, 13 schools and 33 athletic fields and playgrounds were fully modernized. (For 2011, 11 more schools were set to be overhauled.) Twelve schools had roofs replaced, 16 received major repairs to heating systems, 75 underwent significant plumbing work, 35 had electrical work done, and more than 9,000 work orders for health code violations were completed.
In addition to badly needed repairs and fixes, the modernization project aims to do just that — modernize D.C. schools to compete for the 21st century. That includes state-of-the-art technology, brand new academic and athletic facilities, and a major focus on eco-friendly building design, from dual-flush toilets that save water to white roofs that reflect heat to underground geothermal heating and cooling systems.

"Our goal in modernizing public schools in the District of Columbia is not only to transform classrooms and campuses across the District to provide students with facilities that can positively impact student achievement," said Ollie Harper Jr., acting executive director of OPEFM. "Our goal is also to transform schools into state-of-the-art campuses that can serve teachers, staff, students and their communities."

NATIONAL: Science and research programs can bring millions of dollars to college campuses in the form of alumni donations and research grants. While these dollars may result in state of the art facilities, they do not always mean that science labs are housed in beautiful new buildings. Many science labs are more practical than they are attractive, and the fun, cutting-edge architecture on campus may be saved for theaters, student unions, and other facilities.

Of course, that’s not the case on every campus, and there are some colleges and universities that boast some pretty amazing buildings for their laboratories. Here, we’ve compiled a list of some of the coolest, most interesting, and newest science laboratories across the nation, though it is by no means a definitive account of all that are out there. Seeing and learning more about these buildings may just make you want to sign up for a science class of your own so you can hang out in one. [see article for descriptions and photographs]

NATIONAL: Science and research programs can bring millions of dollars to college campuses in the form of alumni donations and research grants. While these dollars may result in state of the art facilities, they do not always mean that science labs are housed in beautiful new buildings. Many science labs are more practical than they are attractive, and the fun, cutting-edge architecture on campus may be saved for theaters, student unions, and other facilities.

Of course, that’s not the case on every campus, and there are some colleges and universities that boast some pretty amazing buildings for their laboratories. Here, we’ve compiled a list of some of the coolest, most interesting, and newest science laboratories across the nation, though it is by no means a definitive account of all that are out there. Seeing and learning more about these buildings may just make you want to sign up for a science class of your own so you can hang out in one. [see article for descriptions and photographs]

ILLINOIS: School closings this year will focus on academically failing schools, not on buildings that are underused, according to guidelines released. Chicago Public Schools said the weight given to academic performance is the biggest change in criteria for determining this year's list of closings.

The proposed guidelines come on the heels of a new state bill that outlines a process the district must follow in closing schools. Under the new law, CPS must release a list of school actions — including boundary changes, consolidations and closings — by Dec. 1.
In advance of those school closing announcements — often the most difficult and emotionally charged decision made by a district — Chief Portfolio Officer Oliver Sicat last week said that 42 percent of CPS schools are on probation for low-academic performance and poor attendance. He added that 72 schools have been on probation for five consecutive years, and 16 of them for 15 years in a row. In some CPS schools, those statistics have generated panic. "There's high anxiety and in some instances a sense of fatalism," said Barbara Radner, director of DePaul University's Center for Urban Education. "Some schools have had static scores for so many years, and people are worried they're going to be on the list."

The proposed guidelines are open for discussion. CPS parents, teachers and education advocates can weigh in on the guidelines over the next 21 days on the district's website. Schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard will use the additional input when considering which schools to target.

CPS identifies failing schools using its own performance policy standards that rate schools on a scale of 1 to 3, with the latter being schools on probation. Those standards take into account whether a school makes expected gains and meets or exceeds benchmarks on state standardized tests. Other factors include student attendance and the rate of freshmen on track for graduation — a wider range of factors than Adequate Yearly Progress, which is calculated by the state under the No Child Left Behind law. Under the proposed guidelines, schools slated for closing must be rated at 3 for two straight years. A school gets removed from the closing list if it performs better than other schools in its community or network, formerly called area offices.

INDIANA: Brunswick Elementary School students LaJayla Dixon and Danielle LeGrant would like to see a larger gymnasium, cafeteria and library at their school. They'd love new computers, iPads, a smartboard and some of the other technology that is becoming common in neighboring schools. It also would be great to have a bigger building and less crowded classrooms. But first: The floor tile is broken and cracked, the kindergarten rooms flooded, there are leaks in the ceiling and a pipe broke in a second-floor bathroom, causing leaks down the hallway.

Those are some of the things the pair mentioned to U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary Peter Cunningham, who visited four Gary Community School Corp. schools Monday to see firsthand the district's infrastructure needs. They could be helped by the proposed $450 billion American Jobs Act.

Despite the building's condition, Brunswick students have shown growth on the state's ISTEP-Plus exam. This year, 62.69 percent of students passed both the English/language arts and math portion of the test, up from 53.2 percent last year. Principal Gloria Terry said the Brunswick community and parents are very involved. She said teachers often come in early and stay late. Terry said she lost some teachers and aides this year, and federal dollars would help to restore that along with a popular Saturday school program that had to be eliminated.

Cunningham, who works for U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, visited Gary as part of a tour of schools across the country to highlight infrastructure needs and promote the American Jobs Act proposed by President Barack Obama. Nationwide, it would offer $30 billion to prevent the layoffs of 280,000 teachers and $25 billion to modernize at least 35,000 public schools.

INDIANA: West Side Leadership Academy Principal Judy Dunlap told a U.S. Department of Education official Monday that interactive white board technology is no match for a failed roof. “We have new SMART boards and it’s raining on them,” Dunlap told Peter Cunningham who visited the city to rally support for President Obama’s stalled American Jobs Act legislation. Cunningham said it could bring about $13 million to the Gary Community School Corp. to upgrade and modernize its infrastructure.

Cunningham and an entourage of school officials toured Brunswick Elementary, stopped at shuttered Ivanhoe Elementary and visited with students at West Side and Lew Wallace STEM Academy. During the stops, school officials and students reeled off a list of shortcomings at their school and told Cunningham what they’d like to see. Superintendent Myrtle Campbell said her dream is one modern high school. She said the district’s high school enrollment is about 2,000 students yet it maintains five high schools. “I have to be careful about speaking, but I would love to have one high school and then you could put all the facilities there and have the best.” Campbell said she’d like to see a career program and a freshman academy program, like many other schools have. Brunswick Principal Gloria Terry took the group to the school’s former kindergarten wing that was deluged by water. Ceiling tiles were down and visitors had to step around puddles. Terry said the students had to be relocated to the Bethune Early Learning Center on the other side of the city. Danielle LeGrand, 11, said she wished Brunswick had a bigger library because she likes to read.

Cunningham said opponents to the Jobs Act often cite the $9 trillion national debt as a reason to rein in spending. “We think in this economy, we need to keep spending as long as it makes sense.” In Indiana, the American Jobs Act would provide $443,374,881 for modernization projects, supporting an estimated 5,800 jobs and $629,292,696 to prevent an estimated 9,100 teacher layoffs for one school year.

TEXAS: The Brockman Hall for Physics gathers together a faculty of experimental physicists formerly scattered in as many as five separate buildings across the Rice University campus. It is now home to dozens of experimental, theoretical and applied physicists from Rice’s departments of Physics and Astronomy and Electrical and Computer Engineering, and will support research in atomic, molecular and optical physics; biophysics; condensed matter physics; nanoengineering and photonics. A recipient of $11.1 million in federal stimulus funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, it was completed in a compressed design and construction schedule of just 33 months, an extremely short timeline for a facility of its kind.

Brockman Hall is a product of the careful analysis of context, culture, elements, form, iconography, materiality, and purpose in Rice’s architecture. We sought to internalize the material palette of Rice, extend the legacy of craft, and translate historic themes into contemporary detailing. The massing capitalizes on the thinness of buildings on campus, while meeting the programmatic needs for a laboratory building; providing an edited and refined 21st century expression of Rice architecture and pedagogy.

CALIFORNIA: At Columbus Avenue Elementary School in Van Nuys, the grab bars in the boys' restroom are slightly off, the stair handrails are half an inch too high, and the signs leading from the playground to the library aren't hung at the correct eye level. For most people, the fixtures pose no problem. But for students in wheelchairs or parents who need help walking, a steep ramp or a high handrail can make the difference between moving around campus and getting stuck.
Yet, despite Los Angeles Unified School District spending some $20 billion on its new construction program, hundreds of repairs are needed at the 80 new schools built over the past decade - at an additional cost of $30 million - because of failure to meet federal handicapped accessibility standards.
"It was a little disappointing that brand new schools were not built to (federal) compliance," said Jay Alleman, administrative coordinator and chief analyst for the Office of the Independent Monitor, which oversees the district's special education programs. "It's more than just student accessibility. It's about public accessibility."

The LAUSD has been under federal scrutiny since 1996 to improve special education services. The district is under a modified consent decree for its failure to adhere to all federal special education mandates - including ensuring that schools are accessible to all.

Work on elementary, middle and high schools - 17 of them in the San Fernando Valley - will include everything from adjusting the height of ramps, hand rails and toilets, to restriping parking spaces, said Neil Gamble, the district's director of maintenance and operations. "It's not new ramps or large systems missing," Gamble said. The improvements will be done on buildings constructed before 2009, when the district's construction practices were more liberal, but still within industry standard.

District construction supervisors signed off on the buildings as compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, but an inspector with the Office of the Independent Monitor found that some of the rails, signs and other hardware were off by a half an inch or more. Because the district had signed off on the work, the contractors could not be held accountable. Schools where repairs are needed include Northridge Academy High School, Panorama City Elementary School, Rosa Parks Learning Center and Vista Middle School, among others. Big projects include fixing accessibility into football fields, locker rooms, or bathrooms, Alleman said.

Repairs on the schools are expected to begin early next year, Gamble said. The $30 million for the project is expected to come from bond program funds associated with the original school construction money, Gamble said. Alleman blames a breakdown among the district's architects, the California Division of the State Architect, local inspectors and contractors. In some cases, ADA-compliant toilets or bars were purchased, but installed incorrectly. But the oversight also could have occurred because of the size of the district and the rapid growth of new schools, said Barbara Thorpe, president of Disability Access Consultants, Inc., which assists business and public entities in complying with local, state and federal regulations. The firm has worked with the LAUSD.

"I work with hundreds of school districts in California and on average, Los Angeles appears to have the most noncompliant items," Thorpe said. But the issue persists across the nation as well, and she applauded the district for going back and making the repairs. "What I like is that they're stepping back and analyzing what went wrong and what they can do to make sure it doesn't happen again," she said. "Some districts will wait until they are sued until they make the changes. The ADA is not about building standards. It's about civil rights." To be fair, Alleman said, LAUSD officials are now better trained in spotting what modifications are needed before they sign off on a building.

MISSISSIPPI: Leaky roofs, aging buildings and ancient portable classrooms aren't just aesthetic issues. School buildings in poor condition can impair students' learning, some educators and advocates say.
If everything else is equal, students in a building that's in better condition and has a better design perform better, said Mary Filardo, executive director of the 21st Century School Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that aims to improve facilities in urban public schools. Students in better facilities tend to score between 3 percent and 5 percent higher on standardized tests, she said. "It doesn't seem like a lot," she said, but district officials spend lots of money on teacher training, tutors and other things that are not as reliable as ensuring buildings are adequate, she said.

There is an educational benefit to students for having modern, safe classrooms: The jobs of the future are based on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, said Manish Naik, legislative manager for the Council of the Great City Schools. "We can do a good job, we can do a decent job, but we don't necessarily want to shoot for good enough," Naik said.

It takes money to maintain the buildings and to keep technology, such as computers, up to date. Jackson Public Schools alone has about $176.2 million is needed for renovation, repair and modernization, according to the Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition of U.S. urban school districts, including Jackson Public Schools. The council recently released a report on infrastructure needs based on a survey of urban districts. The district also has $74.8 million in deferred maintenance, projects that have been postponed because of a lack of funds, according to the council.

"Like many school districts in our state, we have buildings that are in need of renovation and upgrading for a number of reasons," Superintendent Jayne Sargent said through a spokeswoman. Although JPS "has made significant improvements through the use of funds from the 2006 bond issue, there are still many buildings in need of renovations and repairs, including HVAC replacements, foundation work, roof repairs and window replacements," Sargent said.

Jackson isn't alone. A dollar figure isn't available for all of the infrastructure needs in the state, but other school districts in the metro area have asked residents to support bond issues for school construction and major renovations. In 2009, Madison County voters approved a $61 million bond issue that went toward the building Germantown High School and other projects. A September bond referendum in Rankin County failed, but the district's list of facility needs included new classrooms, labs, roof repairs and three new school buildings, among other things. Canton officials on Sept. 30 broke ground on Jimmie Goodloe Elementary and Huey Porter Middle schools, which are to be completed in November 2012. Last year, Clinton voters approved a $23.5 million bond issue. Of that money, $22.6 million is going toward combining Northside and Eastside elementaries into a new school building. Northside Elementary School is in a building that has severe foundation problems. Extensive renovations, funded with federal construction bonds, have also been seen at Sumner Hill Jr. High, the district's ninth-grade school. That's also important in metro Jackson, where parents can choose from many good schools, he said.

There also is growing research on how building conditions impact student learning, Filardo said. For example, a classroom with bad acoustics can impair students' ability to hear instruction, and "hearing is a really important part of learning to read," she said. Poor indoor air quality can trigger asthma symptoms in students and teachers, potentially increasing absenteeism, Filardo said. Poor ventilation can cause students and teachers to feel sleepy. "If you've got a school facility in poor condition, it's probably common sense that you're going to have a harder time retaining and attracting good teachers to your school," she said. Poor conditions might also be a deterrent to families, she said. There are clear implications all around, Filardo said. Middle class families are not going to want to send their children to "the lousy buildings with no technology," she said.

TENNESSEE: A magnet elementary school in downtown Nashville could sway more affluent families to leave the suburbs and raise their kids in high-rise lofts, a nonprofit that wants to help shape the city says. The Nashville Civic Design Center wants the school on vacant lots near Fourth Avenue South and Peabody Street. The nation’s healthiest cities have 2 percent of the population living downtown, their designers say, and families add a component of friendliness and safety, plus breed new amenities such as playgrounds, day cares and grocery stores.

But Metro Nashville Public School planners say funding for new schools doesn’t come before the need is there. Downtown is zoned for Buena Vista Elementary, which is at capacity, but three other nearby elementaries — Napier, Park Avenue and Carter Lawrence — are not. But the design center says none of those schools is close enough or offers the quality needed to make a difference. The nonprofit is forging ahead, working with a University of Tennessee-Knoxville school of architecture class to draft designs to be unveiled next month. Designers hope the drawings will spark funding from outside groups.
Their report released over the summer, “New Schools for Downtown Nashville,” also encourages relocating the Nashville School for the Arts from Foster Avenue to the Bicentennial Mall area.
The schools would flank a new “Avenue of the Arts” area booming with a new convention center and lofts nearby, said Nashville Civic Design Center Design Director Gary Gaston, who edited the report. He points to cities as close as Chattanooga as examples of where well-performing schools attracted families to downtown life.

MARYLAND: Water has always been intrinsic to the experience of attending St. Mary's College of Maryland, but that legacy took a new turn this week when hundreds of students learned that mold would force them to spend the rest of the semester living on a 300-foot cruise ship docked beside campus on the St. Mary's River.

About 350 students had already moved to local hotels or reconfigured rooms last week because of mold in two dorms, which the Southern Maryland college blamed on damp conditions from Hurricane Irene and persistent rains. But on Tuesday, the public liberal arts college announced another move, this time to the Sea Voyager.

President Joseph Urgo said he was distressed at having so many underclassmen living far from campus and was on the lookout for alternatives when the college's sailing coach passed along a suggestion from an alumnus. There was a cruise ship for sale that was on its way from Maine to Virginia, the alumnus said, and maybe the owners would like to make a little rent money on the way. Within two days, the deal for a new floating dorm was signed. "The river is not incidental to our campus," Urgo said. "So to have this problem that was caused by too much water and find a solution in the river, it was really amazing."
He said the boat, where 200 students will move this weekend and likely remain until the end of the semester, will cost about the same as the hotels and will keep students next to campus. Those who don't live on the boat will live in reconfigured land dorms and off-campus apartments.

On Thursday, the neighboring Historic St. Mary's City museum announced that the cruise ship would reside at its dock, which offers deeper water than the college's dock. The museum's executive director, Regina Faden, said hosting the ship seemed "the neighborly thing to do." The total relocation could cost $1.5 million and the cleanup an additional $1 million, Urgo said, adding that the expense would be covered by reserve funds in the college's budget.

NATIIONAL: The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council, through its Students Program and in partnership with Lucid, Alliance to Save Energy and the National Wildlife Federation announced the launch of Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN) 2012, a nationwide electricity and water use reduction competition among colleges and universities. Between Feb. 6 and April 23, 2012, students across the country will compete to achieve the greatest reductions in their residence halls over a three-week period. The sign-up deadline is Nov. 1, 2011, and more than 100 schools are currently registered for the program.

Schools participating in the competition can choose to compete against buildings on their own campus, or against a select group of peer institutions, with savings from all participants accumulating to reach a national challenge goal of one gigawatt-hour. Using Lucid's Building Dashboard, participating schools will be able to instantly compare performance, share winning strategies and track standings among the leading schools and buildings. With generous support from United Technologies Corp, founding sponsor of the Center for Green Schools at USGBC, Sloan, Sterling Planet and Constellation Energy, CCN is an opportunity to organize students and staff to make immediate and lasting impacts on a school's carbon emissions and campus culture.

"Campus Conservation Nationals encourages students to recognize the significant impact that sustainable behaviors can have on a campus and in a community," said Pat Lane, USGBC Students program lead at the Center for Green Schools. "This will be the largest national competition of its kind and will have far reaching impact showing students that a collective effort, along with a desire to better the built environment can lead to positive and lasting change."

CCN offers valuable educational opportunities, such as enabling students to teach themselves conservation behaviors, as well as environmental and economic benefits. Above all, CCN is designed to empower the future generation of energy and environmental leaders, and foster a culture of conservation within campus communities. To learn more about the competition, join the network or follow leading schools, visit www.CompeteToReduce.org.

NATIONAL: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a report titled, "Solar Schools Assessment and Implementation Project: Financing Options for Solar Installations on K-12 Schools," detailing best practices for financing and installing photovoltaic (PV) systems on school buildings.

The newly released report examines the two primary types of ownership models used to obtain solar installations. This analysis can help school administrators across the country select the best option for deploying solar technologies in their school districts. The study supports DOE's SunShot initiative goal of addressing critical barriers, such as the availability of financing, to accelerate the integration of solar energy technologies across the United States.

NATIONAL: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a report titled, "Solar Schools Assessment and Implementation Project: Financing Options for Solar Installations on K-12 Schools," detailing best practices for financing and installing photovoltaic (PV) systems on school buildings.

The newly released report examines the two primary types of ownership models used to obtain solar installations. This analysis can help school administrators across the country select the best option for deploying solar technologies in their school districts. The study supports DOE's SunShot initiative goal of addressing critical barriers, such as the availability of financing, to accelerate the integration of solar energy technologies across the United States.

PENNSYLVANIA: Upper St. Clair School District celebrated the recent renovations of Boyce and Fort Couch middle schools with ribbon-cutting ceremonies on Oct. 22.
David McLean, AIA, architect with Graves & McLean Registered Architects, LLC, said the renovations at Boyce were the extension of a successful design, with 70 percent of the project being renovations and about 30 percent new construction. At Fort Couch, McLean said there was more of a transformation, creating specific space and identity for the team-teaching approach used at the school.
McLean emphasized the "green" technology incorporated in both buildings, which features natural light and fresh air. Dr. Patrick O'Toole, USC School District superintendent, said, "We are proud of the LEED aspects of the design, both from the viewpoint of the economic advantages and the example set for our students for environmental responsibility."

O'Toole commented that the newly renovated schools, which feature the arch design used at the high school, are representative of the continuity of education in the district. "We are excited to have two 21st century schools for our students and community. The facilities are ideal for middle-level student learning."

Dr. John Bornyas, director of operations, community relations & special projects, has been very involved with the renovation project, which he said incorporated timeless design elements and finishes. With the completion of the middle school renovations, all of the district's schools have been renovated, said Bornyas. "It is truly a milestone for the school district." Upper St. Clair School District's capital project program of comprehensive school building renovations started in 1998 with the renovation of the high school, which was completed in 2000. The district's three elementary schools were renovated in 2002-2003. The renovation construction projects at both middle schools began in August 2009 and are in the final stages of completion.

ILLINOIS: When Chicago's Bright Elementary School added 15 minutes of recess to its school day this year, teachers ventured outdoors to find a run-down schoolyard with no playground, a sometimes violent neighborhood and a generation of kids who didn't know how to play outside.
At Namaste Charter School, officials this year spent $23,000 for a "recess coach," a modern-day schoolyard referee tasked with keeping fights and bullying to a minimum while also teaching games that could be unfamiliar to today's schoolchildren — games like four square, tag and dodgeball.

After three decades of no recess at most Chicago public schools, outdoor playtime returns next year with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's longer school day initiative. Across the country, efforts targeting childhood obesity, like first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign, also have helped trigger a recess comeback. But what many Chicago schools are finding is that bringing back recess is not as simple as throwing open the school doors.

For starters, years of neglect and changing priorities have left many schools without functioning playgrounds. Once a mainstay of the school scene, playgrounds are nonexistent at 99 CPS elementary and middle schools, and many of the ones that remain need repair.
Many city schools also have limited outdoor space. Some have campus parks and artificial turf fields to run on, but others have only slabs of concrete, often converted to parking lots. And then there's the issue of educators not knowing how to do recess.

While many educators acknowledge there are benefits to allowing school-age children to play outdoors every day, they also worry about how to keep kids from being idle during the break, how to stop bullying on the playground and where to hold recess — especially in space-challenged schools.
CPS officials have launched an inventory of what outdoor facilities will be available for recess next fall. A survey earlier this year found that while 79 percent of principals said they had playground equipment appropriate for kindergartners through third-graders, that number slipped to 32 percent for children in grades four to six and 13 percent for middle schoolers.
The assessment, to be completed by the end of this school year, will also address cracked concrete and how much it will cost the district to bring outdoor areas up to par — an issue that has not been of paramount concern over the last few years with the decline of recess and a financially strained school district trying to keep up with a $2.5 billion backlog of roof and masonry projects.

MARYLAND: No heat in the winter. No air conditioning in the summer. Windows painted shut since the 1950s trap stagnant air that triggers infections and asthma attacks. Broken water fountains sit rusted outside crammed, crumbling classrooms. A letter to the Baltimore Sun on Oct. 16 revealed that Baltimore's schoolchildren suffer these indignities every day. The writers were neither parents nor teachers but a group of middle school students themselves. They channeled their daily anger and said "[this] makes us feel unwanted."

We've seen their school, Holabird Academy, and we can't expect these kids to feel otherwise. They want to come to school to focus on learning, but their miserable building "doesn't offer this," as they put it. Nor do more than a hundred buildings like it in Baltimore. Instead, academic achievement suffers, students skip school and drop out, top-quality teachers leave the system and proud neighborhoods lose their economic backbone. The city and its people deserve better.

The estimated cost to get there: $2.8 billion. In these tough budget times, that's far more than what Baltimore and Annapolis can afford with traditional resources. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and schools CEO Andrés Alonso bring a sincere desire to solve this problem. We need to give them more innovative tools with which to work — and we need to do it now.

That's where a new breed of public-private partnership (P3) comes in. Governments around the world have recently deployed so-called "63-20" bonds to raise massive amounts of money for infrastructure improvements. Available only to nonprofit entities, these bonds encourage cities to partner with community groups to get more out of underused real estate assets like schools and libraries. Taking advantage of creative upfront financing options, the partnership can then leverage its resources to fund a sweeping transformation. In a traditional municipal bond program, cities can only afford to renovate a handful of schools at a time. That process would take decades.
This aggressive and proven solution would also instantly bring with it thousands of construction-related jobs.

The concept: A nonprofit corporation, having partnered with the city, issues the tax-free 63-20 bonds backed by a dedicated revenue source — such as the yearly operating and capital budgets for the schools — and other resources such as a potential new sales tax or community-generated revenue from use of school facilities. The nonprofit has effectively loaned the amount of the bond to the school system, which, over the course of the repayment term, can either lease back the asset or create a buy-back partnership.
A 63-20 partnership also provides a unique opportunity to improve efficiency and city planning. Packaging several facility renovations into one project yields economies of scale in construction and the ability to make real a new vision for an entire community.
Once these schools are improved, we can open them after hours and in the summer, or share space with local groups and businesses like daycare centers. Schools serving as local anchors — with their libraries, pools or auditoriums — can potentially bring in new private revenue from the community and help revitalize neighborhoods. If we make energy efficiency a priority, as we should, facility operating costs will drop drastically for decades to come.

NEW YORK: It's New York's attempt to reinvent an inner-city school. The iZone project - or Innovation Zone - is challenging public schools in New York City to rip up the rule book. They're being told to find new ways to provide a more individualized education, to change the shape of the school day, explore what technology can offer and even ask whether pupils need to be in school at all. "The challenge we face is nothing less than transforming our schools from assembly-line factories into centres of innovation," said the city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who warns that the US school system is falling behind international rivals.

The iZone project is a living experiment in how to confront some of the big questions facing school systems in major cities around the world. In intensely diverse cities, with pupils from such a wide spectrum of ethnic, cultural and economic backgrounds, how can a school serve individual pupils?
What are the skills that are going to be needed in an unpredictable, fast-moving modern economy? And when teenagers' lives are so suffused in information and technology, how should a lesson be delivered?

GEORGIA: Four metro Atlanta school systems seeking $2 billion through a sales tax renewal face voter opposition because of cheating and spending scandals. People question whether more money should be handed over to systems in turmoil — notably Atlanta Public Schools and the DeKalb County School System.
The four districts, which also include Fulton County and Decatur, will learn their fate on Nov. 8. During the 15-year life of SPLOST, dozens of schools have been built and dozens more have received infrastructure upgrades in the districts. The tax would be extended for five more years, beginning in 2013, to pay for new schools and other improvements.

District plans for SPLOST money are ambitious. DeKalb is pursuing $475 million, including $144 million to replace seven elementary schools. Fulton County is asking voters for $912 million, $281 million to address overcrowded schools by building new ones. “If they don’t pass, the only other option would be to raise taxes,” said APS Superintendent Erroll Davis, whose district is seeking $513 million, part of which will build new schools in Midtown and Buckhead. “My sense is the voter should understand that it is a much more efficient process for visitors, commuters and others to pay than it is for us to put the burden on the property owners.”
Davis said Atlanta’s building projects are not contingent upon SPLOST passage. He said the projects will get done anyway; SPLOST just makes it easier. “It is not a yes or no on these projects; it is what will be the [funding] source, because the projects have to go forward,” Davis said.

GEORGIA: A new elementary school has carried Cobb County into the forefront of the “green” building movement. Parents at East Side Elementary School pushed for an energy-efficient school when it came time to rebuild, and officials listened. But saving money, rather than environmentalism, was the main motivation behind the heating and cooling system they selected.
The new geothermal system uses the Earth’s constant temperature to condition the air. It cost extra but is expected to pay for itself in a little more than a decade. If it works as planned, more geothermal systems could be installed in future schools, with a potential savings of millions of dollars a year. “I have no doubt whatsoever that we’ll save $40,000 a year on electric bills [at East Side],” said Gene Trull, the energy coordinator for Cobb schools.

This is the Cobb County School District’s first experiment with the novel technology. None of the other major metro school districts, with the exception of Atlanta, have tried it. The system added $585,000 to the $15 million construction project, most of the money going into the ground: A contractor spent three months digging 110 wells on the property and laying 44,000 feet of plastic pipe. Each well is about a half-foot in diameter and 400 feet deep and contains a water-filled pipe that loops down into the earth and back into the building.
It’s just below 60 degrees that far down, and the pipes enter the building at about that temperature. They cool the air on hot days and heat it on cold days. From there, smaller conventional systems bring the temperature to an ideal level at a big savings in energy costs.

Geothermal is becoming more popular in the Southeast, said Mackinnon Lawrence, a senior analyst with the clean technology market research firm Pike Research. He said the installation cost is a deterrent for some but that the systems pay for themselves over time. “It’s really just a straight budgeting thing if you can get past the upfront cost,” he said.
Geothermal is 1 percent of the heating and cooling market, but more institutions are turning to it as they learn about it, he said. Geothermal heat pump shipments grew from under 36,000 in 2000 to more than 115,000 in 2009, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

NEW YORK : If Cornell University were to win the city’s competition to build a new science graduate school, it would install on Roosevelt Island almost four acres of solar panels, 500 geothermal wells, and buildings with the rare distinction of generating as much power as they use.

Stanford University’s proposal for the island calls for minimizing energy use, creating a marsh to filter water, and recycling water from storm runoff and sinks, and possibly from toilets as well.

In an expansion under way in West Harlem that would house Columbia’s proposed graduate school, the university is recycling more than 90 percent of the material in buildings it is demolishing, and taking unusual steps to minimize construction pollution.

The Bloomberg administration’s contest to create a school of applied sciences sets high environmental standards, but some competing universities are going much further to out-green one another. As the Oct. 28 deadline for proposals was approaching, several of the top contenders discussed their environmental plans as part of a public relations war intended to impress city officials who will decide which institution wins up to $400 million in land and infrastructure improvements.

PENNSYLVANIA: At one Bald Eagle Area School District building, solar panels cover more than half the roof. That's equal to about two-and-a-half football fields-- end zones included. "It's funny to think, Bald Eagle Area, in the middle of Centre County, one of the most rural school districts -- and this is one of the most high-tech buildings in Pennsylvania," district construction manager Rick Vilello said while standing atop the roof on a foggy day recently.
Lots of districts have tried to lower their energy bills -- from building biomass boilers to turning off teachers' coffee pots in classrooms. But Bald Eagle Area and Bellefonte Area school districts have taken an unusual approach through a private partnership: Solar panels provide about half the energy for the Bald Eagle Area middle and high school building, as well as the connected Wingate Elementary School. In the neighboring Bellefonte Area School District, two elementary schools -- Pleasant Gap and Marion-Walker -- and the high school have solar energy systems, too.
So far the savings from solar energy are modest -- about $12,000 at Bald Eagle Area, and less than that in Bellefonte, based on an analysis of data provided by the districts. But leaders there say the panels didn't cost the districts or local taxpayers any money, serve as an education tool for students, provide certainty for future budgets, and could become bigger cost savers in future years.

Below Bald Eagle Area High School's roof, inside its library, a digital monitor keeps track of how much sun the 2,171 panels on the roof are absorbing and converting into energy. Here's what the students could see: Since May, when the system was fully installed, the panels have produced 347,335 kilowatt-hours. Some more images -- a tree, a pickup truck and a home -- popped up on the screen to give some perspective: Those 347,355 kWh are enough energy to power about 377 homes for one month. And those 347,355 kWh from solar panels prevented 463,692 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. "9,595. It would take this many mature trees one year to reduce the total CO2 avoided," the screen said. "381,373 miles. The total amount of CO2 avoided = this many miles driven in a 1-ton pickup truck."

Some science teachers at both schools have started to incorporate the panels into classroom assignments. Students in Myken Poorman's classroom have used the data to create an alternative energy plan for a company they've studied. "This is a great way for students to learn more about alternative energy sources and it gives them a specific example by seeing the solar panels at work," Poorman, an agricultural sciences teacher at Bellefonte Area High School, said in an email. "This project also gives the students an opportunity to increase their communication, networking, and research skills."

MAINE: School committee members and School Superintendent David Theoharides are reaching out to York County legislators and business owners for help in getting the state's school construction program back on track. In March, when the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) announced its ranking of schools most in need of major renovations, the Sanford High School & Regional Technical Center was in second place. After narrowly missing out on the previous funding cycle for major school construction projects seven years ago, local school administrators were pleased about the news, to say the least.
Sanford's ranking was confirmed in August when the MDOE's review process was completed and the "Final Priority List" for project funding through the state's Major Capital Improvement Program was announced. In fact, Sanford has three projects in the top tier of the Final Priority List — Emerson School is fourth and Lafayette School is in 13th place.
The next step in the process is for the MDOE's school facilities team to estimate the cost of a solution for each of the top projects and to determine how many of the projects can be funded.

Unfortunately for students and school districts, the process has stalled. In Maine, school construction projects approved by the State Board of Education are funded through bonds; the board has a bond limit — established by the legislature — of $116 million. As previous projects are paid off and the debt is retired, new bonding can be authorized, as long as the debt does not exceed the state board's limit. However, concern in Augusta about the health of the economy has resulted in a hesitancy on the part of the government to commit to any bonding or new debt. "The governor is considering postponing bonds used for school construction projects for a year," said Theoharides on Tuesday.
Based on the timeline of the previous round of major school construction project ratings, which was in 2004 — 2005, school districts at the top of the list would have formed building committees by this time and would be meeting with the MDOE's school facilities team. "At this point we're just on hold," Theoharides said.

PENNSYLVANIA: As it prepares for large-scale school closings, the Philadelphia School District must brace itself for a painful process that probably won't generate much revenue, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts released Wednesday.
The report, by Pew's Philadelphia Research Initiative, examined districts that have engaged in similar closings over the past decade, including Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and Washington.
It concluded that short-term financial gains have "been relatively small in the context of big-city school-district budgets" - with real savings achieved only with mass layoffs. "Longer-term savings are difficult to project," the report said.

The district has cited falling enrollment, outdated buildings, and budgetary concerns as the reasons it must close and consolidate schools, though officials have downplayed the savings they expect to realize. Recommendations on closures are expected this month or early next month. The district's enrollment has dropped 23 percent in 10 years, from 201,190 students to 154,482. Fewer school-age children and a boom in charter schools have hastened the decline.

It is unclear when any school closures will be announced or occur. In many cities, researchers found, vacant old school buildings, many of which are in tough neighborhoods, have proven to be a tough sell. As of this summer, there were 200 unoccupied and unsold school properties in the districts Pew studied - 92 in Detroit alone. In Philadelphia, the district has 14 empty buildings on its hands, and a number of former Catholic schools already stand vacant.

PENNSYLVANIA: As it prepares for large-scale school closings, the Philadelphia School District must brace itself for a painful process that probably won't generate much revenue, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts released Wednesday.
The report, by Pew's Philadelphia Research Initiative, examined districts that have engaged in similar closings over the past decade, including Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and Washington.
It concluded that short-term financial gains have "been relatively small in the context of big-city school-district budgets" - with real savings achieved only with mass layoffs. "Longer-term savings are difficult to project," the report said.

The district has cited falling enrollment, outdated buildings, and budgetary concerns as the reasons it must close and consolidate schools, though officials have downplayed the savings they expect to realize. Recommendations on closures are expected this month or early next month. The district's enrollment has dropped 23 percent in 10 years, from 201,190 students to 154,482. Fewer school-age children and a boom in charter schools have hastened the decline.

It is unclear when any school closures will be announced or occur. In many cities, researchers found, vacant old school buildings, many of which are in tough neighborhoods, have proven to be a tough sell. As of this summer, there were 200 unoccupied and unsold school properties in the districts Pew studied - 92 in Detroit alone. In Philadelphia, the district has 14 empty buildings on its hands, and a number of former Catholic schools already stand vacant.

CALIFORNIA: Turning off lights and giving up 2 degrees of comfort earned Sonoma Elementary $5,556.69. Modesto City Schools started a savings-sharing program with schools in January giving teachers and principals a tangible reward for energy conservation. The districtwide results are in: $247,602.77 saved; $94,905.56 shared. "We wanted to give them that buy-in to be a part of the solution. It's the first time we've really tried it, and it works," said Dennis Snelling, director of business services.

