OHIO: Dayton school district will require construction companies building its new schools to pay union wages going forward — for now. The board voted unanimously to add language to is bidding requirements. The wage rules will apply to the next three schools built. The move left nonunion contractors — some of whom have worked on the district's prior projects — miffed. "We're very disappointed," said Kathleen Somers, president of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. of the Ohio Valley, a nonunion contractors group. "That vote tonight cost taxpayers a lot of money unnecessarily."

School board President Yvonne Isaacs said the move was designed to attract more local companies to the projects, companies board members hope will employ more local people and minorities to build Dayton's new schools. If the experiment works and the school projects stay on budget, Isaacs said the rule will remain for the remaining nine schools still to be built. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Dayton and we want to make sure that we see the people actually paying the taxes have benefitted," she said.The district is about to begin its last phase of construction. In the first two phases, the district made no requirement for workers' wages and projects mostly fell short of the district's goals for local and minority participation. But in the last year, the Ohio School Facilities Commission gave districts more latitude to set wage rules.

NEW JERSEY: New Jersey's scandal-bruised $8.6 billion public school construction program announced plans to set up web cams to allow residents to monitor building sites. The New Jersey Schools Development Authority, still dogged by its early years of waste and scandal, has already installed one camera in Trenton, where the Hall Construction Company is building a $35.5 million elementary school. "Our goal is, as we go into the next round of construction, to see in real time what's happening," Scott Weiner, chief operating officer of the state Schools Development Authority, said. "This enables people to drive by through their computer, rather than to have to get in their car."

The camera trained on the Trenton site shows work Martin Luther King Elementary School, a school that is being built for the second time. Two years ago, after the authority had spent $17 million on the project, contractors had to tear down the portions of the school that had been erected, after it was discovered that soil tainted with toxic materials had been used to stabilize stabilize the foundation site. Weiner said the schools authority hopes to use solar-powered cameras like the one at the King school site to let anyone with an internet connection keep tabs on progress at other construction sites.

Taxpayers have spent $6.5 billion on the school construction program, launched in 2000 in response to a state Supreme Court order to replace hundreds of decrepit public schools in Trenton, Newark and other cities. With hundreds of schools still awaiting construction, Gov. Jon Corzine has proposed that lawmakers authorize another $2.5 billion to continue the program.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: 3,200 volunteers with paint brushes and shovels spent a day beautifying 39 Washington DC public school buildings. The projects, sponsored by Fannie Mae and Greater D.C. Cares, included painting offices, classrooms and banisters; planting flowers and mulching trees; and creating murals on outdoor walls. The project was started 16 years ago to address an urgent need. D.C. public school buildings have deteriorated over the years because of deferred maintenance, funding cuts and mismanagement of capital programs. On average, the buildings are more than 70 years old, and many have had leaky roofs, faulty plumbing, dimly lighted halls and ventilation systems that have left classrooms too cold in winter and too warm in spring and summer. Volunteers who have participated in the project in previous years said they have noticed a big improvement. Last summer, the city spent $200 million to paint walls and upgrade windows, roofs, bathrooms and lighting at 70 schools.

NATIONAL: The House education committee approved a bill that would authorize new money to help districts improve school facilities, including making them more environmentally friendly. Approved by a vote of 28-19, the bill would authorize $6.4 billion in grants to school districts in fiscal 2009. It would be the first federal investment in upgrading school buildings since 2001, when Congress approved $1.2 billion for educational facilities.

The measure would authorize the distribution of school construction grants through the same formula used to allocate aid under Title I. If the authorized amount were appropriated, each eligible district would receive a minimum grant of $5,000. The money could be used for a variety of modernization, renovation, and repair projects. Also, districts could use the money to help make sure schools were accessible to students with disabilities, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Districts that received grants under the legislation would have to supplement the federal money with local funds. Projects financed under the bill would also have to meet certain “green building” standards. The bill would authorize separate funding, $500 million over five years, for public schools that were damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

TEXAS: Local universities are making efforts to go green, and in the process they are cutting down on expenditures. Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, which adopted the motto "Green, Lean and Keen" to promote environmentalism, has cut waste and costs by reducing the amount of paper used on campus, replacing it with digital and electronic communication. The university also is making conservation a part of faculty and staff training. A&M-Kingsville is concentrating on energy conservation. They will begin retrofitting the university's lighting system with energy-efficient light bulbs. The effort will cost the university about $300,000, but Ricardo Contreras Jr., the university's utilities engineer, said the result could mean a $900,000 annual savings on electricity costs. Last year, the university spent about $3.5 million in energy costs. A&M-Kingsville President Rumaldo Juarez sent a letter to students, faculty and staff asking them to shut off their computers when possible to help conserve energy. Shutting computers down during the lunch hour could save $10,000 a year; that's money that could be put to other use by the university, including possibly adding it to the scholarship fund.

Green tips: shut down computers when not in use; keep the thermostat at 78 degrees in the summer; walk to your class or office; stay on campus for lunch; carpool to school; turn off the lights in a room when you walk out; keep your tires properly inflated; shut off energy-consuming items when not in use.

NATIONAL: The U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification program for green schools has a registration rate of one school a day. Green schools are more energy and water efficient, which save taxpayers money. They also have significantly improved indoor air quality, and that results in healthier kids. Michelle Moore, senior vice president at the council, says “energy savings alone could pay for 5,000 new textbooks per school per year." According to Moore "Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, and Virginia have the most LEED-certified schools to date, and many local school districts and state departments of education are beginning to develop and implement policies that require schools to be built green." The state of Ohio is leading the way. Hundreds of new and renovated schools are set to meet higher energy efficiency and environmental standards through the Ohio School Facilities Commission's adoption of the LEED for Schools Rating System as part of its school design standards. When the commission did the math, it determined it could save more than $1.4 billion in taxpayer money over the next 40 years through energy consumption reductions.

