The Princeton Review Archives - School Construction News

Green-Friendly College List Helps Eco-Minded Students

School News — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 19:09:02 +0000

NEW YORK — For contemporary college applicants, the only school color they may concern themselves with is green — as in the verdant, all-purpose metaphoric hue for sustainable, ecologically sound and environmentally friendly practices. Higher learning centers across the nation have taken notice and have implemented programs across a spectrum of concerns — from on-campus sustainability to environmentally themed academic programs.

Following this trend is the Princeton Review, which produces an annual guide to the most environmentally responsible or “green” colleges. Now, in its eighth incarnation, the New York-based Princeton Review (which is not affiliated with Princeton University) presents its Guide to 375 Green Colleges, 2017, which profiles “colleges with the most exceptional commitments to sustainability based on their academic offerings and career preparation for students, campus policies, initiatives and activities,” according to a statement.

The Guide to 375 Green Colleges presents an array of data, including renewable energy, recycling and conservation programs to the availability of environmental studies and career guidance for green-sector future employment prospects.

The 2017 edition includes a ranking list of the Top 50 Green Colleges on which College of the Atlantic (Bar Harbor, Maine) captured (drumroll, please…) the No. 1 spot.

The top 15 schools on The Princeton Review’s Top 50 Green Colleges list are:

College of the Atlantic (ME)
State University of New York—College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Colby College (ME)
University of Vermont
Dickinson College (PA)
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
Cornell University (NY)
Colorado State University
Stanford University (CA)
University of California, Davis)
Saint Michael’s College (VT)
Santa Clara University (CA)
University of California, Santa Cruz
Lewis & Clark College (OR)
Green Mountain College (VT)

The Princeton Review selected the colleges based on its own Green Rating scores, which were tallied during summer 2017 from 629 colleges using data from its 2016-17 survey of school administrators. Questions on the survey asked them to report on their school’s sustainability-related practices and academic programs. Of note are the facts that, of these schools, 24 percent of their total food expenditures go to purchases of local and/or organic food; 68 percent of new construction on their campuses is USGBC LEED certified; 100 percent provide undergraduate majors or degrees that are sustainability focused; and 98 percent have a sustainability officer and sustainability committee on campus.

The post Green-Friendly College List Helps Eco-Minded Students appeared first on School Construction News.

NC Voters Approve $810 Million Construction Bond

RALEIGH, N.C. — Wake County voters in North Carolina approved an $810 million school construction bond on Oct. 8. The bond, which will raise taxes, is necessary to keep up with the county’s public school enrollment growth and was approved by a 15-percentage point margin, according to News Observer.
The bond will pay for most of a $939.9 million construction project to build 11 elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools. The funding will also go towards major renovations to six schools and small updates to 79 others as well as purchase land for future schools.
The future construction projects will be used to help accommodate the projected 20,000-student increase in enrollment by 2018.
The bond will increase the county’s property tax rate to 5.53 cents per $100 of assessed value that would be phased in over several years. Commissioners are slated to consider a tax increase for the bonds next June, with taxpayers seeing the results on next year’s tax bill.
The question remains as to who will be in charge of the school construction projects. Earlier this year, the General Assembly rejected a bill that would have transferred authority for Wake County school construction from the Democratic-led school board to the Republican-sided county commissioners.
The last school construction bond issue for the Wake school system was a $970 million measure approved by voters in 2006. The opposing side to the bond said that the money was not needed and that there are several empty seats in schools, as well as inaccurate enrollment projections in the 2006 bond issue. They also questioned the amount of money the school system spent on construction with the bonds paying for $70 million high schools and for renovations costing almost as much as building new schools.

The post NC Voters Approve $810 Million Construction Bond appeared first on School Construction News.

Wake County to Seek $911 Million School Construction Bond

WAKE COUNTY, N.C. — Representing both the interests of taxpayers and education, school and city officials of Wake County met last week to decide fall election voters will determine if the areas schools will receive an approximately $911 million school construction bond.

The dollar amount was settled upon $911 million after a meeting between the Wake County Board of Commissioners and the Wake County Public School System Board of Education, though the board is still two months away from finalizing the number. The bond would fund the renovation of more than seven schools and the construction of six elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools to support the growing student population in Wake County.

“You need to build schools to meet the number of students that are coming,” said County Manager David Cooke.

According to Cooke, the district is preparing for an influx of about 20,000 students over the next five years with about 3,500 to 4,000 more students attending district schools each year.

“I think the primary focus of the commissioners is to make sure there are seats for the growth in students,” Cooke said.

Other bond amounts positioned for consideration ranged from $663 million to $2.2 billion, the most highly desired amount by the school board. Cooke said the $911 million may change slightly, but it will be in the range of about $1 billion. The compromised amount would cost the average Wake County homeowner approximately $135 annually in property taxes, according to city officials.

The commissioners are very conscious of the tolerance of the community, Cooke said, and are more aware of how the public will react to their increased property taxes.

“Taxes are going up. Any of the scenarios are going to drive up the property tax rate,” Cooke said. “That’s really going to be a reaction that the public is going to make.”

The amount that will be used for renovations of existing schools and how much will be used to construct new schools is currently unknown, Cooke said, but trends in county referendums have shown that generally half the bond amount goes to new construction.

Christine Kushner, member of the Wake County Public School System Board of Education, said she’s excited about the county’s ability to bring funds to the school district and finding a compromise between updating facilities and taxpayer needs.

“I think it is mainly driven by the need and what the market can bear,” Kushner said.

Even with the recession, school populations have been growing, Kushener said, and the schools are beginning to feel pressure to find space to accommodate such a rapidly growing student population.

Kushner believes the school board will strike a compromise between school renovation and construction as well as taxpayer and property taxes.

“It’s fallen to be a good middle ground,” she said.

The post Wake County to Seek $911 Million School Construction Bond appeared first on School Construction News.