USGBC to GAO: 'Schools need over $271 billion in maintenance fixes'

The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has released its first “State of our Schools” report, highlighting the critical need to modernize school facilities to meet current health, safety and educational standards.

The report, featuring a foreword by former President Bill Clinton, states that schools are currently facing a $271 billion deferred maintenance bill just to bring the buildings up to working order – approximately $5,450 per student.

The last comprehensive report on America’s school facilities was conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 1995 and indicated that 15,000 U.S. schools were circulating air that at the time was deemed unfit to breathe. The USGBC report calls on the GAO to conduct an updated survey on the condition of America's schools in order to paint a more complete picture of the scale and scope of today’s needs. The USGBC report also estimates that the cost to both bring schools into good repair and address modernization needs is $542 billion over the next 10 years for Pre-K-12 school buildings.

"The places where our children learn matter. This report is a critical first step to taking action and creating healthy, sustainable school buildings," said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair, USGBC. "Schools are the backbone of our communities, and it is unacceptable that we would allow any of our children to show up in classrooms that compromise their ability to learn. We must do more."

"Approximately 50 million students attend the nearly 100,000 public elementary and secondary schools in the United States. Many of these schools barely meet today's standards, yet it’s been an astonishing 18 years since the last comprehensive study on school conditions was conducted," said Rachel Gutter, director, Center for Green Schools at USGBC. "We are confident Congress will take up the charge to commission a new report on the state of educational facilities across the country. We can’t continue to ignore a problem just because we don’t understand the extent of it."

The Center for Green Schools at USGBC is urging the GAO to commission another survey on the condition of America’s schools, with support from 24 organizations, including the 21st Century School Fund, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Lung Association, the National Education Association (NEA) and the National PTA, among others.

"Our job—as educators, as parents and as elected officials—is to remove barriers so that all students can succeed," said NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. "This means investing in the right priorities. Children need and deserve safe and healthy environments so they can learn. It’s not more complicated than that.”

Key recommendations from the report include:

• Expand the Common Core of Data (a set of academic expectations collected annually by

the National Center for Education Statistics that define the knowledge and skills all

students should master by the end of each grade level) to include school level data on

building age, building size and site size.

• Improve the current fiscal reporting of school district facility maintenance and operations

data to the National Center for Education Statistics so that utility and maintenance

expenditures are collected separately.

• Improve the collection of capital outlay data from school districts to include identification

of the source of capital outlay funding and distinctions between capital outlay categories

for new construction and for existing facilities.

• Provide financial and technical assistance to states from the U.S. Department of

Education to incorporate facility data in their state longitudinal education data systems.

• Mandate a GAO facility condition survey take place every 10 years, with the next one

beginning immediately.

Please visit centerforgreenschools.org/stateofschools to download the full report.

About the Center for Green Schools at USGBC

The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council is making sure every student

has the opportunity to attend a green school within this generation. From kindergarten to

college and beyond, the Center works directly with staff, teachers, faculty, students,

ambassadors, elected officials and communities to drive the transformation of all schools into

sustainable places to live and learn, work and play. For more information, visit http://centerforgreenschools.org .

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future

through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings. USGBC works toward its mission of

market transformation through its LEED green building certification program, robust educational

offerings, a nationwide network of chapters and affiliates, the annual Greenbuild International

Conference & Expo and advocacy in support of public policy that encourages and enables

green buildings and communities. For more information, visit usgbc.org.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with the National Institute of Building Sciences and MOD X, has released the Offsite Construction for Housing: Research Roadmap, a strategic report that presents the key knowledge gaps and research needs to overcome the barriers and challenges to offsite construction.

Codes and Standards | Feb 1, 2023

New Jersey to allow private firms to conduct construction inspections

New Jersey recently passed a law that will allow towns to supplement construction code enforcement with help from the private sector. The legislation, which received bipartisan support, also allows municipalities to enter into shared service agreements with neighboring towns for construction inspections.

Components of a typical rainwater harvesting system. Illustration: DOE

Standards | Jan 31, 2023

Standard establishes best practices for rainwater and stormwater harvesting system

The market is seeing an increasing number of residential, commercial, and industrial rainwater and stormwater systems being installed.

Green | Jan 26, 2023

Corporations fall short on climate pledges by failing to embed net-zero actions into operations

Many corporations are failing to implement simple, practical steps needed for them to hit their stated decarbonization goals, according to a survey of more than 300 operations managers across key industrial sectors including construction, energy, and chemicals in the U.S., U.K., and Germany.

K-12 Schools | Jan 25, 2023

As gun incidents grow, schools have beefed up security significantly in recent years

Recently released federal data shows that U.S. schools have significantly raised security measures in recent years. About two-thirds of public schools now control access to school grounds—not just the building—up from about half in the 2017-18 school year.

Concrete | Jan 24, 2023

Researchers investigate ancient Roman concrete to make durable, lower carbon mortar

Researchers have turned to an ancient Roman concrete recipe to develop more durable concrete that lasts for centuries and can potentially reduce the carbon impact of the built environment.

Government Buildings | Jan 9, 2023

Blackstone, Starwood among real estate giants urging President Biden to repurpose unused federal office space for housing

The Real Estate Roundtable, a group including major real estate firms such as Brookfield Properties, Blackstone, Empire State Realty Trust, Starwood Capital, as well as multiple major banks and CRE professional organizations, recently sent a letter to President Joe Biden on the implications of remote work within the federal government.

Multifamily Housing | Jan 9, 2023

New York City advances plan to build 500,000 new housing units

After New York Mayor Eric Adams announced a “Moonshot” plan to build 500,000 new housing units over the next 10 years in early December, he moved quickly to jumpstart the process.

1930 Broadway in New York City, where Glenwood Management first installed CarbonQuest's system. Photo courtesy CarbonQuest

Sustainability | Jan 9, 2023

Innovative solutions emerge to address New York’s new greenhouse gas law

New York City’s Local Law 97, an ambitious climate plan that includes fines for owners of large buildings that don’t significantly reduce carbon emissions, has spawned innovations to address the law’s provisions.

Currently Reading

USGBC to GAO: 'Schools need over $271 billion in maintenance fixes'

Tags

Codes and Standards | Feb 8, 2023

Multifamily Housing | Feb 3, 2023

Codes and Standards | Feb 1, 2023

Standards | Jan 31, 2023

Green | Jan 26, 2023

K-12 Schools | Jan 25, 2023

Concrete | Jan 24, 2023

Government Buildings | Jan 9, 2023

Multifamily Housing | Jan 9, 2023

Sustainability | Jan 9, 2023

Most Popular Content

Magazine Subscription

Get our Newsletters

Follow BD+C: