Mary Scott NabersEducation funding, previously available to communities and every state for decades, has been drastically reduced. Last month, the White House released a budget that includes educational reductions of more than $4.5 billion in funding for K-12 schools. The overall education budget, however, reduces education funding nationwide by more than $66.7 billion. This represents a staggering loss of funding for education institutions at all levels of government to absorb.
The funding loss will be devastating for some school districts, and it will be extremely difficult to manage for other institutions. Many programs critical to student success will no longer be available. However, while adjusting to this type of immediate financial angst, educational leaders are moving forward with commitments to the educational infrastructure required for student success. Projects are still entering the planning phases for construction upgrades, facility modernizations, expansions, enhanced safety initiatives, sustainability, and specialized types of training.
The Strategic Partnerships Team captures bond election data from all 50 states and tracks all other funding sources to identify upcoming projects. Through the research, it is abundantly clear that community leaders are committed to providing what is necessary to educate the next generation of leaders. State leaders are allocating funding, citizens are supporting bond initiatives, and many communities are endorsing projects that will be supported by private sector investment partners. The education world is experiencing seismic shifts, and support will need to come from new sources.
Officials at the Bridgeport Public School District in Connecticut have announced plans to build a new special education center on the site of a former school campus. The $74 construction project will be designed to accommodate up to 260 K-12 students. This effort is funded financially by a state bond approved by the state’s General Assembly.
The school facility will be designed for self-contained classrooms, resource rooms, therapy spaces, occupational and physical therapy, and behavioral intervention areas. Students will soon be able to participate in individualized education programs in a state-of-the-art energy-efficient building. The design process has not yet started but construction is slated for 2026, so contracting solicitations are expected soon.
Education leaders at Wake Technical Community College plan to relocate the Conlon Western Wake Campus to a new, permanent site in Apex, North Carolina, and an estimated cost of $115 million has been projected for the project. The college is currently operating from a leased facility, and a new, state-of-the-art facility on a 34-acre campus is being planned. A Workforce Training Center will be designed to support Wake County’s growing life sciences, biopharmaceutical, and advanced manufacturing career sectors. It will include specialized training labs, industrial equipment space, technical education classrooms, simulation and game development programs and high-performance computing labs. An Entrepreneurship and Small Business Center with collaboration zones, incubator offices, and presentation rooms will also be located on the new campus. The project is currently in the design phase and construction is planned for late 2026.
A new semiconductor research facility is planned for Stony Brook University in New York. It will be located near the university’s West Campus Engineering Quad, and the project’s delivery method will be a public-private partnership.
The research facility will be designed to serve as a place for advanced material development and workforce training. The building will include collaborative research labs, cleanroom space, and technology transfer facilities to support the state’s broader semiconductor and microelectronics strategy. This project will also serve as a foundation for the research that supports work for the New York Center for Research, Economic Advancement, Technology, Engineering, and Science. The project is currently in the planning and design phase while the university and its partners finalize documents, secure approvals, and prepare for the next phase of implementation. Solicitation documents are slated for release in late 2025. Groundbreaking and initial construction will begin in 2026, with phased implementation.
University officials at the University of Texas A&M at Galveston will soon launch a project to deliver a modern Sea Turtle Hospital to serve as a public education center focused on marine conservation and climate awareness. The dual-purpose facility will offer both medical care services for sea turtles and various types of interactive experiences for students and visitors.
The new facility will be delivered through a renovation project that expands a current facility by approximately 23,500 square feet. When completed, the upgraded building will accommodate up to 30 sea turtles in a facility that includes two hospital units for emergency medical care, a routine veterinary clinic for non-emergency care, and a clinical room lined with glass panels that will allow others to view rehabilitation processes. There will also be indoor and outdoor tanks for turtles being treated until then can be released back into the wild.
The facility will feature a museum-style entrance lounge, an auditorium for educational programming, hands-on exhibits, and a gift shop. A cost of $17 million was approved for the project and although a construction start date has not been officially announced, solicitation documents are expected soon.
Education officials in Johnson City, Tennessee, have announced a $45 million project to replace the current Towne Acres Elementary School for students ranging from preschool to fifth grade. A key component of the project involves replacing three separate buildings to improve security measures and daily operations. When finished, the project will deliver an updated facility that accommodates approximately 750 students. The effort doubling the capacity of the existing school.
The new building will cover about 120,000 square feet and include 38 classrooms with dedicated areas for preschool and special education classes. It will also feature expanded facilities for extracurricular learning and gathering areas for STEM labs, a theater for performances, a full gymnasium, athletic fields, a secure playground, and a spacious outdoor amphitheater. Construction will be divided into two phases with one new building being constructed first, followed by the demolition of existing structures to make room for athletic fields and parking. Construction is slated to begin in late 2025 or early 2026, with a projected completion in 2027.
A new charter school project is being planned for Indianapolis, and when completed, the new facility will represent the Indiana Legal Prep Charter Academy. The project’s estimated cost has been placed at between $25 million and $30 million. The new facility will accommodate more than 800 students, and education officials plan to partner with legal and civic institutions to ensure a strong legal career pathway for students. Both the planning and phase and the permitting work are underway. However, solicitations are expected to be released in late 2025.
Contractors are urged to monitor local planned projects for educational institutions at all levels of jurisdictions. K-12 campuses have great needs but community colleges, trade schools, colleges and universities should not be overlooked. They all have older facilities in dire need of modernization, upgrades, and more efficient operating systems. Demand will be high for contractors for many years.
Photo by RDNE Stock project from Pexels
