How old are Pennsylvania’s school buildings? A new state survey is trying to find out
Lawmakers say the legislation will allow funding for repairs to be directed more efficiently amid concerns about deteriorating school conditions around the state.
For the first time, Pennsylvania will inventory the thousands of public school facilities throughout the state to better assess the extent of aging and unsafe buildings.
Educators have long raised concerns that deteriorating school conditions threaten student safety and impede learning — but understanding the scope of the problem has been difficult.
Included in this year’s $50.8 billion budget deal, and effective in 2027, the State Department of Education will be required to collect information about school facilities including the age and renovation history of buildings as well as their capacity and square footage.
Democratic State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, who represents South Philadelphia and was the initial sponsor of the bill, said the legislation will allow state funding for facilities repairs to be used more efficiently.
Some school districts already track this information, Fiedler said, but not all do. Having that information in a centralized location, she said, will allow for a “better understanding big picture of what we’re facing and figure out where we should be allotting our very limited school facilities dollars.”
The state has allocated $200 million in funding for public school facilities improvements in recent budget cycles.
While her initial bill also called for the creation of a public school facility advisory committee Fiedler said the inventory requirement represents an important first step.
“The people who spend Monday through Friday all day long in those same schools, they know what the problems are,” Fiedler said. “They’re tired of having to find work arounds and deal with them. We need to invest more money, I think that part is plain and simple.”
Students attending school in Philadelphia have faced leaking roofs, mold, asbestos and inadequate cooling systems.
The Philadelphia school board voted in April to approve a controversial $3 billion facilities plan that would close 17 schools and renovate nearly 200 others over the next decade. The average age of a school building in the Philadelphia district is 75.
That problem isn’t unique to Philadelphia.
In Pittsburgh — where the average building is nearly 90 years old — the school board similarly approved a facilities plan this spring that would close 12 schools in a move district leaders hope will help address the older school buildings.
The first round of school facility information will be collected by the education department through an online form by the end of 2027, and then every five years after that. Public school districts as well as cyber charter, charter, and career and technical schools will be required to submit information.
“This information will enable lawmakers and the Administration to evaluate the condition of public school facilities, identify collective needs of our public schools, and further support the investments needed to ensure healthy and safe learning environments,” a spokesperson for the state education department said.
Aaron Chapin, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association said the state’s largest teachers union was proud to work alongside lawmakers in creating the inventory system.
“We encourage school districts to partner with the Department of Education to provide the information needed so that the commonwealth can address school facility equity in a fair and timely way,” he said in a statement.
Ethan Young is an intern with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association. He can be reached at ethanmyoung@gmail.com.