Dive Brief:
- K-12 districts across the country poured $99 billion into construction and maintenance costs from 2011 to 2013, but the “2016 State of Our Schools: America’s K-12 Facilities” report says the country fell $46 billion short of what was needed each year.
- District Administration reports Clark County School District in Nevada plans to build 17 new schools in the next five years to make room for enrollment growth, and it will face a major challenge in cleaning and maintaining an extra million square feet over the life of those buildings.
- Districts have saved millions in energy costs by making new buildings energy efficient, centralizing controls of heating and cooling, lighting, security and protection, saving personnel time and reducing energy use.
Dive Insight:
Beyond energy savings, green building design can offer learning opportunities for students studying science, math and other subjects, giving them real-life examples to track and research. Schools have also found modern construction methods help students learn. Increasing access to daylight can help with heating, and it can improve student outcomes. Research shows students, teachers, and other staff members are healthier — meaning they take fewer sick days — and they have higher retention rates in “green schools” as compared to older ones.
In many districts, the best administrators can do is provide students a place to learn. There isn’t enough money to make it a good one. Buildings are in disrepair and there is limited toilet paper for bathrooms, let alone textbooks for classrooms. But federal and state grants are available for construction projects and schools can seek out partnerships to help improve learning conditions for students and working conditions for the rest of their staffs.