Supply chain issues, labor shortages, changing enrollment patterns and funding sources are throwing a wrench in districts’ efforts to revamp buildings, said Tracy Richter, a former educator and current vice president of planning services for district construction project management firm HPM, and school district business experts.

In addition to demolishing withered facilities, schools are finding themselves taking a sledgehammer to something else in light of the pandemic: building improvement plans themselves.

“They’ve had to revisit the size of their portfolio and facilities” for school construction projects, Richter said.

These challenges are impacting projects old and new. Districts that undertook building new facilities pre-pandemic are reconsidering their paths forward in the later years of these projects. And those that started during or after the pandemic — usually on improvements related to indoor air quality and student health — are trimming larger projects into bite-sized pieces.

Supply chain issues, labor shortages and competition

“Some of the reasons why many districts are having to reconsider, alter or scale back facilities projects are because of persistent labor challenges, supply chain issues and high inflation,” Elleka Yost, director of advocacy for the Association of School Business Officials International said. Yost added those factors “have significantly increased the total project cost than what was initially budgeted for or agreed upon with contractors.”

Not only are districts competing with one another to complete similar pandemic construction projects nationwide — driving up costs of contracting services — but contractors are also having to increase wages for their employees.

“If contractors have to increase wages to hire sufficient professionals to do the work, those increased costs get transferred to districts, too,” said Yost.

Supply chain issues, which have affected everything from school meals to computer deliveries, also continue to delay school facility projects.

Anthony Dragona, interim board secretary and school business administrator for the Union City Board of Education in New Jersey, ordered two rooftop air conditioning units in May 2022. The district just completed installation on one that arrived this February, or 40 weeks after purchase, said Dragona. It is still waiting on the second that is expected to be delivered this week, or 63 weeks after purchase.

“So when you have a 12-month lead time or 16-month lead time from the time that you order things, then you start looking at your funding and when these funds expire,” said Dragona.

Funding sources and upfront costs

Districts like Dragona’s that are relying at least partly on funding from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund for their facility upgrades are reconsidering their projects due to supply chain delays running into federal obligation deadlines. Those looming deadlines are September 2023 for ESSER II and September 2024 for ESSER III.

“Projects may end up being revised to being completed in smaller phases, according to a district’s ability to finance the projects via ESSER or other local funds once ESSER expires,” Yost said, adding that districts may have to prioritize projects based on immediate need.

In the meantime, longer-term or more ambitious building projects may fall by the wayside.

“If they don’t need a building, or there’s a better solution than new bricks and mortar that’s going to add operating costs, it is the right decision to take a second look at it,” said Richter. “Districts have a more vested interest in investing into students and programs than they do square footage for buildings.”

Districts are also looking into other more competitive sources of funding, such as grants and local sources.

However, Dragona said, upfront investments like feasibility studies and cost analyses could deter districts from pursuing those avenues.

“So the preliminary cost for a district to be able to submit the application could be cost-prohibitive for some districts,” he added. “It’s a sort of a catch-22 in some ways: Does the district make the investment?”

Enrollment projections fluctuate

Districts’ decisions to pursue major facility investments are also coming down to enrollment. Nationwide, public school enrollment declined in the wake of the pandemic. Birth rates are also down, a trend predating the pandemic.

Source: Supply Chain Dive

The mobile classrooms currently sit at Catherine Infant School, in Ulverscroft Road

Council set to move two classrooms to another school costing £300K

A special educational needs school in Leicester is set to receive two mobile classrooms after the city council confirmed it will be relocating them from another school at a cost of over £300K. The Children’s Hospital School, ran by the University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust, provides education for students who are too ill to attend mainstream school across four bases in the city.

But now one of these bases will be gifted with two new temporary buildings to help combat the increased demand of special educational needs and disability (SEND) school places. Council documents say they will be placed on the playground of Willow Bank School, in Simmins Crescent to allow for 10 additional places to be created.

Currently, the two council-owned modular buildings are located at Catherine Infant School, in Ulverscroft Road and will cost the council up to £314,000 to move them. A spokesperson for Leicester City Council described the temporary classrooms as “high quality and modern” which will be in place for a number of years.

The spokesperson added:

“The quote covers a number of elements including a partial road closure to lift the mobile classrooms onto a flatbed lorry and transport them across the city and preparatory works at the new site – including surveys of existing services to ensure there is sufficient power, drainage, and water supply to support the units in the new location. It also covers the groundworks element to ensure that a suitable, level, foundation is put in place to receive the units.”

According to documents, the council were told by the Department for Education in 2021 the buildings at Catherine Infant School will need to be replaced under the school replacement programme. This is a government scheme launched to give schools cash for much-needed repairs and upgrades, which includes work on roofs, fire safety and electrical systems.

But it was identified during the assessment of the school the mobile classrooms would need to be removed from the site at the council’s expense. It did look at selling them back to the company that supplied them, Britcab, who are now no longer trading making this impossible.

The council therefore identified Willow Bank School to be the best place to re-home the mobile buildings and intends to do this over the summer break. Planning permission will also be required to install the classrooms and the cost of the application is included, a spokesperson confirmed.

They added:

“When permission is obtained, the mobiles will be installed and connected to utilities. A ramp will be built and other measures put in place to ensure the classrooms are fully accessible and meet the needs of all children and adults from the Children’s Hospital School. There will then be an internal re-fit to ensure that the different users of the units can learn in a suitable environment.”