The U.S. Green Building Council is a nonprofit membership organization. The LEED® for Schools green rating system delivers green building guidelines and third-party certification to assure school stakeholders that their school incorporates best practices in green building with measurable results.

CALIFORNIA: A promotional blurb from CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight" program, "Red Storm Rising: Cheap Chinese Steel” said "Those cheap Chinese exports to this country are compromising our children's safety." The program reported that defective materials were used at San Pedro High School. A top school district official says it's now safe and the defective tube steel manufactured in China which was used in the construction of a new gymnasium was either removed or repaired months ago.

San Pedro High School was singled out in the report as using the shoddy steel in the building of its new gymnasium. Bruce Kendall, facilities deputy chief for Los Angeles Unified School District, said the inspection by the Division of State Architects resulted in a bulletin dated Sept. 26, 2007, alerting the district to the issue. The steel, manufactured in the previous six months in China, had been fabricated for school construction projects in California.” This steel was found to have been used on the San Pedro gym so the steel was either removed or remediated," Kendall said. "The steel contained defective seam welds, plates that are rolled into a tube and welded along the length of steel beams used in the frame. ”I can just assure you that it passed a very stringent review at that point," Kendall said. "That building is safe." The Dobbs report said faulty steel was used in 16 other California schools, but it was not determined where those campuses were located.

TEXAS: Dallas school officials projected six years ago that a billion-dollar bond program would rid the district of many of its 1,913 portable classrooms; however, more than 30,000 students now attend classes in portable buildings. Despite a drop in student enrollment and the opening of 19 new schools under a 2002 bond construction program the Dallas ISD has increased its number of portable classrooms to 2,029.

According to DISD officials the reasons for the increase include smaller class sizes that require more space and principals who want to keep vacant portables to accommodate spikes in student enrollment. District officials say they began decreasing class sizes this school year, requiring more space to educate kids. According to the Texas Education Agency, elementary grades class size is down to 18.2 to 20.5 from 19.1 to 22.9 in 2002. Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said a policy change last month now requires the district to evaluate all portables – both the older wooden models and the newer metal buildings – to determine if they should be removed. The DISD database indicates that 197 portables are scheduled for demolition but some must be kept to deal with fluctuating enrollment. DISD policy states that "portable classrooms are necessary to handle the shifting demographics of an urban school district and are basically a temporary solution that should be used in relatively small numbers."

School officials are saying that they will get rid of more portables if voters approve the proposed $1.35 billion bond program. A dozen school additions could replace 177 portable classrooms and the addition of 15 new and replacement schools could eliminate some additional portables, according to DISD officials.

CALIFORNIA: Community college and school districts with recent voter-approved bond projects are cashing in on the near-standstill in local construction. The San Diego Community College District’s $1.5 billion construction program is saving millions as contractors desperate for work bid in on its projects. The Mesa College campus saved $4 million when twice as many bids than they expected came in below what they expected to pay for the college's new $16 million allied health building. A renovation project at City College came in $500,000 below the district's estimated cost. Dave Umstot, vice chancellor of facilities management for the community college district, is skeptical that the savings will last long considering the price of materials such as steel and concrete, and fuel are rising, and the value of the dollar is falling. As for the savings, Umstot said it would be used for future projects within the bond program.

The college district isn't the only one saving money. Bill Clark, the Santee School District's assistant superintendent for business services said they recently saved about $2 million when bids came in 15 percent below what they estimated a new building would cost. They are hoping for the same on the $55 million worth of bids they put out two weeks ago, Clark said. The Sweetwater Union High School District passed a $644 million bond in 2006. They recently put out $205 million worth of bids for renovations to two South Bay high schools and are hoping for equally competitive offers.

FLORIDA: Florida Atlantic University police successfully activated the newly improved notification system alerting the student community that there was an armed suspect on campus and that everyone should immediately seek shelter. The campus-wide broadcast system was just implemented six weeks ago. Messages were posted on the FAU home page and throughout the website. A university-wide e-mail was sent out asking those on campus to seek shelter and those offsite to remain off campus. A new reverse 911 system was also used. Thanks to the surveillance images, witnesses identified the alleged shooter and authorities were able to track and arrested him. 'It's very fortunate that no one was killed,' said Keith Totten, deputy chief of FAU police. Like many schools, Florida Atlantic University updated its emergency-notification system in the wake of last year's mass murders at Virginia Tech.

CALIFORNIA: Just one month after Los Angeles Unified offered space on its campuses for nearly 40 charter schools, district officials said they have withdrawn seven of the offers and are considering yanking five more. The withdrawals come amid a growing outcry by the teachers union as well as charter schools and traditional schools unhappy with the prospect of sharing dozens of campuses. In a letter outlining the plan, Senior Deputy Superintendent Ray Cortines said he decided to withdraw the offers based on the "instructional impacts the charter co-location would impose." But the move drew immediate outrage from charter leaders who said the district is reneging on its deal and may be in defiance of Proposition 39 - a statewide ballot measure passed in 2000 that requires LAUSD and other districts to share facilities fairly among all students. Charter schools must decide whether to accept the offers, but charter officials said revoking the offers so late in the game - when charter schools are planning for the next school year - will affect hundreds of students.

Prompted by the February settlement of a lawsuit that challenged LAUSD's lagging efforts to share its facilities with the popular independent schools, the district offered space on traditional campuses to 39 charter schools this year - the majority of the 54 that applied. The offer was the largest the district has ever made, and triple the 13 space assignments it offered last year. But the decision created an outcry, with traditional schools that would house the charters complaining they don't have the space and some charters saying they would have to break up their schools onto multiple campuses far from their current locations.