A district chart of use and savings shows the biggest energy users were also the most successful savers. Johansen High School, with its Olympic-sized pool, saved the district nearly $47,000, earning itself a $15,400 rebate. Next was Enochs High, saving more than $34,000. Among the junior high campuses, Mark Twain topped the list, saving nearly $8,000. Sonoma conserved the most among elementary schools, helping the district save more than $11,000 over the same period last year. Rose Avenue was the next highest, saving a little less than $11,000. At Sonoma, where clusters of open classrooms are arranged like flower petals, cooling and heating is a communal affair. The school also supports a physical therapy unit for students with disabilities that includes a small, heated pool. Head custodian Mark Herman said thermostats were set 2 degrees warmer in the summer and 2 degrees cooler in winter. The therapy pool is a balmy 93 degrees instead of 95. "Parking lot lights are on a timer, and he makes sure all the other lights are doused before he leaves at night. When he comes in at 6 a.m., he just turns on one main hall light and teachers turn on their own computers and room lights as they arrive, Herman said. "The teachers have done really well," he said.

Assistant Principal Chanda Bates said being consistent in temperature control and "just making sure everything is off," were the biggest changes for the school. Fifth-grade teacher Barry Courtney said the changes have become second nature. "It's not a problem," he said. "There are times we've let them know it's a little warm -- it's always an issue with this building being so open."
The message dovetails with efforts to save schools money wherever possible and a statewide effort to bring environmental education and green technology to schools.

MARYLAND: State Comptroller Peter Franchot criticized Baltimore County leaders Wednesday for failing to use $7 million in school construction funds to air-condition schools. Franchot, who welcomed a group of Middleborough Elementary children and their parents to Annapolis to testify before the Board of Public Works, asked the board to force the county to spend at least half of the money, which has come from the state alcohol tax, on air-conditioning. But Gov. Martin O'Malley and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp, the other board members, said that while they were sympathetic to the pleas from children and parents, they would not interfere with local decisions on school construction spending.

Baltimore County has the state's second-lowest percentage — 46 percent — of schools with air-conditioning, and no schools are slated to be updated this academic year. In Garrett County, only 27 percent of schools are air-conditioned.

CONNECTICUT: After spending their childhood playing online games, students at Choate Rosemary Hall will soon be able to live inside one. When the academic year begins next autumn, the tony Connecticut prep school will open the Kohler Environmental Center, a living-learning facility where teams of students will compete with one another to see who can live most energy efficiently. Think of it as a sort of SimCity meets Survivor: Wallingford.

The $20 million center is a gift from alumnus Herbert V. Kohler, CEO of Kohler Co. Designed by Graham Wyatt and Kevin Smith of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the 31,325-square-foot structure targets LEED Platinum status and includes labs, a common area, adjacent greenhouses, and also 14 dorm rooms. Between 15 and 20 members of each year's junior class will spend a year living there, divided into teams. They'll conduct individual research, engage in group projects, and design and implement an environmental project.

The challenge is that while they're enjoying their new digs, they will constantly be managing their environment to try and be net zero--that is, they can't consume more energy than the building produces. The building's needs will be provided by a 325-kilowatt photovoltaic array, a roof-mounted solar water-heating system, a geothermal heat pump, a water-recycling system, and waste vegetable oil. Choate is considering installing stationary bikes so students themselves can generate power. "This will be learning at the interface between the actual and virtual worlds," Wyatt says.

To help the students and faculty manage energy usage, the facility will be equipped with a sophisticated energy-management system. That, in itself, is not unusual, but this one will not only be highly visible but responsive too. Students can monitor the building dashboard, get information on the center's energy online, or watch it fluctuate on their smartphones. If one team is surging ahead, the other could, conceivably, choose en masse not to shower (showers, Wyatt says, can consume 75% of a building's hot-water supply). Or they could lower the thermostats. Who knows how far a group of motivated teenagers will go to win? Will they figure out a way to sell excess energy to rival Deerfield Academy? Don't underestimate these kids.

LOUISIANA: Clearing a final hurdle, the latest revisions to the roughly $2 billion master plan for public school construction in New Orleans won approval Wednesday from the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The latest version of the plan, financed largely by the federal government, already had the nod from the Orleans Parish School Board, meaning school officials now have an all-clear on the next phase of construction. Combined with projects already under way, the master plan should reach almost every public school building that is slated to be housing students in 2016.

State and city education officials managed to overcome objections that cropped up to an earlier version of the plan, which included a third, unfunded phase of construction. By downsizing a few large projects and taking advantage of certain tax credits, school officials now expect that federal dollars will cover the entire plan.

Not every building now in use will get a complete upgrade. The revisions include 23 schools that will be refurbished and four others that will get minor repairs. Rather than full $20 million or $30 million renovations, these schools will get improvements typically running from $1 million to $5 million. All told, the master plan envisions 82 rebuilt, renovated, refurbished or repaired public school buildings housing somewhere between 42,500 and 47,000 students.

The first phase of construction has already begun. Four renovations are complete, and three new schools have been built. Another 10 schools are under construction, and nine are in the design phase. The second phase of construction calls for another 17 new schools and 12 full-scale renovations. Almost all of it is being paid for with a $1.8 billion FEMA settlement secured last year.

NEW JERSEY: Midtown Community Elementary School is among the nation’s environmentally elite elementary schools. The 700-student school was awarded platinum certification through the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. “Platinum” is the highest LEED rating and represents the “greenest” buildings in the world, according to a prepared statement about the award.

The school is New Jersey’s first public prekindergarten-to-fifth-grade school to be given the award and the largest of the 25 platinum-designated schools nationwide, according to the statement.
Among the “green” amenities in the school are a geothermal heating and cooling system and a solar photovoltaic array that has helped reduce the school’s energy costs, according to the release. The school also features glass doors in certain areas so students can see the school’s green systems in action and a 6,000-square-foot rooftop garden — designed in conjunction with the Liberty Science Center — that is used for outdoor experiments.

OHIO: For years, the lingering problem for Rossford school officials has been finding the money to improve its aging buildings. Last week, the school board considered a new possibility -- investing in energy upgrades to cut utility bills and operating costs. Those upgrades could range from more environmentally friendly boilers to new roofs or doors to keep warm air from escaping through windows, said Martin Miller, an account executive at Energy Systems Group.
Rossford Exempted Village Schools could take out a loan and retire the debt within 15 years through House Bill 264, a law aimed at helping schools pay for energy improvements. The upgrades would pay for themselves through savings on utility bills and operating costs, Mr. Miller said.

ESG, a Newburgh, Ind., company, has worked with municipalities and school districts to help them become more energy efficient. Those projects ranged from $1 million to $25 million in scope, with ESG including its project manager fees in the final price, Mr. Miller said.
For school officials, H.B. 264 means being able to borrow money without going before the voters. In a heated election last year, voters rejected a bond levy to rebuild a new high school and middle school.
The energy improvements would take six months to a year to complete, so the district would start saving on energy bills sooner than if it underwent a major construction project to build a new school, Mr. Miller said. "When you construct a new building it could be years -- literally, years," he said.

But several community residents and school board members said it was important that the energy investments fit into the district's master plan for its buildings, especially as the schools' foundations keep aging. "We're looking at which buildings should be kept, which buildings should be preserved and renovated, whether to consolidate grades," said Roger Gluckin, who was on a campaign coalition against the levy last year and is now on the school committee working toward developing a facilities master plan.

LOUISIANA: The Caddo Parish School Board has approved borrowing $20.7 million in Qualified School Construction Bond money to fund upgrades at district schools. The board unanimously voted to use the zero-interest federal monies to upgrade technology, electricity and security at the district's elementary and kindergarten through eighth-grade schools.
This is the second round of QSCB money the district has secured under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The first allocation, $17.4 million in 2009, was used to upgrade technology, electricity and security in all of the district's middle and high schools.

Grant Schlueter, a bond attorney with Foley and Judell, said because of the board's work in negotiating the issuance of the bonds with Chase Bank, the board will actually pay back less than it borrowed. "To the best of my knowledge, Caddo is one of the only ones to get a zero percent interest rate," Schlueter said. "With that said, we are estimating that with no interest, the district will actually only pay back roughly $17.8 million, making this a great deal for the School Board."
Caddo Finance Director Jim Lee said the district has been pleased with the results it has seen from its previous QSCB funds and is hopeful of similar results with this latest round. "This is a win-win situation for us because we are able to do some of the work our schools need while saving money," Lee said.
Schlueter said if the bonds were structured more like a traditional bond issue, the district would actually pay back $9.6 million more for the same monies, showing the difference a zero-interest loan can make for the board. Lee said the funds will be paid back through the capital projects fund over the next 15 years.

ALASKA: Alaska has agreed to pay for the replacement or repair of schools in five remote villages, signaling an end to a 14-year-old lawsuit that forced the state to revamp the way it guarantees funding for school construction in rural areas.

Although the settlement is confined to five school projects, the effect of the lawsuit itself has been far-reaching, according to those who led the effort. It triggered the opening of state coffers for more than $1.2 billion in school facilities projects in villages over the past decade and led state lawmakers to pass a measure last year that establishes a new, permanent mechanism for state funding of rural school construction projects.

NEW YORK: Steven Holl is one of the most well-known and respected architects in the world. While his sustainable designs can be found across the globe, he has returned to New York to grace Manhattan with yet another showstopper. Holl and his associates broke ground this week on the new Campbell Sports Center at Columbia University. The massive project will be a new green face for the recreational side of Columbia, combining strong and dynamic building elements for the students to enjoy.

PENNSYLVANIA: The roof leaks badly. Parts of the building are shut off because of water damage. There is asbestos contamination on the fourth floor, and chunks of plaster scattered on the beautiful, crumbling second floor of the auditorium. Furness High, built in 1914, would cost $26 million to repair or $51 million to replace, and that's money the cash-strapped Philadelphia School District doesn't have. While it may land on a list of district buildings slated for closure, Furness' growing academic success means that the school could be around for years to come.

Union and district leaders gathered Monday at Furness with U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Pa.) to tout the American Jobs Act, which President Obama has said would pump $944 billion into Pennsylvania school-modernization projects. Of that, $396 million would go to Philadelphia school projects. "When you look at buildings like this, and we're supposed to compete globally, I think it's kind of shameful," said Lori Shorr, Mayor Nutter's education secretary and a newly appointed executive adviser to the district. "Without some infusion of funding from the American Jobs Act, it's going to be very difficult for this district and this city to make education its number-one priority and to be successful."
In addition to providing school-modernization money, Obama's jobs bill would provide funds to hire and keep teachers, police officers, and firefighters.

The legislation is in trouble. The Senate defeated it last week, a move that Brady called "an absolute outrage." Furness, on Third Street in South Philadelphia, is not handicapped-accessible. Leaders gathered Monday in a science lab with no gas access or running water; its walls are badly crumbled despite having been repaired recently. And that's not the worst of it, said Brittany Butler, a junior at the school. "This isn't the only place where the wall is peeling."
The average Philadelphia School District building is 61 years old; 26 schools are more than 100 years old. The oldest district school, Francis Scott Key Elementary, was built in 1889.
Associate superintendent Penny Nixon said 324 district buildings needed $1.5 billion in renovations and repairs. The district had to cut more than $629 million from its budget this year to make ends meet. Next year is looking "challenging," too, said Shorr. "We're not seeing the taxes come back the way that we thought we were going to see," she said, "and we have to have an infusion of some - I'll just say it - cash."

PENNSYLVANIA: The roof leaks badly. Parts of the building are shut off because of water damage. There is asbestos contamination on the fourth floor, and chunks of plaster scattered on the beautiful, crumbling second floor of the auditorium. Furness High, built in 1914, would cost $26 million to repair or $51 million to replace, and that's money the cash-strapped Philadelphia School District doesn't have. While it may land on a list of district buildings slated for closure, Furness' growing academic success means that the school could be around for years to come.

Union and district leaders gathered Monday at Furness with U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Pa.) to tout the American Jobs Act, which President Obama has said would pump $944 billion into Pennsylvania school-modernization projects. Of that, $396 million would go to Philadelphia school projects. "When you look at buildings like this, and we're supposed to compete globally, I think it's kind of shameful," said Lori Shorr, Mayor Nutter's education secretary and a newly appointed executive adviser to the district. "Without some infusion of funding from the American Jobs Act, it's going to be very difficult for this district and this city to make education its number-one priority and to be successful."
In addition to providing school-modernization money, Obama's jobs bill would provide funds to hire and keep teachers, police officers, and firefighters.

The legislation is in trouble. The Senate defeated it last week, a move that Brady called "an absolute outrage." Furness, on Third Street in South Philadelphia, is not handicapped-accessible. Leaders gathered Monday in a science lab with no gas access or running water; its walls are badly crumbled despite having been repaired recently. And that's not the worst of it, said Brittany Butler, a junior at the school. "This isn't the only place where the wall is peeling."
The average Philadelphia School District building is 61 years old; 26 schools are more than 100 years old. The oldest district school, Francis Scott Key Elementary, was built in 1889.
Associate superintendent Penny Nixon said 324 district buildings needed $1.5 billion in renovations and repairs. The district had to cut more than $629 million from its budget this year to make ends meet. Next year is looking "challenging," too, said Shorr. "We're not seeing the taxes come back the way that we thought we were going to see," she said, "and we have to have an infusion of some - I'll just say it - cash."

SOUTH DAKOTA: It smelled like dead mice, and exterminators could never find them, said Connie Kaltenbach, principal at the school. Carpenter ants and termites had damaged the lower level of the office area, which was built in 1917, according to a federal grant application the school district submitted. Over the years, school employees also reported infestations of wasps, spiders, cockroaches, box elder bugs and snakes, according to the application.
Light fixtures in the building did not meet fire code, there were no fire barriers and parts of the wiring system were more than 50 years old, according to the application, which states that "... these violations and deficiencies have created an emergency condition at the Batesland Elementary School."

The 194-student Batesland Elementary School is one of four in the Shannon County School District on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and one of two, along with Rockyford Elementary School, undergoing multimillion-dollar renovation projects this year and next. The $16.5 million Batesland project will add 7,000 square feet and remodel the 30,000-square-foot existing school; it should be finished by January 2013, said Mike Charnholm, a construction manager with Scull Construction.

Sasse, business manager for the district who grew up on the reservation and went to Batesland himself, said the old school was in bad shape. "We had all kinds of problems with the building. It was probably actually costing us a lot of money just to upkeep the building," Sasse said. "All those things go into the decision to move forward on a project like this."
Sasse was part of a team of people that came up with funding for the project. The grant proposal netted $5 million from the Department of Education. The district contributed $4.5 million and $4 million of the financing came from the New Markets Tax Credit program, a program that gives corporations tax cut incentives to invest loans in low-income communities. The rest of the funding came from a traditional bank loan, Sasse said. This is the first time a New Markets Tax Credit has financed a school project, said Lin Van Hofwegen, managing director of Dakotas America LLC, which allocates the credit in North and South Dakota.

"These schools are the heart of the small towns around them. They don't have community centers like a Rapid City or a Mitchell or a Sioux Falls," Sasse said. "These schools are the hearts of these communities and people rely on the school for much more than education. That's a big part of their culture and the tradition of the reservation."

NATIONAL: LEARNING BY DESIGN has released its 20th Anniversary Fall 2011 edition, with a special focus on projects committed to advancing educational design excellence and creating innovative, collaborative learning environments. LEARNING BY DESIGN showcases the nation’s best education design and construction projects, from pre-K to 12 to college and university facilities. Of all of the outstanding design projects chosen for publication in LEARNING BY DESIGN’s Fall 2011 20th Anniversary issue, three were selected for Grand Awards.
The three Grand award winners included: NAC|Architecture (Seattle, WA) for Ardmore Elementary School; Dekker/Perich/Sabatini (Albuquerque, NM) for nex+Gen Academy; and EwingCole (Philadelphia, PA) for Zankel Music Center, Skidmore College.

NEW JERSEY: New Jersey's public schools have long been test cases for energy conservation and other sustainable strategies; the proliferation of solar panels on school roofs is just the highest-profile example. In the past two years alone, there have been more than 30 solar projects approved in New Jersey schools, and another 20 proposed.

As such strategies increasingly become economic issues, the state's School Boards Association is launching an unprecedented study of schools' green practices. The goal is to determine where and how they can bring short- and long-term savings and other benefits to existing schools.

The Sustainable Schools Project, costing $300,000 and taking place over three years, aims to cull from schools their success stories and their lessons in not just energy efficiency but also how they teach and set examples of sustainable living in the classroom. "You hear a lot about new green schools going up, but not very much on what is happening in existing schools," said John Henry of the association's Educational Information and Resource Center (EIRC), which will be heading up the study. "And not just in energy, but what are the other areas that could bring savings and also improve the education for these children," he said. "We see coming out of this a sustainable how-to, a guidebook of best practices."

NEW JERSEY: When the chunks of concrete began falling, Camden's Lanning Square School closed and students were temporarily moved into two 19th-century buildings.
Nine years and $10 million later, the Lanning Square School has been demolished, architectural plans have been drawn for a new building, and adjacent homes have been seized by eminent domain - but the neighborhood is nowhere near getting a new school.

Now children's advocates are calling for an investigation into how part of the land set aside for a $42.4 million school has become a parking lot for a politically connected construction project. "For them to take property that's designated for that purpose, ready to be built, and then behind closed doors, with no public process, no accountability, let somebody else use the property . . . raises serious concerns that warrant investigation," said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center in Newark, which represents students in poor districts.

VIRGINIA: President Barack Obama's education chief visited a successful but crumbling inner-city Richmond high school Friday to pitch an imperiled jobs-creation plan that would provide a cash infusion for school improvements and teacher retention.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's visit to Richmond Community High School was part of an ongoing, campaign-style tour that will bring the president himself to Virginia next week to try to drum up support for his $447 billion American Jobs Act, which Senate Republicans rejected Tuesday night.

Duncan touted the education components of the plan, saying Virginia would get $425 million for public school upgrades, $742 million to preserve 10,800 teacher jobs and $110 million for community college renovations.

Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones said the school funding in the jobs bill would help the city make some upgrades that otherwise would be unaffordable.

MASSACHUSETTS: The US Education Department said that Massachusetts could receive $378.6 million to rebuild crumbling schools if the Obama administration’s American Jobs Act passes. “Our children only get one shot at a good education. They deserve better than crumbling school buildings and half-century-old science labs,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement.

The department said that a new report by the Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition of 66 of the country’s largest urban systems, found that Boston schools alone needed $640 million for reonovation, repair, and modernization, and $500 million for deferred maintenance. “This report is further proof that Boston’s schools critically need the funds proposed by the President in the American Jobs Act,” Duncan said. “The Act will provide billions for school modernization, which will help give our children the world-class education they deserve.” “We have had to make tough decisions in recent years as we balance our budget. Deferring maintenance has been one strategy BPS has turned to to close multi-million dollar budget gaps in recent years,” Boston Public Schools spokesman Matthew Wilder said in a statement. “The American Jobs Act dollars would allow us to catch up quickly and invest in facilities that can better support the investments we are already making in curriculum, teaching and instruction.” He said the numbers cited by the Education Department were consistent with the schools’ estimates.

TEXAS: Dallas ISD needs about $1.3 billion to pay for infrastructure needs, such as new construction, repairs, renovations, modernization, and postponed maintenance repairs, according to a report released today by the Council of the Great City Schools.

Coinciding with the release of the report is a news release from the U.S. Department of Education urging support of President Barack Obama's American Jobs Act, which promises to provide an estimated $2.3 billion to Texas for "modernization efforts to rebuild crumbling buildings and classes." Dallas ISD's share has been estimated at $191.6 million under the plan.
That amount falls way short of DISD's infrastructure needs noted in the report. They are: $328 million needed for new construction; $959 million needed for renovation, repair and modernization; $49 million needed for deferred maintenance.

Fifty major city school systems responded to the survey from the Council of the Great City Schools, which is a coalition of 65 of the nation's largest urban public school systems. The school systems surveyed indicated a need of about $15.3 billion for new construction; $46.7 billion in repair, renovation and modernization needs; and $14.4 billion in deferred maintenance needs, according to the report. The school systems comprise 8,561 elementary and secondary schools and enroll more than five million students, the report says.

COLORADO: When students returned to school this fall in rural Mosca, Colo., they had plenty to cheer about besides the Thunderbirds, their football team. In August, the school district completed construction of the new Sangre de Cristo K-12 school, replacing an old metal building that more closely resembled a potato cellar, according to some students, referring to the low, dark warehouses for storing one of the region’s primary crops.

The new building offers plenty of natural daylight and other design features intended to create a better learning environment while reducing energy costs for the school district, according to Paul Hutton, a sustainability consultant who worked on the project.
Designed by klipp Architects of Denver, the 80,000-square-foot building will use only 30 percent as much energy as the average school in the state. It qualifies for a LEED gold rating, and planners hope to win the top rating, platinum, after it completes the installation of a ground-mounted solar power array later this year.

Much of the energy savings will come from a geo-exchange system that relies on a constant temperature below ground to heat and cool a building without the use of fossil fuels. The system maintains a comfortable indoor temperature throughout the year by circulating fluid through long loops of piping buried underneath the football and baseball fields.

NEW YORK: The old New York School of Printing is a modernistic surprise in the tenement miscellany of Hell’s Kitchen. Opened in 1960, it was designed by Hugh Kelly and B. Sumner Gruzen in two parts, a fluid, guitar-box auditorium set off by a stern, rectangular sweep of glass blocks and steel swing-out windows. Concealed under a plastic screen years ago, the glass blocks were exposed for a while this year, only to be covered up again.

The 1950s was a dry time for architectural design, which made projects like the School of Printing, now the High School of Graphic Communication Arts, stand out all the more.
Completed in 1960, it was in harmony with the ethic of the ’50s: a long, industrial-style wing of glass block set back on 49th, connected to a romantic undulating auditorium wing of cool gray brick shaped like a guitar. Other touches are escalators and a 60-foot-long mosaic mural by Hans Hofmann, brilliantly colored, along the 49th Street wall. The magazine Progressive Architecture considered it “a vibrant note on a depressing street.” In “New York 1960,” by Robert A. M. Stern, David Fishman and Thomas Mellins, the school is described as a “bold, imaginative interpretation of International Style modernism.”

Perhaps 20 or 30 years ago the windows began failing, and they were replaced with standard aluminum models. At the same time, the Board of Education covered over the glass block with Kalwall, translucent plastic panels, with etched-in lines to imitate the mortar joints of the glass block. The crispness of the industrial windows was lost, and the dreamy translucence of the glass block was replaced with a filmy plastic.

Recently the glass block was exposed again, but just in a progressive striptease. Section by section, the School Construction Authority replaced the windows and the Kalwall with current versions, and the rebuilt facade looks pretty similar to the previous one, although hardly like the original. That makes a second replacement facade for the main building, although the peppery gray brick auditorium has survived just fine over half a century.

CALIFORNIA: Several Newport-Mesa schools will be awarded a percent of the money they saved the district by participating in the Green Schools Program during the 2010-2011 school year. The 14 schools that participated will receive a funds equaling 50 percent of the savings realized by the program, distributed on a pro rata basis, not to exceed $35.406. Among those being awarded are Eastbluff, Harbor View and Lincoln elementary, Ensign intermediate, and Newport Harbor high schools.

The total savings from the program was $70,812, the most being saved from a Newport Beach school, Newport Harbor High School, with $21,692. The schools will be awarded 50 percent of their savings, totaling $10,846 for NHHS. Ensign, the only intermediate school participating in the program, saved $4,572. Sonora Elementary in Costa Mesa saved the most for the elementary schools, with $3,517. And the most saved from a Newport Beach elementary was $3,385 by Eastbluff Elementary.
The schools saved an average of 9.1 percent in energy costs, meeting the program‘s goal of between five and 15 percent in electricity savings compared to the 2009-2010 baseline year. “This is an impressive amount of savings,” the staff report from Tuesday’s meeting stated.

Upon authorizing the program, the board approved the 50 percent return incentive for the participating schools. The Alliance to Save Energy’s Green Schools Program is an incentive program funded by Southern California Edison ratepayers. The program has been around since 1999, but last year was the first year the district participated. “The Green Schools Program strives to: Educate K-12 students, trains students about the importance of energy efficiency through hands on learning activities and STEM lessons correlated to CA standards, raise awareness and interest in green careers, and save schools energy and money,” according to the staff report.
For over four years, the board has promoted ways in which the district can positively demonstrate and shape constructive behaviors related to energy management and efficient resource allocation through the Conservation and Management Policy, according to the report, and the Green Schools program is just one way it can do that.

CALIFORNIA: Several Newport-Mesa schools will be awarded a percent of the money they saved the district by participating in the Green Schools Program during the 2010-2011 school year. The 14 schools that participated will receive a funds equaling 50 percent of the savings realized by the program, distributed on a pro rata basis, not to exceed $35.406. Among those being awarded are Eastbluff, Harbor View and Lincoln elementary, Ensign intermediate, and Newport Harbor high schools.

The total savings from the program was $70,812, the most being saved from a Newport Beach school, Newport Harbor High School, with $21,692. The schools will be awarded 50 percent of their savings, totaling $10,846 for NHHS. Ensign, the only intermediate school participating in the program, saved $4,572. Sonora Elementary in Costa Mesa saved the most for the elementary schools, with $3,517. And the most saved from a Newport Beach elementary was $3,385 by Eastbluff Elementary.
The schools saved an average of 9.1 percent in energy costs, meeting the program‘s goal of between five and 15 percent in electricity savings compared to the 2009-2010 baseline year. “This is an impressive amount of savings,” the staff report from Tuesday’s meeting stated.

Upon authorizing the program, the board approved the 50 percent return incentive for the participating schools. The Alliance to Save Energy’s Green Schools Program is an incentive program funded by Southern California Edison ratepayers. The program has been around since 1999, but last year was the first year the district participated. “The Green Schools Program strives to: Educate K-12 students, trains students about the importance of energy efficiency through hands on learning activities and STEM lessons correlated to CA standards, raise awareness and interest in green careers, and save schools energy and money,” according to the staff report.
For over four years, the board has promoted ways in which the district can positively demonstrate and shape constructive behaviors related to energy management and efficient resource allocation through the Conservation and Management Policy, according to the report, and the Green Schools program is just one way it can do that.

NATIONAL: According to a new report released by the Council of the Great City Schools, 77 percent of major city school systems need funds for repairs, renovations, modernization and new construction to meet 21st century educational needs. The report, “Facility Needs and Costs in America's Great City Schools (www.cgcs.org under “What's New”),” states that the total facilities needs in 50 major city public school districts amount to more than $61 billion.

“Our children only get one shot at a good education. They deserve better than crumbling school buildings and half-century-old science labs. This report is further proof that America's schools critically need the funds proposed by the President in the American Jobs Act,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. “The Act will provide billions for school modernization, which will help give our children the world-class education they deserve.”

Some of the nation's largest school districts have some of the country's oldest and most overcrowded school buildings. The President's American Jobs Act plan will invest $30 billion in enhancing the condition of these schools–with $25 billion going to K-12 schools for repair, renovation and modernization. While this bill would help finance long overdue repairs, it also would create needed jobs and help put hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work.

The report surveyed 50 of the largest school districts in the country to determine the scope and scale of repairing and upgrading facilities. The survey determined that the school districts have substantial construction, renovation, modernization and deferred maintenance needs because of the age and size of school buildings, shifting populations, and the need to devote resources to instructional personnel to meet their core academic mission.

UTAH: In the gym, students sat on a floor made of wood from sustainable forests, learning about the school’s 117 new rooftop solar panels. Near the school’s entrance, they learned about energy under a ceiling spotted with skylights designed to reduce the need for artificial lighting. And in the school’s new Zen Garden, a small outdoor courtyard dotted with low-water use plants, they learned about volatile organic compounds.

Students at The McGillis School in Salt Lake City, spent Oct. 14 learning about the environment in honor of its newest designation as the first elementary, middle or highschool in Utah to become Gold LEED certified, according the U.S. Green Building Council. Buildings must meet certain environmental standards in order to become LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified, and gold is the second highest level of certification possible, achieved by about 86 other schools nationwide, according to the council.
McGillis achieved the certification for its new 57,000-square-foot addition, finished last year at a cost of nearly $10 million, said Kerry Steward, McGillis advancement director.Most of the new addition’s foundation was built from the debris of the old 1950s-era part of the school that was demolished to make way for it.

NATIONAL: On October 12, Senators Webb and Warner introduced a bill to rehabilitate the nation’s historic schools. According to their press release, this proposal is also supported by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, and U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
My FAST! colleagues and I were very happy to see this bipartisan support for fixing up our public school buildings. Like they say, the first step towards fixing a problem is recognizing the problem and taking responsibility for it.
We worry, however, that their plan is too limited in scope. This limits the impact both in terms of jobs and school modernization.

Fix America’s Schools Today (FAST!) –introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown (S. 1597) and Congresswoman Rosa De Lauro (H.B. 2948) like the President’s plan, would provide grants for repair and modernization directly to state education agencies and local school districts by formula, accounting for need. The resources would get out the door quickly, and repair projects would ramp up right away. With FAST thousands of schools can be repaired and modernized and nearly 250,000 jobs can be created.

The Senators plan—The Historic Schools Rehabilitation Tax Credit–is a bit more complicated. Their plan offers developers, states, and school districts a federal tax credit to enter into public/private partnerships to help pay for modernization of schools that are on the National Register of Historic places. Private partners would need to purchase the historic public school and then lease it back to the school district. As part of the sale-lease-back agreement they would modernize the historic schools using the incentive of the federal tax credit to reduce the overall cost.

We applaud the Senators for recognizing the intersection of need and opportunity here—the need to fix our schools and the opportunity to get folks back to work making the repairs. However, unlike FAST!, the tax credit program is too small and too slow. There are few public schools already on the National Register of Historic places—maybe in the hundreds (we’re working on an accurate count). The policies, approvals, and agreements needed for school districts to enter into developer partnerships adds a level of complexity that will limit the impact on both school repairs and jobs. And poorer school districts just won’t be able to make use of a tax credit—they need a grant to make these repairs.
School repair and modernization marries two problems—the need to fix our public schools and sky-high unemployment among the folks who do the work—into one solution. And we’re talking here about fixing up one of the most important institutions in our communities: the public schools. So while we’re especially happy to see bipartisan support for this idea, we want to be sure to implement a plan that going to make a real dent in the problem.

NATIONAL: Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) today introduced “The Rehabilitation of Historic Schools Act of 2011,” which provides a tax credit for communities to partner with private sector developers to rehabilitate the nation’s older school buildings. The legislation amends existing law to allow local governments to use the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit to rebuild decaying schools.

LOUISIANA: The same business and nonprofit groups that knocked a previous set of plans for rebuilding New Orleans public schools came out Wednesday in favor of the revisions unveiled last week. That's an important endorsement of the so-called master plan, the city's blueprint for spending the rest of almost $2 billion in FEMA recovery money earmarked for school construction, which heads to the local Orleans Parish School Board Thursday.

Back in July, the Bureau of Governmental Research, the Business Council, Common Good, the Cowan Institute for Public Education Initiatives, Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans, and four chambers of commerce criticized city and state officials for a plan that envisioned $420 million in projects without any dedicated source of funding.
The group called it "astonishing" that a $1.8 billion settlement awarded by the federal government last year couldn't be stretched to put every New Orleans student in a new or renovated building.

Officials with the state-run Recovery School District, working with their counterparts at OPSB, went back over the summer and found ways to stretch the money by downsizing some large projects and taking advantage of tax credits that will generate extra cash.
The groups that signed Wednesday's letter said the new revisions met the four demands they had put forward in July: that officials come with a plan that spells out exactly how many schools would be occupied, provides every New Orleans student with "reasonable facilities and a good education environment," is cost effective and lays the groundwork to fund repair and maintenance costs in the future.

CANADA: In commenting on the high school closure debate I am distressed about the "bigger is better" thinking of some recent articles. I see U.S.-published research which demonstrates the value of smaller schools.
For example, a study in North Dakota (Reducing the negative effects of large schools, National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, 2009, funded by the U.S. Department of Education) reported on the positive effect of small schools on student achievement. The researcher divided all high schools in the state into five size categories and averaged the reading and mathematics test scores. The achievement level in smaller schools was higher than in the largest schools (more than 500). The author affirmed that "The data shows definitively that there is simply no possible academic rationale for forcing the closure of small schools; if anything, it is the large schools that should face pressure to close."

This is the finding in other studies of larger urban districts but the North Dakota study seemed quite relevant to the population patterns in Grey-Bruce. Studies also show positive effects beyond the core competencies in the North Dakota study. The Gates Foundation is funding efforts along similar lines.

NATIONAL: The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the release of the second installment in a series of four 50% Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDGs). This latest guide will help architects, engineers, and contractors design and build highly efficient K-12 school buildings, saving taxpayer dollars. The 50% AEDG series provides a practical approach to designing schools and other major commercial building types that achieve 50% energy savings compared to the commercial building energy code used in many parts of the nation. These commercial building guides support President Obama’s goal to reduce energy use in commercial buildings 20% by 2020 and will help drive demand for energy-saving products made in the United States. The Advanced Energy Design Guide for 50% energy savings in K-12 schools is now available for download.

Not only will these guides help builders achieve energy efficiency performance beyond the current energy code, but they also provide climate-specific recommendations to incorporate today’s off-the-shelf energy efficient products. These recommendations help designers and builders choose advanced building envelope assemblies and highly efficient heating and cooling systems, and incorporate other energy-saving measures such as daylighting and associated control systems. Additionally, the guides inform the development of future commercial building energy codes.

NATIONAL: Last year, the USGBC launched its Center for Green Schools, which aims to make schools across the nation more sustainable on all levels, from building design to facility management to curriculum development.

The fledgling center has made notable strides, introducing a number of initiatives and hosting various events. This summer, the center took another step forward by launching its Green Schools Fellowship, which places “sustainability officers” in public schools around the nation for paid, three-year terms. It hired its first two fellows this past summer: Phoebe Bieirle was chosen to work with Boston Public Schools, and Farah McDill was placed in the Sacramento City Unified School District. These two green gurus have immersed themselves in their assigned communities and are now working toward instituting sweeping changes throughout their respective school districts.

NATIONAL: Environmental-literacy advocates are welcoming the launch of the federal Green Ribbon Schools program, suggesting it will help build on momentum they say is already evident for fostering across schools a deeper awareness and understanding of environmental issues. Just days after the U.S. Department of Education unveiled criteria for the new competition late last month, a districtwide environmental-literacy initiative was announced for public schools in Virginia Beach, Va., that involves outside partners, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Meanwhile, experts say states are working on or have recently devised plans for environmental literacy.

ILLINOIS: Longtime advocates of energy-conservation efforts, Stevenson High School officials will be honored this month for adopting earth-friendly architectural standards. The Lincolnshire school is the first public high school in the nation to receive gold-level certification for an existing facility from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

Stevenson's conservation efforts have been under way for years. In 2008, a garden was installed on the roof above an environmental science classroom as a way to absorb sunlight, keep the room cooler and reduce electricity usage. Solar panels were installed to generate power for a separate science classroom, too. Both still are in place. Additionally, school officials have created programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save energy. They've increased recycling; adjusted heating, cooling and lighting use during off hours; and reduced paper use through expanded electronic communications, among other steps.
“This was truly a schoolwide effort because LEED certification isn't the type of thing that can be accomplished by one person,” Conrey said. “In our case, dozens of people were involved: teachers, administrators, students, school board members, support staff, and even folks from Sodexo School Services, which handles our cafeteria and cleaning operations.”
The various projects contributing to the LEED certification cost the district about $200,000, Conrey said. Now implemented, the efforts are saving the school about $100,000 a year, he said.

ILLINOIS: Longtime advocates of energy-conservation efforts, Stevenson High School officials will be honored this month for adopting earth-friendly architectural standards. The Lincolnshire school is the first public high school in the nation to receive gold-level certification for an existing facility from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

Stevenson's conservation efforts have been under way for years. In 2008, a garden was installed on the roof above an environmental science classroom as a way to absorb sunlight, keep the room cooler and reduce electricity usage. Solar panels were installed to generate power for a separate science classroom, too. Both still are in place. Additionally, school officials have created programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save energy. They've increased recycling; adjusted heating, cooling and lighting use during off hours; and reduced paper use through expanded electronic communications, among other steps.
“This was truly a schoolwide effort because LEED certification isn't the type of thing that can be accomplished by one person,” Conrey said. “In our case, dozens of people were involved: teachers, administrators, students, school board members, support staff, and even folks from Sodexo School Services, which handles our cafeteria and cleaning operations.”
The various projects contributing to the LEED certification cost the district about $200,000, Conrey said. Now implemented, the efforts are saving the school about $100,000 a year, he said.

