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Tag: School Construction

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Mary Filardo, Jared Bernstein, and Ross Eisenbrey, 2011. The average U.S. public school building is 40 years old, and many are much older. The cost of maintaining nearly 100,000 public schools and facilities in good repair is enormous. According to the Government Accountability Office and the American Society of Civil Engineers, school districts have been under-spending on maintenance and repair for many years. Chronic deferred maintenance and repair can lead to energy inefficiencies, unsafe drinking water, water damage and moldy environments, poor air quality, inadequate fire alarms and fire safety, compromised building security, and structural dangers.

A national project to address this backlog could create hundreds of thousands of jobs, including jobs for construction workers, building technicians, boiler repairmen, electrical workers, roofers, plumbers, glaziers, painters, plasterers, laborers, and tile setters. It could also lead to the direct hire of building maintenance workers to help slow or prevent the deterioration of buildings and building systems, while generating new savings through energy conservation.

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Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), Department of Justice (DOJ)/Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI), United States Department of Education (USDOE), & Department Health and Human Services (DHHS), 2013. Lessons learned from school emergencies highlight the importance of preparing school officials and first responders to implement emergency operations plans. By having plans in place to keep students and staff safe, schools play a key role in taking preventative and protective measures to stop an emergency from occurring or reduce the impact of an incident. Although schools are not traditional response organizations, when a school-based emergency occurs, school personnel respond immediately. They provide first aid, notify response partners, and provide instructions before first responders arrive. They also work with their community partners, i.e., governmental organizations that have a responsibility in the school emergency operations plan to provide a cohesive, coordinated response. Community partners include first responders (law enforcement officers, fire officials, and emergency medical services personnel) as well as public and mental health entities.

We recommend that planning teams responsible for developing and revising school EOPs use this document to guide their efforts. It is recommended that districts and individual schools compare existing plans and processes against the content and processes outlined in this guide. To gain the most from it, users should read through the entire document prior to initiating their planning efforts and then refer back to it throughout the planning process.

The guide is organized in four sections:

  1. The principles of school emergency management planning.
  2. A process for developing, implementing, and continually refining a school EOP with community partners (e.g., first responders and emergency management personnel) at the school building level.
  3. A discussion of the form, function, and content of school EOPs.
  4. “A Closer Look,” which considers key topics that support school emergency planning, including addressing an active shooter, school climate, psychological first aid, and information-sharing.

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NYC Department of Education, 2008. This manual is intended for use by all individuals who are responsible for implementing a laboratory program in their school. Special sections in this safety manual will enumerate the individual responsibilities of the principal, assistant principal, science cluster teacher, science staff developer or coach, science teacher, laboratory specialist, custodian, and student. The manual also provides general guidelines for all laboratories and specific safety rules for each subject area. In these sections, safety rules and regulations for laboratory, demonstrations and activities will be discussed.

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A Policy Research Report to the California Department of Education, 2012. "In California’s K-12 Educational Infrastructure Investments: Leveraging the State’s Role for Quality School Facilities in Sustainable Communities, the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Cities & Schools provides an analysis of the state’s K-12 infrastructure policies, regulations, and funding patterns. Findings reveal the need to greatly refine school facilities planning and funding policies and practices to promote sound, efficient, and goal-oriented decision making at state and local levels. The recommendations re- envision the state’s role in K-12 infrastructure as one of appropriately supporting educational outcomes and contributing to more sustainable communities through a framework of public infrastructure best practices for sound planning, effective management, adequate and equitable funding, and appropriate oversight."

"A host of policy and implementation challenges remain barriers to California maximizing its strategic use of state-level K-12 infrastructure funds. Our research findings indicate concerns of inequitable facility condition; inadequate investment, particularly in existing facilities; and lack of local government and LEA collaboration around infrastructure and land use decisions. We found likely causes for these challenges in the capital facility planning, management, funding, and accountability systems in place in the state."

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Sharon Krengel, December 22, 2014. In testimony before the Joint Committee on the Public Schools, Education Law Center Executive Director David Sciarra called on the State Legislature to prepare for authorizing an increase in funding for New Jersey’s school construction program. “It’s now clear that the funds for school construction projects in urban districts are nearly exhausted and there are no funds left for projects in the rest of the state," Mr. Sciarra said. "State lawmakers must start work now on legislation to replenish the school construction fund to support urgently needed projects across the Garden State."

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School districts have many constraints when planning for new classroom space. They must respond to shifting populations and overcrowded schools, aging infrastructure, limited capital funding and ever shrinking budgets. Relocatable classrooms are often chosen by administrators as an expedient solution to many of these complex issues. In recent years, manufacturers and organizations such as the Collaboration for High Performance Schools have worked together to improve the quality of relocatable classrooms. Many manufacturers are now capable of producing cutting-edge modular classrooms.

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(Paley, 2013). The Sarasota County School Building Program (1955-1960) is revisited through a detailed examination of how architects and educators collaborated to design an innovative group of public schools that provided opportunities for the transformation of learning space. This multi-dimensioned examination is ground in historical contextualization of the school building program, in visual and discursive archival analysis related to three of the schools considered especially notable, and in the integration of contemporary voices of some of the teachers, students, and educational employees who worked in these schools.

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(Traci House, 2012). The costliest tornado in U.S. history descended without warning on the small community of Joplin, Missouri, USA, on May 22, 2011. People across the country watched the devastation on TV and YouTube. But the thousands of students and staff of Joplin School District lived through it.
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