Fast Facts: Condition of public school facilities (94)

Condition of public school facilities

Question:
What are the current conditions of America's public school facilities?

Response:

The condition of our school facilities plays a critical role in the education of more than 49 million U.S. public school students. School facilities provide a setting for learning and affect health and comfort of the school’s students and staff.

The findings below are part of an experimental data product from the School Pulse Panel, NCES’s innovative approach to delivering timely information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on public K–12 schools in the U.S. The data, collected between December 7 and 21 of 2023, came from 1,625 participating public K–12 schools from every state and the District of Columbia.

Almost all public schools have one or more permanent buildings in use at their school (96 percent); 31 percent of public schools have one or more non-permanent (portable) buildings in use.
Among reporting U.S. public schools¹:

The average age of the main instructional building is 49 years old. The following percentages of reporting public schools’ main instructional buildings were built during the following time periods:

Pre-1970: 38 percent
1970–1999: 21 percent
2000–present: 20 percent

Forty-seven percent reported that their main instructional building has undergone a major renovation since it was built, with 29 percent reporting this renovation has occurred since 2010.
Forty-six percent reported that they have had a major building replacement or addition to the school since it was built, with 26 percent reporting the replacement or addition has occurred since 2010.

In December 2023, some 21 percent of all public schools reported having major repair, renovation, or modernization work currently being performed at their school.
Thirty-nine percent of public schools have an Indoor Air Quality Coordinator (IAQC) at their school. An IAQC monitors air quality conditions at the school and is responsible for reporting air quality issues and complaints.
Sixty percent of public schools reported that they have designated vehicle loading and unloading areas at least 25 feet from all building air intakes, including doors and windows. Eighteen percent of public schools reported that they have an anti-idling program in place, which includes signage and active monitoring, during pick-up and drop-off.
Most public schools have dedicated library space available (89 percent).

Compared to the national estimate (89 percent), higher percentages of public schools with the following characteristics reported having dedicated library space available:

With 500–999 students (96 percent)
With a student body made up of 0–25 percent students of color (96 percent)
In rural areas (94 percent)
With 300–499 students (93 percent)
Elementary schools (93 percent)
In low-poverty neighborhoods (92 percent)

Compared to the national estimate (89 percent), lower percentages of public schools with the following characteristics reported having dedicated library space available:

In cities (84 percent)
In high-poverty neighborhoods (81 percent)
With a student body made up of 76 percent or more students of color (80 percent)
High/secondary schools (80 percent)
With 0–299 students (77 percent)

Nearly all public schools (93 percent) reported having some kind of athletic amenities on-site. The most commonly reported types of facilities were:

A gymnasium (69 percent)
All-purpose grass field (68 percent)
Outdoor basketball court (56 percent)
Baseball/softball field (38 percent)
Weight room (29 percent)
Outdoor track (28 percent)

¹ Between 20 and 22 percent of schools responded “don't know” to questions about the age of their main instructional building, major renovations, and major replacements or additions.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Nearly One-Third of Public Schools have One or More Portable Buildings in Use. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved March 19, 2024 from https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/2_15_2024.asp.

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