School districts' ongoing efforts to promote sustainability in America's education facilities are helping raise awareness of social responsibility and promoting the positive effects that greening their learning environments has on the general health and productivity of students. One institution that's taking the lead in this movement is Chandler…

The deterioration of public school buildings is more prevalent in large cities that, because of funding shortfalls, have deferred maintenance and require huge sums to bring their buildings up to acceptable standards. Cities such as New York will require approximately $680 million to address the problem of deferred maintenance for needed painting,…

Many people were relieved to bid farewell to 2008, a year that will be remembered for unprecedented economic woes that rippled from Wall Street to Main Street and around the globe. The world's financial problems will not be resolved overnight, and in this fragile economy, school district budget cuts are likely the norm. Is there anything school…

Describes maintenance tips to prolong the life of school building roofs. (PKP)

A systematic roof maintenance program is characterized by carefully prepared long- and short-range plans. An essential feature of a systematic approach to roof maintenance is the stress on preventive measures rather than the patching of leaks. (Author)

Describes cooperative effort between Association of School Business Officials, International and National Forum on Education Statistics to develop a guide to facilities maintenance planning, to be completed in 2 years, for use by local school districts. (PKP)

Examines the literature concerning custodial workload assignments, lists variables in the determination of workload, and constructs a Work Level Index to determine the relative amount of work necessary in a custodial operation. (Author/MLF)

Tips for proper site and building planning with reduction of future maintenance problems in mind. (Author)

A facility assessment system is used for an annual objective appraisal of how well the school district is accomplishing its maintenance objectives, and as a planning tool for allocating its scarce resources. (Author/MLF)

Results of a survey of selected school districts. (JF)

Investigates state unmet funding needs for school infrastructure. Finds an estimated total of $266.1 billion in unmet funding needs. Provides state-by-state estimates of unmet funding that range from $220.1 million in Vermont to $47.6 billion in New York. Compares urban and rural infrastructure needs. Includes recommendations for school business…

Contract management of school maintenance and operations is a growing trend. In-house departments need to be prepared to justify their positions. Describes a Texas school district's request for proposal for contract management and includes the specifications for bidding with comments about the wording of the document. (MLF)

Presents a specific explanation of one school's successful application of custodial contracting. Describes the advantages and disadvantages of the program and provides a sample custodial contract. (Author/DN)

Featured in the third article of the series are management techniques for school insurance record management and for reducing the amount of time school maintenance personnel spend driving from school to school. (Author/MLF)