Following the passage of mandated seismic upgrades for soft-story buildings, San Francisco is focusing on requiring the safety measure for private schools.
Category: News
HVAC Conditions Create Funding Need
There's a problem with the HVAC system at the Junior and Senior high school in Newmarket, and it's making a high pitched squeal. This wing of the school was built in 1924, and Principal Christopher Andriski says the exposed pipes and vents make this screeching sound all the time. The noise, he says, is the system’s way of alerting the custodian. "He's gotta manually push a button up there," Andriski explains.
http://nhpr.org/post/no-help-state-newmarket-and-other-towns-grapple-going-solo-school-construction
Federal eRate Still Leaves Funding Gap
For schools across the country, mobile device management and online testing concerns start at the basic level: "How do we get the internet and infrastructure needed?" As it turns out, even the eRate stops short, and schools just can't find the funding they need. That’s why many districts are turning to their states and local districts for help.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/02/21/school-internet-funding-512/
Condition of America’s Public School Facilities Released for 2012-13
A study released in March 2014 by the National Center for Education Statistics, Condition of America's Public School Facilities: 2012-13, reveals that the technology infrastructure in more than 20 percent of U.S. public schools was rated as inadequate as of the 2012-13 school year.
Dodge Momentum Index Slips in February
The Dodge Momentum Index slipped 2.6% in February compared to the previous month, according to McGraw Hill Construction, a division of McGraw Hill Financial. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.
http://construction.com/about-us/press/dodge-momentum-index-slipped-in-february.asp
Report On Enabling and Supporting Community Use of K-12 Public School Facilities Released
Joint use of public school facilities is a complex but manageable approach to efficiently enhancing the services and programs available to students and supporting the community use of public schools. Building upon on our 2010 paper titled Joint Use of Public Schools: A Framework for a New Social Contract, this paper identifies the policy framework needed to support sustainable joint use of public schools. Our goal with this paper is to provide local and state leaders with the policy framework needed to enable and support community use. The policy framework addresses the challenges to harnessing the opportunities and benefits of the community use of K–12 public schools. We discuss the policy elements that have been and can be used to incorporate joint use into normal planning and operations of school districts and local and regional public agencies and to do so in a sustainable and fiscally-responsible manner. The framework addresses policy at the state and local levels and acknowledges that joint use requires public and private agencies to work together in new ways. This paper also describes the need for public transparency and understanding of the full cost of ownership of public school facilities as a critical part of policy.
http://www.bestfacilities.org/best-home/docuploads/pub/248_PolicyFrameworkforJointUse2014.pdf
The Center for Green Schools Releases First State of Our Schools Report
In this first annual State of Our Schools report, our best guess is that it will take approximately $271 billion to bring school buildings up to working order and comply with laws. If we add to that modernization costs to ensure that our schools meet today’s education, safety and health standards, we estimate a jaw-dropping $542 billion would be required.
Project Issues Keep First-Graders Dreams From Materializing
A few years ago, when 15-year-old Unique Fair helped redesign the school he'd attended since he was a first-grader, he imagined walking out of its doors and into college and the future beyond. But reality got in the way. Construction delays mean Fair and his School 58 classmates will begin senior year as they have every year of high school: in space at the Franklin high school building on Norton Street.
Joplin School Rebuilt on Same Site
The linked campus of Soaring Heights Elementary and East Middle School opened in Joplin in early January. Both schools needed to be rebuilt after they were struck by the May 2011 tornado that devastated the Joplin community and killed 161 people. In total, 10 buildings in the Joplin School District were damaged due to the tornado.
http://www.schoolconstructionnews.com/articles/2014/02/13/joplin-schools-rebuilt-on-same-site
Should Charter Schools Pay Rent?
BOULDER, CO (February 20, 2014) – New York City's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, has suggested charging rent to charter schools that use buildings owned by the NYC public school district. This policy proposal prompted the Manhattan Institute, a think tank favoring expansive charter school policies, to issue a report criticizing de Blasio's plan.
The Manhattan report claims charging charter schools rent would cause many to run budget deficits that would force them to cut staffs and lower their quality. But a new review of that report finds no merit in its conclusions.
Professor Bruce Baker, a school finance expert at Rutgers University, reviewed Should Charter Schools Pay Rent? for the Think Twice think tank review project at the National Education Policy Center.
http://nepc.colorado.edu/newsletter/2014/02/review-should-charter%20schools-pay-rent