NATIONAL: All over the nation, elementary schools and major universities alike have been installing renewable energy systems and garnering LEED certification for energy efficient buildings. How does the average American feel about Uncle Sam investing in green schools like these? According to a new survey, sponsored by United Technologies and the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Center for Green Schools, nearly three out of four Americans support federal investment in school building improvements focused on creating healthier learning environments, saving tax dollars or lowering carbon emissions.

The independent survey included more than 1,000 Americans and was conducted via telephone from Sept.23 – 25, 2011, by GfK Custom Research North America. It revealed support not only for increased energy efficiency in the nation’s schools, but a failing grade in public perception for schools in general, with one in three of those surveyed reporting that the majority of U.S. schools are in “poor” shape. (Only six percent perceived U.S. schools to be in “excellent” shape.)

The U.S. Government Accountability Office reports that at least 25,000 U.S. schools are in need of extensive repair and replacement, and according to United Technologies and the USGBC’s Center for Green Schools, green schools save $100,000 per year on operating costs on average — enough to hire at least one new teacher, buy 200 new computers, or purchase 5,000 textbooks.

“A green school is an energy efficient school – meaning less money is spent on overhead like heating and cooling and more can be spent on keeping teachers in the classroom and getting them the resources they need,” said Sandy Diehl, Vice President, Integrated Buildings Solutions, United Technologies Corp., and a Center for Green Schools advisory board member, in a statement. The USGBC Center for Green Schools was launched in 2010 with United Technologies Corp. as the founding sponsor.

NATIONAL: A new independent nationwide survey reveals that nearly three out of four Americans support federal investment in school building improvements focused on creating healthier learning environments, saving tax dollars, or lowering carbon emissions. The survey, sponsored by United Technologies Corp. and the U.S. Green Building Council‘s Center for Green Schools, found that one in three of those surveyed said the majority of U.S. schools are in “poor” shape. Only 6% said U.S. schools are in “excellent” shape.

The independent survey of more than 1,000 Americans was conducted via telephone from September 23 to 25, 2011, by GfK Custom Research North America.
“Americans understand the importance of our nation’s school infrastructure and see the urgent need for significant investments,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “Too many of our schools are outdated, woefully energy inefficient, unhealthy, and negatively affect our children’s ability to learn – and ultimately to compete in a global marketplace. In 2008 alone, the U.S. deferred an estimated $254 billion in school facility maintenance, and inadequate investment into maintaining our nation’s school infrastructure has led to a significant number of schools in need of major repair and replacement. That’s unacceptable.”

The U.S. Government Accountability Office reports that at least 25,000 U.S. schools are in need of extensive repair and replacement. “These survey results demonstrate that the majority of Americans believe that maintaining our existing outdated, inefficient, and wasteful school infrastructure simply isn’t good enough,” said Fedrizzi.

On average, green schools save $100,000 per year on operating costs – enough to hire at least one new teacher, buy 200 new computers, or purchase 5,000 textbooks. Green schools use 33% less energy and 32% less water than conventionally constructed schools, significantly reducing utility costs. If all new U.S. school construction and renovation went green today, the total energy savings alone would be $20 billion over the next 10 years. Additionally, a single green school can reduce carbon emissions by an estimated 585,000 pounds annually and, in a survey of green school administrators, 70% reported that green school construction reduced student absenteeism and improved student performance.
“A green school is an energy efficient school – meaning less money is spent on overhead like heating and cooling and more can be spent on keeping teachers in the classroom and getting them the resources they need,” said Sandy Diehl, vice president, Integrated Buildings Solutions, United Technologies Corp., and a Center for Green Schools advisory board member. “Investments in green school buildings generate positive outcomes in classrooms and communities everywhere. Investing in our school infrastructure today is an imperative.”

CALIFORNIA: The Los Angeles Community College District has suspended all spending on new construction projects while it studies how to pay for building maintenance once it finishes its vast campus expansion program. State budget cuts have made it hard for the district to cover its growing maintenance costs as it opens scores of new buildings under its $5.7-billion bond program.

The moratorium announced by Chancellor Daniel LaVista will postpone or halt 67 projects planned by the district's nine colleges but not yet underway or under contract. The stalled buildings include such projects as a $38-million fashion and fine arts building at Los Angeles Trade Technical College and a $7.4-million fitness center and sports field at West Los Angeles College, according to a district website.

The building program is funded mainly by voter-approved bond money, which by law cannot be spent on operations or maintenance. The district says the program will add 3 million square feet of building space to the colleges, a 60% increase, at the same time that state budget cuts have forced cancellation of 500 courses, LaVista said. "Our ability to serve growing numbers of students is no longer what was planned or desired," he wrote in the memo.
During the moratorium, the district will conduct a 30-day study of maintenance and operations costs, LaVista added. In an August audit, state Controller John Chiang urged such a study, noting that the college district had leased out an $86-million satellite campus that it couldn't afford to run.

MARYLAND: Money from higher prices at bars and liquor stores is paying for athletic fields in Howard County, renovations to schools in Montgomery County and a new high school performing arts center in Anne Arundel.
Maryland's Board of Public Works approved $18 million for school construction projects in the three counties, doling out the first chunk of revenue from the 50 percent increase in the sales tax on alcohol that the General Assembly approved in April. The tax rose to 9 percent, from 6 percent, starting July 1.

The increase in the alcohol tax is expected to generate $85 million per year. The legislature set aside $47 million for school projects in the first year, but all of the money will go to the state's general fund in subsequent years. Most of the money was earmarked in the legislation for Baltimore City and for Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties, drawing criticism from Republican lawmakers who called the allocation unfair. They said the earmarking was used to get votes for the measure from those counties.

LOUISIANA: A comprehensive energy conservation program completed at Ascension Parish public schools should save about $860,000 a year, said Chad Lynch, director of planning and construction for the system. During the last year, Lynch said, contractors from Johnson Controls Inc. implemented more than $10 million in energy-efficient upgrades such as replacing outdated fixtures, automating air conditioning and heating units, and installing motion-sensitive lighting in classrooms.
The project was funded through the sale of $10 million in federal Quality School Construction Bonds granted to the system in 2009, Lynch said.
“We expect to see those (energy) savings increase over time,” he said.

ALASKA: The state has agreed to settle a 14-year-old lawsuit that alleged inequities in funding for rural public schools. Terms of the agreement, which a judge must approve, call for the governor to seek legislative approval for funding five high-priority school construction projects in rural Alaska over the next four years. Estimates have put the cost of the projects, which include school renovations and replacements, at nearly $146 million.

Legislation passed last year creates a formula for equity in future funding for construction of urban and rural schools, addressing another concern in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs, which include parents, reserve the right to reopen the case if funding isn't provided as described in the agreement. There is an exception with the Kivalina K-12 school project: The agreement states that if the Legislature doesn't fund or places contingencies on the project over concerns about erosion or the viability of the school site that cannot be used to reopen the matter.

FLORIDA: State university officials said they will have to go to a bare-bones wish list of mainly repair and maintenance over shiny new classrooms after a panel of state economists slashed estimates for available school construction money for 2012.
Educators will have to slash $267 million next year, which would leave them with about $113 million in new cash for building for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Bonding, which is typically used to construct new buildings and renovate older ones, is not an option for the upcoming year. The following year is even worse, the revenue estimating conference predicted. Projections for the 2013 fiscal year were reduced by $410 million, a 45-percent cut from the estimates made after the legislative session earlier this year.

Economists say the school building program, which is funded largely through collection of utility taxes, is being hit by a double whammy. Tough economic times have taken many customers off the electricity grid. But the building fund is also being affected by longer-term trends as consumers respond to high energy costs by purchasing energy efficient appliances and change habits that reduce consumption.

State university officials said the recent dramatic drop in building money is unprecedented. Given the bleak forecast, universities are not likely to get anywhere near the full $145 million requested last month for classroom construction, renovation and repairs.

FLORIDA: The dream is laid out in a YouTube video with glossy, computer-generated special effects. There are shiny, futuristic buildings with swirling retractable roofs. A glittering lake flanked by low-lying dorms. At the entrance to it all, a tall spire that casts shadows like a sundial.

This is world renowned architect Santiago Calatrava's ambitious and imaginative design for USF Polytechnic's new campus off Interstate 4, a site that until recently has been home to bulls, muck and mosquitoes.

Calatrava's first project in the southeastern United States promises to be a stunner. The massive structure of concrete, steel and glass set to rise on the south side of I-4 will be nearly two football fields long and two stories high. Its soaring atrium is expected to glow like a beacon at night. A set of overhead "wings," up to 100 feet long, will open and close as the sun moves though the sky.

OHIO: The renovation of Rothenberg Preparatory Academy in Over-the-Rhine is the latest visible sign of Cincinnati Public Schools' 10-year, $1.1 billion taxpayer-funded plan to completely overhaul its aging building stock for this district of 33,000 students. This is the eighth year of the most ambitious, expensive and high-profile building project it's undertaken.

The project is part of a statewide school building boom begun when Ohio created the Ohio School Facilities Commission in 1997 to help districts fund school overhauls. CPS' budget has grown by about $173 million despite the size of the project shrinking by 15 schools, or 23 percent. It's also running about a year behind the original schedule and is now due to end in late 2014 instead of 2013. Once the project is finished, students will be educated in 51 new or renovated state-of-the art buildings that are technology-rich and environmentally friendly. District property owners will be paying off the project for another 18 years after the last ribbon is cut.

So what were voters promised? How was their money spent? And why, after getting $1 billion for this project, is the district now planning to use revenue from a Nov. 8 levy - if it passes - to finish renovating three schools that were in the original plan?

What voters got: Many of the new buildings are home to community learning centers, athletic events and health clinics. Some schools have stadiums for the first time. Gone are drafty windows, leaky roofs and old wiring that couldn't support more than a few computers, let alone a computer lab. The plan also brought private money to the table - an unprecedented $31 million in the case of the School for the Creative and Performing Arts to build added theater space. Citizen committees gave input on the plan and recommended features like the health clinics or after-school programs. Academics in the district have improved since the construction began, but it's unclear how big a role the new schools played. Of the 34 schools open long enough for a comparison, 26 had higher or equal ratings on their most recent Ohio Report Card.
Proponents say the new buildings provide a more conducive learning environment - and improved grades - because they're air conditioned, are more accessible and have updated technology.
But other factors contribute to rising test scores, including innovative teacher training and better use of data. Some of the schools that improved the most did so in old buildings or temporary space.
"I'd say 95 percent of people feel they got what they voted for," said Jim Berry, who's been involved in the district for years, including as a member of Parents for Public Schools. "A school itself isn't going to bring the grades up, but it's a good start. Every child deserves a good place to learn."

NATIONAL: Buses disgorge hundreds of students at one side of Bailey Elementary School in Woodbury. On the other side, parents line up in SUVs to drop off their kids. “Bye-bye,” says Silva Theis of Woodbury, kissing her fourth-grade daughter. In the hubbub, no one notices what’s missing — the dying practice of walking to school. Of 620 students at Bailey, not one walks — not even those who live one block away.

Managers of a 6-year-old federal program think they know why. Children don’t walk to schools like Bailey because of the lack of sidewalks and safe street crossings. But after spending $820 million to promote walking to school and reducing childhood obesity, there is no sign the program has actually added any walkers at all.
Parents say the approach is wrong. They say their children don’t walk because of fear of crime, Minnesota’s harsh winters, and laziness. Parents like to pamper their kids by driving them. And many schools are built to discourage walking.
The history of the federal program is a cautionary tale about changing public behavior — even when the public agrees with the goals. It was created by former Minnesota Rep. Jim Oberstar in 2000. Oberstar was appalled at the steep increases in childhood obesity and diabetes. At the same time, he learned that 75 percent of children’s trips away from home were in motor vehicles, up from 40 percent in the 1960s. “We have a generation of mobility-challenged children,” he said. The solution? The Safe Routes to School program.
From 2005 through 2010, it was funded for $820 million. Safe Routes gives grants for anything that encourages walking or biking to school — mostly sidewalks, safer street crossings and education. The grants have gone to 11,000 schools in all 50 states.

Nationally, there is little evidence that the program is improving children’s health. In 1969, 42 percent of children walked or biked to school, according to the Safe Routes to School National Partnership in North Carolina. By 2001, that number had plummeted to 13 percent. Eight years later, after the program was 4 years old, the number was unchanged. “We take that to be good news,” said partnership director Deb Hubsmith, because the decline has been halted. Still, there is no sign that the money has increased the number of walkers.

Many schools are resistant to change because they are designed for drivers, not pedestrians. Architect Paul Youngquist learned that lesson when he was planning the new East Ridge High School in Woodbury in 2007. “I wanted to put the parking lots a bit away from the building,” Youngquist said. But at a meeting, someone was aghast at the idea that the move would make students walk farther. “I said: ‘Good! A walk seems like an appropriate way to start the day,’” Youngquist recalled. But the chorus of outrage swelled until he relented. He pushed the parking lots next to the building.

NATIONAL: Buses disgorge hundreds of students at one side of Bailey Elementary School in Woodbury. On the other side, parents line up in SUVs to drop off their kids. “Bye-bye,” says Silva Theis of Woodbury, kissing her fourth-grade daughter. In the hubbub, no one notices what’s missing — the dying practice of walking to school. Of 620 students at Bailey, not one walks — not even those who live one block away.

Managers of a 6-year-old federal program think they know why. Children don’t walk to schools like Bailey because of the lack of sidewalks and safe street crossings. But after spending $820 million to promote walking to school and reducing childhood obesity, there is no sign the program has actually added any walkers at all.
Parents say the approach is wrong. They say their children don’t walk because of fear of crime, Minnesota’s harsh winters, and laziness. Parents like to pamper their kids by driving them. And many schools are built to discourage walking.
The history of the federal program is a cautionary tale about changing public behavior — even when the public agrees with the goals. It was created by former Minnesota Rep. Jim Oberstar in 2000. Oberstar was appalled at the steep increases in childhood obesity and diabetes. At the same time, he learned that 75 percent of children’s trips away from home were in motor vehicles, up from 40 percent in the 1960s. “We have a generation of mobility-challenged children,” he said. The solution? The Safe Routes to School program.
From 2005 through 2010, it was funded for $820 million. Safe Routes gives grants for anything that encourages walking or biking to school — mostly sidewalks, safer street crossings and education. The grants have gone to 11,000 schools in all 50 states.

Nationally, there is little evidence that the program is improving children’s health. In 1969, 42 percent of children walked or biked to school, according to the Safe Routes to School National Partnership in North Carolina. By 2001, that number had plummeted to 13 percent. Eight years later, after the program was 4 years old, the number was unchanged. “We take that to be good news,” said partnership director Deb Hubsmith, because the decline has been halted. Still, there is no sign that the money has increased the number of walkers.

Many schools are resistant to change because they are designed for drivers, not pedestrians. Architect Paul Youngquist learned that lesson when he was planning the new East Ridge High School in Woodbury in 2007. “I wanted to put the parking lots a bit away from the building,” Youngquist said. But at a meeting, someone was aghast at the idea that the move would make students walk farther. “I said: ‘Good! A walk seems like an appropriate way to start the day,’” Youngquist recalled. But the chorus of outrage swelled until he relented. He pushed the parking lots next to the building.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Acton-Boxborough Regional School District and Acton Public Schools in Acton, Mass., are starting off the school year with some bright ideas in action. The school systems said they began the semester with three solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays totaling almost 300 kilowatts of solar capacity – enough to power 35 average Massachusetts homes – with no upfront costs.

With this new solar power system, Acton-Boxborough and Acton join the ranks of green schools using renewable energy installations to lower utility expenses and cut their carbon footprints. Offsetting over 500,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year, these three solar power systems are expected to save the school districts a combined $400,000 in operating expenses over the 20-year life of the systems.

All three systems – two were installed a year ago, and the latest was completed last November – are owned by Nexamp, which also designed and built the systems. This company, headquartered in North Andover, Mass., sells the electricity produced to the schools at a rate lower than that of the local utility as part of a power purchase agreement.
This win-win situation removes the upfront costs of solar for the school system while giving Nexamp the opportunity to install an extensive rooftop solar system that can then feed into the grid as part of the state’s Commonwealth Solar program. (We’ve also seen this concept prove successful at a school system in Gainesville, Fla., which actually received payments for hosting a rooftop solar installation.)

NATIONAL: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan made public the final plans for a new award program that will encourage our nation’s schools and communities to promote healthy and sustainable environments and educate students to become environmentally literate citizens.

The Green Ribbon Schools Criteria explain the program’s purpose, vision, eligibility, requirements and the Department’s authority for creating such an award.
The Instructions for Use of Framework explain use of the following technical assistance document.
The Framework for State Nominating Authorities is a spreadsheet that provides recommended measures by which to evaluate schools and select nominees to ED. It is intended for state nominating authorities’ use and adaptation.
The List of Statutory and Regulatory Requirements summarizes the Federal, state and local requirements with which schools must comply in order to be eligible for the Green Ribbon Schools award. Because the full list of applicable requirements varies by state and locality, each nominating authority will be responsible for determining the compliance of nominated schools with pertinent statutory and regulatory requirements, in consultation with state and local health, environment and safety authorities.
The Nominee Presentation Form is pending approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). While the Department final approval is pending, this version is offered in the interim to provide information for state authorities and communities to help them in their preparations to apply for the Green Ribbon Schools award.

NATIONAL: As he has barnstormed the country to promote the American Jobs Act, President Obama has made the case that spending money now will pay off later for the United States’ global productivity and competitiveness. And one of the biggest investments he is proposing comes in education.

Obama’s $447 billion jobs package includes $30 billion to renovate high schools and community colleges nationwide, and an additional $30 billion to help local jurisdictions hire and retain teachers. The White House said Obama’s schools proposal would help save the jobs of as many as 280,000 teachers and modernize up to 35,000 schools nationwide, adding computer labs and replacing aging roofs and boilers.
Under the plan, 40 percent of the $30 billion for renovations would go to the 100 school systems with the largest numbers of low-income students; the other 60 percent would be given to states to allocate among high-need districts, including those in rural areas.

A chart released by the White House shows that D.C. public schools would receive $85 million in modernization funds, which could support 1,100 jobs. Maryland would receive $316 million (4,100 jobs), and Virginia would get $425 million (5,500). All three jurisdictions also would receive additional money to support community colleges. States would have three to six months to get the money to the school districts, which would have two years to spend it on modernization projects, the White House said.

NATIONAL: Antiquated facilities and barriers to innovation exist today in precisely the institutions that can least afford it: our nation's public schools. The digital age has now penetrated virtually every nook of American life, with the exception of many public schools.
The average public school building in the United States is more than 40 years old. Nationwide, cash-strapped school districts face an enormous $270 billion backlog of deferred maintenance and repairs.

On Tuesday, President Obama spoke at Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver about the need to urgently modernize public schools, and the importance of keeping teachers in the classroom, instead of in unemployment lines. In the American Jobs Act, President Obama proposes to invest $30 billion to repair and modernize public schools and community colleges, putting hundreds of thousands of unemployed construction workers, engineers, boiler repairmen, and electrical workers back to work. He proposed an additional $30 billion to keep hundreds of thousands of educators facing potential layoffs and furloughs on the job.
Modernizing and repairing our schools is a classic win-win solution. It benefits everyone — children, communities, and construction workers who need work.
Tragically, children in the nation's poorest school districts often attend schools with crumbling ceilings, overcrowded classrooms, and facilities that lack basic wiring infrastructure for computers and other modern-day technology. That's no way to provide a world-class education — and in today's global economy, a country that out-educates America will out-compete us.

Abraham Lincoln High School opened in 1960. Some of its science labs lack sinks — and have had only minor plumbing renovation in the last 51 years. Despite district and school efforts to upgrade equipment and software, the school's computer lab — like many in the Denver Public Schools — is not designed to support small-group learning and the acquisition of 21st century skills. Denver Public Schools has already identified $425 million in major repair and modernization projects districtwide that could be started within the next year, from replacing aging boilers and leaking roofs to improving educational technology.

This is not a partisan issue. The physical conditions at some aging schools today are unacceptable. They are no place for children to learn. The president's jobs bill would modernize at least 35,000 schools, or about one out of every three public schools in the United States. In Colorado, the jobs bill would provide $265 million to put as many as 3,400 construction workers back on the job modernizing Colorado's schools. Denver Public Schools alone would receive up to $75.5 million.

Nationwide, $25 billion would go to upgrading existing public school facilities (including charter schools), with $5 billion invested in modernizing community colleges. The federal government will not fund new construction or pick the schools to modernize. Those decisions will be left entirely to states and districts with knowledge of local needs.

CONNECTICUT: Windsor Public Schools' new policy reads: "No parent, guardian, teacher or staff member may bring into the school facility any consumer product which is intended to clean, deodorize, sanitize or disinfect." The policy is being called the Green Cleaning Policy, and Windsor's schools are not alone. Beginning this school year, all schools in the state of Connecticut are required to implement a green gleaning program within district buildings. "We knew it was coming down," said George Greco, Physical Plant manager for Windsor. "We had a letter that went out last year."

The policy, known as Public Act 9-81 in the legislature, was initially passed in the Connecticut General Assembly in June 2009. According to the policy, which is available on Windsor Public Schools' website, all products being used in Windsor schools must be certified by one of two independent companies: Green Seal or Eco Logo. The two organizations certify products as meeting "green cleaning standards." According to the Green Seal website, "Green Seal is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to safeguarding the environment and transforming the marketplace by promoting the manufacture, purchase, and use of environmentally responsible products and services."

"I am totally behind it. I think it’s great," said Greco and called it a "a step in the right direction for the earth." But he also maintains concerns about the quality of the earth-friendly products being used by the custodial staff and the how the conversion process has gone. "We'll see how [the products] hold up," he said.
Labeling any resistance to the change in cleaning products as perhaps a "knee jerk reaction," Greco said, "I just don’t think that the quality and variety of the products is up to par yet." The custodial staff has had varied opinions about the efficacy of the new products. The district hopes that as the earth-friendly industry grows, products will improve due to competition.

Besides the new cleaning products, staff members are feeling the pinch of this policy as well, as they are no longer allowed to bring in deoderizing or antibacterial products, such as hand sanitizer from home. "As of now, there is no disinfectant that is Green Seal approved," said Greco. "It’s coming."

MISSOURI: School was out when the Joplin tornado hit and graduation just ended. Had classes been in session, the loss of life and destruction would've been mind-boggling. The school had no shelter on campus.
The Joplin School District was approached about constructing a safe room before the storm. They decided not to pursue it. However, other school districts in the Ozarks are moving forward with safe rooms, and a lot more are hoping to build them in the future.

"Since the tornado in May. Our phone has been ringing nonstop." Brian Orr is a structural engineer in Springfield. "A lot of calls are superintendents that realize we don't have a safe place to put our kids," Orr said. Brian and his employer Toth and Associates have been helping school districts all across the state create Safe Rooms. Toth and Associates helped write more than 30 grants last year for Safe Rooms.
Safe Rooms have become a hot topic even before the Joplin tornado hit. "Fair gGrove is a great case," Orr said, "when they took a hit from a small tornado, they had several students injured." Fair Grove is now moving forward with building a safe room. "Along with the safe rooms and the schools taking a proactive step," said Greene County Emergency Management Director Ryan Nicholls, "I think they're setting a good example."

Right now any new school building has to be built to withstand 90mph winds. Safe rooms like the one being built at the Greene County Emergency Management Building can withstand winds up to 250mph."The three counties most likely to be hit by a tornado are Jasper, Newton County, and Greene County is number three," Orr said. The risk is very high for area schools. "It's just a matter of time before an F4 or F5 hits a school when it is in session," Orr said, "You are going to see casualties in the hundreds when that happens." The hope is that every school district will eventually have a safe room. "To me safe rooms and school districts is a perfect marriage," said Nicholls. "I know it would be a little more extra cost, but if you prevent one life from being lost it pays for itself," said Orr.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: The newly renovated and very eco-friendly Strafford School, made possible by a $5.6 million bond, will be officially completed in the next two weeks, according to Principal Jerry Gregoire.
All together, the $5.6 million bond allowed the Strafford School to renovate 50,000 square feet of the existing building, and to take that U-shaped 13,000 sq. foot of practically unused land and turn it into nine new classrooms including: a new music room, computer room, instrumental music room, two fifth-grade classrooms, an art room, a health sciences room—the teacher had to use a cart to go from class room to class room before the renovations—a new nurse's station, and one each seventh and eighth grade science rooms, according to School Board Member, Debbi Hinrichsen.

Some of the more modern and eco-friendly features available throughout the school include: 24 roof monitors, 23 solar tubes and four skylights all of which allow natural light into classrooms without the need or with little help from artificial light during the day. Architect Kelly Davis said in the course of sealing up the "in fill" and turning it into modern classrooms they had essentially created 14 windowless rooms that would require skylights. "We spent a lot of time thinking about how much glass¿ heat loss or gain, that would have."

Among other cost saving, energy and eco-friendly improvements, the renovation project saw the installation of energy efficient aluminum framed windows with insulated glass, eco-friendly Marmoleum composite floors, a new rubber roof system over the gym, replacement of old electrical wiring, and installation of a high efficiency energy recovery ventilation and cooling system that will push fresh air into classrooms, according to Hinrichsen. "It fell together because we spent a lot of time going over it and over it, to do whatever we could to reduce energy costs. We stretched the dollar so well," Davis said.

OHIO: With budget cuts always a looming threat in education, one local school district is curtailing the ever-rising costs of utilities to try and put money back into the district. Dawson-Bryant Local School District Superintendent Dennis DeCamp knew that utility costs were causing the district to hemorrhage money about two years ago when he looked at July's gas bill cost. Needless to say, a $19,000 gas bill in the summer did not bode well for what was to come in the winter months. "We've got to do something," DeCamp remembered saying.

At DeCamp's suggestion, the school board agreed to take advantage of the Ohio School Facilities Commission Energy Conservation Program, or House Bill 264. According to the Ohio School Facilities Commission, the Energy Conservation Program gives districts the ability to borrow funds without having to pass a ballot issue for the authority to borrow. The main condition of borrowing money for energy improvements is that the resulting savings must be enough to pay back the loans. This limited borrowing authority, according to the Ohio School Facilities Commission, has given districts the ability to save millions in utility bills and operating costs, and all at no additional taxpayer expense.

After interviewing different firms, DeCamp said the job was awarded to Sabo/Limbach Energy Services, which audited the district for several months to see where improvements could be made. Mark Taylor, engineer and project development manager for the Columbus based company, said the audits led to a series of "financially viable energy conservation measures." Sabo-Limbach also had all of the savings calculations reviewed by both the Ohio School Facilities Commission and the Ohio Energy Office. Based on the firm's assessment and the ability to use HB 264, the district took out a $1.69 million dollar loan at about a 6 percent interest rate and to be re-paid over 15 years. "If we can take those funds, reduce consumption and apply it to the buildings, voters have already approved the money," Taylor said of the HB 264-approved loan.
>"To help offset the interest (of the loan), we got a Qualified School Construction Bond," DeCamp said. QSCBs are authorized by the federal government through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Once a year, DeCamp said, the district will request its reimbursement through the QSCB, which is about 5 percent. Sabo-Limbach estimated that as a result of the improvements, the district could save about $161,700 in utility bill and maintenance costs annually. "You've got to spend money to make money," DeCamp said. "Once the loan is paid off, that's money left in the general fund."

Whereas the district was using in the neighborhood of 3,010,000 kilowatt hours of energy, after the improvements, the district is expected to cut out about 1,035,000 of those kilowatt hours. That's about 747 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Or 76,027 gallons of gasoline. Or 84 average homes of electricity. It would take a 145-acre pine forest to absorb that much CO2, Taylor said. Also, as a part of the overall effort, Sabo-Limbach is helping the district apply for a one-time rebate from American Electric Power that could be as much as $140,230, pending the approval of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. DeCamp said he expected, once the project is complete, a summer month gas bill could be reduced from the $19,000 cost to only about $2,500.

MINNESOTA: It's 9 a.m., and the rush is on. Buses disgorge hundreds of students at one side of Bailey Elementary School in Woodbury. On the other side, parents line up in SUVs to drop off their kids. In the hubbub, no one notices what's missing - the dying practice of walking to school. Of 620 students at Bailey, not one walks - not even those who live one block away.
Managers of a 6-year-old federal program think they know why. Children don't walk to schools like Bailey because of the lack of sidewalks and safe street crossings.
But after spending $820 million to promote walking to school and reducing childhood obesity, there is no sign the program has actually added any walkers at all.

Parents say the approach is wrong. They say their children don't walk because of fear of crime, Minnesota's harsh winters, and laziness. Parents like to pamper their kids by driving them. And many schools are built to discourage walking.

Many schools are resistant to change because they are designed for drivers, not pedestrians. Architect Paul Youngquist learned that lesson when he was planning the new East Ridge High School in Woodbury in 2007. "I wanted to put the parking lots a bit away from the building," Youngquist said. But at a meeting, someone was aghast at the idea that the move would make students walk farther. "I said: 'Good! A walk seems like an appropriate way to start the day,' " Youngquist recalled. But the chorus of outrage swelled until he relented. He pushed the parking lots next to the building. "They just don't want to walk," Youngquist said.
Today, East Ridge looks like most suburban schools - akin to a shopping mall surrounded by acres of pedestrian-hostile open space. Not a single student walks to East Ridge.
Youngquist, who has helped plan about 300 schools in Minnesota, said walk-to-school efforts have to fight most parents' deepest fear - kidnapping.

ARIZONA: The Peoria Unified School District is in a quandary as school-maintenance needs mount and funding is scarce. The district pegs its most pressing maintenance needs at about $20 million within the next year. Over the next decade, an estimated $171 million is needed for capital improvement projects and to meet minimum safety requirements.
The district's need comes as the state eliminated funding for school maintenance three years ago. Without funding from the state School Facilities Board, school districts around the state have asked local voters to approve bond issues. That's just what the Peoria school board is considering on next fall's ballot. The problem is that, even if it passes, the district's bonding capacity, $62.5 million, meets about a third of its needs.
Like many districts across the state, Peoria's capacity to sell bonds shrank with the recent drop in assessed property values. Adding to the predicament, Peoria hoped to meet some of its immediate maintenance needs by reallocating some leftover bond funds. But a court decision last week against another Valley school district brought those plans to a halt.

ARIZONA: The Peoria Unified School District is in a quandary as school-maintenance needs mount and funding is scarce. The district pegs its most pressing maintenance needs at about $20 million within the next year. Over the next decade, an estimated $171 million is needed for capital improvement projects and to meet minimum safety requirements.
The district's need comes as the state eliminated funding for school maintenance three years ago. Without funding from the state School Facilities Board, school districts around the state have asked local voters to approve bond issues. That's just what the Peoria school board is considering on next fall's ballot. The problem is that, even if it passes, the district's bonding capacity, $62.5 million, meets about a third of its needs.
Like many districts across the state, Peoria's capacity to sell bonds shrank with the recent drop in assessed property values. Adding to the predicament, Peoria hoped to meet some of its immediate maintenance needs by reallocating some leftover bond funds. But a court decision last week against another Valley school district brought those plans to a halt.

NEVADA: Schools across Nevada are being outfitted with tools that will not only decrease their power consumption and save them money, but will also offer students studying renewable energy an up-close look at a key technology. According to the state, photovoltaic (PV) solar panels have or will be installed on the rooftops of 58 elementary and high schools.

The solar installations come courtesy $9.5 million from Nevada’s State Office of Energy, which was funded by the 2009 federal stimulus. Seven of Nevada’s school districts have either completed or are working on solar installations through the program. In addition to the solar power systems, the funding provides schools with the resources to update to energy efficient lighting, make HVAC system upgrades and for other energy conservation methods.

Washoe County installed 1.13 megawatts of solar at 23 schools, including 18 elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools. Clark County added 50-kilowatt PV systems at 24 elementary schools and one career and technical academy high school. Other districts installing solar include Churchill, Esmeralda, Lander, Pershing and Storey counties.

For the schools, the savings in energy bills can be substantial. The state put estimated savings for Lovelock Elementary School, Pershing County Middle School and Pershing County High School at about $280,000 each year, for instance. The solar installations also make a great learning tool for science teachers in the districts who want to show students how renewable energy can help reduce energy costs.

LOUISIANA: The $1.8 billion in public school construction going on in New Orleans is a key piece of the city's recovery -- and it's important that officials do everything possible to prevent waste and corruption in this crucial effort. That's why New Orleans' Civil Service Commission is doing the right thing in giving the inspector general's office the freedom it needs to hire qualified personnel to monitor the school projects.

Under an agreement with Recovery School District officials, Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux is establishing a special anti-fraud unit to track the program's spending and review projects. Mr. Quatrevaux sought to hire four people for the unit, which he said will be financed with up to $800,000 from the construction funds and will have a duration of three years.

NATIONAL: Earth Day Network launched the Green Schools Leadership Center (www.earthday.org/education), a comprehensive online platform that will advance the green schools movement nationwide. The Green Schools site will support the rapidly growing green schools market with a broad range of tools and resources that can be used to address six major opportunities to improve and modernize America’s K-12 schools: greening school facilities, dramatically improving school food, upgrading school transportation, increasing recreation opportunities and outdoor education; and promoting environmental literacy as well as civic and community engagement. The site provides a comprehensive library of resources, including curriculum and best practice as well as an opportunity to network with the leading experts and practitioners in the field.

FLORIDA: Consolidation could be the next money-saver Duval County school officials turn to, but it also could change the makeup of elementary schools in Duval County - meaning some of them could close.
A new audit from non-profit group Education Resource Strategies points to consolidation of the district's smaller elementary schools as the way to go. ERS found the smaller schools with fewer than 500 students got a big chunk of the school budget -- 48 percent. If those schools were to close, the report finds $500,000 could be saved per elementary school, adding up to a savings of $26 million.

"In terms of closing schools, it doesn't always equate to money. You have to look at safety, cultural backgrounds. You have to look at diversity. You have to look at environments," said school board member Paula Wright.

MISSOURI: Students who attend the Joplin high school known as the "mall school," because it was built in a former big box store after a tornado left their district in ruins, told Education Secretary Arne Duncan during a visit that having the support of the school has helped them recover.
The May tornado killed 162 people and leveled thousands of buildings in the community, including 10 area schools that were either destroyed or damaged at an estimated cost of $151 million. Seven school children and one staff member were among those killed. Some schools have been consolidated, and Joplin's middle school is temporarily in an industrial park.

The 11th- and 12th-grade students attend class in a the former store near a Sears Auto Center and a Logan's Roadhouse that has been transformed into a modern facility equipped even with tread mills for gym class and a cafeteria with a small section that resembles a coffee shop.

The old high school, which eventually will be rebuilt, for now remains a devastated shell missing walls, bricks and parts of the ceiling.

NEW JERSEY: With a sluggish economy diminishing work for many construction companies, the opportunity for a bit of work in a school can draw a lot of interest. To wit: a rennovation project to convert Watchung Hills Regional's old main office, and more recently the attendance office, into five general purpose classrooms received 10 bids. "We never see that many bids on a project," WHRHS Business Administrator Timothy Stys said. The plethora of bidders also meant an added bonus for taxpayers: while expected to cost about $900,000, the bidding ranged from $359,444 to $591,760. Paley Construction, of Springfield, provided the winning low bid.

The project is the last of three the school has undertaken, including installation of a video security system and bleachers in the 5/6 gym. The projects qualify for a 40 percent reimbursement through the state school construction program. The classroom are expected to be needed soon due to increased enrollments projected for coming years.

NATIONAL: A top Pentagon official has acknowledged that the Defense Department is more than $1 billion short of what’s needed to repair decrepit public schools on military bases that were the subject of a recent iWatch News investigation.
The official, Jo Ann Rooney, principal deputy under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said in an interview with iWatch News that the Pentagon will be able to start renovating or replacing only about a dozen of the public schools on bases with the $250 million that Congress appropriated this year for the upgrades. A recent Pentagon report , however, found that about 62 of the 160 civilian-run schools are in “poor” or “failing” condition. “There is a lot of work that needs to be done. Two hundred and fifty million dollars will not cover it,” Rooney said. “Depending on whether there is additional money coming forward, I can’t predict when those next group of schools would actually be addressed.”

