LEXINGTON, Ky. — Officials at the University of Kentucky are considering the privatization of the school’s popular dining program. Though the university says contracting with a private company could drastically improve campus food services, the proposal to shift the largely successful program into the hands a private company has been met with hesitation.
CLEVELAND — Voters in Northeast Ohio passed large school construction issues as well as other tax increases on Nov. 5 — despite some debate about what the money is funding.
ROCKVILLE, Md. — Montgomery County school officials and County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) hope to get a piece of the Maryland school construction budget pie, the same way Baltimore County officials did earlier this year.
OXFORD, Ga. — Language Hall, one of the oldest buildings on the Oxford College of Emory University campus in Oxford, recently underwent a $2.2 million transformation. Although the renovation was inspired by the original interior and Victorian-era exterior, the building was updated with newly configured classrooms featuring teaching technologies, as well as an addition that includes faculty offices.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Hollister Construction Services (Hollister) began work on a three-story addition to the BelovED Community Charter School in Jersey City on Oct. 22. The 22,388-square-foot addition will include new classrooms, an exercise room, cafeteria and nurse’s office. New York City-based Urbahn Architects completed the design, with project management led by Robert Sander of Hollister Construction.
CHICAGO — Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has vowed to withhold all further construction funding from the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO), after a second financial scandal has engulfed the charter school operator. The organization, which has constructed 16 charter schools across Chicago, is currently being investigated for securities fraud by the Federal Security Exchange Commission (SEC).
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.
COMMERCE, Texas — Pittsburg-based WTW Architects is set to design the expansion of Texas A&M University-Commerce’s Sam Rayburn Student Center in Commerce, Texas. The firm completed the student center back in 2009, and since the university was so pleased with their work, they have been selected to continue the expansion.
NEWTOWN, Conn. — After a devastating year of events, the residents of Newtown, Conn., have something to celebrate. On Oct. 5, voters accepted a $49.25 million state appropriation that will be used towards the demolition and rebuild of Sandy Hook Elementary School where 26 people were killed in December of last year.
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — Svigals + Partners, based in New Haven, Conn., recently celebrated the opening of the new Goodwin College Early Childhood Magnet School in September. The school was created for students in Goodwin College’s growing child study and early childhood education programs to use as a laboratory space, according to Dean Alan Kramer.
The new school is a 34,000-square-foot structure housing young PK-K students. Fusco, based in New Haven, was the general contractor for the project.
