Public school districts in the United States borrow over a trillion dollars for their facilities each year from the municipal bond market, yet more than half of these school buildings need significant repair. In this paper, we examine the relationship between a single school district infamous for its infrastructure needs, the School District of…

The proverbial clock is ticking for many Kansas school buildings, whether due to implications of a complete slowdown due to code compliance, or due to failure of critical systems. Regardless of the reasons, millions of square footage of learning spaces are in jeopardy of no longer being able to serve students in adequate teaching and learning…

There is growing awareness of the importance of school building environments for student health, well-being, and even educational outcomes. We ask in this study what role school building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems play in shaping student attendance, behavior, and learning. In particular, we extract information from…

The kindergarten through twelfth-grade school experience, marked by a series of transitions between grades and learning environments, has a significant impact on academic performance, behavior, and social/emotional connection for students. The purpose of this study is to determine if the academic performance of third through eighth-grade students…

In November 2020, Duval County voters will decide on a half-penny sales tax to fund upgrades to public school buildings across the district. Revenue will be spent to improve public school buildings for traditional and charter schools. Following the 2020 passage of House Bill 7097, revenue from the sales tax will be allocated to charter school…

A school facility's quality and accessibility have important impacts on schools' functionality to serve as places of high-quality education. While these challenges are familiar to most schools in the United States, charter schools are responsible for acquiring and paying for their educational facilities, a responsibility that local school…

Informed by austerity politics, struggling school districts have closed buildings to pursue cost savings. We investigate the factors affecting which schools are shuttered, proposing that the share of students with an Individualized Education Program (SIEP) influences the way building utilization is measured because of the different instructional…

While most infrastructure discussions consider transportation, energy, and more, they too often ignore K-12 public schools, which welcome more than 50 million children and adults every day. K-12 public schools represent the nation's second-largest infrastructure sector. Schools are economic drivers, as well-prepared students will earn $1 million…

Through a conceptual framework focused on student engagement, this article explores students' perceptions about the impact the design of learning environments has on student engagement. The current mixed-methods study was conducted at two Texas replacement elementary schools where the entire learning community, all teachers, administrators, staff,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which students in districts that have moderate or significant levels of capital funding through building and bond funds are placed at a relative resource advantage compared to students in districts with fewer funds from these two sources. Additionally, the study examines the extent to which…

Charter schools have become an important part of the public education landscape in New York City. In the 2017-18 school year, there were 227 charters educating 114,000 students, about 10% of the city's schoolchildren. The strong academic achievement of students in these schools, as well as parental demand, points to the need for more charter…

While there is much we can't predict, there are a few things we know for sure. We know that the population of the U.S. is growing and along with it the enrollment in our K-12 schools. We know that there is a growing need for an educated workforce, affecting the enrollment of colleges and universities nationwide. We know that there is an ongoing…

Portland Public Schools serves nearly 50,000 students in 90 schools averaging 77 years of age. Building age combined with decades of deferred maintenance created serious health and safety issues, numerous unfavorable media reports, and an irate public. In response, PPS Board of Directors commissioned an independent evaluation of various…

The average public school building was built around 1968 -- more than 50 years ago -- and the National Center for Education Statistics reports that half of all public schools in the United States need at least one major facility repair. Mary Filardo, Jeffrey Vincent, and Kevin Sullivan explain how poorly maintained school buildings have a negative…

The present paper deals with a wide range of issues related to the environmental quality in learning spaces, such as thermal and visual comfort, as well as energy efficiency. All of these issues fall under the umbrella of the UN Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Upon reviewing publications of past studies, interviews were…