An investigation by iWatchNews in June found that many of the schools attended by children of military personnel are in poor shape. Where military children go to school depends on circumstances often beyond families’ control. More than 500,000 children, the largest proportion, live off base, attending local schools in urban or suburban communities that often have significantly more resources. But families who live on military installations — either for economic, career or security reasons — send their children to one of 194 base schools operated by the Pentagon around the world, or 160 base schools in the U.S. operated by local school districts.

Rooney’s sober assessment deals with those base schools operated by local districts, which are attended by about 150,000 students . Funding fixes for these schools is especially complex. For one thing, the Pentagon can't use its own funds for civilian schools on military bases and must obtain a special congressional appropriation. These schools are also required to cover 20 percent of the repair bill themselves. But school districts also frequently have trouble raising money for construction work on base schools through new local taxes or bonds because military families often don’t vote or pay taxes in their communities. If districts cannot meet the 20 percent requirement, the Pentagon will sometimes step in to help. If that happens, though, fewer schools on the list will get funding for repairs this year.

NATIONAL: As part of his efforts to stimulate a slow economy, President Obama has called for $30 billion to rehabilitate schools and community college facilities.
This investment in our schools could do so much more for us than just create, over the short-term, many badly needed jobs. Fixing leaky roofs and upgrading leaky windows have immediate, pragmatic value. As architects and contractors know, the more we let such problems go unchecked in buildings, the more expensive the repair, to the point where too much damage can make even expensive new construction less costly. Add to that the fact that rehabilitation often creates more jobs than new construction, and certainly more than what Obama's opponents in Congress seem ready to do -- nothing at all -- and we can see what a missed opportunity it would be to pass up a chance to fix our schools when, in a depressed economy, our money may never go this far again.

NATIONAL: With students across the country going back to school, many will be returning to campuses that feature newly installed solar panels. As schools battle with budget deficits and look to educate students about renewable energy, there has been a wave of new solar projects at schools across the country. This rapidly growing market has attracted the attention of solar developers. [see article for details]

TENNESSEE: How many kids walk and how many ride buses and cars is just one consequence of school placement decisions that Middle Tennessee schools have been making rapidly. Williamson and Rutherford counties have led the way by opening 12 new schools since 2007, with more construction under way and scheduled.

The pace of building has increased the urgency of transportation, health, environmental and historic preservation groups seeking changes in where schools are built. They’re pushing back against the trend of putting big schools on large land plots far from students’ homes. Instead, they see long-term cost savings, health benefits and reduced burdens on infrastructure and roads if schools can be anchored to neighborhoods where more students can walk to them.

This month, the federal Environmental Protection Agency is due to release guidelines for school siting. A separate study of Tennessee’s policies is in progress, and a Nashville-based planning group is calling attention to school placement. “People underestimate the impact on traffic, air quality … health,” said Leslie Meehan, senior planner with the Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which covers seven counties.

Last year, the MPO hosted national experts and local officials to discuss long-term costs of school placements, with attention on how isolated schools strain infrastructure and reduce student health. The MPO asked schools to consider transportation impacts on quality of life. A survey found that pressure to build schools quickly doesn’t encourage municipal and school officials to work together and that upfront construction costs overshadow other factors.
Local district officials said intensive study already goes into finding suitable land, at reasonable cost, in areas that create diverse schools. The new thinking on school siting is sometimes out of touch with realities on the ground, they said.

TENNESSEE: How many kids walk and how many ride buses and cars is just one consequence of school placement decisions that Middle Tennessee schools have been making rapidly. Williamson and Rutherford counties have led the way by opening 12 new schools since 2007, with more construction under way and scheduled.

The pace of building has increased the urgency of transportation, health, environmental and historic preservation groups seeking changes in where schools are built. They’re pushing back against the trend of putting big schools on large land plots far from students’ homes. Instead, they see long-term cost savings, health benefits and reduced burdens on infrastructure and roads if schools can be anchored to neighborhoods where more students can walk to them.

This month, the federal Environmental Protection Agency is due to release guidelines for school siting. A separate study of Tennessee’s policies is in progress, and a Nashville-based planning group is calling attention to school placement. “People underestimate the impact on traffic, air quality … health,” said Leslie Meehan, senior planner with the Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which covers seven counties.

Last year, the MPO hosted national experts and local officials to discuss long-term costs of school placements, with attention on how isolated schools strain infrastructure and reduce student health. The MPO asked schools to consider transportation impacts on quality of life. A survey found that pressure to build schools quickly doesn’t encourage municipal and school officials to work together and that upfront construction costs overshadow other factors.
Local district officials said intensive study already goes into finding suitable land, at reasonable cost, in areas that create diverse schools. The new thinking on school siting is sometimes out of touch with realities on the ground, they said.

MARYLAND: Sustained economic woes and the need to upgrade and build public schools is driving education officials to consider new ways of financing projects.
The Task Force to Study Public School Facilities’ 2004 report, known as the Kopp Commission Report, estimated $3.85 billion would be needed to bring schools statewide up to minimum standards. As a result, a goal was set for the state to provide its share of the funding to meet that target of $2 billion or $250 million annually for eight years, said David Lever, executive director for the Public School Construction Program. The last fiscal year for that $250 million pool from which local school systems can apply for school construction money is 2012-13, Lever said. “It’s been a tremendous amount of money and it’s been a tremendous help. There’s no question about that. We hope that that will continue, but we need to do more,” Lever said.
If you take the 2004 facilities survey’s results and adjust it only for increases in construction costs, the price tag would now be almost $6 billion, Lever said. Even the annual $250 million pool doesn’t meet the demand for school project money, Lever said. For the current fiscal year, the state had requests for about $612 million in projects and was able to fund about $260 million, Lever said.

With state and local governments continuing to look at tough economic times, Lever’s office is encouraging discussion about financing alternatives, such as a “design build finance maintain operate” model. Under such a model, the local school system would provide specifications for a new school and would own the school, but a private entity could handle design, construction, finance and operations such as preventative and corrective maintenance, cleaning and security, Lever said.

Les Knapp, associate director for the Maryland Association of Counties (MACO), said the organization is concerned about the possible lapse after fiscal 2013 and wants to see the $250 million annual pool extended in future years. Recognizing the current economic situation, Knapp said MACO officials think keeping the $250 million annual level is a “reasonable goal.” MACO recently adopted updated legislative initiatives, including encouraging the state to develop and adopt a new multiyear funding strategy for school construction to replace the one that expires in fiscal 2013, Knapp said. Ideally, a new study about school facility needs would be completed, but there isn’t money for such a study, Knapp said. Extending the previous funding is a “reasonable compromise,” he said. “Part of the reason we have such a well-regarded school system (in Maryland) is we have such good school facilities,” Knapp said.

PENNSYLVANIA: The Allentown School Board is poised to take out a loan for construction from a federal stimulus fund and refinance another bond to balance the district's 2011-12 budget. The new $891,000 bond would pay for roof repairs at schools and carry such a low interest rate of 1 percent or less, it would not be a drag on the district's overall debt, officials said at last week's board Finance Committee meeting.
"It's a low-cost borrowing for what you will realize," said bond lawyer Kevin ReThe bond, which the board must approve at its regular meeting Thursday, comes from the "qualified school construction" bond pool funded by $602 million the federal government sent to Pennsylvania under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Forty-six of the state's 500 school districts were eligible for the bond money based on the percentage of low-income students they serve. It can only be used for construction. It is the second time the district has tapped the pool, which is administered by the State Public School Building Authority, a quasi-government agency that typically issues bonds for community colleges and vocational-technical schools. In August 2010, the district borrowed $5.67 million to repair roofs and chimneys on several schools and replace Allen High School's wooden stage. Last month, the district heard from the state Department of Education that it was eligible for more money. "We feel fortunate they were able to come back to us," said Chief Financial Officer Trevor Jackson.
The bond will add $52,000 annually in principal and interest for 17 years to the district's debt load, Jackson said. The district now has about $400 million in long-term principal debt. A small piece of that needs to be refinanced for the district to balance the 2011-12 budget. In June, the board approved a $228.5 million budget that called for refinancing $4.7 million of debt to cover a deficit of the same size. At the time of the vote, some directors voiced opposition to the refinancing, saying it would push debt payments down generations.

CALIFORNIA: California schools are hurting. Budget cuts in the millions are causing school districts to find ways to save cash. Some schools have laid off staff. Others have increased class sizes. And some have spent millions on solar panels to trim their electricity bills.

With the help of low-interest loans from the federal government, the San Ramon Valley Unified School District installed 10,000 photovoltaic panels at five schools. It was one of 90 systems in California, including some colleges, to do so. Those panels should create enough electricity to offset 67% to 75% of each school's electrical use, a San Ramon Valley official said. The savings initially will be used to pay back the loans, which came from federal stimulus funds, officials said.

The panels will effectively pay for themselves in 16 years, said Terry Koehne, a spokesman for the San Ramon Valley district, which has 35 schools and 27,000 students about 30 miles east of San Francisco. "It's pure profit after that," he told CNN. "And following that, we're going to start realizing savings of $2 (million), $3 (million), $4 million a year."

Like many California schools, San Ramon Valley has seen budget cuts -- $20 million in five years -- and needs to spend its money wisely. Budget cuts trigger early end to solar credits. Upfront costs for the panels and installation were $23 million, Koehne said, a price "the overwhelming majority" of the area residents accepted. According to the Contra Costa Times, though, some people objected to spending millions on equipment while other detractors worry the school system won't see the savings predicted. But Koehne said the program is saving money for both the community and the school district "at a time when we desperately need it." "And it also helps us to reduce the carbon footprint," he added. "It's a no-brainer."
Many of the panels in California were installed on roofs, but San Ramon installed solar canopies that cover its school parking lots, too. The canopies also move, getting the most energy they can by tracking the sun through the daylight.

Monica Garcia, president of the school board for the Los Angeles Unified School District, said the electric bill savings will be more than $100 million over 20 years. "What that means to me is less dollars going to facilities and more dollars going to kids," she said.

DENMARK: Bjarke Ingels Group’s design of the Vilhelmsro Primary School in Asminderoed, Denmark, is a prime example of how a building can foster a deep connection with its surroundings. BIG took inspiration from a living system, with the undulating hills providing the strongest sense of structure. The building’s sloping roof merges with the hillside, blurring the distinction between the natural and manufactured landscape to form one organic structure. The natural features are at once a beautiful backdrop for this future learning ecology and an integral part of the school’s nature and sustainability-focused curriculum. Sunlight streams deep into the classrooms, which organically flow from one to another, celebrating the nonlinear, playful reality of learning.

ARIZONA: Earlier this week, Peoria Unified School District was considering $10.4 million in leftover bond money be used for much-needed school maintenance and bus repairs, among other things. But the day before the issue was up for discussion at a special board meeting Friday, Peoria's plans suddenly unraveled when a court judgement was reached in a lawsuit against Cave Creek Unified School District.

"My recommendation, before yesterday, was that in November we go and we reallocate those monies to things that were more pressing to the district,” said Michael Finn, Peoria's chief financial officer, to the school board. When voters approved the $93.5-million bond in 2002, Peoria promised the $10.4-million chunk would fund a new elementary school in the northern area of its boundaries to accommodate the then-rapid growth.

But as enrollment, state funding and the nation's economy starting on a sour detour several years ago, Peoria faced reality and put construction on the back-burner. Instead of funding a new school, the district was planning to propose the $10.4 million serve its immediate needs, such as building renovations, capital improvement projects, updating technology and school bus repairs. "That recommendation is now, clearly, obsolete,” Finn said.

In April, a resident filed suit against Cave Creek school district for having similar plans to reallocate $13 million in leftover voter-approved bonds. On Thursday, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge issued a ruling to stop Cave Creek from spending it on cafeteria renovations at a high school because it was intended to fund a new school it was authorized by voters in 2000.
The ruling also found a portion of a new state law, which was passed last year, unconstitutional. That law allows Arizona school districts to spend unused bond money on other construction projects nine years after voters authorize it.
Before Thursday, it had also been Peoria's crutch for reallocating that $10.4 million. Now, it's considering to use the money to repay bond debt. But Finn said he's seeking legal advice before taking any additonal steps.

NATIONAL: During President Obama’s recent speech to Congress outlining his American Jobs Act, he acknowledged the state of America’s schools: “There are schools throughout this country that desperately need renovating. How can we expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart? This is America. Every child deserves a great school — and we can give it to them, if we act now.” The US Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools is already heeding this call to action.

In July, the USGBC kicked off the Green Schools Fellowship program, which is designed to provide school districts with the tools and resources to support green building efforts and implement improvements to their facilities and operations. If Congress passes the Jobs Act, $25 billion was promised for such school construction projects. Dowser sat down with fellowship manager Anisa Baldwin Metzger to talk about the program’s mission and the role that USGBC can play to ensure sustainability initiatives take root in our country’s educational facilities.[See article for interview]

NATIONAL: Despite the political banter of Washington, D.C., President Obama offered a bright solution in his jobs speech: school construction. As the President noted in his speech, " How can we expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart? This is America. Every child deserves a great school -- and we can give it to them, if we act now." As proposed the American Jobs Act would repair and modernize at least 35,000 schools – creating jobs in communities across the country.

In one groundbreaking example, Dr. Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst has demonstrated that spending on education generates the largest number of jobs (23.1 per $1 million dollars in spending) of any government spending.
With such potential investment, we now have the possibility to further increase the rate of return for taxpayers by emphasizing green school construction practices. These efforts have the proven ability to significantly reduce a school’s energy, water and other resource needs. Such savings translate into real financial paybacks for cash-strapped school districts.

On average, a green school utilizes 33% less energy, 32% less water, and reduces waste by 74% when compared to a traditionally built school building. These savings alone can average $100,000 annually – enough to hire 2 new teachers, buy 250 new computers, or purchase 5,000 new textbooks. Green schools can also reduce the following pollutants on an annual basis: 1,200 lbs of nitrogen oxide (NOx) – a principal component of smog, 1,300 lbs of sulfur dioxide (SO2) – a principal cause of acid rain, and 585,000 lbs of carbon dioxide (CO2) – the principal greenhouse gas.

A sound, 21st century education is one that investigates and emphasizes the relationship between the economy and the environment. Congress can begin to advance such an agenda by protecting the EPA’s Office of Environmental Education and supporting President Obama’s school construction plan with an emphasis on cost-saving, sustainable construction practices. With efforts like these, the classrooms of tomorrow will again be filled with students eager to share their personal experiences of a world filled with innovation and wonder. As President Obama noted "we have to look beyond the immediate crisis and start building an economy that lasts into the future". Green schools are a great place to start.

NATIONAL: In the jobs bill President Obama sent to Congress on Monday, he proposes using federal funds to repair 35,000 schools nationwide. Now, we must hope Congress embraces the idea, which has the potential to create jobs, spruce up decrepit school buildings and inject money into stagnating local economies.

As Los Angeles has shown, school renovation is labor intensive: It creates more jobs per dollar spent than many other kinds of public works projects. According to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., each $50 million spent by the Los Angeles Unified School District on school renovations during its recent push to build and upgrade schools created 935 annual jobs, which paid $43 million in wages and generated $130 million in Southern California business revenue.

In the Los Angeles area, school bonds have financed 111 new campuses and modernized hundreds more since 2001, which enabled the district to alleviate extreme overcrowding. But there is much more that needs to be done. L.A. Unified has more than 13,000 buildings serving about 670,000 students. Half of the structures are at least 50 years old and many are much older, and they need attention.

To keep teachers in classrooms during a time of shrinking revenue, the district has made major cuts in its maintenance and operations budget. Also, because of the fiscal crisis, the state has relaxed rules that forced schools to set aside funds for building upkeep. But without needed maintenance, school buildings deteriorate more rapidly, which will lead to higher repair costs in the future.

Schools nationwide are suffering from a massive backlog of leaky roofs and windows, clogged and rusted pipes, inadequate wiring, inefficient heating and air-conditioning systems, and neglected playgrounds. As in California, school districts have slashed building maintenance to avoid cutting teachers.

Do bricks and mortar affect how kids learn? Of course. Nearly two dozen studies recently collected by the 21st Century School Fund document the impact on achievement and attendance. Depressing surroundings lower student and teacher morale. Upgrading buildings reduces noise and improves health and learning. As the president put it to Congress last week, "How can we expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart?"

NATIONAL: The president can request it, but it'll take Congress to approve the pieces of the new $447 billion stimulus package. So Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, today will introduce a Senate bill to provide money to upgrade schools nationwide.

Brown's "Fix America's Schools Today Act" would provide money for roofs, boilers, science and technology lab upgrades, wiring or other capital projects that local districts have delayed because of money woes. Rep. Rosa DeLaura, a Connecticut Democrat, will introduce a companion bill in the House.

Brown says the average school building is 40 years old, and the backlog of maintenance projects exceeds $270 billion.

President Barack Obama wants the federal government to provide $25 billion for repairs or modernization of public and charter schools, and $5 billion for community colleges. This total would include $985 million for school projects in Ohio, creating up to 12,800 jobs, according to Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

NATIONAL: President Barack Obama officially released his jobs plan on Monday. And his first stop in selling the nearly $450 billion to jump-start the economy? A visit scheduled today at the Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School in Columbus, Ohio, to push one piece of the jobs plan: $25 billion aimed at revamping school facilities, plus another $5 billion for retooling community colleges.

The jobs plan is pretty broad, and there are lots of pieces that the administration could be highlighting the day after the big reveal. But, apparently, somebody thinks money for fixing-up schools will pack a political punch. Also, interestingly, the visit is to the home state of U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the Speaker of the House.
Of course, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan brushed off the idea that the choice of the Buckeye State was political. "This is not a partisan [issue] the physical conditions of some our aging schools today are shameful," Duncan said in a conference call with reporters Monday.

But the school facilities program is going to face very long odds. Money for K-12 construction was a major sticking point back in 2009, when a Congress controlled by Democrats crafted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The architects of that legislation tried very hard to include money for facilities, but it was stripped out at the last minute, to gain support from moderate Democrats and GOP lawmakers.

While at the school, Obama is to chat with the principal about how improved school facilities can boost student learning. And he'll talk with construction managers about how recent improvements at the school have created jobs locally. The administration has now spelled out further details on how the school construction funding would flow. Forty percent of it, or $10 billion, would go to the nation's largest hundred school districts, based on need. The remaining $15 billion would go to states. The states could hold competitions to give out half of that funding, with priority going to rural districts. The rest would go to districts through a formula. The direct federal grants to the nation's largest school districts would range from $28.2 million each for the Corpus Christie School District, in Wisconsin, and the Marion County, Fla., school system to $1.63 billion for New York City public schools. The money couldn't be used for new school construction. But it could be used for a host of other things, including: emergency repair and renovation, energy efficiency upgrades, and asbestos removal. Schools could build new science and computer labs and revamp infrastructure to better support new technology. They could also use the funds to fix after-school facilities and make modifications under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Twenty-five billion may sound like a lot. But it's a pretty small fraction of the $270 billion backlog of repairs which is where the White House is pegging the need. That's the same estimate used in a report by Mary Filardo, the executive director of the 21st Century Schools Fund, Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, and Ross Eisenbrey, the vice-president of the Economic Policy Institute.
Schools would have until Sept. 30, 2012 to spend the funds.

The money isn't going to make the same amount of different everywhere, said Mike Griffith, the senior school finance analyst for the Education Commission of the States. A million-dollar grant can mean a lot in a small school district, but it might not make a noticeable difference in a larger, wealthier one.

NATIONAL: President Barack Obama officially released his jobs plan on Monday. And his first stop in selling the nearly $450 billion to jump-start the economy? A visit scheduled today at the Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School in Columbus, Ohio, to push one piece of the jobs plan: $25 billion aimed at revamping school facilities, plus another $5 billion for retooling community colleges.

The jobs plan is pretty broad, and there are lots of pieces that the administration could be highlighting the day after the big reveal. But, apparently, somebody thinks money for fixing-up schools will pack a political punch. Also, interestingly, the visit is to the home state of U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the Speaker of the House.
Of course, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan brushed off the idea that the choice of the Buckeye State was political. "This is not a partisan [issue] the physical conditions of some our aging schools today are shameful," Duncan said in a conference call with reporters Monday.

But the school facilities program is going to face very long odds. Money for K-12 construction was a major sticking point back in 2009, when a Congress controlled by Democrats crafted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The architects of that legislation tried very hard to include money for facilities, but it was stripped out at the last minute, to gain support from moderate Democrats and GOP lawmakers.

While at the school, Obama is to chat with the principal about how improved school facilities can boost student learning. And he'll talk with construction managers about how recent improvements at the school have created jobs locally. The administration has now spelled out further details on how the school construction funding would flow. Forty percent of it, or $10 billion, would go to the nation's largest hundred school districts, based on need. The remaining $15 billion would go to states. The states could hold competitions to give out half of that funding, with priority going to rural districts. The rest would go to districts through a formula. The direct federal grants to the nation's largest school districts would range from $28.2 million each for the Corpus Christie School District, in Wisconsin, and the Marion County, Fla., school system to $1.63 billion for New York City public schools. The money couldn't be used for new school construction. But it could be used for a host of other things, including: emergency repair and renovation, energy efficiency upgrades, and asbestos removal. Schools could build new science and computer labs and revamp infrastructure to better support new technology. They could also use the funds to fix after-school facilities and make modifications under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Twenty-five billion may sound like a lot. But it's a pretty small fraction of the $270 billion backlog of repairs which is where the White House is pegging the need. That's the same estimate used in a report by Mary Filardo, the executive director of the 21st Century Schools Fund, Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, and Ross Eisenbrey, the vice-president of the Economic Policy Institute.
Schools would have until Sept. 30, 2012 to spend the funds.

The money isn't going to make the same amount of different everywhere, said Mike Griffith, the senior school finance analyst for the Education Commission of the States. A million-dollar grant can mean a lot in a small school district, but it might not make a noticeable difference in a larger, wealthier one.

NATIONAL: This report details the benefits of this program for each state as well as the 100 largest high-need public school districts which will receive funds directly.

The President is proposing a $25 billion investment in school infrastructure that will modernize at least 35,000 public schools. This investment will create jobs, while improving classrooms and upgrading our schools to meet 21st century needs. It also includes a priority for rural schools and dedicated funding for Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools. Funds can be used for a range of emergency repair and renovation projects, greening and energy efficiency upgrades, asbestos abatement and removal, and modernization efforts to build new science and computer labs and to upgrade the technology infrastructure in our schools. The President is also proposing a $5 billion investment in modernizing community colleges (including tribal colleges), bolstering their infrastructure in this time of need while ensuring their ability to serve future generations of students and communities. [See full press release for a state-by-state breakdown of benefits.]

NATIONAL: The U.S. Department of Education, following in the footsteps of its well-known Blue Ribbon Schools recognition program, is set to launch a Green Ribbon Schools initiative to salute environmental achievers. Just as the Blue Ribbon program honors academic success, the new initiative would recognize public and private schools that excel in environmental education and stewardship. The department is accepting final public comment on its proposal until September 14 and will start taking nominations in early 2012. About 50 awards nationwide will come next spring, building up to about 200 in future years. Schools would get no monetary reward, just the prestige of being named.

VIRGINIA: Budget restraints have forced school division officials to scrap a plan to install security software that would have screened school visitors divisionwide against a national database of registered sex offenders.
The system was tested at three school buildings in the spring, winning praise from some parents and drawing the ire of others who argued the background checks were intrusive and unnecessary.
Installing and running the Raptor Technologies security system - which scans visitor IDs and then alerts school officials if the person appears on a national list of offenders - would have cost the division $120,000 the first year and $36,288 each year after that.

NATIONAL: Last Thursday, President Obama called for $25 billion to modernize 35,000 of the country's aging school buildings as part of his $450 billion American Jobs Act plan. And regardless of the prospects for the passage of Obama's plan, it's worth asking: Does attending a run-down school affect students' achievement levels?

The average K-12 building in the United States is 40 years old, according to the nonprofit 21st Century School Fund; and the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation's public school buildings a D grade in 2009. It would cost at least $270 billion to bring the nation's schools into good repair, according to Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post.

And according to one analysis, the disrepair of the nation's schools is hurting kids' academic achievement. The 21st Century School Fund released a report earlier this year claiming that an analysis of 20 studies showed "a positive correlation between the achievement of students and the condition of the school facility," after controlling for student demographics. The study found a correlation between shoddy school infrastructure and higher drop-out rates and lower attendance.
"How can we expect our kids to do their best in places that are literally falling apart? This is America. Every child deserves a great school—and we can give it to them, if we act now," Obama said last week.

NATIONAL: President Obama’s American Jobs Act will make immediate investments that will help today’s students compete in tomorrow’s economy.
The Jobs Act will provide $30 billion to support teachers’ jobs and another $30 billion to modernize and renovate schools. Both are essential ingredients to the President’s plan to create and preserve jobs to move the economy forward. But they also will ensure children get the preparation needed to compete for jobs in the knowledge economy of the 21st Century.

When the Education and the Economy bus tour stopped in Milwaukee on Friday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Director of the Domestic Policy Council Melody Barnes emphasized the critical role that the Jobs Act will play in creating jobs today and in the future.

In a town hall at the School of Career and Technical Education, Barnes pointed out that the average Milwaukee public school was built 70 years ago. The Jobs Act will provide $169 million for Milwaukee to modernize and renovate their buildings, ensuring they have the facilities to prepare students to compete for careers tomorrow. “We can teach students about science and technology, but if they can’t put their hands on, it doesn’t make sense to them,” Barnes said.

The funding for teachers will support 280,000 jobs across the country and 7,400 in Wisconsin alone. Without it, schools will have to make tough choices to increase class sizes or cut programs in the arts and other subjects essential to a well-rounded curriculum. “None of that is good for our children across the country,” Secretary Duncan said at the event.

The President outlined the American Jobs Act in a speech to Congress on Thursday night. “There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation,” the President said. “Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans. And everything in this bill will be paid for.”

NATIONAL: Rebuilding our Nation's schools will put hundreds of thousands of Americans – construction workers, engineers, maintenance workers, boiler repairmen and women, and electrical workers – back to work. These investments will create jobs, while improving classrooms and upgrading our schools to meet 21st century needs. See the overwhelming support the President's plan has already received from groups across the Nation.

[Includes statements by David Terry, Executive Director, NASEO; Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers; Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO and Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council; Donald Gilligan, President, National Association of Energy Service Companies (NAESCO); Kevin Surace, CEO, Serious Energy; Daryl Dulaney, CEO, Siemens Industry Inc.; David J. Anderson, Executive Vice President, Ameresco, Inc.; Jeff Drees, US Country President, Schneider Electric; Dan Domenech, Executive Director, American Association of School Administrators; Michael P. O'Brien, President and CEO of the Window & Door Manufacturing Association; David Foster, Executive Director, BlueGreen Alliance; Johnson Controls Inc.; Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, sponsor of Eco-Schools USA; Anne L. Bryant, Executive Director, The National School Boards Association (NSBA); Jeffrey King, Executive Director, Clean Economy Development Center; Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education, and former governor of West Virginia; National Indian Education Association; Cheryl Scott Williams, Executive Director, Learning First Alliance.

NATIONAL: President Barack Obama called for $30 billion to revamp facilities at the nation's K-12 schools and community colleges as he outlined his vision for spurring the sputtering economy in a speech to Congress Thursday night.
The education proposals will be part of a $447 billion legislative package expected to be introduced next week. The president said he would propose cuts elsewhere to pay for the plan, but he didn't release specifics.
K-12 schools could get up to $25 billion for renovations, which administration officials estimate could pay for makeovers of at least 35,000 public schools. That construction money could be used for emergency repairs and renovations, energy efficiency updates, and asbestos removal. Schools also could use the money to build new science and computer labs, and to update technology. Another $5 billion would go to help retool community college facilities.

NATIONAL : The $450 billion plan that President Obama unveiled Thursday night to try to stimulate job growth and the economy would provide $5 billion in funds to build and renovate facilities and other infrastructure at community colleges and tribal colleges.
Details about the proposal were sparse as of last night; the president's combative speech to a joint session of Congress did not even mention the funds, but a White House fact sheet said that the money for the institutions would bolster "their infrastructure in this time of need while ensuring their ability to serve future generations of students and communities.

NATIONAL: Earth Day Network just launched the Green Schools Leadership Center, which will provide educators and students with the tools necessary to support environmental literacy and to share green school resources and success stories nationwide.

Why do green schools make sense? They have the proven ability to significantly reduce a school’s energy, water, and other resource needs. For example, a green school utilizes 33% less energy, 32% less water and reduces waste 74% when compared to a traditionally built school building. Such savings translate into real financial paybacks for cash-strapped school districts. On average, a certified green school can gave $100,000 a year—the equivalent of two full time teacher salaries, 250 new computers, or 5,000 new textbooks. Thus, we hope our newly launched Green Schools Leadership Center will be an easily accessible resource for educators, students, and community members who want to help their schools and communities in promoting and teaching sustainability. Additionally, tools are available to help schools win the new Green Ribbon Schools Award (recently announced by the U.S. Department of Education), which rewards schools who demonstrate significant progress in increasing environmental literacy, building schools that are energy efficient, and promoting health among students and staff.

The Green Schools Leadership Center is broken down into six broad areas of possible green school engagement options: Facilities, Food, Transportation, Schoolyard & Outdoors, Community Engagement and the Educators’ Network for curriculum related needs. This online network will enable educators to share a library of lesson plans, teaching materials, grants and blogs as well as helping users find background documents for introductory purposes and student action plans to aide the user in spurring green growth within their community.

NATIONAL: Though there is no current comprehensive nationwide data on the condition of the country’s school buildings, estimates to bring schools into good repair range from a low of at least $270 billion to more than $500 billion.
About one-fourth (28 percent) of all public schools were built before 1950, and 45 percent of all public schools were built between 1950 and 1969, according to the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities.
Research over decades shows that the condition of school facilities affects student achievement. According to a 2011 report by the 21st Century School Fund, there are clear correlations between the quality of school facilities and student and teacher attendance, teacher retention and recruitment, child and teacher health, and the quality of curriculum.

NATIONAL: Though there is no current comprehensive nationwide data on the condition of the country’s school buildings, estimates to bring schools into good repair range from a low of at least $270 billion to more than $500 billion.
About one-fourth (28 percent) of all public schools were built before 1950, and 45 percent of all public schools were built between 1950 and 1969, according to the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities.
Research over decades shows that the condition of school facilities affects student achievement. According to a 2011 report by the 21st Century School Fund, there are clear correlations between the quality of school facilities and student and teacher attendance, teacher retention and recruitment, child and teacher health, and the quality of curriculum.

NATIONAL: President Obama’s jobs proposal, unveiled Thursday,calls for a $25 billion effort to modernize at least 35,000 public schools — and making them greener is part of the plan.
“Funds could be used for a range of emergency repair and renovation projects, greening and energy efficiency upgrades, asbestos abatement and removal, and modernization efforts to build new science and computer labs and to upgrade technology in our schools,” states a White House summary of Obama’s broader $447 billion “American Jobs Act.”
The plan also endorses creation of a “National Infrastructure Bank” that includes road, transit, water infrastructure and other types of projects.

Obama’s speech drew cheers from the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of unions and green groups including the United Steelworkers, the Sierra Club and others. “Bold ideas like an infrastructure bank will strengthen America's efforts to build a 21st century transportation infrastructure — which is essential for businesses to compete and thrive in a global economy where Europe and China are fast racing ahead,” the group said in a statement.
They also liked the schools initiative. “A green school in every community will be a living symbol of how to put America back to work, improve the health of our children and teachers, and move our economy closer to a clean energy future,” the group said.

NATIONAL : In his speech to Congress, President Obama laid out two job programs critical to ensuring every child has the opportunity for a world-class education.
He proposed to invest $30 billion to put hundreds of thousands of construction workers, engineers, boiler repairmen, and electrical workers back to work rebuilding and modernizing our aging public schools and community colleges. And he proposed an additional $30 billion to keep hundreds of thousands of educators facing potential layoffs and furloughs in classrooms where they belong—instead of on unemployment lines.

In the global economy, the nation that out-educates America will out-compete America. But the hard truth is that a number of nations are now out-educating the U.S.—and the antiquated conditions of many public schools are limiting children’s access to the 21st century tools and skills needed to compete in a knowledge economy.

The average public school building in the United States is over 40 years old. Many school buildings are even more antiquated. Today, the digital age has penetrated every nook of American life—with the exception of many of our public schools.
Most classrooms have changed little from a century ago. In fact, 43 states report that a third or more of their schools fail to meet the functional requirements necessary to effectively teach laboratory science—even though hands-on science education is vital for the jobs of the future. That’s no way to provide a world-class education.

Cash-strapped school districts meanwhile face an enormous $270 billion backlog of deferred maintenance and repairs. Tragically, children in the nation’s poorest school districts often attend schools with crumbling ceilings, overcrowded classrooms, and facilities that lack basic wiring infrastructure for computers, projectors, and other modern-day technology.

This is not a partisan issue. The physical conditions at some aging schools today are shameful. They are no place for children to learn. The President’s plan is one of the largest-ever investments in school modernization. It would modernize approximately 35,000 schools, or about a third of all public schools in the United States. Under his plan, $25 billion would go to upgrading existing public school facilities (including charter schools), with $5 billion invested in modernizing community colleges. Federal funds would be targeted to the neediest school districts and those ready to act fast to put people back to work. But the federal government won’t fund new construction or get involved in picking which schools to modernize.

Those decisions will be left entirely to states and districts with an on-the-ground knowledge of local needs. Some communities will support major classroom renovations, plaster, and plumbing upgrades. Others will invest in energy efficiency to reduce soaring utility bills—or modernize science labs and support technology needed to prepare students for 21st century jobs.

Projections from proposals similar to the President’s plan suggest it could create as many as 300,000 jobs in the construction trades. And modernizing and rebuilding our schools is a classic win-win solution. It benefits everyone—children, communities, and the construction workers back on the job. While modernization could put a small army of Americans back to work rebuilding and upgrading our schools, looming teacher layoffs could have a devastating impact on classroom instruction and the careers of hundreds of thousands of teachers.

NATIONAL: Modernizing At Least 35,000 Public Schools – From Science Labs and Internet-Ready Classrooms to Renovated Facilities($30 billion): The President’s plan calls for substantial investments in our school infrastructure, modernizing and upgrading America’s public schools to meet 21st century needs. The cost of maintaining more than 100,000 public schools is substantial for already overstretched districts. The accumulated backlog of deferred maintenance and repair amounts to at least $270 billion. Schools spend over $6 billion annually on their energy bills, more than they spend on computers and textbooks combined. For children in the nation’s poorest districts, these deferred projects too often mean overcrowded schools with crumbling ceilings and a lack of the basic wiring infrastructure needed for computers, projectors, and other technology. The President’s plan will invest $30 billion in enhancing the condition ofour nation’s public schools – with $25 billion going to K-12 schools, including a priority for rural schools and dedicated funding for Bureau of Indian Education funded schools, and $5 billion to community colleges (including tribal colleges). The range of critical repairs and needed construction projects would put hundreds of thousands of Americans – construction workers, engineers, maintenance staff, boiler repairman, and electrical workers – back to work.

Safer, Healthier, and Technologically-Advanced Schools of the Future: Permissible uses of funds would include a range of emergency repair and renovation projects, greening and energy efficiency upgrades, asbestos abatement and removal, and modernization efforts to build new science and computer labs and to upgrade technology in our schools. Local districts will also be able to put these funds to work to invest in upgrades to allow schools to continue to serve as centers of the community – from improvements to school ground outdoor learning and play areas to upgrades to shared spaces for adult vocational and job development centers. These efforts will not only make our schools safer and healthier learning environments, but also ensure that our schools are fully equipped to teach 21st century skills in math, science, and other technical fields and to serve as effective centers for workforce training and development.

A Focus on Schools in Need: To ensure that schools in the most disrepair will be able to make necessary enhancements, 40 percent of the funds will be directed toward the 100 largest high-need public school districts. This investment is particularly important as national surveys have found that the schools with the highest proportion of lower-income and minority students are least likely to have functional laboratory equipment. The remaining 60 percent will be directed towards states to allocate, and states would have flexibility to use those funds to service other high-need districts, including schools in rural areas.

Modernizing Community Colleges to Train a 21st Century Workforce: America’s community college system was built up over 40 years ago to support education and training activities of that time. These colleges are in desperate need of upgrades to ensure that facilities are equipped meet the demands of the 21st century workforce. Deferred maintenance at community colleges is estimated to be $100 billion. As part of this school modernization initiative, the President’s plan proposes $5 billion of investments for facilities modernization needs at community colleges. Investment in modernizing community colleges fills a key resource gap, and ensures these local, bedrock education institutions have the facilities and equipment to address current workforce demands in today’s highly technical and growing fields.

NATIONAL: Rumors are swirling that President Barack Obama might use his jobs speech tomorrow to make a pitch for more money to prevent teacher layoffs—or repair the nation's schools.
A school construction push might have a tailor-made funding vehicle in a bill to be introduced sometime soon by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who is the top Democrat on the House appropriations panel that oversees K-12 spending.

No word in this summary on just how much money would be available for school facilities overall. (Maybe, if Obama really is going to propose school construction money, DeLauro is waiting for the White House to put a number on it.) But the dollars would be distributed via the Title I formula, which aims to direct funds to high-poverty schools. The measure would also keep in place the federal prevailing-wage rules known as Davis-Bacon. That's sure to be a sore point for GOP lawmakers (most of whom would probably not knock themselves out trying to support this bill anyway).

No matter what the vehicle, school construction funding is sure to be tough sell in a divided Congress. The architects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (aka the stimulus) sought to include a school facilities grant program in the legislation, back in 2009, when both houses of Congress were in Democratic hands and Obama was extremely popular.

But the funds were stripped out to get support from moderate Democrats and Republicans, even though school construction advocates argued the funding was a win-win-win (create jobs, improve classroom environments, save money on energy bills, the works). Opponents counter that providing money for school construction simply isn't a federal responsibility; they say the feds still haven't come up with their share of special education funding and should focus on what they've already promised to do before taking on more spending. In 2009, that meant lawmakers who voted for a bill that included some $100 billion for education still couldn't support federal money for school facilities. That goes to show how controversial this issue can be.

Advocates for continued emphasis on school buildings that are healthy, high-performing, sustainable, well-lit, well-ventilated and safe.
Aside from providing a huge health benefit to students and staff, constructing, renovating and maintaining sustainable school buildings are key components to an overall plan to create “green collar” jobs that will put Americans to work and give our economy a sorely needed boost.
The article proposes policies and curriculum elements that support green, high-performance schools.

Connecticut: Connecticut school districts appear to be cutting back or postponing borrowing money for their school construction and renovation projects, just at a time when municipal bond rates are attractively low and construction costs have dropped.
The Associated Press reviewed payments made by the state of Connecticut to local school boards and municipalities to help pay for school construction costs. The AP found there has been a steady decline since 2008. These payments are made to local entities during the construction period of a project to cover contractor costs.

Illinois: President Obama will roll out a jobs package on Thursday that strives to lift the ailing economy through roughly $300 billion worth of tax credits, school renovation projects, job training for the unemployed, and a program to prevent layoffs of school teachers.

Minnesota: With the Souris River flood swamping a number of Minot's schools in June, alternatives had to be quickly found for approximately 1,276 students during the upcoming school year. Although some schools were relocated to existing sites, others needed a portable solution.
While traditional portable classrooms were considered, 70 would have been needed to handle all the students
Instead, 10 modular classroom units, mostly from Illinois, were found and transported to Minot. FEMA is picking up 90 percent of the cost for the portable units, which is really helping the budget of Minot Public Schools. Joe Zavagnin, FEMA public assistance coordinator for Minot Public Schools, didn't have any exact numbers, but said the bill FEMA is picking up for the portable units runs into the millions.

NATIONAL: President Obama plans to announce a jobs package next week. That’s where FAST! comes in. Fix America’s Schools Today is a proposal — from the 21st Century School Fund, the Economic Policy Institute and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities — to address the backlog of repairs at the nation’s 100,000 public schools. It’s an idea that efficiently marries big problems to a big solution.

One big problem is that most school districts in our country have been deferring maintenance and repairs for years. The has led to inefficient, and thus expensive, energy use, unsafe drinking water, mold, poor air quality, inadequate fire safety systems and structural dangers. With local governments hammered by the recession, school districts do not have the resources to address this backlog, nor will they for many years to come.
The other big problem is that after the housing bust, employment opportunities crashed for construction workers. So far this year, their unemployment rate has averaged 18 percent. An efficient and common-sense solution is a government infrastructure program to put many of these workers back on the job fixing our nations’ schools.

There’s a lot to recommend FAST. First, the resources can be quickly distributed through formulas that Congress already uses. All 16,000 school districts receive funds under “Title I” programs. FAST could be set up to ensure that within a month of enactment, every state and a hundred of the local education systems with the greatest needs would get funding. Any school district with a roof to insulate and repair, for example, could begin work before the end of the year. The rest of the districts could apply, and recipients would be chosen based on need, along with estimates of jobs created and energy savings generated.

Another reason the president should consider this his top priority for improving infrastructure and putting America back to work is that FAST is more labor-intensive than road and bridge construction. One lesson of the 2009 Recovery Act is that roadwork has become more capital-intensive. Right now, we need jobs for people, not machines. The work that FAST would enable — insulating buildings; fixing or replacing windows, roofs and HVAC systems; and implementing green measures, such as adding solar panels or wind generators — is still highly labor-intensive.

Given the depth of the backlog, FAST is scalable. Although the full cost of needed repairs is in the hundreds of billions, we propose a $50 billion program that would create about half a million jobs. To avoid adding to the deficit and to complement the energy-efficiency theme of the repairs, the cost of the program could be fully offset by closing loopholes that benefit the oil and gas industries, such as an $18 billion tax break for manufacturers that somehow goes to oil and gas extractors, too, or an $11 billion tax break on the depletion of oil or natural gas fields that extraction companies get well before depletion, and one that keeps giving even after the full costs of the properties have been deducted.

As its name suggests, FAST could quickly get to work fixing a vital but dangerously ignored American institution, while putting hundreds of thousands back to work and providing students with better learning environments. Such an initiative also conveys an important message to our children. It’s hard for them to square the message that we, their parents, are concerned about and committed to their educational success when we send them off to schools that are in ill-repair or even unsafe. FAST should be at the top of the president’s jobs agenda next week.

MAINE: The ceremonial grand opening of Portland’s Ocean Avenue Elementary School was punctuated by superlatives as the facility was lauded for its creative aesthetics and energy efficiency.
School board chairwoman Kate Snyder, Portland Public Schools Superintendent James Morse, Mayor Nicholas Mavodones and Cheryl Leeman, District 4 city councilor and co-chairwoman of the new school’s building committee, delivered celebratory comments before a traditional ribbon-cutting in front of the main entrance.

Morse described the wavy, towering plantlike structures on the pathway leading toward the school’s front doors as creating a “Dr. Seuss-like” atmosphere that’s not just functional but fun.
The Ocean Avenue school was home to what Principal Beverly Coursey called a “soft opening” when the 315 students who formerly attended the deteriorating Nathan Clifford Elementary School moved into the new 70,000-square-foot kindergarten-through-fifth-grade facility after February vacation last year.

When classes begin on Sept. 6 this year, that student population will swell to around 440 as the rest of the students in the immediate Back Cove neighborhood, who had been split up among Riverton, Presumpscot and Longfellow elementary schools, coalesce at 150 Ocean Ave.
Coursey comes to the new school from Nathan Clifford, which she said lacked a proper cafeteria and gymnasium, only had bathrooms in the basement and held just nine working computers in the entire four-story structure. “Our old building was more than 100 years old, and it wasn’t built for how we do school today,” she told the Bangor Daily News on Thursday. “Coming over here, it’s like a temple for learning.”

The new school was built as part of the state’s school construction program. It was originally estimated to cost $20 million, but came in under budget at just more than $14.1 million, thanks in large part to the efforts of contractor Ledgewood Construction and designer WBRC Architects, those in attendance said Thursday. The school qualifies for LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for its energy-efficient features.

MAINE: The ceremonial grand opening of Portland’s Ocean Avenue Elementary School was punctuated by superlatives as the facility was lauded for its creative aesthetics and energy efficiency.
School board chairwoman Kate Snyder, Portland Public Schools Superintendent James Morse, Mayor Nicholas Mavodones and Cheryl Leeman, District 4 city councilor and co-chairwoman of the new school’s building committee, delivered celebratory comments before a traditional ribbon-cutting in front of the main entrance.

Morse described the wavy, towering plantlike structures on the pathway leading toward the school’s front doors as creating a “Dr. Seuss-like” atmosphere that’s not just functional but fun.
The Ocean Avenue school was home to what Principal Beverly Coursey called a “soft opening” when the 315 students who formerly attended the deteriorating Nathan Clifford Elementary School moved into the new 70,000-square-foot kindergarten-through-fifth-grade facility after February vacation last year.

When classes begin on Sept. 6 this year, that student population will swell to around 440 as the rest of the students in the immediate Back Cove neighborhood, who had been split up among Riverton, Presumpscot and Longfellow elementary schools, coalesce at 150 Ocean Ave.
Coursey comes to the new school from Nathan Clifford, which she said lacked a proper cafeteria and gymnasium, only had bathrooms in the basement and held just nine working computers in the entire four-story structure. “Our old building was more than 100 years old, and it wasn’t built for how we do school today,” she told the Bangor Daily News on Thursday. “Coming over here, it’s like a temple for learning.”

The new school was built as part of the state’s school construction program. It was originally estimated to cost $20 million, but came in under budget at just more than $14.1 million, thanks in large part to the efforts of contractor Ledgewood Construction and designer WBRC Architects, those in attendance said Thursday. The school qualifies for LEED certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for its energy-efficient features.

NATIONAL: ED is asking for public comment on proposed plans for the new U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools recognition program. The Department, along with the Environmental Protection Agency and the White House Council on Environmental Quality announced their intention to create the Green Ribbon award on April 26, 2011. ED will accept comments until September 14 and will publish the final program details by the end of the month.

The U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools will recognize schools that save energy, reduce costs, and feature environmentally sustainable learning spaces, as well as protect health, foster wellness and impart effective environmental education. The award program will bring together three institutional roles of schools related to environment and health as it acknowledges high levels of achievement in three categories: 1) environmental impact and energy efficiency; 2) healthy environment; and 3) environmental literacy.

VIRGINIA: After months of examining the figures to see if an $11.6 million low interest loan would enable the county to consolidate the county schools into one modern K-12 facility, the Bland County board of supervisors and school board jointly decided that the project “is not financially in the best interest of the county at the present time,” according to a joint press release.

“This is not a situation where one board is against another,” Eric Workman, Bland County administrator said. “The school board looked into a revenue stream that became available,” Workman said. “We had several discussions on this. The annual debt service on that part of the loan would have been three-quarters of a million dollars, and the total cost of the K-12 facility would have been $31.5 million. “The county would have cost the county $1.8 million per year in debt service,” Workman said. “In order to service that debt, Bland County citizens would have a 62 percent increase in their property tax. Both boards did not feel that was in the best interest of the people.”

In the joint press release, the boards acknowledged that school construction has been on the table in Bland County for several years and added that when the opportunity became available at zero percent interest from the Qualified School Construction Bonds, the supervisors authorized the school board to submit applications for different scenarios for school funding. The QSCB authorized the $11.6 million for a new K-12 facility with a $773,333 annual payment. However, the county estimated the total construction cost at $31.5 million, and therefore, needed another $19.9 million and another 20-year loan with payments of $1 million plus.

The boards announced jointly that a new facility would represent a benefit, the cost of servicing the loan would represent a “financial hardship” that is “a tremendous concern” for the citizens. “We provided all of the financial details in the joint press release, and I read it in its entirety during the board of supervisors meeting,” Workman said. “We had to notify the treasury department before the end of August, and that’s what we did,” Workman said.

VERMONT: The Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union’s schools are among about 90 schools that have either been delayed or will be delayed as the state’s school districts recover from the damage caused by Sunday’s storm.
Jill Remick, a spokeswoman for the Vermont Department of Education, has put together a list of schools, posted on the department’s website, that closed either temporarily or will be closed. For instance, schools in the Rutland Northeast and Windham Southwest supervisory unions have delayed their opening days until Sept. 6. Remick said the list was assembled from responses received by the education department to a question about school damages and delays. She said parents should check with their local schools to get more definitive information and because there might be specific details, like some grades starting on one date while others start on a different date, not reflected in the list.

According to Remick, the storm damage has caused some “pretty unprecedented” changes to the school year throughout the state. “This has really brought a lot of Vermont’s educational system to a halt,” she said.
Like the schools in the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union, many Vermont schools are expecting delays not because of damage to the school facilities but because of such concerns as which roads and bridges will be open, Remick said.
However, some schools were damaged like those in Moretown and South Royalton. Remick said there were about a half-dozen schools, including those in Bethel and Rochester, whose administrators couldn’t even estimate when the schools would open.

MARYLAND: When the Canadian province of Nova Scotia wanted to build dozens of schools in the late 1990s, education officials turned to an unusual source of cash — private developers. The developers contracted with local school systems to design and build 31 schools, and to provide maintenance and operations for the schools, in exchange for lease payments by the province. The contracts obligated Nova Scotia to pay $830 million during the 20-year life of the contracts.

Now, Maryland is beginning to explore whether similar arrangements, also used in Great Britain, could work for state school construction at a time when dollars for new schools and building upgrades are scarce.
Public officials from state and local governments and school systems are scheduled to gather at a Sept. 19 seminar in Annapolis to hear presentations on alternative school financing, as well as alternative funding and energy performance contracting.
David Lever, executive director of the Interagency Committee on School Construction, said the key to such a public-private partnership is the creation of a strong contract that covers a variety of issues, from relationships with unionized maintenance workers to community use of the privately financed facilities.

NATIONAL: A plan to boost construction jobs nationwide by providing federal money to repair public schools is picking up support among unions, economists and liberal advocates with direct ties to the White House.

President Obama himself promoted the plan during his 2008 campaign, and some money was made available for school repairs in the $825 billion economic stimulus law passed in 2009. Now supporters are urging Obama to invest tens of billions of dollars as a major component of the jobs plan he delivers to Congress next week.

The proposal would funnel federal money to school districts where repair work has been delayed for years. One option to pay for it: wiping out nearly $50billion in tax breaks for oil and gas companies, proposed by Obama but nixed by Republicans who control the House.
White House allies like the idea because unlike highway construction, where machinery plays a crucial role, fixing up schools would create more jobs. "It puts people, not machines, to work," says Jared Bernstein, who resigned as Vice President Biden's top economist this year to work at the liberal Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "It polls very well. It ought to have bipartisan appeal."

The school-repair program is one of several proposals Obama is considering as part of the speech he gives to a joint session of Congress, according to a half dozen White House allies.

IOWA: Kirkwood Community College Construction Management and Architectural Technology students are taking their classroom lessons and giving them real-world applications. Kirkwood is the first college in Iowa to have a United States Green Building Council (USGBC) student organization.
The USGBC student group will meet at least once a month, coordinating sustainability events and working on innovative design and construction projects. In the spring, many of the students will design and build a net-zero, off-the-grid single family home. It will use solar and wind power, combined with efficient HVAC and lighting technologies. The home’s efficient footprint makes for easy transportability and could be sent to areas of the country that need emergency housing.
“Having students run an organization on campus about sustainability will help them once they get into the workforce,” said Construction Management Assistant Professor Joe Greathouse. “As more structures are built or remodeled, people are looking for ways to cut back the carbon-footprint. Our students our studying the latest trends in the industry.”

Students in the group research environmentally sustainable buildings and their operations. They look for ways to improve sustainability during the construction or remodeling process. “We anticipate our students will present new cost-saving ideas that the college may be able to implement in future building needs,” added Greathouse. “Anytime you can find ways to save money in the long-term it’s a win-win for the whole community, for now and the future.”

MICHIGAN: Bob McFarlane has worked on dozens of school additions and construction projects along the lakeshore in the past few years, many of which he says have safety and security as the main focus. “A lot of it kicked in after Columbine, a couple years after that,” said McFarlane, the vice president of operations for Lakewood Construction. “In the past, it didn’t seem like it was that big of a deal. Buildings weren’t in lockdown, and security wasn’t that big of a deal.”

According to the 2008 Indicators of School Crime and Safety report by the National Center for Education Statistics, during the 2005–06 school year, 85 percent of public schools controlled access to school buildings by locking or monitoring doors during school hours, and 41 percent controlled access to school grounds with locked or monitored gates.

One of the common features to new school buildings or additions is a prominent entryway with locking vestibule doors. Often made mostly of glass and standing taller than the rest of the building, they send a statement to casual visitors and define a clear point of entry to the building.
Ben Perdok, project architect for GMB Architecture and Engineering, said having vestibule doors, and ensuring all visitors funnel through the main office, is key to the design seen in many new school buildings. “In the morning when the kids come in, all of those doors are open and, once the kids are in session, the second set can be locked and there’s a door going directly into the office area.”

It is something that Holland Public Schools, among several other districts, has initiated. Jim English, former director of finance and bond management said the district’s school doors are set to automatically lock and unlock on timers so students can enter in the morning, while the second set of doors locks electronically on a timer so all visitors have to check in with a receptionist before entering the building. “This concept has taken off as a response to some of the violent incidents we’ve seen in school districts in other parts of the country. Parents and community members want us to be proactive so that it doesn’t happen here,” English said.

Zeeland Public Schools Superintendent Dave Barry said installing video cameras at the high schools this year is just a small part of the district’s safety policy — the district also plans to add them to the front of the middle and elementary school buildings. Getting traffic flowing through the parking lot at the front of the building also critical for safety as well. “We can increase student safety as they enter the schools by separating parent and bus drop-offs and carefully planning the traffic flow with civil engineers who specialize in designing school parking lots and drives,” English said.

NATIONAL: Universities across the country are increasingly focused on improving their green practices, while beefing up their environmental science and conservation academic programs.
Young people are strongly pushing for this change, as well as the administrations implementing these reforms. In fact, at many schools, it was student groups’ demands to reduce the carbon footprint that led to these sustainability and energy efficiency programs. The few schools where the administration led the way are the exception.

In most institutions, students are pushing school officials to implement greener practices — including recycling, composting and energy efficiency awareness programs. I recently wrote about an American University student who helped spearhead their major solar installation — its solar hot water component is now the largest of its kind on the East coast.

The West coast has long been engaged on this. The University of California began work in 2003 to install 10 megawatts of renewable energy across its 10 campuses. UC also pledged to purchase 20 percent of its electricity from clean energy sources by 2017. All this was a direct result of a year-long, student=led campaign, “UC Go Solar!”
Potential college students now consider high “green” rankings when looking at schools. They look to schools that share their interest in conserving the world around them and finding ways to preserve the environment.

Young people’s rising awareness of environmental effects and their consequences is encouraging. The results are clear and tangible. Not only will smart energy habits likely save these students money for the rest of their lives, but those habits can benefit the environment at large —leaving a cleaner world for future generations.

NEW MEXICO: The Albuquerque Public Schools system may become a testing ground for more than just the 90,000 students it serves. A recent debate within the school board over using the popular green-building rating system, known as LEED, for facility design and construction echoes a heated cost-versus-benefit dispute stemming from New Mexico's recent adoption of new building codes. {see article for details]

OHIO: New is the word this year at Toledo Public Schools as buildings around the district open Monday for the first day of the school year. Brand-new buildings await students at five TPS schools — Beverly, Birmingham, Old Orchard, Riverside, and Walbridge.
Beyond just new materials and modern designs, the schools include advancements that should help in the classrooms, TPS Business Manager James Gant said. “Technology is the biggest educational difference you will see,” he said. Many classrooms in the new schools have SMARTboards and ceiling-mounted projector systems, and science labs were upgraded.

The buildings are more energy-efficient compared to their predecessors, and new technology should help the district save money through monitoring of the sites. Mr. Gant can track air-conditioner usage from his district office, and eventually will be able to gauge the cost of keeping buildings open for specific events. The ultimate goal is to continue saving money by reducing energy usage.

The construction constitutes the beginning of the end of Toledo’s Building for Success program. Largely funded with state money, the decadelong program involves more than $600 million of renovations, rebuilding, and demolitions of buildings. The Ohio School Facilities Commission covers 77 percent under the program, with the remaining 23 percent coming from local funds.
New versions of Longfellow, McKinley, Pickett, and Marshall schools will open throughout the year, as will a renovated Scott High School. When those schools open, the construction and renovation phase of Building for Success will be over.
More than two dozen buildings must be demolished, and some of that work won’t start until next year. At times, the program faced detractors, maybe most prominently because of the impending demolition of Libbey High School. Critics contended the program relied too heavily on demolition and construction over rehabilitation and preservation.

OHIO: New is the word this year at Toledo Public Schools as buildings around the district open Monday for the first day of the school year. Brand-new buildings await students at five TPS schools — Beverly, Birmingham, Old Orchard, Riverside, and Walbridge.
Beyond just new materials and modern designs, the schools include advancements that should help in the classrooms, TPS Business Manager James Gant said. “Technology is the biggest educational difference you will see,” he said. Many classrooms in the new schools have SMARTboards and ceiling-mounted projector systems, and science labs were upgraded.

The buildings are more energy-efficient compared to their predecessors, and new technology should help the district save money through monitoring of the sites. Mr. Gant can track air-conditioner usage from his district office, and eventually will be able to gauge the cost of keeping buildings open for specific events. The ultimate goal is to continue saving money by reducing energy usage.

The construction constitutes the beginning of the end of Toledo’s Building for Success program. Largely funded with state money, the decadelong program involves more than $600 million of renovations, rebuilding, and demolitions of buildings. The Ohio School Facilities Commission covers 77 percent under the program, with the remaining 23 percent coming from local funds.
New versions of Longfellow, McKinley, Pickett, and Marshall schools will open throughout the year, as will a renovated Scott High School. When those schools open, the construction and renovation phase of Building for Success will be over.
More than two dozen buildings must be demolished, and some of that work won’t start until next year. At times, the program faced detractors, maybe most prominently because of the impending demolition of Libbey High School. Critics contended the program relied too heavily on demolition and construction over rehabilitation and preservation.

MICHIGAN: When high school students return next week to Detroit public schools, they'll pass through high-tech detection machines akin to airport security systems that snap a photo and indicate the location of any metal objects on their bodies.
The systems are used in some high schools across the country, but Detroit Public Schools is the first district in the nation to install it in all of its high schools, according to the manufacturer, Baltimore-based View Systems.
The $534,000 security system is one of several new features DPS is rolling out this fall in an effort to increase safety and improve its image after more than 800 assaults in the 2009-10 school year, the most recent statistics available. DPS also has a new motorcycle police patrol unit and more surveillance cameras to augment its existing ID-badge system for visitors to high schools that includes a quick background check to pinpoint sex offenders.
In addition to hundreds of school-based security officers, DPS has a fully deputized police department with 51 officers who have arrest powers anywhere in the city. "We are the police," said DPS Police Chief Rod Grimes. "This is how you create a safe environment."

Last year, when the Communication & Media Arts High School won a TV show makeover, Baltimore-based View Systems donated a ViewScan concealed-weapons detector. Now, they'll be in all Detroit high schools this school year. The walk-through scanners use advanced magnetic technology to pinpoint threatening objects while ignoring common items such as coins, body piercings and small keys, according to the company. It creates an image that appears on a monitor. Indicators point to spots on the image where metal is detected. The photos and information can be stored for months or years. "It's a nice tool," Grimes said. "We found it was able to move 500-plus students in less than 15 minutes."
DPS officials also were impressed, and bought and installed 60 units in the 32 high schools, spending $534,000 from the $500.5-million construction bond voters approved in 2009.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Pentucket Regional School District is getting a $5.54 million boost in its effort to make its buildings more energy efficient. The school district last week received the largest share of $16 million in low-interest, federally subsidized financing provided to eight communities across the state. In its application, Pentucket officials said they plan to use the funding to offset the cost of efficiency measures aimed at reducing energy consumption by 20 percent as part of building projects at its four elementary schools.
"The district applied for and was very fortunate to receive a qualified energy conservation bond allocation as a potential means of financing the towns' portions of the green repair projects taking place at all four of the district's elementary schools," Pentucket Business Manager Amy Pocsik said.
The federal program is designed to support renewable energy creation and efforts to cut municipal energy consumption as well as to fund municipal wind power and anaerobic digestion projects. Projects in Belchertown, Cohassett, Deerfield, Fairhaven, Gill, Kingston and Marshfield will also receive a portion of the $16 million pot.

Energy-efficient measures are being incorporated into several building projects in the Pentucket district. As part of a green school repair component to a $5.2 million expansion project at Bagnall Elementary School in Groveland, the building's heating equipment is being updated and doors, windows and the roof are being replaced The anticipated cost for the energy improvements is $2.4 million.
In West Newbury, energy efficiencies included in the Page Elementary School renovation project target replacing the boiler and removing two of the four systems in the boiler room as well as installing a new roof and windows. Last fall, voters approved spending $10 million for the Page renovation project.
In Merrimac, Sweetsir Elementary School is having duct work installed for a new heating and ventilation system and will be getting new windows and roofing. Donaghue Elementary School is also scheduled to receive a new roof this fall. The total combined costs for the Merrimac school improvements is $3.4 million.

Last week, the Pentucket school board toured the four elementary schools with facilities manager Greg Hadden and Superintendent Paul Livingston to view the condition of the schools before the work begins. Reading said the state wanted all funding for the energy improvements spent by the end of December, but because of the number of projects in the works around the state, some schools are getting extensions on that deadline.

The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 enacted by Congress authorized the issuance of qualified energy conservation bonds to state, local and tribal governments to finance certain types of energy projects. Under the qualified tax-credit bonds, the borrower pays back the principal on the bond and the bondholder receives federal tax credits in lieu of traditional bond interest payments. The bonds allow a project to obtain no- or very low-interest financing while encouraging investment in clean energy projects.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 authorized $3.2 billion for the energy conservation bonds, allocated among the states based on population. The commonwealth has $50.8 million available to distribute. No more than 30 percent of the funding may be used for private activities, and 70 percent must be used for governmental purpose bonds. "This is another example of the Recovery Act improving communities and putting people back to work," Massachusetts Recovery & Reinvestment Office director Jeffrey Simon said. "The qualified energy conservation bonds provide resources for cities and towns to take innovative steps to reduce their energy costs."

MARYLAND: Baltimore County Public Schools will be closed on Monday, Aug. 29, delaying the start of the new school year due to what officials called, "the continuing effects of Hurricane Irene."
By Sunday afternoon, 65 BCPS schools were without power, and safety concerns prompted school officials to close schools on what would have been the first day of the 2011-12 school year for students. "The passage of this storm had a widespread impact on our area, leaving many homes and schools without power, flooding many roadways, and creating conditions that would pose a hazard for many children," said Joe Hairston, superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools.

School officials met Sunday to assess conditions across Baltimore County and at the system's 173 schools, centers, and programs. In addition to those schools without power, several schools sustained minor flooding and structural damage; there was no significant damage reported by any schools, officials said.

OHIO: It’s a sad comment about contemporary architecture that few of the spectacular buildings that have grabbed headlines in recent decades are schools for elementary or secondary students.
There’s no reason why new schools can’t be as exhilarating and as inspiring as reading Shakespeare, translating a tough passage in Latin or tackling advanced problems in science and math. And there’s no reason why America’s next great piece of school architecture can’t happen right here in downtown Cleveland.
These and other impulses motivated this year’s version of the Cleveland Design Competition, an international contest aimed at generating concepts to solve important architectural challenges in the city — projects for which construction money hasn’t yet been found.

The 2011 competition, for which winners were announced Aug. 19, focused on ideas for the Campus International School in downtown Cleveland, a collaborative project of the Cleveland Municipal School District and Cleveland State University.
The takeaway from this year’s entries is that the competition didn’t elicit a single, powerful solution capable of rallying a strong push to get it built. It’s unclear whether that’s a reflection of the complexity of the assignment or the skills of the designers who participated.

Nevertheless, the 92 entries in the competition, which came from 20 countries around the world, simmer with good ideas. Along with predictable exercises in architectural pyrotechnics, the proposals included the sensible notion of treating the school as a campus, which could add individual buildings in phases as it grows as well as the idea of embedding the school in a landscape of undulating green roofs and reflecting pools.

The first prize of $5,000 went to Michael Dickson of Brisbane, Australia, who envisioned a campus of multistory buildings devoted to various grade levels, punctuated with green quadrangles. The second prize of $2,000 went to Michael Robitz, Sean Franklin and Alexandra VanOrsdale of New York, who ignored the site selected for the project and instead suggested that the new school be built in an archetypal working-class Cleveland neighborhood from recycled, foreclosed houses. The jury apparently highlighted the design to be provocative.
Nevertheless, the concepts — from conventional to outlandish — show that CSU and the school district should explore a wide range of options rather than capitulate to the dull formulas imposed by the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission, which administers the state-supported school-construction program that has added new schools to cities across the state.

COLORADO: When it comes to green building, shiny new designs always seem to get the most attention. But to realize the full potential of the sustainable building movement, we must look beyond new construction and focus more on what is happening to existing, everyday buildings made of brick and brownstone, shingle and slate. Ultimately, our treatment of these older, often historic structures will have far more impact on our total carbon footprint than will new construction. [see article for details]

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: D.C. school officials are sending sandbags to schools at risk of flooding and making sure wet vacs are in place. Principals have received a “Preventative Hurricane Damage Checklist” to be completed by COB today, telling them to make sure all windows are closed, roof drains and catch basins are clear, etc. All school custodians have been asked to report to their buildings by 8 a.m. Sunday to walk through to check for damage and/or power loss and report conditions to the Office of Public Education Facilities Management command center.

TENNESSEE: The Memphis City Schools district has tapped an application from software developer EnerNOC to manage and reduce its energy consumption across 25 different locations. The initial contract period, which is five years long, is expected to produce an estimated 5 percent in energy reductions across the systems.

The software, called EfficiencySMART, focuses on reduction through insight. It will provide information about ongoing usage and can help school administrators manage energy spikes across the system, avoid charges during peak demand events, and undertake energy efficiency measures. The software focuses on reducing the consumption of equipment, lighting and technology that is already in place rather than new energy technologies. So it is an approach that can be embraced by organizations that don’t have budgets for capital equipment expenditures.

MARYLAND: Maryland, like much of the nation, has considerable infrastructure needs that extend to its school systems. David G. Lever, director of the state’s Public School Construction Program, says Maryland schools require roughly $6 billion in upgrades just to meet minimum standards. And he notes, state officials are looking into alternative arrangements to finance and fund these projects.

Alternative funding is construction money from a source other than the local jurisdiction or the state. It could come from a private developer, a foundation, a nonprofit organization or through grants. The funds could replace part or all of the local contribution, which usually is met through general obligation bonds.
As it happens, Lever’s office is planning a meeting Sept. 19 on alternative financing and funding for school construction. State legislators and county and school reps are among those expected to attend.

NATIONAL: The country's strongest innovators embrace creativity, play, and collaboration -- values that also inform their physical spaces.

A community about to build or rehab a school often creates checklists of best practices, looks for furniture that matches its mascot, and orders shiny new lockers to line its corridors. These are all fine steps, but the process of planning and designing a new school requires both looking outward (to the future, to the community, to innovative corporate powerhouses) as well as inward (to the playfulness and creativity that are at the core of learning).

In many ways, what makes the Googles of the world exceptional begins in the childhood classroom -- an embrace of creativity, play, and collaboration. It was just one year ago that 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the number-one leadership competency in our complex global marketplace. We can no longer afford to teach our kids or design their schoolhouses the way we used to if we’re to maintain a competitive edge. In looking at various exemplary workplaces such as IDEO, Google, and Pixar, we can glean valuable lessons about effective educational approaches and the spaces that support them. [see article for details]

Maine: Next to the parking lot is TerraHaus, a two-story, 2,000-square-foot residential hall for which sunlight will be the key to lower heating costs. Belfast-based G*O Logic architect Matthew O'Malia and carpenter Alan Gibson designed and built the nation's first dorm to meet passive house certification standards. The standards, the highest international standards for energy efficiency, require that the dorm use 90 percent less energy for space heating than standard buildings.

TerraHaus, which cost about $475,000 and took about three months to build, is nearly airtight, has a heat recovery ventilation system, is exceptionally well insulated and has superior quality windows. Those high-quality features, said Gibson, will allow TerraHaus to be heated this winter with an electric baseboard heater at a cost of about $30 per person.

According to Doug Fox, director of the Center for Sustainability and Global Change at Unity, TerraHaus is the first of three planned residence halls on the Quaker Hill campus that will comprise the SonnenHaus village of energy-conscious dorms.

Jesse Pyles, Unity's sustainablilty coordinator, said 10 of the college's 500-plus students were chosen by lottery to live in the cottage. The winners agreed to participate in educational programs, including giving tours of the one-of-kind dorm.

Maine: Next to the parking lot is TerraHaus, a two-story, 2,000-square-foot residential hall for which sunlight will be the key to lower heating costs. Belfast-based G*O Logic architect Matthew O'Malia and carpenter Alan Gibson designed and built the nation's first dorm to meet passive house certification standards. The standards, the highest international standards for energy efficiency, require that the dorm use 90 percent less energy for space heating than standard buildings.

TerraHaus, which cost about $475,000 and took about three months to build, is nearly airtight, has a heat recovery ventilation system, is exceptionally well insulated and has superior quality windows. Those high-quality features, said Gibson, will allow TerraHaus to be heated this winter with an electric baseboard heater at a cost of about $30 per person.

According to Doug Fox, director of the Center for Sustainability and Global Change at Unity, TerraHaus is the first of three planned residence halls on the Quaker Hill campus that will comprise the SonnenHaus village of energy-conscious dorms.

Jesse Pyles, Unity's sustainablilty coordinator, said 10 of the college's 500-plus students were chosen by lottery to live in the cottage. The winners agreed to participate in educational programs, including giving tours of the one-of-kind dorm.

IOWA: Karey King feels like a freshman again. The 12th grader spent this morning relearning her way around North High School — one of a handful of Des Moines school district buildings putting the finishing touches on renovation projects. "Everything changed places,” said the 17-year-old. “It’s all different.”
Construction workers could still be spotted throughout the school, which now boasts an expanded commons area, new office suite and two additional classrooms. Other improvements, including air conditioning and technological updates, brought the project’s price tag to $14 million.
“Every kid deserves to have a building that is structured for learning,” said North Principal Matt Smith. “When a building is clean and renovated, when it’s got new paint, there is a sense of pride and it tells kids that they are entering a place that’s all about learning.”

Improvements also greeted students returning to Hoover and Roosevelt high schools today. Hoover’s $4.25 million renovation includes a new central office, an expanded commons area, updated restrooms and four additional classrooms. The crown jewel of the project is a state-of-the-art library that opened last spring and serves both Hoover and Meredith Middle School students.
At Roosevelt, construction crews are nearing the end of a two-year project to update the 1920s structure. Six new classrooms will be completed by the end of October, aging windows have been replaced, a streamlined central office area now greets visitors and the school’s auditorium is getting a fresh look. The project, which also included a new cafeteria that opened to students last fall, cost roughly $28.5 million.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: D.C. Public Schools is still surveying the damage to schools. Officials said some buildings sustained damage and that two students, one at Kelly Miller Middle School Ward 7 and the other at Deal Middle School in Ward 3, sustained minor injuries.
Prince George’s officials said they are examining county schools and public buildings. The school system is reporting that about 12 schools sustained structural damage, but they are still assessing the others. “We are helping the school system go into each and every one to make sure they are safe to return to,” Baker said.
William R. Hite Jr., schools superintendent, said that the schools that sustained the most damage were older buildings.

VERMONT: At Putney Central School teachers are preparing their classrooms with the obligatory sharpened pencils, empty workbooks and blank poster boards. But this year, when the students return, they will also see rigid foam, energy efficient windows and new heating units. Work crews are finishing up a $480,000 energy conservation project at Putney Central which voters approved at this year's town meeting, and a new report shows similar support from communities around the state.

Vermont leads the nation in the use of low-emission biomass systems in public schools, according to the Vermont Department of Education, and across the state more schools are undertaking efficiency upgrades like the one that is being finished up in Putney.
"Schools are under increasing pressures to save money, but this is about more that that," said Jeff Francis, executive director of the Vermont Superintendents Association. "In this state and country, there is more attention on conserving energy, and to the extent that schools are in the public sector, they should work to address the economic and environmental concerns."

