Summary of School Construction Survey Results

School districts around the country are halting or scaling back building construction, repairs and maintenance due to significant declines in state and local funding, as well as difficulty in financing capital projects in the current economic conditions, according to a recent National School Boards Association (NSBA) survey.

NSBA received more than 1,300 responses from school board members in 41 states and the District of Columbia. Respondents identified more than 1,000 capital projects worth approximately $17 billion that are or will be adversely affected by the economic recession. Some of these projects have been approved but not funded because of sharp declines in state and local revenues and loss of investment funds; others are not moving forward because of difficulty in the financial services market to sell bonds approved by voters.

These school infrastructure projects include:

• Expansion of preschool and school buildings;
• Additions of classrooms/spaces to accommodate growth/overcrowding;
• New construction;
• Renovations/modernization/repairs of infrastructure such as roofs, classrooms, playgrounds, parking lots, plumbing, electrical wiring, restrooms, maintenance facilities, etc.;
• Purchasing and repairing technology facilities/equipment;
• Building/modernizing energy efficient/green energy facilities; and
• Improving security/safety projects (including asbestos abatement and fire and building safety needs).

The survey results revealed the challenges facing school districts in keeping up with increasingly needed capital improvements.

School board members cited the following reasons that cause much-needed projects to be delayed or cut:

• Insufficient state funds/lack of state matching funds;
• Having to redirect capital improvement funds to other needs for priority operating expenses;
• Decline in local revenues as economy slows;
• Difficulty in raising additional revenues/local taxes due to sagging economy;
• Difficulty in passing school bonds to finance needed projects;
• Difficulty in selling voter-approved bonds because challenges impacting the financial services industry;
• Loss of investment funds;
• Difficulty in borrowing due to credit crunch;
• Increases in costs of construction materials, such as steel and copper; and
• Dwindling of business donations, grants, and other sources of support.