In 2002 the "Council of the Great City Schools" and its members set out to develop performance measures that could be used to improve business operations in urban public school districts. The Council launched the "Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project" to achieve these objectives. The purposes of the project was to:…

Being environmentally responsible is a hot topic and critical issue. Many in the scientific community estimate we are slowly destroying the Earth's climate and landscape as we know it today. However, not all scientists agree with this theory, as a significant number of people have been environmentally responsible for a long time, recognizing…

On 26 February in Lisbon a team from the OECD's Centre for Effective Learning Environments (CELE) presented its first review of a national school building programme. The school building renovation programme in Portugal, which began in March 2007, involves the renovation of 332 schools by 2015. However, Portugal plans to complete 205 by the end of…

This paper on strategies for school environmental management in Nigerian secondary schools was carried out in Calabar, Nigeria. To guide the study three research questions were formulated. This was achieved through administration of structured questionnaires in three randomly sampled schools. Findings show regular grass clearing, sweeping of the…

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,…

The nation's major city public school districts have substantial construction, renovation, modernization, and deferred maintenance needs because of the age and size of their school buildings, shifting populations, and the need to devote substantial resources to instructional personnel to meet their core academic mission. For instance, the average…

During the 2002-03 fiscal crisis in Massachusetts, Gov. Mitt Romney proposed sweeping changes for public colleges in the state. Among them was a proposal to privatize three highly specialized colleges, including the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), the nation's only independent public college of art and design. The rationale was…

Michigan school districts face tough choices allocating their resources to provide students with an education. Despite increased spending in Michigan schools, school boards regularly have to find ways to trim expenses, and sometimes that means lowering employment benefits, eliminating positions and other moves that few school board members enjoy.…

As students and teachers return to the classroom for the start of a new school term, building managers and maintenance staff already have been hard at work preparing facilities for another year of art and science projects, cafeteria lunches, sports and other activities. As building managers are aware, a school may start out looking clean and…

Sanitizers and disinfectants can play an important role in protecting public health. They are designed to kill "pests," including infectious germs and other microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Unfortunately, sanitizers and disinfectants also contain chemicals that are "pesticides." Exposure to persistent toxic…

Colleges have always struggled with deferred maintenance, but several factors might make that struggle especially challenging in the future. Colleges grew rapidly in the postwar years and have a generation of 1960s or 1970s buildings that need major repair or replacement. In the past 10 years, colleges went through another building boom, adding to…

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…

Founded in 1889, Slippery Rock University (SRU) is a state university with 8,500 students and 400 faculty. Facilities and planning (F&P) employs 178 staff, of which 50 are custodians. F&P is responsible for the maintenance of 560 acres and 60 major buildings that comprise approximately 2.3 million gross square feet. Currently work is…

The nation's colleges are feeling the pinch of the economic downturn, and maintenance and operations (M&O) budgets especially are under pressure. This article presents data from the 38th annual Maintenance & Operations Cost Study for colleges that can help one in benchmarking expenditures at one's institution. Data provided only targets two-year…

EPA's Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign (SC3) is working to encourage schools to use green cleaning practices to safely clean their classrooms and grounds. From elementary school maintenance closets to high school chemistry labs, schools use a variety of chemicals. Some of the most essential chemicals are those that keep schools clean and safe…