Across the state VSA's Energy Management Program performed audits on 366 Vermont school buildings, and a recent evaluation of 10 of these schools found that projects saved districts 17 percent of their electrical costs and 18 percent of their fuel costs. Voters approved the project this year and the district is currently pricing out a biomass, wood pellet system that is projected to save the town money.

Windham Northeast Superintendent Chris Kibbe said the pellet boiler, and possible solar panels the renovation committee is considering, have a value beyond dollars and cents. "We want everything that we do to have an educational component and a big part of these plans are the educational opportunities they will create for the kids," Kibbe said. "All of it will fit in well with the science curriculum." Along with the science lessons, Kibbe said it was important for the students to understand the value of conservation and green energy. The school building, built for the 21st century, should be a place where lessons are learned beyond the classrooms, he said.

According to the Department of Education report, in the 2009-10 heating season Vermont school districts saved the equivalent of 1.4 million gallons of oil by burning wood chips in their heating systems. And in that same year, the schools saved about $1.7 million in fuel costs. The state report also highlighted schools that have installed windmills, such as at the Dover Elementary School, and other districts that have embraced geothermal and solar power.

NATIONAL: The Local Initiatives Support Corporation assists charter schools with financing facilities requirements -- a high-priority need for many charter schools. Today the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced a $9.98 million grant to Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Grants Program. The grant will support facilities financing to charter schools nationwide.

The Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Grants Program provides assistance to help charter schools meet their facility financing needs. Under this grant program, funds are provided on a competitive basis to public and nonprofit entities, and consortia of those entities, to improve the credit of charter schools, thereby improving their access to financing for school facilities. Including this current grant, the U.S. Department of Education has awarded 31 grants, totaling over $230 million, to 19 organizations under the Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Program since 2002.
LISC is a prior grant recipient under this program and continues to use the grant funds to help charter schools access financing needed to acquire, build, construct or renovate their facilities. With this new grant, LISC will create a program that will feature two strategies: 1) a National Charter Loan Fund II, a fund that provides direct lending to charter schools and is credit enhanced with ED funds, and/or 2) a Charter School Guaranty Fund, a fund that directly credit enhances tax-exempt municipal bonds, mortgages, and leasehold improvement loans for charter school facilities.

A high percentage of new charter schools point out that inadequate facilities have impeded the implementation of their charters. Unlike traditional local education agencies, charter schools generally lack the ability to issue general obligation bonds backed by property taxes, and they are often perceived to be credit risks by lenders. The Credit Enhancement for Charter Schools Facilities Grants Program helps to improve educational options for students and parents by targeting funds to areas with the greatest need for public school choice.

INDIANA: Penn High School Principal Steve Hope says he wants everything about the massive school to scream Penn pride. Indeed, $9.8 million in renovations that were just completed there exude that motto, from the shield that's emblazoned into the carpeting at the main entrance to the black and gold tile that dresses up the drinking fountains. The upgrades represent the first major renovation of the school since the '90s.

The $9.8 million project was financed via general obligation fund money and recovery zone bonds that were allocated by the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Starting on the outside, the high school received a new roof as part of the project. And inside, science classes were transformed into college-level labs with new equipment. Hope said students will be able to work in a hands-on environment every day now in science classes rather than having to share labs with other classes. In the two large-group instruction areas, long tables with attached seats replaced individual desks. In the cafeteria, entree "stations," such as salad and burritos, are now available for students, rather than one line containing all of the food options. And long, elliptical tables with attached seats have replaced the rectangular tables and chairs in the cafeteria. At the new tables, Hope said, everyone can see each other. That will make it unnecessary for students to yell, he said. The bathrooms at the high school now feature touchless toilets, faucets and hand dryers. Not only are they more sanitary, Hope said, but they also save water. New lighting in the gym and pool areas is also more energy efficient. Finally, much of the school received new carpeting and the old coral and turquoise paint has been replaced by light gold with black trim.

CALIFORNIA: In a move designed to kick-start the review and repair of 7,600 potentially unsafe California school buildings, the State Allocation Board in May scrapped restrictive rules that blocked school districts' access to nearly $200 million in seismic retrofit money.
But weeks after lowering technical hurdles to the cash, board members approved new rules that may make it too costly for some districts to apply for the funds.
The Division of the State Architect, the state's chief regulator of school construction, is scheduled to discuss the new rules at a public meeting Thursday in Sacramento. At issue is a board decision in June to allow districts to seek seismic money if they could prove catastrophic risk from ground shaking, earthquake faults, liquefaction or landslides. If a school district decides to use the ground-shaking option when applying, it would only need a licensed structural engineer's report deeming the buildings unsafe, according to recently published state documents.
However, if a district chooses to apply based on fault, liquefaction or landslide dangers, it would need to pay upfront for a structural engineer's examination, a geologist's field study and a review from the state geologist's office – an expensive proposition to qualify for financial aid. It is more so for cash-strapped districts grappling with a budget crunch.
A contract with the California Geological Survey is a flat $3,600 fee. Bigger bills come when a geologist attempts to pinpoint dangerous faults or soil that could liquefy. Such work requires extensive tests, sampling and digging that can cost tens of thousands more.

CALIFORNIA: More than ninety schools in California are taking advantage of the California Solar Initiative and installing solar projects. The California Solar Initiative is an incentive program to get companies, schools, and homes to switch to solar power. The program gives cash back for installing solar power, California hopes to move the state towards running completely on clean energy, from using a coffee maker in the morning, to opening your garage door, California wants its residents to operate on solar power. The program almost works like a rebate program, where residents are reimbursed for installing solar power and then receiving incentives on their bill.

The California School Boards Association has partnered with SunPower to bring solar installations to more than ninety schools across the state, including elementary, secondary, and higher-level schools. This project to bring schools solar power is being launched as the Solar Schools program.

In the face of shrinking school budgets and higher costs to keep schools open, the California School Boards Association hopes to take advantage of the incentives and save money that can be better dispersed throughout the education system. It is estimated that California schools will be saving up to $1.5 billion over 30 years with the installation of solar power systems. School boards need to make every dollar count, and SunPower believes that their partnership with the schools is a step in the right direction both economically and environmentally.

MARYLAND: As schools around the Baltimore region prepare to open in the next week, many are confronting growing enrollments and aging school buildings that need billions of dollars of improvements at a time when the state and localities grapple with tight budgets.
Baltimore County estimates it would have to spend $2.2 billion to modernize its school buildings, according to the most recent estimates, and that doesn't include the cost of any new schools. In the city, the need has been tallied at $2.8 billion — a statistic that civil rights activists have used to decry what they call deplorable conditions. Anne Arundel County has identified $1.9 billion in needed updates to school infrastructure and Howard County has a list of $500 million in projects.

While the large Baltimore-area school systems are in the worst shape, the need across Maryland is so great that state officials are beginning to investigate alternative financing arrangements that would give local governments large infusions of capital to build and renovate schools in a short period, said David G. Lever, director of the state's Public School Construction Program.
The new arrangements, which have been used successfully in Great Britain and Canada, rely on private financing, he said. The possibility also exists, he said, for local governments to work together on getting schools repaired and upgraded.

Many of the schools in the state were constructed during the baby boom of the 1960s and 1970s. At the time, Lever said, many districts put up buildings inexpensively and quickly, believing enrollments would eventually decline and that many of the schools would be closed within decades. Windows and mechanical systems were particularly poor, he said.
But after a slight decline in enrollment, the student population is beginning to climb again, particularly in Baltimore County where the number of students in all elementary schools will exceed the number of seats available by 2014. Eight elementary schools already have 20 percent more students than they should, as of last September.
Lever said the state estimates that nearly $6 billion is needed to upgrade Maryland schools to the bare minimum of standards. Under those standards, for instance, a large high school would not be required to have an auditorium. The localities have different building plans.

NATIONAL: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a comprehensive settlement with the Department of the Interior (DOI) to address alleged violations of waste, water, air, toxics and community right-to-know laws at schools and public water systems in Indian Country owned, operated, or the legal responsibility of DOI’s Indian Affairs Office. The settlement will protect students’ health and the health of communities in Indian Country by reducing potential exposure to environmental hazards.

Under the settlement, the DOI’s Indian Affairs Office, comprised of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), will correct all of the alleged violations at 72 schools and 27 water systems. DOI will implement an environmental compliance auditing program and an environmental management system (EMS), designed to improve environmental practices at all of its BIE schools and BIA public water systems serving these schools. DOI has also agreed to install a solar energy system which will serve a school located in the Grand Canyon. The solar energy project will help ensure a more reliable source of electricity for the school and local community. DOI will also pay a civil penalty of $234,844 which it must spend to correct violations of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) at its schools.

EPA conducted compliance inspections and data reviews at more than 100 BIE/BIA schools and public water systems. The settlement addresses all alleged violations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Emergency Planning and Community-Right-to-Know Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act’s PCB provisions, and AHERA.

The settlement affects 60 tribes throughout the U.S. which have DOI Office of Indian Affairs schools or public water systems on or near their tribal lands. Consistent with EPA’s consultation process with tribes, EPA consulted with the 60 tribes affected prior to finalization of the settlement agreement.

CALIFORNIA: Students at the Coachella Valley's newest school will be able to rock, recline, raise and rotate their chairs during class — and that's exactly what school officials want. “When kids can be physically active even as they're sitting at their desk learning, attention increases, retention increases,” said Painted Hills Middle School Principal Ryan Saunders.
The new Desert Hot Springs school is designed with the idea that school environment can impact student learning.
“If they're not comfortable, then it doesn't matter how engaging the lesson is,” sixth grade language arts and social studies teacher Maria Tota said. A simple change in position can be refreshing for students, and teachers can judge how well the class is following a lesson by how much movement is happening, Tota said. “The furniture here is just another tool that we can use,” she said.

The design promotes flexibility and variety. The lightweight, triangular desks at Painted Hills can be easily rearranged by students for group work. The flexible plastic chairs can be lifted and lowered to accommodate middle school growth spurts. The retro-colored media center and library has the feel of a coffee house, with retro-colored stools, benches and armchairs with small desktops attached. “I think this room conveys to students in Desert Hot Springs, ‘You deserve the best. We're going to give you the best,'” Saunders said.

CALIFORNIA: Students at the Coachella Valley's newest school will be able to rock, recline, raise and rotate their chairs during class — and that's exactly what school officials want. “When kids can be physically active even as they're sitting at their desk learning, attention increases, retention increases,” said Painted Hills Middle School Principal Ryan Saunders.
The new Desert Hot Springs school is designed with the idea that school environment can impact student learning.
“If they're not comfortable, then it doesn't matter how engaging the lesson is,” sixth grade language arts and social studies teacher Maria Tota said. A simple change in position can be refreshing for students, and teachers can judge how well the class is following a lesson by how much movement is happening, Tota said. “The furniture here is just another tool that we can use,” she said.

The design promotes flexibility and variety. The lightweight, triangular desks at Painted Hills can be easily rearranged by students for group work. The flexible plastic chairs can be lifted and lowered to accommodate middle school growth spurts. The retro-colored media center and library has the feel of a coffee house, with retro-colored stools, benches and armchairs with small desktops attached. “I think this room conveys to students in Desert Hot Springs, ‘You deserve the best. We're going to give you the best,'” Saunders said.

MISSOURI: After getting several Joplin schools up and running in temporary locations around the city this summer, Superintendent C.J. Huff has set another ambitious target. “My goal is to have everything rebuilt in the next three years,” he said.
But before construction can begin, there are many preliminary steps: debris removal, demolition, bidding for plans, selecting architects, bidding for contractors and, of course, funding it all. During its Aug. 3 meeting, the Board of Education accepted a debris removal bid of $95 per ton from Jet Stream, a debris removal company. Demolition will follow, cleaning up the lots that house what is left of Joplin High School, Franklin Technology Center, Irving and Emerson elementary schools, and East Middle School. Huff said he would like to see all the debris removal and demolition completed in eight to 10 weeks.

East Middle School likely will be the first of the tornado-destroyed buildings to be rebuilt because there already are architect drawings and it can be rebuilt at the same location. Huff said the district wants its contractors for that project lined up in the next few months so ground can be broken after the property has been cleared.

Squaring up funding to pay for the work is another challenge the district faces. Some of the cost of the rebuilding will be covered by insurance, but not all. “Our insurance proceeds don’t pay to build back what we want; it pays to build back what we had,” Huff said. “So we should receive enough insurance proceeds to build Joplin High School the way it was, and that’s not enough, so we still have a gap there that’s going to have to be filled to expand that site into the school we want.” “I want to dream big, but we also have to dream within a budget,” said Ashley Micklethwaite, school board president.
Huff said he hopes to have insurance issues settled within the next six weeks. Other funding will come from federal and state sources such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and donations. FEMA money will pay 75 percent of the cost of safe rooms. District leaders have committed to putting safe rooms in all the buildings, and Huff said those also may serve as community shelters, which would allow the district to obtain more federal and state dollars. Huff said some state money also is available for technical school construction.
Before the tornado, the board had been testing the water for a bond issue for elementary schools and to address overcrowding at the high school. Huff said he does not want to commit to a bond issue until the district knows where it stands with insurance funding. One scenario could involve going to voters with a bond issue that would require no tax increase but would extend the district’s existing rate. “There’s hope that we can get it all done without having to go to the voters,” Huff said.

School officials are working with the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce and the city of Joplin to gather information about what residents would like to see in their new schools. Huff said the district is likely to do a phone survey to get broader community input.

ILLINOIS: Chicago Public Schools officials will be required to give greater advance notice about planned school construction projects and building closings under a law Gov. Pat Quinn. The law was championed in the General Assembly by State Sen. Iris Martinez, D-Chicago, and State Rep. Cynthia Soto, D-Chicago, after their constituents complained changes were being made at schools and buildings were being closed without community input.
Last year, several dozen people occupied a field house at Whittier Elementary School in the Pilsen neighborhood for more than a month to protest CPS plans to demolish the building. The protesters argued the field house should be converted to a library rather than torn down.
"I believe the local community should always have a voice in the local decisions that impact them," Quinn said at a bill signing at the Institute for Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Humboldt Park. "This law empowers our communities to ensure fair treatment of students in every neighborhood."

Under the law, Chicago Public Schools will be required to prepare a 10-year construction plan, and to inform the public by Dec. 1 each year of plans to close, change or consolidate schools. And schools that receive additional students or are otherwise impacted by school closings or consolidations will receive additional resources for a year.

MARYLAND: Baltimore’s education advocates launched a campaign that seeks to galvanize the entire city around the the issue of its dilapidated school facilities. The campaign, called “Transform Baltimore,” is being sponsored by the ACLU of Maryland and members of the Baltimore Education Coalition, who said that while lawmakers continue to devise a viable plan to meet the city’s $2.8 billion need for renovations and upgrades, the city needed a platform for action.
The campaign will be driven by a new website, www.TransformBaltimore.org, which went live on Thursday at a kick-off event at Booker T. Washington Middle School. The school’s new, state-of-the-art media center served as the backdrop for advocacy groups and educators to illustrate the learning environment that all city students deserve. The website will serve as a platform for dialogue and organization, ACLU officials said. The first major effort under the campaign will be to organize parents at the 50 upcoming back-to-school nights in September. The site outlines the campaign’s goals, which are based on the premise that the city and state could tackle the city’s facilities problems with current revenue streams. The website identifies three goals: leverage current dollars, increase the city’s funding support, and increase the state’s funding support. The goals are based on accomplishments in other states, including Georgia and Florida.

The issue of the city-owned school facilities—70 percent of which are in poor and hazardous conditions—has become a hot-button issue in the past year, since the ACLU released a report that outlined the multi-billion-dollar need. The findings were underscored by the increase in school closures in the past year. City school officials were forced to close 45 schools for a total of 34 1/2 days – five in June alone for unbearable heat — for infrastructure issues.

ILLINOIS: Governor Quinn will sign SB 630, mandating transparency and accountability in Chicago Public Schools facility planning, Saturday, August 20. The Humboldt Park location is in the district of the bill’s sponsors, State Representative Cynthia Soto and State Senator Irene Martinez. It was CPS closings of thriving neighborhood schools in the area in order to provide buildings for Renaissance 2010 projects – inspiring the kind of community outrage that has accompanied each year’s round of school closings — that spurred the two legislators to seek reform.

Under the new law, CPS will be required to issue guidelines for school closings and consolidations by November, and to provide notice and written explanations to schools being considered for such actions by December. It will require school transition plans developed in collaboration with each school community; academic, social and emotional supports for transitioning students; and transitional services for homeless and special ed students.
Previously school closings have left little time for communities to respond or for parents to explore options, and little support for students, sometimes leading to spikes in violence.

Reasons for school actions have ranged widely, sometimes relying on faulty data including a controversial space utilization formula, and creating the impression that decisions (including capital spending) reflect a political agenda that sacrifices neighborhood schools for charters and other Renaissance 2010 schools. Promises to improve the process have repeatedly been broken.
Facility performance standards and space utilization standards – required by the new law to take educational programming into account – will be due next June, and a ten-year Facilities Master Plan for the system must be in place by July 2013. A detailed annual capital budget and spending report will be required.
The bill continues the Chicago Educational Facilities Task Force, with representation from community organizators, to provide oversight on implementation. The task force held hearings last year and developed recommendations incorporated into SB 630.

NATIONAL: The jobs package that President Obama plans to unveil shortly after Labor Day could include tens of billions of dollars to renovate thousands of dilapidated public schools and a tax break to encourage businesses to hire new workers, according to people familiar with White House deliberations.

The elements of Obama's plan remain under debate. But backers of the school renovation plan and the tax credit for hiring new workers think the proposals could attract Republican support. At the same time, they think that if the debate becomes a public confrontation, the ideas would give Obama the upper hand in a battle for voters.
"I like the optics of it," said Jared Bernstein, a former administration economics advisor and a proponent of the school rehab program. "It's the public school in your community, not a bunch of folks on a distant highway."

Supporters estimate that each $1 billion in school construction work would generate up to 10,000 jobs. A $50-billion program, for example, would underwrite half a million jobs by that calculation.
The average U.S. school building is 40 years old, and many are suffering from neglect — poor ventilation, energy inefficiencies and mold. A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2009 gave the nation's public school facilities a D grade.

NATIONAL: One idea that has been percolating as a stimulus program is a nationwide school rehab and renovation program, explained here by Laura Clawson. Fix America's Schools Today (FAST) was "put together by Mary Filardo of the 21st Century School Fund, Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Ross Eisenbrey of the Economic Policy Institute, FAST points to the maintenance and repair needs of our aging school buildings, which are on average 40 years old, and how that dovetails with job creation."

NATIONAL: Several news outlets published articles about President Obama’s forthcoming new jobs proposal. Some sources suggest that, in addition to including tax breaks for companies that hire new employees, the plan will include money for school renovations and possibly more money to keep teachers in their jobs. While it’s impossible to know the details of the president’s proposal, past efforts to achieve similar ends may give some insight. [see article for details]

OREGON: The Oregon University System (OUS) was joined by Governor Kitzhaber to break ground on what will be the state’s largest solar photovoltaic power program, and the largest solar contract in the nation for a public university system on multiple campuses. Eventually to include solar arrays on all seven OUS campuses, the project – called Solar By Degrees – will begin installation of a total of 27 acres of solar panels generating almost 5 megawatts of power at Oregon Institute of Technology, Oregon State University, and Eastern Oregon University beginning with staged installation this summer and fall.
An “all-Oregon” project, Solar By Degrees will utilize solar panels from Hillsboro-based SolarWorld, solar inverters from PV Powered of Bend, will use Oregon Electric of Portland as the lead contractor for the project, and will work with Oregon contractors to complete installation and related work at OIT in Klamath Falls, OSU in Corvallis, and EOU in La Grande.

Renewable Energy Development Corporation (REDCO), a Utah-based renewable energy development firm, will provide solar power to each OUS campus in two phases. REDCO’s team includes investors willing to utilize the state and federal tax incentives, allowing the power purchase rate to be at or below the current electrical utility rates for the campuses. The OUS estimates savings of $6.6 million dollars in utility rates over a 25-year period, at which point the panels revert to campus ownership.

MICHIGAN: Students at nine Detroit Public Schools will find new and improved facilities on the first day of classes next month as the district unveils half of the projects from its $500.5-million school construction bond program.
Parents and staff who recently toured some of the projects were impressed by new perks, including two-story common areas and new art rooms with kilns for making pottery at several schools. Some said they didn't get everything they wanted but were looking forward to moving in.
The unveiling of nine projects worth $172 million will be the largest one-day grand opening of the three-year construction blitz voters approved in November 2009. The massive bond package was sold as a crucial step in the process of righting the district.

NATIONAL: Sierra magazine announces the fifth annual ranking of the nation's "Coolest Schools," a salute to the efforts of U.S. colleges that help solve climate issues and operate sustainably. Includes top ten, and the rest of the best.

NATIONAL: Sierra magazine announces the fifth annual ranking of the nation's "Coolest Schools," a salute to the efforts of U.S. colleges that help solve climate issues and operate sustainably. Includes top ten, and the rest of the best.

TEXAS: In tight financial times, saving money by investing in more efficient school buildings is commonplace for local school districts, but how they do that might raise a couple of eyebrows.
Older school buildings, with inefficient cooling, irrigation and plumbing systems, can be a drag on district budgets, and school administrators throughout San Antonio are trying to retrofit their buildings. But some are making changes that will bring in some much needed cash. Alamo Heights Independent School District is trying to do that by incrementally installing solar panels on the roofs of its schools.

Most of the district's buildings date to the 1920s, and to make them more environmentally friendly, the district has already adopted more conventional cost-saving measures — replacing light bulbs and installing insulated windows. But as of this summer, the district is becoming a power plant, generating solar power and then selling it to CPS Energy, Superintendent Kevin Brown said. Under a CPS program, the utility will pay the district 27 cents per kilowatt hour for what it produces from solar. “We will, in essence, be a clean energy producer for CPS Energy,” Brown said. By the end of the summer, he expects half a megawatt will be online, generating $115,000 in annual revenue. Another half a megawatt is being planned. The money will be used to save three vacant teaching positions, said Patti Pawlik-Perales, a spokeswoman for the district, and that number could double if the district is allowed to expand the project.
Two of the district's five schools will have solar panels installed on their roofs by month's end, with the other three completed by the end of next year.

San Antonio ISD will be spending much of the $515 million from a 2010 bond on 23 renovation projects to retrofit campuses that are between 50 and 100 years old. The renovations would include improvements to the campus' safety, playground equipment, teaching space and athletic tracks, which will lower the district's annual operating costs.
SAISD is not seeking LEED certification for any of its campuses because of the costs involved in meeting the requirements. But architects renovating the district's schools are encouraged to meet at least some of the requirements of the U.S. Green Building Council, the governing body that administers LEED, said Michelle Jimenez, district spokeswoman, including reducing schools' heat-island effect and decreasing water use by 20 percent.

CALIFORNIA: What should it cost to build a public school in California? The issue and a new study have sparked yet another round of fierce debate between union and non-union organizations.

NATIONAL: For America's higher education institutions, winning the competition for students means green for them in more ways than one. As high school seniors schedule college visits and polish their personal statements, they are paying more attention to a college's green score alongside student-to-faculty ratios, dorms and aid packages.
In turn, colleges are marketing their green initiatives more aggressively. Smaller schools, like College of the Atlantic and Middlebury, are using their programs as their calling cards, while even large, well-recognized brands, like Harvard, Georgia Institute of Technology and Arizona State University, are adding sustainability to their repertoire.

Colleges are also beginning to see that environmental initiatives have impacts on how their peers, along with their current and past students, perceive them. A school's reputation may hinge as much on its green credibility as it does on conference titles and championships.

Because of this, various groups are evaluating universities on their environmental commitments and making the results available for prospective students as well as college administrators. The Princeton Review, along with its list of 376 top colleges and school rankings for partying and academics, released its green ratings for 768 colleges last month. The annual list, now in its fourth year, scores colleges on a scale from 60 to 99, with 16 schools earning the highest score.
Other groups have established metrics for assessing green programs, as well. GreenReportCard.org is a free website where visitors can compare colleges side by side and see their letter grades on aspects of their green policies ranging from action on climate change and energy to green construction to shareholder engagement in environmental issues. The site is produced by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
Both rankings examine things like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification -- a program by the U.S. Green Building Council that sets parameters for efficiency in design, construction and maintenance -- recycling, renewable energy use and emissions. They also look at environmental research and green career training

COLORADO: Nutrition experts say that many school systems around the nation, however much they might want to improve the food they serve, have been profoundly distracted by years of budget cuts and constriction. Many face structural problems, too. Some newer schools have tiny kitchens designed for only reheating premade meals, while some older schools have outdated electrical wiring that cannot handle modern equipment. Many districts, and their lawyers, have also grown fearful of handling and cooking raw meat, as food-borne illnesses like E. coli have made headlines.

Greeley’s schools will be cooking from scratch about 75 percent of the time on the opening day, with a goal of reaching 100 percent by this time next year, when ovens and dough mixers for whole wheat pizza crust will be up and running.
Statistics showing obesity rates growing faster here in Weld County than in surrounding areas gave the project impetus with district administrators, Mr. West said. The argument was then cinched by the numbers, which showed that going back to scratch would not cost more at all, but could in fact save the district money in the long run.
From the Colorado Health Foundation, a nonprofit group that has helped districts all over the state return to healthy cooking, Greeley got $273,000 in grants, which helped defray much of the $360,000 for construction and new equipment.

Equally crucial was the fact that the district still had a huge central kitchen space that was partly intact from the old days, including a bank of giant ovens that for some reason were never ripped out in the 1980s when cooking from scratch faded. That sharply reduced transition and projected operating costs.

FINLAND: For the past decade, Finland has churned out some of the top students in the world. The reason: excellent architecture.
Okay, so it’s not the only reason, but it can’t hurt that students practice their multiplication tables ensconced in glittering, light-soaked buildings that could out-swank most corporate offices. “Learning is invariably influenced by the environment in which it takes place,” the Museum of Finnish Architecture in Helsinki writes on its website. To show it, they’ve mounted an exhibition about the nation’s best and brightest new school architecture.

The show lasers in on seven schools built between 2001 and 2010. Among them: a timber-clad nursery and primary school set among the open fields of rural Finland; an elementary school in an old machine engineering workshop that the principal helped design; and a devastatingly hip school for kids 7 to 15, complete with a loft-like communal area and yellow Panton chairs.
The buildings are more than just shiny vessels, though. They're designed to foster new learning methods that favor flexibility and experimentation over the strict, autocratic educational style of yore. Layouts feature a litany of spaces: homerooms, small-group settings, workshop rooms, designated zones for autonomous work, and schoolwide communal areas. And, of course, they incorporate hallmarks of Scandinavian design like warm colors, durable materials, spaciousness, and tons of sunlight. In the end, it’s not especially ground-breaking stuff, just common sense. So what’s America waiting for? Oh, right. Social democracy. [see article for slideshow of schools]

GERMANY: View slide show of 11 new higher education projects in Germany.

NATIONAL: Energy consumption in New York City’s 1,245 school buildings is down roughly 11 percent since 2008, as motion detectors have been installed on classroom lights and unused refrigerators and freezers have been unplugged for the summer.
Schools, once known as energy wasters, are embracing conservation in increasing numbers. A desire to practice the environmentally friendly principles discussed in classrooms has been heightened by soaring energy costs and tighter budgets. With the help of a growing industry of energy consultants, school officials are evaluating every detail of their daily operations, like the temperature of the swimming pool and the amount of electricity the cafeteria ovens use, and are replacing energy-guzzling equipment with more efficient models.

Nationally, more than two dozen states, including California, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, New Hampshire and Virginia, have used millions in federal stimulus money since 2009 to pay for energy programs and upgrades in school buildings, said Judy Marks, director of the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities in Washington. These efforts include replacing light fixtures, adding solar panels and building geothermal heating and cooling systems.

Some states have also started programs to finance school conservation efforts and to create local contracting jobs. Most recently, Oregon passed legislation in June to provide school districts with low-interest loans and grants for school efficiency improvements; Washington State started a similar grant-based program in 2009.

NATIONAL: We have traditionally viewed school architecture as a means of satisfying utilitarian functionality. Rooms segregate groups of children and academic departments. Boards are placed at the front of the room to enable frontal lecturing and seating is arranged accordingly. Hallways allow easy transition of groups of students from room to room. Play and eating areas serve their very specific roles. Colors? They are generally bland and "institutional".
When you look at great examples of architecture in society they are generally singled out for their beauty, inspiration and vision. Their unique image stays with you. Architecture isn't just a random arrangement of space and building materials. Impressive architectural plans usually reflect a certain philosophical outlook - political, cultural, religious, social or otherwise.
The same is true of schools. The manner is which schools are designed reflects specific educational assumptions and pedagogical objectives. The basic template that forms the foundation for most school planning was created over 100 years ago ... and that's where we encounter a problem.

If the design of any educational environment reflects a particular approach to learning, how can spaces that have essentially been designed the same way for 100 years still serve the learning needs of our students in the 21st century?
Environmental design impacts education. When you stand in a classroom and look out at your students, what does the layout of that room say about the educational philosophy of your school? When students sit alone in rows facing a teacher and board at the front of the room, what is the educational statement being made? What do the walls and hallways look like? We go to great lengths and expense to provide technology to our schools - hopefully in part because we see it as a means of empowering students to research, explore, experience, collaborate and more. Does your physical learning environment support that vision? How does it impact the process and flow of learning taking place?

MASSACHUSETTS: In the second largest presentation of its kind, state Treasurer Steve Grossman awarded Brockton Mayor Linda Balzotti with a ceremonial check for $28.4 million to pay for repair work at eight city schools. The money is the state’s portion of a roughly $36 million project to repair roofs, windows and boilers in schools across the city.

Eighty percent of the money – an estimated $28.4 million – will be reimbursed to the city from the Green Repair Program, a competitive grant program created by the federal stimulus program that is administered by the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The program is funded by $300 million worth of bonds that the state sold and must pay back, and all of the interest on the bonds is paid by the federal government.

The Brockton City Council passed its own $36 million bond measure earlier this summer to cover the up-front costs of the projects. School and city officials spoke at the time of the importance of taking advantage of the state’s 80 percent reimbursement.

ALABAMA: Temporary school facilities in Alabama communities ravaged by tornadoes this spring are getting federal funding to install safe rooms. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is giving states that have received a presidential disaster declaration about 75% of the cost of installing the rooms. So far, four schools have requested temporary safe rooms: Plainview Elementary and High School in Dekalb County, Alberta Elementary School in Tuscaloosa, Hackleburg Elementary and High School and Phil Campbell High School.
State officials say the safe rooms will be ready in time for the secondary tornado season in late fall.
Alabama lawmakers passed a new law last year that requires safe rooms in all new school buildings after a tornado hit the high school in Enterprise.

ALABAMA: Temporary school facilities in Alabama communities ravaged by tornadoes this spring are getting federal funding to install safe rooms. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is giving states that have received a presidential disaster declaration about 75% of the cost of installing the rooms. So far, four schools have requested temporary safe rooms: Plainview Elementary and High School in Dekalb County, Alberta Elementary School in Tuscaloosa, Hackleburg Elementary and High School and Phil Campbell High School.
State officials say the safe rooms will be ready in time for the secondary tornado season in late fall.
Alabama lawmakers passed a new law last year that requires safe rooms in all new school buildings after a tornado hit the high school in Enterprise.

ARIZONA: With funds from the American Recovery and Investment Act (ARRA), the Rough Rock Community School, on the Navajo Nation Reservation, spent the past two years getting replacement buildings including the school’s academic building, dormitories and other facilities.
“The Rough Rock Community School Replacement Project is an important priority for the Interior Department and Bureau of Indian Education,” Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk said in September 2009. “The $52.5 million provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will revitalize this historic school by creating an improved learning environment for its students, teachers and staff, as well as bringing much-needed jobs to the Navajo people.”
Now, on August 15 Echo Hawk will be on hand to speak at the opening of the new buildings in Chinle, Arizona. Echo Hawk will not be alone, he will be joined by other Interior officials, including Jack Rever, director of the Indian Affairs Office of Facilities, Environmental and Cultural Resources; Emerson Eskeets, deputy director of the Office of Facilities Management and Construction; and Bart Stevens, deputy director of School Operations at the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). Rough Rock is a BIE-funded K-12 school that opened in 1966 as the first Native American, Navajo-operated school within the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) system.

“The Rough Rock Community School is a symbol of tribal self-determination that is at the heart of Navajo education,” former Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley said in 2009. “I want to express my deep appreciation for the funding that has made this replacement and repair project possible. I am pleased at the attention being paid to improving this historic school, and to the economic and employment opportunities that the project brings to our reservation.”

CALIFORNIA: Controller finds $140 million in questionable spending and cites shoddy fiscal management. He also sees possible malfeasance in the selection of an inspector general to investigate the program.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Minot needs to replace Erik Ramstad Middle School, said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., after touring the wreckage. "To me, this is a no-brainer," Conrad said. Ramstad, built in 1958, wasn't built to meet today's energy efficiency or technology standards, said Conrad, so it would make more sense to build a new school from scratch, one that meets the needs of 21st century education.
At Ramstad, Conrad and Hoeven spoke with school superintendent Mark Vollmer and school board members about the extent of the damage. Vollmer estimated that replacing the damaged schools could cost between $40 million and $50 million, with $28 million to $30 million of that the cost of replacing Ramstad. Ramstad is also located in the flood plain, making it possible that the site could flood again. A surviving sign in the school marks the level of water in the school during the 1969 flood, at just a few feet from the floor. The water line for the 2011 flood is an inch or so from the ceiling.
Ramstad, which had floodwater up to the ceilings for about a month, resembles a bombed-out wreck with windows knocked out, countless walls caved in, and mud and silt caking the floors.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is evaluating the building for damage and hasn't yet come up a report on whether it thinks the schools can be salvaged or not, said Vollmer.

Conrad and Hoeven also asked about prospects for repairing the two most badly damaged elementary schools, Lincoln and Longfellow, which they did not have time to visit Tuesday. John Huenink, director of the education group for the Minneapolis-based Kraus Anderson Construction Company, the disaster consulting firm the district has hired, said it might be possible to fix Lincoln, but it would be an expensive fix. Huenink said it would be possible to spend hundreds of thousands or a few million just mucking out a building. That might be a waste of money if it turns out that the building needs to be torn down after all.
Longfellow, less badly damaged, had between 30 inches and four feet of water in the school, depending on where in the school it was. The concern with Longfellow is that mold might be growing inside the walls. Those spots must be found, cleaned out and the walls patched up.
Also heavily damaged were the Adult Learning Center, Central Campus Plus, the district's alternative school program for grades 9 and 10, and the Head Start Building.

Alternative locations had to be found for all of those schools. Ramstad students will be attending classes at the Minot Municipal Auditorium; Lincoln students will be attending classes at First Presbyterian Church; Longfellow students will be in portable classrooms on the grounds of that school; Central Campus Plus students will be on the campus of Quentin Burdick Job Corps Center; Head Start students will be in portable classrooms on the grounds of Jefferson Early Childhood Center. The start of school has been delayed until Sept. 6. The governor has agreed to forgive five days from the school year for Minot due to the flooding.
Hoeven and Conrad both said funds should be available to replace or remodel the damaged public schools. FEMA will fund 90 percent and the state seven percent.

MONTANA: It’s a first: the new math and science building at Blackfeet Community College in Browning, Montana is a trend-setter in the world of green technology. The first tribal building in the nation to be awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum status, it has achieved the highest possible award of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the Great Falls Tribune reported.

Ahm Ska Tos Po II Koh Kan, or South Wind Lodge, was built at a cost of $5 million and has 13,000 square feet of classrooms, labs, offices and meeting spaces on a single level. “Our first goal was silver, but we realized we could reach high gold and we started pushing for platinum,” the Tribune quoted Terry Tatsey, chairman of the Blackfeet Community College facilities committee, as stating at a college ceremony.

The new math and science building at the Blackfeet Community College has been designed to reflect tradition and the future in its architecture, noted the Tribune and a LEED web site. The exterior of the building has an overhang reminiscent of tipi poles and is ornamented with circles representing constellations and with triangles at the base recalling the underground and underwater worlds of Blackfeet cultural history. The building represents a practical laboratory as well as a “connection between the past and current understandings of math, science and survival,” Tatsey said. “We want the students to be able to learn from the building itself.”

