Virginia’s dilapidated and outdated school infrastructure hampers student achievement and health, teacher retention, school overhead costs, and local property values. In 2021, an assessment of Virginia’s schools determined that over half of Virginia’s public school buildings are more than 50 years old. Estimated renovation costs exceed $24 billion.

While Virginia has made some investments in school construction and improvement since then, it hasn’t been enough to balance out the fact that the state invested far too little in facilities in the years following the Great Recession. In Virginia, capital spending on schools declined by 33% between 2008 and 2016, according to analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. This has left many of our schools in desperate need of repairs.

Research finds school improvements lead to positive health impacts, including:

• Higher quality and safer out door play spaces lead to improved student health, reducing absences and improving a wide array of short- and long-term student outcomes.
• Improved air and water quality from new and updated systems contribute positively to student and employee health.
• More consistent, higher quality lighting, heating, and cooling systems contribute positively to student health (mental and physical) and academic outcomes.

Right now almost all facilities costs fall to localities, which have vastly different capacities to raise revenue. This is a huge issue because it means that wealthier areas can have nicer, updated buildings and dilapidated facilities are concentrated in low-income areas. In order to provide a high-quality public education to every student, regardless of their zip code, we need to increase state funding for school construction so that all of our children are learning in buildings that are safe and modern.