Building Better Schools Week held Aug. 21-26

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Missouri Association of School Administrators (MASA), and the Missouri School Boards Association (MSBA) last week joined U.S. Secretary of Education Dick Riley in calling attention to the physical condition of schools in the state of Missouri.

The week of Aug. 21-26 was named Building Better Schools Week in an effort to promote safe, healthy and modern schools for America's children, according to an MASA release.

Earlier this year, Missouri's Department of Education released a comprehensive study by state education officials assessing the condition of the state's school buildings. Out of 524 school districts in the state, 398 (76 percent) responded to the survey.

These districts enroll 77 percent of the state's public school students. School superintendents were asked to rate the age and condition of their buildings and to estimate the five-year cost of new construction and renovations such as installing air-conditioning, wiring classrooms for Internet access, adding classrooms to support all-day kindergarten, making facilities more accessible to people with disabilities and improving security.

The total cost of making desired improvements in the 398 school districts adds up to more than $3.3 billion, or a yearly average of $660 million. The report concluded that the projected cost of meeting these needs in all 524 districts is more than $4.3 billion

Dr. Carter Ward, executive director of MSBA, said Missouri's school children must be given access to facilities that are conducive to learning.

"A public school board's primary concern is the advancement of student achievement. In order to achieve, children must be educated in an environment that is safe, suitable and properly equipped."

Ward also called for "the elimination of the supermajority requirement for the approval of local bond issues for school construction," and added, "we must also seek alternative funding methods for school facilities."