The college’s math and science building will have energy efficiency 57 percent above minimum standards and green features that include optimized sun and wind exposure, high-performance insulating glass, automated blinds tied to light sensors, computer-controlled heating and cooling systems, water conservation, minimal pollutants in cabinetry and finishes, contractor recycling to spare waste going into a landfill, and other measures.
The LEED process is demanding, requiring a balanced and transparent committee structure, technical advisory groups for scientific consistency and rigor, stakeholder comment and review, and other components, according to the USGBC.
Students began classes in January in the new building in Browning, a community of about 8,500 members of the Blackfeet Nation adjacent to Glacier National Park.

INTERNATIONAL: There are getting on for a million NEETS in Britain – 16-24 year-olds not in employment, education or training, and it was this group of people that came to mind while I was watching The Secret Life of Buildings (Channel 4). When headmaster Steve Morrison arrived at Kingsdale School in Dulwich, south London in 1999, he saw that long, thin corridors created bedlam. Spending fifty pounds on some paint, he drew a line down the middle, asking pupils to use them as they would a road. They did. There were fewer scuffles. He also commissioned a firm of architects, who removed as many of those narrow, claustrophobic corridors as possible. Architect Alex De Rijke said that on seeing the building for the first time, he noted how fine the line can be between penal, and educational systems. Kingsdale had institutional hallmarks. Each floor was identical. As was every door. Some of the measures to upgrade it were relatively minor: small windows cut in classroom walls, for example, the walls then painted in bold colours. There was a major change too: a large, outdoor courtyard was given a roof, creating a central hub through which pupils now walk on elevated platforms between lessons.

Some of the walls are bright green, and the extraordinary corduroy suit Mr De Rijke wore to be interviewed matched them. He looked like an academic jolly green giant, or a mini Shrek. There was no denying the results, though. While admitting it’s difficult to quantify, he said that a pleasant building generates pride in its users; it lifts morale. Steve Morrison observed that: ‘many of the ideas were deemed to be absurd. It was not seen as sensible.’ But he also pointed to a set of lockers that had been there for five years, and not a single one had been damaged. The stats improved too. Before long, there was a four-fold increase in pupils achieving at least five good GCSEs. Exclusions fell from 280 a year, to near zero. I had a quick Google, and Mr Morrison also tackled underperforming teachers. But it seems that the environment really did have an effect by calming pupils down, and making them more disposed to work and to learn. It was fascinating stuff. Presenter Tom Dyckhoff, who also looked at other buildings during the programme, and their affect on human psychology, was positively evangelical, and, it seemed, with good reason.

What makes the story of Kingsdale School pertinent now, is that a third of the pupils starting secondary school in England next month will do so without what the Department for Education deems to be an acceptable standard in the three-Rs. Some will be sat at desks in outdated, drab, run-down buildings. In that sense, Britain is arguably failing its youngsters. The number of NEETS is expected to rise to 1.2 million over the next five years. So: maybe what the youth of today needs is a proper education, and the prospect of a job. The violence has been utterly unacceptable, but it’s difficult to live without hope.

COLORADO: Schools across the state are investing in domed greenhouses as a way to transform gardening into a year-round learning activity for students and to supply school lunchrooms with homegrown fresh produce regardless of the season outside.
Students and parents at Flagstaff Academy, a public charter school in Longmont, just last month completed building an 850-square-foot domed greenhouse, a project three years in the making. In Colorado Springs District 11, officials have partnered with Pikes Peak Urban Gardens to build an even larger greenhouse at Galileo School of Math and Science on the school’s old tennis courts. Funded through a federal Magnet Schools of America grant, construction on the $50,000 dome will begin within the month and should be complete by the time classes resume.
“There’s definitely a lot of interest in school greenhouses now,” said Allen Werthan, founder and executive director of Global Childrens Gardens, an Evergreen-based non-profit that over the past few years has helped seven Colorado schools install greenhouse domes, including the one at Flagstaff Academy. “There’s just more awareness that healthy eating is significant for kids,” he said.
In Colorado, Global Children’s Gardens helped the Southern Ute Academy in Ignacio built a 22-foot domed greenhouse in 2006 for similar reasons. “At the Ute Academy, their motivation is to fight the twin plagues of diabetes and obesity,” Werthan said, as well as to preserve the wisdom of tribal elders in the area of traditional medicinal plants.

Domes can be purchased direct from manufacturers, and professional crews can be hired to install it. Growing Spaces will supply a crew to build its largest domes because they’re so tall. But Werthan prefers the community-built to the professionally-built dome.

MONTANA: The Belgrade School District was in the right place at the right time, which enabled it to secure a favorable interest rate for bonds to build a new elementary school, a finance executive told the Belgrade School Board. “Timing is everything and in this case, the timing was perfect,” said Bridget Ekstrom, a public finance banker with D.A. Davidson. “This is the lowest school bond in my 20 years at Davidson.”
The district sold bonds last month worth a total of $12.3 million to build a new elementary school north of Belgrade Middle School. The lion’s share of that money is a traditional $10 million, tax-exempt bond that sold to eight local banks at 3.19 percent interest, Ekstrom said. When the issue went before the voters last spring, the district estimated 4.75 percent interest on the 20-year bond.

Another, $2.3 million bond issue known as a Qualified School Construction bond was tied to the federal stimulus act, Ekstrom said. The district received it after voters passed the larger bond. The net interest cost to local taxpayers for the QSC bond is zero percent. Five local banks purchased the bond. The district was one of 10 in the state that received the zero-interest QSC bonds, which allows officials to place the revenue in an interest-bearing account to help pay down the larger bond. The federal government will pay the interest until the bond matures in 2028.As a result, the district will have $2.1 million less in interest costs over the term of both bonds, Ekstrom said. “It’s just great timing,” she said.

PENNSYLVANIA: Dallas School District Superintendent Frank Galicki concedes timing had a lot to do with the new high school being built at a lower cost than any other in the state, as noted in a state report. The school board put out bids just as the economy turned sour and contractors were desperate for work. But Galicki is also confident students and taxpayers alike will agree they got a big bang for their buck when the new building is officially unveiled Aug. 28.

The claim to frugal fame stems from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Education “Report PLC030D,” generally referred to as “Report 30.” The state tallies new school construction costs for a given year – 2009 in this case – breaking the total down by movable fixtures, site development, architect fees, sit acquisition (buying the land), structural cost and architectural area. The bottom line figure is total cost per square feet, and at about 230,000 square feet, the new Dallas school came in at $136.11 per square foot.
Of course, saying it’s the cheapest new high school is a tad misleading; only one other high school is on the state list of 12 new buildings that year. But even if you look at all those schools, Dallas came in the second cheapest – no small accomplishment, considering high schools, by their nature, tend to cost more than elementary or middle schools.

Data from the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities lists the average cost of a high school in 2010 at $205 per square foot, compared to about $185 for elementary and middle schools, though costs vary by region. Among the schools on Pennsylvania’s 2009 list, the most expensive was a new high school in Bethel Park School District – a southern suburb of Pittsburgh – which cost $212 per square foot. The least expensive was an elementary school in Elizabethtown Area School District, about midway between Harrisburg and York on the east side of the Susquehanna River. That school cost $113 per square foot.

While admitting timing was a big help, Galicki credited district staff and school board members past and present for “a lot of due diligence” in keeping costs of the roughly $40 million structure down. The board had done substantial research before hiring Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates to spearhead the project. It was Crabtree’s Project Manager Craig Zimmerman who touted the state report to the school board after a tour of the facility Aug. 1. Crabtree also noted it is working on three of the four lowest-cost schools listed in the report. The costs are based on district filings of “Part G” of the state’s “PlanCon” process – an 11-part process districts must go through to get state reimbursement for construction projects. Part G is based on actual construction bid costs. It does not include any changes after bids are received. Final accounting is done in Part J.

NORTH CAROLINA: Now that it's built, it really does look like a twisted Rubik's cube. Or, as some describe UNC Charlotte's new Center City Building, a giant stack of books. Whatever the description, UNCC hopes that the glass-wrapped high-rise in uptown's First Ward will significantly boost the university's visibility and bridge the once-vast psychological divide between Charlotte and its namesake university, 11 miles north.
The $50.4 million, 12-floor structure officially opens when the fall semester begins Aug. 22. It's replacing the 15,000 square feet of uptown space the school used in the former Mint Museum of Craft + Design on North Tryon Street. Cantilevered with whimsy and trimmed in UNCC green, it will house the College of Arts + Architecture along with MBA and other graduate programs.

Yet to the school and city, it is more than a space for academic pursuit. In time, the building will draw people to lectures by UNCC faculty, to art exhibits, movies, receptions, performances and conferences. Many of its students will work by day and sit in classes at night. And it will anchor a planned development by Levine Properties that will transform an area of mostly parking lots, vacant buildings and empty lots along Brevard from Ninth to Seventh streets. Ultimately, Levine plans to build an urban neighborhood of residences, shops, restaurants, parking decks and a 6-acre park from the UNCC building to Seventh. "This building will help connect UNC Charlotte to Charlotte's civic, cultural, political and business life," said Jerry Coughter, executive director of UNCC Center City. "It's not enough to say, 'OK, we're here.' We have to get involved with the Chamber. Rotary. Local museums. The schools. The building will be a way to put the university's

In the beginning, UNCC wanted an iconic building that expressed innovation - one that stood apart from the "gray flannel" architecture of uptown's banking and finance structures, said James Timberlake, a founding partner of KieranTimberlake, the Philadelphia architecture firm that designed the Center City Building with Gantt Huberman Architects of Charlotte. "They wanted a building that not only expressed innovation, but did it in such a way that it becomes a brand for UNC Charlotte in the downtown," Timberlake said. The brick that surrounds the building and covers the ground floor harkens to the brick used on the main campus, said Timberlake's colleague, Richard Maimon, the principle in charge of the project. Each twist of the Rubik's cube (or book in the stack) is a grouping of three floors, Maimon said. The first three floors are public spaces, with the ground floor containing a bagel and coffee shop, a gallery and campus bookstore. There'll be a baby grand piano in the lobby for anyone to sit and play. Up a flight, are two auditoriums (one with 300 seats, the other with 100) suitable for lectures, movies and performances. Each of the upper three twists hold a floor of faculty offices and two floors of classrooms - with 25 classrooms in all. Every other floor has a student lounge. The environmentally conscious "green" building is fully wired for Internet access. The basement has a catering kitchen for receptions or conferences.

NEW JERSEY: Green improvements for the district’s schools include monitoring energy consumption, updating systems and the possibility of solar power. But the timetable for the projects ranges from immediate to somewhere down the line, owing to research, feasibility and approvals needed to implement some of the improvements. “I think some of this could start relatively quickly,” District Superintendent Jorden Schiff said. “We’ve begun the process in the Facilities Committee to explore what power purchasing agreements are all about and trying to ask professionals in this area.” “These are not quick things,” he added. “You have to go through a relatively extensive process in order to get the approvals you need to begin.”

As outlined in a report stemming from his first 100 days in the district, Schiff named benchmarking energy consumption in all facilities and determining ways to save money, expanding heating and cooling control systems to schools that don’t have them, completing energy audits for all district facilities and completing a power purchasing agreement for solar panels on all district roofs. The solar panel agreement would also allow the district to replace roofs and possibly install air conditioning without using tax revenue, Schiff added.

The behavioral changes to save energies are already starting in two of the district’s nine schools, while the heating and cooling system changes will need to be something the district considers in its budget. Energy for America handles the heating and cooling controls in three of the district’s schools, which have seen significant energy savings off investing in the controls, Schiff said. One board member, Greg Gillette, noted that he Energy for America program is something that’s been investigated over the years. According to Gillette, the upgrades had been nixed because of the cost of installation, so he cautioned the board about the possible control installation.

At least one board member, Marc Rosenberg, supported the solar panel idea, noting that the district has the largest amount of flat roof space in the township. Rosenberg also asked how the purchasing agreement would work and whether the district. According to Schiff, a third party would own the panels and sell the energy generated from them back to the district at a discounted rate in exchange for the use of the roof space. Some districts have purchased their solar panels though, allowing those districts to make a profit from the energy sales, he added. Owning panels in Hillsborough would require further discussion and research, he added. “The reason power purchasing agreements are becoming attractive to school districts is that it doesn’t require an out-of-pocket expense,” he said. “All the financing for these things are taking care of my other parties.”

NEW JERSEY: Green improvements for the district’s schools include monitoring energy consumption, updating systems and the possibility of solar power. But the timetable for the projects ranges from immediate to somewhere down the line, owing to research, feasibility and approvals needed to implement some of the improvements. “I think some of this could start relatively quickly,” District Superintendent Jorden Schiff said. “We’ve begun the process in the Facilities Committee to explore what power purchasing agreements are all about and trying to ask professionals in this area.” “These are not quick things,” he added. “You have to go through a relatively extensive process in order to get the approvals you need to begin.”

As outlined in a report stemming from his first 100 days in the district, Schiff named benchmarking energy consumption in all facilities and determining ways to save money, expanding heating and cooling control systems to schools that don’t have them, completing energy audits for all district facilities and completing a power purchasing agreement for solar panels on all district roofs. The solar panel agreement would also allow the district to replace roofs and possibly install air conditioning without using tax revenue, Schiff added.

The behavioral changes to save energies are already starting in two of the district’s nine schools, while the heating and cooling system changes will need to be something the district considers in its budget. Energy for America handles the heating and cooling controls in three of the district’s schools, which have seen significant energy savings off investing in the controls, Schiff said. One board member, Greg Gillette, noted that he Energy for America program is something that’s been investigated over the years. According to Gillette, the upgrades had been nixed because of the cost of installation, so he cautioned the board about the possible control installation.

At least one board member, Marc Rosenberg, supported the solar panel idea, noting that the district has the largest amount of flat roof space in the township. Rosenberg also asked how the purchasing agreement would work and whether the district. According to Schiff, a third party would own the panels and sell the energy generated from them back to the district at a discounted rate in exchange for the use of the roof space. Some districts have purchased their solar panels though, allowing those districts to make a profit from the energy sales, he added. Owning panels in Hillsborough would require further discussion and research, he added. “The reason power purchasing agreements are becoming attractive to school districts is that it doesn’t require an out-of-pocket expense,” he said. “All the financing for these things are taking care of my other parties.”

LOUISIANA: New Orleans education officials plan to take a second close look at plans for renovating and rebuilding city schools damaged by Hurricane Katrina, having gathered input during a series of community meetings during the past few weeks. Officials from the state-run Recovery School District and the local School Board said this week that they will look for ways to stretch what's left of roughly $2 billion in federal aid for school facilities to cover more projects. And they plan to explore using several different tax credit programs as a means of generating more money for the plan.

Criticism of the revisions that the School Board and the Recovery District unveiled last month has centered on a third phase of the construction that includes $422 million worth of projects with no source of financing. Officials estimate the first two phases would cover buildings for 83 percent of city students, but the unfunded portion has left school leaders and communities around the city worried they will be left out of the rebuilding if city leaders can't come up with the cash to pay for the entire plan.
Last week, a group of New Orleans business and nonprofit leaders issued a public letter calling it "astonishing" that the full execution of the building plan would require new taxes and a bond issue. They also criticized the plan for not outlining how maintenance costs for the new buildings will be covered in the future.

School officials are responding now by taking that input back to a group of experts led by Paul Flower, chief executive of the local firm Woodward Design+Build. They have canceled a citywide public meeting on the plan originally scheduled for Thursday and pushed it back to September. Officials said they'll be looking at the feasibility of designing a common prototype for a K-8 building that houses 850 students as well as three or four different high school designs, a step that would presumably strip out some of the cost of designing a unique campus on every site.

They will also consider ways to generate additional dollars by taking advantage of government programs like state historic tax credits. Developers who put money into renovating historic buildings can apply to get 25 percent of the cost reimbursed in the form of tax credits that can be sold for 75 cents on the dollar. So a historic renovation project costing $1 million could generate tax credits of about $250,000, which could then be sold for $187,500. Flower said his team plans to get to work today putting together a list of historic school buildings that may qualify for the program, or others like the federal New Market Tax Credit.

They plan to mine even relatively minor sources of cash in hopes that a variety of cost-saving measures add up. Flower estimates, for instance, that the federal E-Rate program, which provides discounts on information technology for schools and libraries, may shave $1 million off of the master plan's second phase. "That's not a lot of money," Flower acknowledged. "But at the end of the day, that's $1 million that could go somewhere else."

NEW YORK: Unacceptable levels of the dangerous chemical trichloroethylene have been found inside the Bronx New School, PS 51, and the school will be forced to move to a new location before it opens next month, the Department of Education confirmed.

Trichloroethylene is an industrial solvent that can enter air or water. Exposure can result in dizziness, headaches, confusion, euphoria, facial numbness, weakness, developmental issues and cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
PS 51 is currently housed in a leased space. As part of the lease renewal process, officials recently inspected the building, where they found TCE levels that exceed state guidelines. According to a letter sent out to PS 51 parents and staff and obtained by The Press, “ … there are no immediate medical concerns for students and staff.”

NEW YORK: Work on the more than $1-billion project to modernize city schools will not stop, says City Council President Lovely Warren, despite a letter from Gilbane Inc. demanding payment, or else. Gilbane, the company managing the massive construction project, sent a letter to the Rochester Joint Schools Construction Board, saying it has not been paid for over a year's work. If the more than $1.5 million in design work is not paid for soon, the company said it may stop work on the project. That would delay the project, which has already suffered multiple stops and starts.

Warren says the city will issue bond anticipation notes to help fund the $29 million for part of the initial phase of the project, since the city school district cannot borrow money, "but it's a temporary solution," she says.
City Hall raised concerns about the facilities modernization project earlier this year. City officials say issuing the bonds could increase the amount the city is required to pay the school district every year under the Maintenance of Effort law, and that is unacceptable. City Hall sought legislation from the state to protect itself from an increase in the MOE, but dueling bills emerged in the State Senate and Assembly. At seemingly the last minute, Assembly member Joe Morelle stepped in and said he had a letter from the State Education Department that resolved the matter. Except it didn't, city officials say.

OREGON: Western Oregon University's (WOU) newest residence hall, Ackerman Hall, has achieved LEED Platinum certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. Ackerman Hall is the first large-scale, new construction residence hall in the country to achieve the highest LEED certification available. The project earned 53 points, exceeding the minimum 52 required for Platinum. Ackerman Hall opened to 330 students in September 2010. This state-of-the-art facility contains living, academic and meeting space.

Ackerman Hall's numerous features promote "green" and sustainable living, which help students develop an awareness of a more environmentally focused lifestyle. Some of the highlights of the many elements of the residence hall include: a rainwater harvest system that collects rainwater used for flushing toilets; solar panels and heat ducts that heat air and water; occupancy sensors throughout the building that shut off lights when rooms are unoccupied; low flow water devices in all restrooms; repurposed wood throughout the building that was taken from trees that were removed from the building site at the beginning of construction; an outdoor courtyard surface covered with recycled glass material (Filter Pave) which allows water to filter through the material and be absorbed into the soil.
All of these features combined to save countless gallons of water and a significant amount of energy. In its first year of operation, total water savings was nearly 75 percent of a comparable building of its size and calculations show approximately a 35 percent savings in electricity use.

NATIONAL: The Princeton Review, known for its college profiles, rankings and reviews, reported its fourth annual Green Ratings of colleges. Colleges and universities from across the country were ranked on a scale of 60 to 99, based on a survey that asked questions about academic offerings, energy use, recycling, food, buildings and transportation.
Surveys show incoming students are more concerned than ever with their prospective school’s environmental stewardship. According to the company’s annual “College Hopes & Worries” survey, 69 percent of students said having information about a college’s commitment to the environment would impact their decision to apply to or attend a school.

Green Rating scores are now available on the Princeton Review profiles for all 768 institutions that were evaluated. Many fared well, but only 16 colleges were awarded the coveted rating of 99 and earned their place on the 2012 Green College Honor Roll. Some of our top picks made the list, including Warren Wilson College, College of the Atlantic and the University of California. Each made the grade for outstanding environmentally-related academic programs and inventive green initiatives. Other universities made the list by attaining zero-waste, maintaining their own forests and wetlands and powering their campuses with alternative energy. [Article includes full list of top colleges.]

CALIFORNIA: The California School Boards Association (CSBA) recently partnered with SunPower to launch the Solar Schools program, which will help school districts develop and install solar projects at schools. Within the coming year, more than 90 schools across the state – at the elementary, secondary and higher-education level – are scheduled to be fitted with solar installations.

The Solar Schools program is designed to help schools save on energy, a savvy move in the face of shrinking budgets and rising utility rates, and make the best investments possible. The schools can also take advantage of the California Solar Initiative, a program that offers financial incentives to public facilities to use solar power. The states says the school could save as much as $1.5 billion over 30 years with the installation of solar power systems.
The San Ramon Unified School District, which is getting five installations, is expected to save $2 million in electricity costs during its first year of solar use, the CSBA said. The district has also implemented renewable energy education in its classrooms, with help from SunPower: The company is working with San Ramon’s engineering academy to prepare students for future careers in the clean technology field. Other schools participating in the Solar Schools program are planning similar curricula.
San Ramon Superintendent Steven W. Enoch called the solar initiative “extremely innovative in helping us to maximize our immediate cost savings. Slated for completion by this fall, our solar installations will supply substantial savings to our district’s general fund, while preserving precious financial resources.”

NATIONAL: This year Dora, the famed preschool explorer, will do something cartoons rarely do: age. Since 2000, Dora and her backpack have helped the world’s preschoolers get ready for school and now she’s getting ready for bold new adventures as a full-blown tween-aged middle schooler.
Few people have done as much to advance the cause of sustainability as Dora and her cousin Diego. They’ve raised the consciousness of a whole generation to the point that every parent I know has had some version of a “Dora moment” – your kid calls you out for not recycling, using plastic bags, or committing some other sin of carelessness.?
As Dora gets ready for middle school, it’s made me wonder: is my kid’s school good enough for Dora? Would it hold up to her scrutiny not just as a place that recycles, but is it the kind of clean, safe, and sustainable environment Dora would approve?

This line of thinking led me to one of the other people who’s done a lot to shape the very foundations (pardon the pun) of green thinking: Rick Fedrizzi and the US Green Building Council.
While many of us have focused on The Environment with capital letters in the macro sense we’ve missed the environment in the micro, namely the environments we send our children to every day.
Improving these micro-climates could do wonders for our national health, contribute to our communities, and raise, in the word’s of the Center’s director Rachel Gutter, “…a generation of leaders we call sustainability natives…”

That’s why I’m so pleased that Rick will be announcing a major new initiative of the Center for Green Schools on September 26th at the COMMIT!Forum in New York City. I hope you’ll join Rick in the conversations that will flow throughout the Forum. Because right now, it’s not “just” about the environment. It’s about the environment in our kids’ schools. The air they breathe, the water they drink, the places they learn, play, and interact. These places not only nourish their bodies and minds, they shape the thinking of an entire generation of citizens and leaders.

ONTARIO, CANADA: The Upper Grand District School Board took delivery of the world’s first school portable constructed with strawbale walls. Built in Mount Forest by Evolve Builders Group Inc, the human healthy, environmentally preferable and super efficient substitute for conventional school portables is making its new home at the Rockwood Centennial Public School in Guelph-Eramosa Township.
Ayton resident Chris Vander Hout, partner and production manager for Evolve, helped develop the structural design under guidance of Upper Grand staff. The basic shell of a chassis to permit it to be hoisted and moved repeatedly, walls, windows, doors and roof, were then completed by Mr. Vander Hout, Evolve staff and those from sister business, Harvest Homes.
Its custom steel floor chassis was fabricated by Wellington North Machine, and the work was completed at the business in Mount Forest. The 24 tonne, 800 square foot structure was sent in two halves on special truck beds, then carefully rejoined at its new Rockwood location. Evolve Builders will next add the finishing touches to ensure it is ready for the first school bell in September.
Other special features Evolve will complete include: extremely resilient natural linoleum flooring, highly insulative structural insulated panel flooring and roofing, mineral based paint, natural oil wood finishes, steel roof and fiberglass framed windows.

“This portable would have shamed the big bad wolf. It has been designed to withstand the stresses of being relocated repeatedly if needed,” said Mr. Vander Hout. “The combination of a structural steel base and the monolithic plastered bale walls give it strength, durability and user comfort uncommon in conventional construction. The energy efficiency of the portable will be second to none.”

FLORIDA: A red Dumpster sits outside the office at Whispering Pines Elementary School, as an army of hard hats work against the clock to ready the expansion for the first day of class on Aug. 22. The school has been under construction since December 2010. The school district has reconfigured the 1984 building, and is adding a new structure with 18 classrooms to meet proposed boundary changes and the demand of young families moving in, said Walter Cornnell, who has been principal for three years. In a way, Whispering Pines is the last man standing. With the new economic reality of public education, this is the only major public school construction project in Boca Raton, both in the city and the unincorporated areas further west.

We're shifting our focus from new construction to maintenance and repairs," said Joseph Sanches, chief of facilities management for The School District of Palm Beach County. "The amount of money is significantly down. We have enough capacity to serve our students. The district is not able to borrow until at least 2025. We don't see stimulus money." If he had his wish, Sanches would give other Boca Raton schools at least a face lift.

MARYLAND: Supporters of a new mitigation fee approved last month by the Board of County Commissioners say it will create jobs in the construction industry as well as generate revenue for new schools and renovations.
The fee, which will allow developers looking to build in Frederick County to pay a fee in order to build in an overcrowded school zone, was approved in a 4-1 vote on July 19, and serves as an amendment to the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance for use in building new schools or renovating existing ones. Developers can pay the additional fee so long as a school's enrollment is not more than 120 percent over capacity.
Opponents believe the fee will negatively affect children by crowding classrooms.

MARYLAND: Supporters of a new mitigation fee approved last month by the Board of County Commissioners say it will create jobs in the construction industry as well as generate revenue for new schools and renovations.
The fee, which will allow developers looking to build in Frederick County to pay a fee in order to build in an overcrowded school zone, was approved in a 4-1 vote on July 19, and serves as an amendment to the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance for use in building new schools or renovating existing ones. Developers can pay the additional fee so long as a school's enrollment is not more than 120 percent over capacity.
Opponents believe the fee will negatively affect children by crowding classrooms.

CALIFORNIA: San Diego Unified School District Board members chose Downtown Charter High School to occupy two floors of the new downtown library. The library and school are scheduled to open in 2013. The proposed charter beat out three existing schools for the space.
Downtown Charter’s board of directors chairman, Mel Katz, is also leading efforts to raise private donations for the new library building. Katz said theirs is the only program built around the opportunities the library location provides. “Our school was designed specifically for the library and downtown," he said. "We developed the concept after research and interviewing different parents, downtown education leaders, community and business leaders.” Part of that design is a requirement for students to complete career exploration activities and internships with downtown businesses and non-profits.
Representatives from the existing schools that vied for the space said their demonstrated ability to attract students and perform well academically should have carried more weight.

CALIFORNIA: Two years after the Redwood City Elementary School District finished modernizing the last of its 16 school buildings, the state released a list of seismically unsafe schools in California, and nine were in the Peninsula city. That put the district between a rock and a hard place because it had already done work, but that work did not meet the new standards. The problem facing Redwood City and many districts statewide is deep budget cuts and new safety requirements without any funding.

The state did try to help by passing a $10.4 billion bond in 2006 to retrofit state buildings. Nearly $200 million was set aside for schools, but few districts have qualified for the money. In order to dole out the money, schools were ranked 1 to 5 based on vulnerability, with Category 1 being the worst. Initially, schools in Category 1 qualified for money, and eventually the state allowed those in Category 2 to also apply.

In San Mateo County, though, of the roughly 100 schools appearing on the list compiled by the State Allocation Board in 2002, none are in Category 2, leaving districts to find money on their own. "We’re in tier 3," said Don Dias, director of facilities for the Redwood City district. "So we missed out on the funding." The state of the nation’s economy and tight budgets might make it difficult for Redwood City to seek a new bond, Dias said. However, all of Redwood City’s elementary school buildings are inhabitable, Dias said, and the state’s requirements are merely a code update. "California buildings are the safest buildings in the world, period," he said. "[But] even without this, but we are always trying to get better."
In addition to Redwood City, more than 7,400 schools statewide were included on the list released in 2002. The cost for all these schools to be upgraded would be $4.7 billion, far more than the amount set aside, which makes funding even more scarce. California has nearly 17,000 schools in more than 1,000 districts. So far, nine districts — including Redlands Unified, Oakland Unified and San Bernardino City — qualified for state money under original guidelines.

NEW YORK: Public and private institutional investment in New York City remained strong even in the recession with new construction starts worth $11.4 billion from June 2008 to May 2011, according to a report by the American Building Congress.
Public institutions have been responsible for just over 50 percent of new construction starts over the past three years, the report notes. The New York City School Construction Authority was the largest driver of construction starts, initiating nearly $4.5 billion in projects over that three-year period. In particular, the report spotlighted significant construction activity by public and private higher education institutions. According to the data, 75 percent of new construction starts, measured by value, were started by the City University of New York, the State University of New York or other government-related entities.
Other recent examples include the $381 million CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, a new $222 million Boricua campus facility in the Bronx, and the $210 million reconstruction of Fiterman Hall. CUNY's ongoing, five-year, $2.5 billion capital plan is "particularly encouraging," the report says. It includes the $587 million expansion of John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a $400 million academy building for the New York City College of Technology.

The activity by private institutions of higher education is "unprecedented,"according to the report. In June 2010, Columbia University cleared a last legal hurdle for its plans to expand its Manhattanville campus, a $6.3 billion expansion that will encompass 6.8 million square feet covering 17 acres. Work on the first new facility, the $175 million Jerome L. Greene Science Center, started in May. Meanwhile, the report also notes that New York University recently released its 20-year growth and development strategy that calls for the eventual construction of up to six million square feet of new facilities that would be located in the university's historic Greenwich Village core as well as other parts of the city, such as Downtown Brooklyn and Governors Island.

MISSOURI: Gearing up for the fall is a big job for most school districts. But in Joplin, Mo., where a monstrous tornado killed 160 people and destroyed more than half of the district's classroom space in May, the task is massive. Thanks to a very resourceful approach, plenty of help and hard work, though, school will start as scheduled — and that means a lot to the community.

More than 3,000 students were suddenly homeless. The school district mobilized to account for every one of them. "That was our first priority," says Joplin School Board President Ashley Micklethwaite. "Our next priority was, 'We need to get school up and running come fall. Where do we go?' And it was just looking at all available space within the community."

Micklethwaite does mean all available space — like the old Shopko building outside of Northpark Mall, which will be 11th- and 12th-grade center for the new Joplin High School. The big, white hulk of a building had sat empty in a vast parking lot after the store closed about a decade ago. Now, it's almost ready for classes. Inside there's lots of bright, artificial light and movable walls, but no lockers. The students won't have textbooks. Rather than replacing books lost in the storm, the district has decided to issue each student a laptop.

LOUISIANA: A group of New Orleans business and nonprofit leaders is calling for city and state education officials to head "back to the drawing board" on plans for spending the rest of $2 billion in federal aid earmarked for rebuilding the city's public schools.
In a public letter dated July 29, they argue that the remaining $1.6 billion should be enough to put every public school student in a new or renovated facility, even if it means cutting out some of the architectural luxuries that have distinguished early phases of the post-Katrina rebuilding.
The existing master plan leaves some $422 million in unfunded renovations without laying out any specific proposals for coming up with the cash.
Nor, as the letter points out, does the plan address what will happen to some of the obsolete school buildings that are already in use, or spell out exactly how the school system will pay for future upkeep, an important question in a city where many school buildings had fallen into serious disrepair even before the 2005 storm.

The letter, signed by groups ranging from the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce to the Scott S. Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives at Tulane, argues, "Every child, and every school, deserves a decent facility. Using available funds, New Orleans has a unique and realistic opportunity to rebuild its entire school facilities network -- not just some of it."
The main complaint that has cropped up since officials at the state-run Recovery School District unveiled the latest master plan revisions last month is that the new blueprint includes an entire third phase of construction without any source of funding. And some schools are left out of the plans entirely.
The letter notes that only 54 projects are funded in the plan, while 88 schools are already operating in New Orleans. Another 19 included in the third phase don't have any cash attached to them, meaning taxpayers would likely have to approve a bond issue -- and a tax increase to pay for it -- for the work to get done.

ARIZONA: With its first project complete and more on the horizon, Arizona is making its mark and contributing to the long list of Wind Powering America's Wind for Schools project installations. The new wind turbine along with a photovoltaic system at Ponderosa High School (PHS) in Flagstaff will be used to power the school's off-grid greenhouse, as well as provide real-life project data that students can learn from.

PHS principal David Ross feels that the wind-and-solar hybrid system presents an opportunity for the Ponderosa students and the school. PHS is an alternative high school that helps nontraditional students achieve a high school diploma or a GED. The school's approximately 75 students range in age from 17 to 20, and the majority are Native American or Hispanic, mostly from a lower socioeconomic group.

NEW MEXICO: There are many ways to get a school certified as LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. You can get points for installing landscaping that conserves water, for use of natural light and for building a minimum number of parking spaces so employees are forced to carpool or use mass transit.
On the Albuquerque Public Schools board, LEED has become a point of contention. David Robbins, capital outlay chair, often speaks out against LEED designs, arguing the system is expensive and doesn’t pay for itself in energy savings. Other board members support LEED, and officials in the APS capital division are largely supportive of it as well. In the construction community, opinions are mixed.
APS has been designing and building to the program’s standards for most new buildings since about 2008, under the direction of a previous board. The subject of LEED comes up nearly every time current board members vote on a capital project, prompting member David Peercy to recommend the board establish a policy on LEED and stick with it. The program is a product of the U.S. Green Building Council, which has laid out a point system for builders and designers to win LEED certification. The points are broken down into sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation and design process and some region-specific points.

The LEED issue is part of a larger controversy over green building standards. On a state level, the Construction Industries Commission voted in June to roll back energy efficiency standards for new homes and commercial buildings that were adopted in the final year of then-Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration. That decision has been challenged in the state Court of Appeals. Critics argue that green building, and LEED in particular, is too expensive. But Karen Alarid, executive director of facilities design and construction at APS, said LEED adds an average of only 0.82 percent to project costs at APS. That figure includes certification fees and all consulting and design modeling costs involved in LEED.
It does not, though, include the cost of construction materials, because those prices fluctuate with the market, Alarid said. If, for example, APS decided to use thicker insulation on a LEED building, it would be hard to isolate the cost of that thicker insulation and make a valid comparison.
Alarid does track the cost per square foot of all APS buildings and has found no significant difference between LEED and non-LEED projects. In some cases, the LEED projects cost less per square foot.
Based in part on Alarid’s figures, the APS Community Capital Advisory Commission has drafted a resolution in favor of seeking LEED certification on APS projects. Commission members are architects and other community members.
Alarid said the district does not have good measures yet of whether it has saved energy costs on its LEED-certified buildings. She said this is largely because the LEED buildings are new and because many of them are additions and renovations. That means their energy use is not metered separately from the rest of the campus, making it hard to measure the effects.
Robbins said he is unconvinced by the APS cost figures and has not been shown “one shred of evidence” that LEED is cost-effective over time. He said his main concern is that it creates additional costs without proven savings.
Lars Sego, of Dura Bilt design and construction, is a critic of LEED certification. Sego is a LEED “associate professional,” which means he has been trained in the program. Sego said some of the program’s conservation ideas are good, but many of those are already required by the international building code. “If we needed to have 40 points to be LEED-certified, by using the good parts of this LEED thing you could maybe get 30 points,” Sego said. “It’s those last 10 points, that you have to do these bone-headed things to get.”
Sego has no shortage of “bone-headed” examples. He pointed to one criterion that rewards designers for building the minimum required parking capacity as a way to encourage employees to take the bus, carpool or bike to work. “We want this point so bad we’re not giving them (employees) a place to park. So they’ll park on the neighbor’s parking or on the street,” Sego said. “I’m sorry, that’s stupid. That’s a stupid thing to get two points for.” Sego also criticized the cost of getting certified and of some of the extra features. Alarid said certification fees usually cost the district between $2,350 and $3,500 per project, although in one case the tab was $7,950.
Albuquerque architect Dale Dekker said the fees are worthwhile because building owners get third-party verification that their projects are efficient. “A benefit to the owner at the end of the day is that they have an independent agency that certifies the building met the criteria. I think you could always argue if that’s worth the fees, but it’s no different than just about anything else we do in our business.”

