Even before the state fire marshal ordered the Somersworth (N.H.) School District in 2007 to abandon the top two floors of Hilltop Elementary School because of safety concerns, folks in the city of 12,000 had been debating whether the aging facility should be replaced--and how to pay for it. Finally, in February 2009, the city council approved…

Most educational institutions have faced the decision whether to demolish, abandon or sell a facility. This article discusses how institutions can decide whether to renovate or build new. The author suggests to develop a campus- or districtwide master plan. A long-range master plan includes assessments of deferred maintenance, educational…

In the late 1990s, Fulton County Schools in Atlanta were looking at average enrollment growth of more than 2,500 students a year and a new source of significant revenue to drive its capital improvement program. With funding from Georgia's new special purpose local option sales tax, or SPLOST, for school capital needs, total revenue from the…

Almost 73 percent of construction in 2009 was of new school buildings. New school buildings accounted for less than 60 percent of construction spending in 2010, suggesting a shift to using less abundant construction dollars to upgrade and add to existing buildings. While overall construction fell more than $1.8 billion in 2010, spending on…

The Yakutia Republic is currently working to update its early childhood development (ECD) system. Its goal is to ensure a high quality environment for early learning and child care and to enable higher enrolment levels. Currently, a high priority for the Government of Yakutia is to increase access to pre-school education, given the significant…

Step into a classroom in the 21st century, and the odds are it won't look all that different from one in the 20th century. One decade into the 2000s, many schools and universities have been frustrated in their efforts to upgrade their facilities and resources because of shrinking budgets. But even with the ailing economy, some education…

For many schools and universities, constructing a new facility isn't always a viable option. The envisioned facility may be too costly for a school system struggling with budget deficits. Maybe administrators can't find enough land in the right area to accommodate the type of facility needed. In some cases, the residents and businesses surrounding…

Qualified school construction bonds (QSCBs) are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. These bonds allow school districts to finance capital projects at no or very low interest rates. In a nutshell, bondholders accept a lower interest rate because the corresponding federal tax credit they receive subsidizes that lower interest…

Educating our children about our planet is a good idea, but if seeing is believing, then maybe we should consider that the next generation of school buildings such as the Redding School of the Arts can serve as potent educational tools for our teachers to utilize in their lesson plans on how to preserve our planet. Buildings are too rarely…

This article discusses how craft innovative architecture is bringing form to the function of 21st-century learning. It describes the construction of New Tech High at Coppell, in Coppell, Texas, which produces an example of how workplace design principles can be coordinated with modern educational goals. The campus was built on the model of New…

On February 17, 2009, in the midst of economic turmoil and one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This law is intended to: (1) promote job preservation and creation; (2) invest in infrastructure projects; (3) increase economic efficiency;…

Using a critical race theory lens, the authors propose a way of writing race research using composite counterstories. Drawing on data from a yearlong study of school rebuilding in the time period immediately after Hurricane Katrina devastated the City of New Orleans, the authors examine the experiences of African-American educators in the school…

The Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education provides funding and priority recommendations for the Nebraska State College's, the University of Nebraska's and the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture at Curtis' capital construction requests, as outlined in Nebraska's Constitution and Statutes. The overarching principle used in this…

Spending by states and local school districts on school construction has increased dramatically over the last decade, not only because more and higher-quality schools are being built, but also because construction costs have increased by an unprecedented degree. Many states struggle to afford the new schools needed in local communities. The…

It might be tempting for education administrators, saddled with an accumulation of budget cuts and dwindling resources, to keep their heads down and concern themselves with only the immediate future as they try to overcome a host of obstacles and provide a high-quality education to students. But schools and universities have to pay attention not…