There has been an increasing demand for Year 10 places at the hospital school, documents say, and the council has said the new classrooms will help accommodate this. It will also be used to provide space for an additional early intervention group, increase the capacity to support students during exams who need better access or smaller rooms, free up space for 1 to 1 interviews and possible allow for more pupil spaces next year.

Source: Leicester Mercury

PLANS to knock down a primary school and build a replacement in the grounds look set to be approved shortly.

St Peter’s School in Birstall could be completely rebuilt under the latest plans, which involves a new school on playing fields to the north of the site.

It is part of the Government’s School Rebuilding Programme which involves major rebuilding and refurbishment projects at school and sixth-form college buildings across England.

It was announced in July 2021 that St Peter’s, a Church of England school, was to be included in the second set of schools announced.

Following consultation with the local community, plans were submitted earlier this year, and the scheme is set to go before Kirklees Council’s strategic planning committee on August 3.

In a report to the meeting, it states: “The existing school was built circa 1960 and is in a poor state of repair and its facilities are no longer fit for modern purpose.

“This includes, but is not limited to, insufficient staff and student amenities, accessibility facilities, and classrooms / circulation spaces being too small.

“During the feasibility stage, it was determined that St. Peter’s should be rebuilt rather than refurbished, due to its age and condition making it fundamentally unsuitable for modern use.”

The scheme, from the Diocese of Leeds, will see the existing school remaining open during construction, which will then be demolished once the new build is completed.

The proposals also include improvements to the site access, the formation of a car park and children’s outdoor play areas, as well as PV solar panels on the roof.

In a design and access statement accompanying the plans it states: “The project will create a modern environment for the local pupils to learn and grow. The new school building will retain the current number of 210 pupils plus 26 nursery places which will be distributed in a two-storey building.”

It adds that alternative options, such as demolishing the existing school and constructing the new school in the location of the existing building or relocating the school to the existing hard play surface, were ruled out.

The two-storey building will provide space for early years and Key Stage 1 on the ground floor with Key Stage 2 teaching spaces on the first floor.

It will continue to employ 31 members of staff and the school start and finish times will also remain the same.

The application is recommended for approval with a number of conditions.

Source: Telegraph & Argos

Frodingham Infant School has recently unveiled a £2.4m refurbishment and extension to its Grade 2 listed building that will provide a better space for children to learn and get the best start in life.

The refurb, which began in Easter 2022, was prompted by the council’s annual review of its buildings.

The school is the oldest surviving school building in North Lincolnshire, dating back to 1867 and created as part of the industrial settlement of New Frodingham.

The transformation has seen existing areas refurbished, a reorganisation of the layout and a new extension.

Cllr Julie Reed, cabinet member for children, families and communities, said: “From a cabinet member point of view, it was an easy decision to make to enable the children and families in this area to have a really high-class facility for their families.

“With it being a listed building, we wanted to retain its character.”

The old dining hall and nursery buildings have been demolished and the extension used to create a spacious new multi-use hall. A Year Two classroom has also been created, along with disabled toilets, offices and kitchen.

A previous internal courtyard has been converted into a covered outdoor space and a new school field has been created.

“The new build is absolutely wonderful and it’s absolutely right the children in our area have these fantastic facilities,” said Scunthorpe MP Holly Mumby-Croft.

Further rewiring work will be carried out at the school during the summer to finalise the refurbishment work.

Barton St Peters Primary School and Scunthorpe CE Primary School are also set to undergo improvement works during the summer, thanks to a £260,000 council investment.

The council invests millions in schools across the area, with millions more provided from Government for additional projects and schemes.

In February, it was announced funding for school children across North Lincolnshire was to be increased by more than £7m, an average increase of more than £300 for each child.

Additional Government cash was also confirmed in April, with £5m to be shared among schools across the area through the Mainstream Schools Additional Grant.

Source: Northlincsgov.co.uk

Global building materials supplier Cemex has completed a series of successful road safety educational events for primary school children based in Rugby, local to its main UK cement plant.

A specialist team from Cemex Rugby visited three local primary schools with one of the brand’s 44-tonne cement tankers. The team provided an insight and education on the blind spots and hazards presented by HGVs, with 150 pupils were engaged in the activities.

At each school, the children enjoyed an interactive classroom presentation and colouring activity, before being shown around the vehicle and introduced to various safety features, such as the pedestrian ‘Side Scan’.

To further support their understanding of the risks HGVs present to vulnerable road users such as themselves, a visual demonstration of the blind spot from the driver’s seat took place. The children were asked to line up facing away from the truck with a teacher sat in the driver’s seat. They then attempted to count how many children the teacher could see. Coloured discs were then laid out to visualise this, with the children were encouraged to share photos of the demonstration with their parents.

Finally, the children were given the opportunity to sit in the driver’s seat for a driver’s-eye view, which was a popular activity! All children were all given child-sized high visibility vests, reflective slap bands, and a fun educational road safety leaflet as mementos of the occasion.

Darrell Collins, Driver Trainer and Assessor for Cemex UK, commented:

“Cemex was very proud to have this opportunity to provide vital road safety education to children in our local community. Working with vulnerable road users such as children to ensure they better understand the risks associated with HGVs is something we are passionate about and an integral part of our health and safety strategy. Incorporating hands-on activities that enable the children to see from the driver’s perspective are hugely valuable and make a real difference to how they act around trucks when they come across them in real life.

“The success of these events has prompted us to continue this awareness-raising with more schools in the area, with further outreach sessions in the pipeline.”

CLICK HERE For more information about Cemex’s pedestrian safety activities