American Planning Association, Public Schools + Communities Division
At APA’s online School Planning Summit, you will gain valuable insights into current trends, enhance your expertise, and connect with experts and peers on innovative ideas to support our public schools and communities.
Case Study/Exemplar
Woolpert, National Council on School Facilities (NCSF), 21st Century School Fund (21CSF), National Center on School Infrastructure (NCSI)
In this episode of the Stretched podcast, Dr. William Merritt, Chief of Staff for Jackson Public Schools, discusses the significant changes in Jackson, Mississippi, over the past two decades, including population decline and its impact on school enrollment and infrastructure.
Georgia
Atlanta News First - September 4, 2025
Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is considering closing or repurposing some of its buildings — and it wants your input. District leadership says 50,000 students are enrolled in its schools, though its budget is meant to accommodate 70,000 students. “The 50,000 is with charter, and so you can almost take the 10,000 [charter students] out because…
Missouri
Missouri Independent - August 12, 2025
Twelve state schools serving students with disabilities will close next year as part of a plan approved Tuesday afternoon by the Missouri State Board of Education. There was little discussion Tuesday about the plan to consolidate the Missouri Schools for the Severely Disabled, or MSSD. Board members delved into the plan more thoroughly during a…
Nevada
KTNV Las Vegas - August 6, 2025
We're just one week away from the first day of school, and for students and families on Mount Charleston, that day will hit a little different. After two years of battling back and forth with the district on whether or not to close Earl B. Lundy Elementary School, locals who live there never gave up…
Indiana
WVPE.org - July 10, 2025
The South Bend Community School Corporation will retain ownership of the former Clay High School building, following a 5–2 vote by the school board Wednesday night. The resolution allows the district to continue using the facility for storage, office space, training, and potentially for expanded career and technical education (CTE) programs. Board member Stuart Greene…
Maine
The Maine Monitor - June 15, 2025
As children played at recess during one of the final weeks of the school year, MSAD 58 Superintendent Laura Columbia explained how several towns began pushing to leave the school district this spring, mainly out of concern that their communities could lose their local schools. “I’m not coming here to try to close a school,…
Maine
The Maine Monitor - June 15, 2025
As children played at recess during one of the final weeks of the school year, MSAD 58 Superintendent Laura Columbia explained how several towns began pushing to leave the school district this spring, mainly out of concern that their communities could lose their local schools. “I’m not coming here to try to close a school,…
Guam
Kuam News - June 9, 2025
How can idle or underused public schools be turned into revenue to support the maintenance of active campuses? Lawmakers discussed a bill that aims to do just that, drawing support from education officials at a recent public hearing. It’s a straightforward measure in intent, but one with far-reaching potential to support the Guam Department of…
Michigan
Bridge Michigan - May 30, 2025
Back in 2022, lawmakers allocated $5 million for school districts to explore consolidation. No one took the lawmakers up on it in the first year. But the following year, 16 districts got money to study consolidation. Still, no local district has actually consolidated. K-12 enrollment in public schools is declining amid lower birth rates in…