healthy schools

Vital Resources for Creating Healthy Schools

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published here, by Child Trends on January 31, 2019 and was written by the following authors: Jamie Chriqui, Victoria Stuart-Cassel, Deborah Temkin, Elizabeth Piekarz-Porter, Kristy Lao, Heather Steed, Kristen Harper, Julien Leider, Alexander Gabriel.

Child Trends partnered with the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago and EMT Associates, Inc. to review relevant state statutes and regulations enacted as of September 2017 and analyze their alignment with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model of healthy schools. This article compiles that research into a collection of great information and handy state-specific resources.

We think it’s vital to keep tabs on the pulse of all things related to charter schools, including informational resources, and how to support school choice, charter school growth, and the advancement of the charter school movement as a whole. We hope you find this—and any other article we curate—both interesting and valuable.


Using Policy to Create Healthy Schools: Resources to Support Policymakers and Advocates

A healthy school is one that fully supports a student’s academic, physical, emotional, and social well-being. Increasingly, state education policies are moving beyond a focus on academic mastery to include aspects of healthy schools. Despite a growing knowledge base that stresses important linkages among aspects of well-being, policies tend to address students’ physical health separately from their mental and emotional health, which are, in turn, both addressed separately from a school’s social and emotional climate. To date, reflecting the siloed nature of policies, no comprehensive analysis of state policies has covered all domains of healthy schools.

RELATED: Download this Foundations of a Healthy Building datasheet to learn to the nine foundations of a healthy school and how your school building affects student health, attendance, and performance. Learn how to transform your school building into an ideal space for your students, teachers, and staff to thrive.

As part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Together for Healthy and Successful Schools Initiative, Child Trends partnered with the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago and EMT Associates, Inc. to review relevant state statutes and regulations enacted as of September 2017 and analyze their alignment with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model of healthy schools. The WSCC covers 10 domains: health education; physical education and physical activity; nutrition environment and services; health services; counseling, psychological, and social services; social and emotional climate; physical environment; employee wellness; family engagement; and community involvement. Findings from this work are compiled in three products to help policymakers and advocates better understand the current landscape and consider the creation of policies that promote healthy schools:

A series of briefs describing states’ overall coverage of the WSCC and the comprehensiveness of each WSCC domain:

A series of cross-domain briefs that explore common policy approaches that bridge the WSCC framework (i.e., partnerships, student supports, and professional development)

State-by-state profiles detailing each state’s overall comprehensiveness, as well as details on how each state approaches selected topic areas from each WSCC domain:

Detailed data, including the associated statutory and regulatory language, are also available through the National Association of State Boards of Education’s State Policy Database on School Health.

Key Findings

We assessed each state’s coverage of the WSCC domains based on a set of topics identified through existing federal and NGO policy guidance. States were assessed as having no coverage, low coverage, moderate coverage, or comprehensive coverage based on the percentage of topics addressed in a given domain. States were then rated on the breadth and depth of their coverage of all 10 domains: deep (6 or more comprehensive domains), broad (8 or more moderate or comprehensive domains), limited (3 to 5 low domains), or weak (more than 6 low domains).

Ten states (AR, CO, CT, FL, IL, MN, MS, TN, TX, and WV) have both broad and deep coverage of the WSCC.

Twenty states have limited or weak coverage of the WSCC, covering only selected domains and topic areas.

Employee wellness has the least coverage across states; only one state (MS) comprehensively covers this domain.

Even for states that have broad and deep coverage, there is little integration between domains and topic areas. For example, two states (AR and CT) require schools to implement 11 different types of staff professional development around healthy schools. Identifying ways to integrate and coordinate professional development across multiple domains is critical to ensuring that schools adhere to such laws with fidelity.

Related Research

These products are part of a broader package of materials designed to help policymakers and advocates consider a more integrated approach to healthy school policies. Related materials include:

State Profiles

Please visit the original post for all of the individual state profiles.


