All News

West Virginia has lost the enrollment equivalent of six full counties in a single year, a crisis state Board of Education President Paul Hardesty warns will lead to financial disaster unless state leaders modernize the school aid formula. In a conference call Wednesday morning, Hardesty said continuing declines in student enrollment, an antiquated school aid…

State education officials released numbers Wednesday suggesting more public school closures are on the horizon as enrollment numbers continue to decline in West Virginia. An estimated 5,000 students left public schools during the 2025-26 academic year statewide, according to a statement from the West Virginia Department of Education. The statement said those numbers indicate at…

If the Idaho Legislature follows Scott Herndon’s plan for eliminating property taxes, public schools would miss out on over $400 million. Herndon, who in May won his primary election against Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, said he wants to get back to the founders’ original vision for America: true private property ownership. He led the charge…

Denver Public Schools is looking at what to do with some vacant school buildings. Due to declining enrollment and subsequent budget issues, the district closed or restructured 10 of its schools last year. Six buildings are now vacant, and there could be more in the near future.   Rather than sell or let the buildings…

K-12 school districts are gaining access to a suite of tools for monitoring air quality and energy and water use at their schools in a program launched by technology company Attune.   The company enlisted the help of the International WELL Building Institute, Center for Green Schools, Green Schools National Network and the 21st Century School…

More than a dozen Delaware public schools, mostly in New Castle County, are operating at less than 60% capacity, according to data from the Delaware Department of Education.  Five of those are more than half empty. The phenomenon of half-empty school buildings has prompted Delaware’s House Speaker Mimi Minor Brown (D-New Castle) to question whether…

The state School Building Authority has for the first time ever awarded state funds for public charter school construction projects. The SBA met Tuesday in Charleston. The legislature created the path for funding a few years ago and $5 million was set aside for the projects. SBA Executive Director Andy Neptune said there were a…

Over the past five years, several Virginia localities have generated just $119 million total from a targeted sales tax to fund school construction and maintenance, fueling calls to expand the tax statewide. When lawmakers first established the tax in 2021, a state survey showed over half of Virginia’s schools were more than 50 years old,…

After pledging millions to ensure Philly's public schools don't need to cut about 340 jobs, Philadelphia officials are heading to Harrisburg on Monday to encourage state legislators to help the city afford that pledge. Earlier this month, officials, including Mayor Cherelle Parker, pledged $216 million to the district over the course of five years.

As schools across the U.S. march into the summer, facilities teams face a familiar pressure. Everyone wants meaningful improvements. The calendar is unforgiving, and budgets rarely match the wish list. Add staffing constraints, and it can feel like every decision is time-limited and high-pressure against a compressed summer window. FacilitiesNet has been closely tracking these…