Dekker and other supporters emphasized that certification is not just about the environment. It is also about indoor air quality and the use of natural light. These features are meant to contribute to learning and achievement while making schools more pleasant for students and teachers. Robbins is skeptical. “APS doesn’t get funded because people are comfortable,” he said. “We are measured on the academic outcomes of those students, not that they had enough natural light.” Dekker said one caveat to LEED is that buildings save energy only if occupants maximize the building features. “My biggest frustration is, just like your car, you can design a car that can get 40 miles per gallon, but that’s no guarantee that your driver is going to drive it in such a way as to get 40 miles per gallon,” Dekker said. He said examples include turning off and unplugging computers at night, setting thermostats to reasonable temperatures, and foregoing lights when a room has good natural light.

FLORIDA: Gov. Rick Scott and the state Legislature do an outstanding job of talking a good game about improving education in Florida. Too bad the lofty talk isn't backed up by action. The latest slap toward Florida's traditional public schools, following drastic budget cuts earlier this year, is the report that charter schools will receive all of the state cash - $55 million - budgeted this year for school construction and maintenance. None of that money - not a nickel - will go to traditional public schools for additions, or needed repair to aging buildings.
Charter schools are public schools, of course, and if they need the money for construction and repairs, fine. And it's not like the construction and maintenance track record of some public school districts, like Broward's, inspire confidence.
But this is not enough rationale to benefit one set of public schools at the expense of another. All of Florida's schoolchildren deserve better.

This year, nearly every one of the state's 355 charters will qualify for some part of the $55 million in construction funds, and undoubtedly much of it is needed. But the approximately 3,000 traditional public schools have maintenance needs, too, and the latest funding allocation just feeds the feeling of some educators that the state is draining traditional schools to fund charters.
The Legislature needs to work harder to fund schools properly. Denying maintenance funding to traditional public schools isn't the way to do it.

CALIFORNIA: Local taxpayers can expect to save an estimated $15.5 million over the next 30 years due to the Redondo Beach Unified School District's sales of new bonds offered by the federal stimulus program and their refinancing of older bonds. Of the $15,470,000 worth of savings spread out of 30 years, the bulk of the money will be saved due to the use of Qualified School Construction Bonds spread out over 16 years, according to a news release from RBUSD.
Taxpayers will save an estimated $11.4 million in interest over the 16 years due to the state's approval for the district to use this borrowing method, which according to the release, "resulted in a [zero] percent interest rate on that portion of its new bonds."
"The federal government will pay up to a certain amount of interest on these bonds, and we were able to sell our bonds to the open market for the exact same rate as the government would pay," said Janet Redella, chief business official of the Redondo Beach Unified School District. "So that means we were able to sell $25 million in bonds interest-free for the taxpayers."
The Qualified School Construction Bonds can be used for repairs, renovations and new equipment. The bonds also allow the district to borrow money interest-free to improve schools.

Savings of an estimated $2.3 million will come to taxpayers over the next 30 years thanks to the district's sales of Build America Bonds, another way the district took advantage of the federal stimulus. These bonds, which are issued by local governments, are also meant to borrowing costs.
Lastly, the district's refinancing of its Measure E bonds from the 2000 election will save a remaining $1.79 million in interest. The refinanced bonds will be repaid over the next 20 years.

Measure E was a $52 million school improvement bond passed in 2000 that allowed the district to refurnish and modernize nearly all the classrooms in the district, according to the RBUSD's website. "We found that we could refinance those bonds for a lower interest rate because the market was better for that today than it was five years ago," Redella said. The savings from the Qualified School Construction Bonds, the Build America Bonds and the refinanced Measure E bonds total about $15.5 million.
"The taxpayers would have had to pay that much more over the next 20 to 30 years," Redella said, "so it's quite a chunk of change [we save] by being able to take advantage of those financing options and ... the federal stimulus bonds."

ILLINOIS: Since January 2010, when you buy a pair of pants or a refrigerator, put gas in your car or eat out at a restaurant in Champaign County, you've paid 1 percent more in sales tax. That school facilities sales tax has generated almost $20.78 million for school districts to use to build new buildings, update the ones they've got or pay off building bond debt. Look around some of the school districts in the county, and you'll see new buildings going up, windows being replaced, and geothermal systems being installed. Unity High School has a new greenhouse. Rantoul Township High School resurfaced its track. A wind turbine is to be installed at Prairieview-Ogden South Elementary School.
The building boom would not have been possible without the money districts are receiving from the sales tax, officials say. And take a look at the tax levies for some of the districts and you'll see they are levying either less or nothing at all for building bond debt.

ILLINOIS: Since January 2010, when you buy a pair of pants or a refrigerator, put gas in your car or eat out at a restaurant in Champaign County, you've paid 1 percent more in sales tax. That school facilities sales tax has generated almost $20.78 million for school districts to use to build new buildings, update the ones they've got or pay off building bond debt. Look around some of the school districts in the county, and you'll see new buildings going up, windows being replaced, and geothermal systems being installed. Unity High School has a new greenhouse. Rantoul Township High School resurfaced its track. A wind turbine is to be installed at Prairieview-Ogden South Elementary School.
The building boom would not have been possible without the money districts are receiving from the sales tax, officials say. And take a look at the tax levies for some of the districts and you'll see they are levying either less or nothing at all for building bond debt.

ALABAMA: More than 1 in 5 students in Birmingham city schools and 1 in 10 students in the Jefferson County system will be in brand-new or newly renovated schools when classes begin in August. Birmingham will open six new schools and one massively renovated school, while Jefferson County will open three new ones. Both school systems are still using money from Jefferson County's $1 billion school bond issue to build schools and renovate older ones. The county system's three new school buildings -- Mortimer Jordan, Hueytown and Center Point high schools -- replace buildings that are all more than 50 years old, and one more than 90 years old, said Dr. Rafael McDaniel, director of new construction for the Jefferson County Board of Education. [See article for description of projects.]

MAINE: Students here will no longer sit in classrooms that are warmed by heating oil. The school district is instead turning to an abundant Maine resource: wood.
The district's four schools are converting from oil-fueled boilers to wood-pellet ones, for a minimum net savings each year of $70,000, Superintendent Ken Coville said. "The combined project will cut our facility heating costs about in half," Coville said. "At the same time, it eliminates the use of approximately 65,000 gallons a year of oil, which reduces, ultimately, in a small way, the country's dependence on foreign oil."
The conversion is also supporting jobs in Maine's forest industry, because the pellets will come from Geneva Wood Fuels in Strong. School Administrative District 74 has a guaranteed price with the hardwood pellet fuel producer but isn't bound by a contract and can switch to another company if it chooses, Coville said.

The project at Garret Schenck School, Carrabec Community School and Carrabec High School, all in Anson, and Solon Elementary School, will likely cost up to $750,000. It will be paid for in part by a 15-year qualified school construction bond at zero-percent interest, Coville said.
The school district also won a competitive grant of $250,000 came from U.S. Forest Service Recovery Act money. The district was one of 22 finalists in Maine, out of 90 applicants, to receive the money, said Tom Wood, senior planner for the Maine Forest Service at the Department of Conservation.

Coville on Friday visited Garret Schenck School to examine the self-cleaning wood-pellet boilers, which have a projected life of 25 years. He said he likes the fact the boilers have a compartment that collects wood ash, which can then be sold to farmers or people who make soap. The district plans to have every boiler installed, and staff trained how to use them, by Sept. 30, about two weeks before the district usually turns on the heat. The boilers have a five-year warranty, while the warranty for the electronic controls is two years. "If 100 projects of this size were done in Maine, that would be six-and-a-half million gallons of oil a year eliminated, and it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of six-and-a-half to 10 million dollars of savings to the public," Coville said.
Wood estimated at least 30 districts in Maine use wood as a source of heat, but the vast majority still use oil. Some local districts that use wood, or will soon, include Phillips-based SAD 58, Oakland-based Messalonskee School District and Unity-based Regional School Unit 3, he said.
"People are beginning to recognize the improvement in the technology -- the stability and the cost savings," he said. And in some areas, such as SAD 58, schools are buying wood directly from their local communities. In SAD 58's case, it purchases from the mill in Strong. "When the school cuts its heating bill by two-thirds, the school budget goes down, and it saves the mill in town tax money. Not only do the dollars that they spend on fuel stay in the community, it holds down the cost for the local mill," Wood said.

MISSOURI: Despite the debris that still litters Joplin and the hovering uncertainty of just how many families will rebuild, Fort and other educators are counting the days to school. At this point, students are expected to return to classrooms on Aug. 17, right on schedule, even though six of the district’s 19 school buildings, including the high school, were destroyed. Three other schools were heavily damaged. Most of the students will go to a different school than they did last year, many in refurbished or retrofitted facilities. A few classes, and science labs, will be in trailers. And because so many families lost their homes, some students now live outside the Joplin district in rental properties or FEMA trailers and will be bused in from towns as far as a county over.

Some admit that in those early days they were skeptical classes could start on time. Sure, they knew what the district could accomplish when teachers and administrators pulled together. In the past few years, the district had raised test scores and improved the graduation rate. But to find and create learning space for 4,200 kids — 54 percent of the district — in 12 weeks? “I thought, ‘I don’t know how we’re going to do this,’ ” said Kerry Sachetta, the high school principal. “I didn’t think it could be done.” Administrators looked at district buildings. Fort’s Irving Elementary students could go to Washington Elementary, a building that sat vacant before the storm. Layouts were similar. The school was big enough for Irving’s 300 students. Good fit. Two other elementary schools would merge so another, which was destroyed, could have a building.
Early on, administrators suffered a setback when they realized East Middle School, less than 2 years old, sustained so much damage that it would cost nearly as much to repair as it did to build. So they needed yet another facility, one that would hold 600 students.

When the district ran out of property to use, it turned to buildings available in the city. Sachetta knew he couldn’t keep all the high schoolers together. No place in town could hold 2,200 students. They’d have to be split up. Freshmen and sophomores could go to the Memorial Education Center, which had been used as a high school, middle school and junior college. But what about the upperclassmen? One thought was the Northpark Mall and the old Shopko facility, a long-vacant box store across the parking lot from Macy’s and Sears. High school at the mall? “I was like, ‘Oh great, he’s going to be out shopping or at the food court when he’s supposed to be in class,’ ” said parent Laura Land, whose older child will be a junior this fall. But she and other doubters had no clue what administrators were cooking up with architects and contractors. Land now is becoming a believer.

The box store at the mall has become a 21st century high school. “When they see it, they’re just totally amazed,” Sachetta said. Inside, there are movable walls to better use space and wide corridors where students can plop down on the carpet, plug in their laptops — which every high school student will receive — and go to work. Instead of a gym, the school for 11th and 12th graders will have a fitness center. It’ll also have a coffee shop run by business students. “When we first found out we were going to the mall for school, I just thought my senior year was going to be the biggest joke,” said Emma Cox, 17. Then she took a tour of the new facility earlier this month. “It looks like they put so much thought into it,” she said. “If I didn’t know I was at the mall, I would think I was in a regular school.” Only better.
Because the tornado has robbed the community of so much, senior Brad White had all but resigned himself to just “get through” his senior year and prepare for college. Now, after talking with architects, he’s looking forward to school more than ever. “Teachers and advisers are trying to make us have a great senior year,” said White, 17. “They’re doing the best they can with what they’re given. I think a lot of them for not giving up on the school after all of this.”

Crews retrofitted another building to replace the district’s technical center, which draws students from several area high schools. The district also leased the city’s Memorial Hall for athletic practices, physical education classes and other programs. Because the storm spared the football stadium, the first home game should go on as planned in early September. Only with a little more fanfare. The goal was to get all the facilities secured by July 1. The district completed that June 10. Since then it’s been steady progress. On top of daily two-hour meetings with his leadership team, Huff holds weekly updates for faculty and staff. Some teachers say the meetings turn into pep rallies, with the superintendent encouraging teachers as if they were girding for the big Friday night game. “This is our moonwalk,” Huff tells district employees. “We’re doing something that’s never been done.” The pep-infused updates are working, said high school business teacher Kristi McGowen. There are few doubters anymore. “He’s never said, ‘Oh, I hope we can do it,’ ” McGowen said. “From Day One he said, ‘We’re going to make this happen.’ ”

CALIFORNIA: California school district bonds are back in the spotlight after an audit found poor oversight of school construction bond money awarded by the state. The audit focused on $7 billion of bond money handed out through the state administrator of school construction bond funds. It found that billions of dollars of bond proceeds spent on projects considered to have a high risk of misuse of funds went unchecked, according to the report by the state Department of Finance.
Earlier this year, local government officials and state Attorney General Kamala Harris raised concerns about the misuse of bond funds and certain debt financing structures employed by some school districts. The Finance Department conducted the audit from April 2010 through January 2011 on Proposition 1D bond funds overseen by the Office of Public School Construction through the state facilities program.

The facilities program provides funds for building and upgrading K-12 schools. The State Allocation Board hands out the bond money through the the school construction program. “Although OPSC has established accountability processes and controls for Proposition 1D bond funds, a number of these controls are either not implemented or not working as intended,” the audit report said. “These issues, if left unresolved, will continue to adversely affect bond accountability.”

COLORADO: A lawsuit could force Colorado to spend practically every tax dollar it gets on K-12 education. Lobato v. State of Colorado was filed in June 2005. It will go to trial in Denver District Court on Monday. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include dozens of parents and Colorado school districts including Jefferson County and Colorado Springs District 11.
The courts initially threw the lawsuit out in 2006, saying it wasn't a case for the courts, but rather the legislature. In 2009, the Colorado State Court of Appeals ruled that this issue could be heard in trial court. The lawsuit seeks more money for K-12 education. It contends "that as a result of irrational and inadequate funding of public education, the (state is) failing to provide for a 'thorough and uniform system' of public education and that the public school finance system fails to provide the financial resources necessary for local boards of education to exercise control of instruction in their schools."

“Just pouring money into the schools doesn’t produce a better-quality product," said Attorney General John Suthers. “They’re talking about mind-boggling amounts of money that would essentially take up the entire budget.” Suthers believes if a judge rules against the state, taxpayers may have to fund $17 billion in school construction and repair costs.

CALIFORNIA: Cash-strapped California is in the midst of a Solar Schools initiative that will help the state save over $1.5 billion in energy costs over the next 30 years. In partnership with SunPower, the California Solar Schools program helps K-12 and higher education institutions across the state take advantage of local solar subsidies that will partially fund the installation of solar panels on their buildings. In addition to helping the schools onto the clean energy boat, the initiative aims to teach kids in those schools about professions in the renewable energy sector.

The solar panels that are installed as part of the Solar Schools program are all equipped with high tech monitoring systems so that children in that school can learn about how the solar panels collect energy throughout the day. “Whether it be a 1 kW solar panel on a pole, or a roof-mounted system on a non-profit building, each is hooked up to an online data monitoring system so that the community can view the energy production of the system and learn about the environmental impact of that system,” the California Solar School’s website says.

Over the next year, SunPower aims to install 90 solar arrays at schools across the state as part of the program. In the San Ramon Valley Unified School District there will be five new solar arrays that will account for nearly 80% of each school’s power requirements. In the first year alone the San Ramon Valley Unified School District will save a whopping $2 million in energy costs. This program all comes thanks to the Foundation for Environmental Education a non-profit that is seeking to build the next generation of thinkers who will carry the renewable energy torch far into the future.

CALIFORNIA: An upcoming 119-acre College of the Desert campus in Palm Springs, California, is set to raise the bar for sustainable design in higher education facilities. Serving as a sister location to the community college’s main Palm Desert location, Palm Springs West Valley will not only embrace Net Zero Energy principles—meaning a zero net energy consumption and zero carbon emissions annually—but also adopt a Zero-Plus strategy that will provide for the onsite generation of renewable clean energy.
“The campus will consider the area’s unique ecology and natural resources to create a national model for sustainable research and teaching that supports the local economy and educational needs in western Coachella Valley,” says James Matson, AIA, vice president and director of HGA’s Los Angeles office.

A majority of the college’s sustainability goals will be realized by its 60-acre “GreenPark” solar farm that will rest adjacent to the academic buildings and cover more than half of the campus site. Southern California Edison will lease operational control to supply energy to the college and the rest of the surrounding Coachella Valley. In addition, the design calls for a Desert Energy Enterprise Center (DEEC) building to foster student learning in the engineering of solar panels and wind turbines.

“The Zero-Plus plan targets five integrated sustainable goals: zero energy plus, zero carbon, sustainable hydrology, zero waste, and zero pollution,” explains Patrick Thibaudeau, AIA, LEED AP, vice president of sustainable design, HGA. “As an educational model, the West Valley Campus is an opportunity to integrate local ecology, create innovative learning opportunities for students, and bring together public agencies, the college, and private industry to explore new approaches to sustainability.”

Structures on the Palm Springs West Valley campus will reflect a connection between the midcentury-modern style of the Southern California region and the surrounding desert landscape through sun, shade, wind, and biomimicry inclusions. The campus’ 420,000 square feet of academic space and 230,000 square feet of leasable Public-Private Venture (PPV) space, which will provide additional academic facilities and a space for start-up businesses, will be organized around a dry riverbed that runs though the campus grounds.
Other sustainable features will include the latest technologies in heat-reducing facades, energy-efficient mechanical systems, photovoltaic solar panels, storm-water reservoirs for evaporative cooling, shading, daylighting, wind protection, and desert landscaping with seasonal plants.
College of the Desert’s new Palm Springs West Valley campus is located at the northwest corner of Indian Canyon Drive and Tramview Road, about half an hour from the Palm Desert Campus. The project will be realized in seven phases, the first of which will commence in 2012. Completion is expected in September 2014.
HGA also is collaborating with the College of the Desert on its Palm Desert campus to renovate and add to the Career Technical Education Building. The project is targeted for LEED Silver certification.

PENNSYLVANIA: The Kiski Area School Board got its first look at what the district's new upper elementary school could look like. The school is built around the idea of "families" of classrooms that feature four classrooms to a group. They are intended to promote "team teaching."
"This is really the heart of the whole design," Jay Johnston of Canzian/Johnston & Associates Architect, said of the update to the upper elementary school, which would house fifth- and sixth-grade students at what is now North Washington Elementary. He also briefly showed an addition of five classrooms to Mamont Elementary, which was referred to as Kiski Area South Primary. Such presentations will keep the board up-to-date each month, Johnston said.
The work on the two schools is part of a reconfiguration of the district's seven elementary schools. Three -- Bell-Avon, Laurel Point and Washington -- would be closed. Allegheny-Hyde Park, Mamont and Vandergrift would house kindergarten through fourth-grade students.

Three "families" of classrooms would be on the first floor of what would be Kiski Area Upper Elementary School, with four more on the second floor. Lockers in the building would be placed in the middle of hallways. They would be short in height, allowing the top to be used for displays. The school's cafeteria would seat 200 for lunch and 350 for performances. The building would have two entrances -- the existing main entrance and another near the cafeteria and gymnasium. At both schools, the main entrances feature "traps." Once students are inside, visitors would have to enter through the main offices instead of having access to school hallways.

MASSACHUSETTS: The Massachusetts School Building Authority Board of Directors approved $59.5-million in grants for green repair projects for 23 schools in 12 districts. The $300-million MSBA Green Repair Program, launched in March 2010, helps fund the repair or replacement of roofs, windows and boilers in school buildings that are otherwise structurally, functionally and educationally sound.
State Treasurer Steven Grossman, who chairs the MSBA, said the Green Repair Program allows the commonwealth to make much-needed repairs to more schools in less time. “Besides improving the learning environment for our children, the green repairs also make our schools more energy-efficient, and generate significant cost savings,” he said.
MSBA Executive Director Katherine Craven said the authority has invited more than 175 school repair projects into the Green Repair Program. “Thousands of children will be the direct beneficiaries of an improved learning environment,” she said.

Approved Wednesday was a $284,887 green repair grant to remove and replace windows at the 54,096 square-foot Mary K. Goode Elementary School in Middleborough, which was opened in 1957 and served 568 students in grades 1 and 2 in the 2010-2011 school year. The building is thermally inefficient, and the windows are past their service life, according to the MSBA. Middleborough has budgeted $522,704 to remove and replace 3,841 square-feet of windows with a new window system with fixed/projected single hung units with energy-efficient low emissive tempered insulating glazing and thermally broken aluminum frames. The MSBA grant covers more than 54-percent of the total project cost.

KENTUCKY: A new elementary school will be a lesson in itself, teaching students the importance of being environmentally friendly. It's Fayette County's first and only self sustaining school. From the solar panels to it's designated recycling areas, Wellington Elementary is head of the class when it comes to being green.
"What we really hope to embrace at Wellington is just those 21st century skills and on those in particular is stewardship and we hope that through the features in this building and tying it to their curriculum and the instruction here that kids will really get a hands on feel for what it's like to not on learn about these things but take care of their environment," says Principal Meribeth Gaines.

The school has solar lights and lots of windows so that on sunny days, the lights won't be needed. The angled ceilings capture the most sunlight. "It's actually situated on the lot to provide the most natural lightning and everything in the building is oriented with a compass, north south east west and when you walk through the building it actually indicates those directional features," says Gaines.
Not a drop of rain that falls on this building will be wasted. The water from the roof is caught in these catching basins and is drained down to a storage tank where it is filtered and used for the school. "We have permeable pavers which are out in the front two parking lots and they sort of look like cobblestone but all of the rainwater will be absorbed down through those," says Gaines.
The outdoor classroom, garden space, and native Kentucky building materials will make for a great lesson in protecting the earth. Wellington Elementary will open at the beginning of the school year, August 11th, and is expected to hold 500 students.

KENTUCKY: A new elementary school will be a lesson in itself, teaching students the importance of being environmentally friendly. It's Fayette County's first and only self sustaining school. From the solar panels to it's designated recycling areas, Wellington Elementary is head of the class when it comes to being green.
"What we really hope to embrace at Wellington is just those 21st century skills and on those in particular is stewardship and we hope that through the features in this building and tying it to their curriculum and the instruction here that kids will really get a hands on feel for what it's like to not on learn about these things but take care of their environment," says Principal Meribeth Gaines.

The school has solar lights and lots of windows so that on sunny days, the lights won't be needed. The angled ceilings capture the most sunlight. "It's actually situated on the lot to provide the most natural lightning and everything in the building is oriented with a compass, north south east west and when you walk through the building it actually indicates those directional features," says Gaines.
Not a drop of rain that falls on this building will be wasted. The water from the roof is caught in these catching basins and is drained down to a storage tank where it is filtered and used for the school. "We have permeable pavers which are out in the front two parking lots and they sort of look like cobblestone but all of the rainwater will be absorbed down through those," says Gaines.
The outdoor classroom, garden space, and native Kentucky building materials will make for a great lesson in protecting the earth. Wellington Elementary will open at the beginning of the school year, August 11th, and is expected to hold 500 students.

JAPAN: Fuji Kindergarten’s play and learning spaces were designed in harmony with a typhoon-surviving Zelkova tree. The structure is basically a compressed glass spiral that encourages freed movement by ridding the space of any furniture and school design rigidity. Instead, much of the structure uses wood and soft rubber and the furniture is more communal. The structure functions as a connector to the main kindergarten building, which was also designed by Tezuka Architects.

MARYLAND: Maryland area schools get the repairs they need this time of year, and they can be expensive for taxpayers, who foot the bill. But are Baltimore County taxpayers shelling out millions more than necessary? WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporter David Collins investigates. [6 minute video]

CALIFORNIA: SunPower Corp has partnered with the non-profit California School Boards Association in order to support school districts in Silicon Valley to develop efficient solar projects at local schools. The program is expected to save the California school system over $2.5 billion in power bills over the thirty year life of the systems. This forecasted amount takes into account rising utility rates and government incentives for solar installation.

Martin Gonzalez, CSBA Deputy Executive Director: “At a time when our school board members need to make every dollar count, we are pleased to partner with SunPower in offering school districts throughout the state solar power solutions that yield immediate and ongoing savings. Our decision to collaborate with SunPower is based on the company’s extensive work with school districts throughout California, as well as feedback we have received from our members on the comprehensive services SunPower provides to districts.”

The program will support about 1,000 school districts throughout the state. Solar installations should be complete within the next year. There will be over 90 K-12 schools and higher education campuses served throughout the state including five schools in the San Ramon Valley School District here in the Bay Area. The district expects to save 80% on their energy costs during the first year, totaling an expected $2 million.

CALIFORNIA: In partnership with SunPower Corp., the California School Boards Association, a non-profit organization representing nearly 1,000 school districts and county offices of education throughout California, has launched its newest district services program, Solar Schools, to support school districts in developing efficient solar projects at their schools.
Solar Schools helps schools save money on energy, hedge against rising utility rates and effectively utilize federal and state incentives to garner the greatest return on investment. With the California Solar Initiative (CSI), the State of California's solar rebate program, California's public sector, including schools, is forecasted to save $2.5 billion from solar installations over the thirty year life of the systems. Of the total savings for the public sector, K-12 schools and higher education institutions are expected to save approximately $1.5 billion.

Within the next year, SunPower plans to install solar at more than 90 K-12 schools and higher education facilities across California, including five schools in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. The solar power generated by the systems at San Ramon Valley School District is expected to offset an average of 80 percent of the electricity costs at each school, achieving an estimated savings of more than $2 million for the district in the first year.

Prompted by the news of the Solar Schools launch, San Ramon Valley Unified School District is bringing renewable energy education into the classroom. SunPower is working with the district's engineering academy to prepare students for career opportunities in the growing clean technology sector. Plans are underway to launch similar curricula at school districts participating in Solar Schools.

CALIFORNIA: The state administrator of school construction bond funds is struggling to fulfill its oversight role and routinely ignores its internal oversight policies and the requirements to audit projects, a Department of Finance audit found.
The highly critical report, released in June, suggests that the Office of Public School Construction may have improperly awarded millions to school districts and ignored possible instances of misspending. The report stems from a Department of Finance review of the office's handling of $7 billion in Proposition 1D bond money, earmarked to fund the construction of new schools, renovation of existing buildings and earthquake-related retrofit work. [See article for details.]

FLORIDA: Traditional public schools in Florida will get no money from the state this year for additions or needed repairs to thousands of aging buildings, but charter schools will score big. All of the state cash budgeted for school construction and maintenance is going to the independent, tax-financed charters favored by the Republican-dominated Legislature and Gov.Rick Scott.

School district officials across Florida are bemoaning the Legislature's decision to cut traditional public schools out of PECO — the Public Education Capital Outlay program. The state's 350 charter schools will share $55 million, while the approximately 3,000 traditional schools will go without.
The state has never been overly generous with money for school repairs, forcing school districts for the past 30 years to raise local property taxes to cover maintenance expenses. But each year every school district in the state got a modest sum from the Legislature for school repairs, and many years there was an extra allocation toward school construction.
This past year, for example, Orange County schools got about $6.7 million for maintenance and repairs, and Seminole schools received $2.4 million. "This year we get nothing," said John Pavelchak, finance director for Seminole schools for the past 20 years. "This is the first time I remember getting nothing."
Lack of PECO money will pinch school districts whose other main sources of revenue for repairs — property taxes — have dwindled because of the poor economy. Lake schools had hoped to get about $1 million in state maintenance funds toward an estimated $6 million in needed repairs such as school air conditioning units that maintenance director Mike Corr has characterized as "just a heartbeat away from catastrophic failure." Officials are considering borrowing money or bumping other projects to cover costs of the air conditioner repairs.

PECO funding for traditional schools varied from year to year, peaking in the 2007-08 school year at just over $500 million, with more than half for new construction. But for the last three years, the state has given no money for construction, and maintenance money has fallen off. The traditional schools shared $122 million for maintenance in the school year that just ended in June.

PENNSYLVANIA: Superintendent Arlene Ackerman declared last fall that security cameras were so vital to Philadelphia school safety that she had no choice but to authorize a $7.5 million, no-bid emergency contract to install them at some of the district's most dangerous schools. "If something had happened, we would have been in the papers for failing to act," Ackerman said in a November interview.
But even before Ackerman pushed for the new cameras, school safety officials said the district had a history of failing to maintain or monitor the cameras it already had.

That conclusion is underscored in the district's own internal safety audits examined by The Inquirer. The audits, conducted during the winter, show that the cameras - if operational at all - are haphazardly monitored, and that not enough personnel are trained to use them.
District officials also acknowledged in interviews that despite the emphasis on cameras, there is still no broad, written policy governing their use. Instead, there is only a directive that states that surveillance equipment should be "routinely monitored" and "improved as needed."

Problems with security cameras are common at school districts nationwide, experts say. Districts rush to install them as a quick fix for violence or vandalism, without thinking through the employee training and maintenance programs necessary to make their use a success, or consulting with district safety personnel on their placement. "Few if any of these things are considered when cameras are put in," said Ken Trump, president of National School Safety & Security Services, a Cleveland consulting firm. "That unfortunately tends to be the rule rather than the exception."

OHIO: Columbus City Schools can no longer cherry-pick who may lease its vacant buildings, tossing aside a longstanding policy that allowed the district to choose renters it thought would best carry out its mission.
Under the state's new two-year budget, school districts must offer to sell or rent buildings that haven't been used for at least two years to charter schools at market value. If more than one charter school wants to lease the same building, the district must select the winner by lottery. An auction would be needed if more than one charter wants to buy.
This upends the way the Columbus school district has done real-estate business since at least 2003. The superintendent said the law isn't ideal because the district has leased to about five education-related groups that serve children but aren't charter schools. The new law takes them out of the equation until charter schools have passed on an old building. "We've leased to some folks who provide programs that are very important to our community," Superintendent Gene Harris said. The new law "limits some flexibility."

Columbus has three buildings that have been vacant for two years. Another four currently are empty. In addition, three former schools are used for storage, staff training or extra classroom space during construction projects. The district has leased to six charter schools - three of them in recent months.

INTERNATIONAL: New school buildings can reduce negative behaviour, increase pupil self-esteem and encourage pupils to engage more with school, according to a new study.
The research, by environmental psychologist Edward Edgerton, from the University of the West of Scotland, found that new buildings are regarded by pupils and staff much more positively than older ones. “These findings imply that the physical environment in which teaching and learning take place is important and needs to be considered as a key factor in the educational process,” Dr Edgerton said.
Students’ perceptions of their physical school environment are related to their “in-school” behaviour and the ways in which they use and are affected by their learning environment, the findings suggest.
The research, which also looked at academic achievement, self-esteem, motivation and negative behaviours, was presented at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society in May, and is part of a project that is due to publish more detailed information in the coming months.

The findings underline the message of a 2009 study by the same research team which surveyed 840 S1 and S4 pupils at three Glasgow schools that had been through “major building work”. These included one refurbished school, one refurbished school with an extension, and one new-build. Pupils in all three reported an improvement in how they felt about themselves. New schools had the biggest impact, while those which had been refurbished without an extension had the least.

CALIFORNIA: A new study targeting school construction projects built under union hiring mandates has revived the debate over project labor agreements. Research released by the National University System Institute for Policy Research says that school construction in California costs 13 percent to 15 percent more when project labor agreements are implemented. Local contractors say the study confirms their criticism of the San Diego Unified School District labor pact: that it would eliminate competition and drive up costs.

Unions and other project labor agreement proponents argue that the industry-backed research is politically motivated and offers phony results that are intent on discrediting existing and pending labor agreements. An analysis of the study by the San Diego County Building & Construction Trades Council and others claims that researchers downplayed data that shows no significant difference in the price of school construction when union hiring mandates are implemented.

The study examined 551 construction projects in 180 California school districts between 1996 and 2008. Researchers compared 65 school projects operating under project labor agreements with 65 similar projects that were not, and found that PLA projects cost $28.90 to $32.49 more per square foot. The study did not include construction under San Diego Unified’s labor pact that was implemented two years ago.
“The last few years has seen a lot of debate about this — it has not just been controversial in San Diego, but it’s been controversial up and down the state,” said Erik Bruvold, one of the authors of “Measuring the Cost of Project Labor Agreements on School Construction in California.” “I hope this research informs those debates.”

The study was partially underwritten by a grant from the Associated Builders and Contractors, California Cooperation Committee. Although the industry group’s opposition to labor pacts is well known, Bruvold said it had no editorial influence over the study or its findings. USC’s Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy validated the findings.
Murtaza Baxamusa, an affordable-housing advocate who studied project labor agreements while he was deputy director at the Center on Policy Initiatives, said researchers cherry-picked variables that supported their desired findings and ignored obvious explanations for increased costs for school projects, including change orders, land costs, weather and fuel costs.
Tom Lemmon, business manager for local trades council, said the study lacks credibility and overlooks the benefits of project labor agreements. The pacts ensure that workers earn a decent wage with benefits, and they also make sure that specialized work is done by people who are trained to do it. “You could study this thing to death,” said Lemmon, an asbestos worker. “PLAs do not raise the cost of projects. We are not saying they save money either, but they bring the projects in on time and on budget because of a more coordinated workforce.”

CALIFORNIA: A new study targeting school construction projects built under union hiring mandates has revived the debate over project labor agreements. Research released by the National University System Institute for Policy Research says that school construction in California costs 13 percent to 15 percent more when project labor agreements are implemented. Local contractors say the study confirms their criticism of the San Diego Unified School District labor pact: that it would eliminate competition and drive up costs.

Unions and other project labor agreement proponents argue that the industry-backed research is politically motivated and offers phony results that are intent on discrediting existing and pending labor agreements. An analysis of the study by the San Diego County Building & Construction Trades Council and others claims that researchers downplayed data that shows no significant difference in the price of school construction when union hiring mandates are implemented.

The study examined 551 construction projects in 180 California school districts between 1996 and 2008. Researchers compared 65 school projects operating under project labor agreements with 65 similar projects that were not, and found that PLA projects cost $28.90 to $32.49 more per square foot. The study did not include construction under San Diego Unified’s labor pact that was implemented two years ago.
“The last few years has seen a lot of debate about this — it has not just been controversial in San Diego, but it’s been controversial up and down the state,” said Erik Bruvold, one of the authors of “Measuring the Cost of Project Labor Agreements on School Construction in California.” “I hope this research informs those debates.”

The study was partially underwritten by a grant from the Associated Builders and Contractors, California Cooperation Committee. Although the industry group’s opposition to labor pacts is well known, Bruvold said it had no editorial influence over the study or its findings. USC’s Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy validated the findings.
Murtaza Baxamusa, an affordable-housing advocate who studied project labor agreements while he was deputy director at the Center on Policy Initiatives, said researchers cherry-picked variables that supported their desired findings and ignored obvious explanations for increased costs for school projects, including change orders, land costs, weather and fuel costs.
Tom Lemmon, business manager for local trades council, said the study lacks credibility and overlooks the benefits of project labor agreements. The pacts ensure that workers earn a decent wage with benefits, and they also make sure that specialized work is done by people who are trained to do it. “You could study this thing to death,” said Lemmon, an asbestos worker. “PLAs do not raise the cost of projects. We are not saying they save money either, but they bring the projects in on time and on budget because of a more coordinated workforce.”

NEW YORK: In an effort to generate revenue and jobs, New York City is inviting universities to build a science and tech facility within city limits, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said during a speech on Tuesday (July 19). The city is offering “prime New York City real estate—at virtually no cost—plus up to $100-million in infrastructure upgrades, in exchange for a university’s commitment to build or expand a world-class science and engineering campus here in our city,” Bloomberg said, adding that building sites are available at three “underutilized” locations in NYC: Governors Island, the Navy Yard, and Roosevelt Island.
The mayor estimated that in its first 30 years, an applied science campus could spin-off 400 new companies and create more than 22,000 permanent jobs. As of March, more than two dozen organizations, including international applicants, had submitted proposals for the project. A winning proposal and location will be picked by the end of this year, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

CALIFORNIA: The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) today released a new study which purports to show that Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) dramatically increase the cost of school construction projects in the state of California. The study, Measuring the Cost of Project Labor Agreements on School Construction in California (Vince Vasquez, Dr. Dale Glaser, and W. Erik Bruvold; 2011), was immediately called into question because the study's authors misrepresented the findings of another researcher they had cited.

At its core, this report falls short of credibility because it surprisingly fails to include discussion about various important issues that relate to school construction costs- most notably, change orders. In fact, previous studies relating to PLAs and school construction costs (see: Project Labor Agreements' Effect on School Construction Costs in Massachuset