Charter School Capital logoSince the company’s inception in 2007, Charter School Capital has been committed to the success of charter schools. We help schools access, leverage, and sustain the resources charter schools need to thrive, allowing them to focus on what matters most – educating students. Our depth of experience working with charter school leaders and our knowledge of how to address charter school financial and operational needs have allowed us to provide over $1.8 billion in support of 600 charter schools that have educated over 1,027,000 students across the country.

We believe school buildings are environments that – when designed properly – can help students thrive. That’s just one of the reasons we offer a broad suite of services to help you optimize your school’s learning environment. If you’re interested in learning how we can help you transform your school building into an ideal space that supports student (and staff) health, thinking, attendance, and performance, please contact us.

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charter school facilities

Charter School Facilities Program Overview

About Charter School Capital

Working exclusively with charter schools, we measure our success by the number of students we serve. Our team works with all sizes – and types – of charter schools to budget and plan for current needs and future growth – whether your school requires operational capital, growth funding, or facilities expansion. We partner with our clients so they can focus on what’s most important – educating students.

Long-Term Lease Financing

Our lease product allows schools to access funding through all stages of growth – from startup to expansion through maturity. Our transparent lease terms mean that there are no artificial incentives to seek refinancing – another great benefit. As a long-term partner, our team carefully evaluates each school’s unique operation to help them determine the revenue that can be committed to supporting facilities.

Benefits of Long-Term Lease Financing

  • Finances 100% of your total project cost
  • Retain control of your facilities
  • Enhancements of existing buildings and ground-up construction
  • Ensures long term affordability
  • Tenant improvements included in the financing
  • Customized to school specifications (blended learning model, traditional, etc.)

Charter School Capital Facilities Program Overview

As part of our ongoing support of charter school growth, our Facilities team assists charter leaders in finding appropriate real estate, providing long-term lease financing as well as managing leases and facilities development. We are building our portfolio specifically with charter school properties in order to service a niche market with niche needs. We currently own 42 school properties in 11 states, more than $350 million in assets.

Financing Approval Criteria

Our experienced team will support you every step of the way and answer any questions you may have.

  • Experienced school leadership
  • Proven and consistent track record of operational success
  • History of good academic performance
  • Stable or increasing enrollment
  • Strong community demand (student waitlists, expanding grades)
  • Sound financial performance
  • Lease payment target that’s less than 20% of total revenue
  • A healthy relationship with the school’s authorizer
  • Solid and engaged Board of Directors

Download the PDF of this content here.

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The Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facility Financing:
Thinking about a new facility for your charter school or enhancing your current one? This guide shares straightforward and actionable advice on facilities planning, financing options, getting approved, choosing a partner, and much more! Download it here.

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How Does Your School Building Impact Student Health, Attendance, and Performance?

A large body of research has demonstrated that school buildings can influence student success. In Schools for Health, Foundations for Student Success: How school buildings influence student health, thinking, and performance by Harvard School of Public Health, researchers identify nine foundations of a healthy school:

  1. Ventilation
  2. Thermal Health
  3. Lighting and Views
  4. Air Quality
  5. Moisture
  6. Dust and Pests
  7. Water Quality
  8. Safety and Security
Grow Schools Healthy School Foundation
  • As of 2019, there were up to 13.8 million missed school days each year due to asthma.
  • Kids can face adverse environmental exposures associated with building decay, such as water damage, mold growth, poor plumbing, and legacy pollutants that persist in the environment.
  • Common indoor air pollutants in schools have been associated with acute, chronic health effects. Elevated CO2 levels in classrooms have been linked to increased student absence.
  • Thermal conditions can impact focus and performance. Low absolute humidity has been associated with increased transmission of seasonal influenza outbreaks, leading to absenteeism.
  • Students in schools with the noisiest types of HVAC systems were found to underperform on student achievement tests.
  • Students’ perceived sense of security can impact their mental health, engagement in school activities, and academic achievement.
  • Allergens common in schools can affect student attendance, comfort, and performance.
  • Students exposed to blue-enriched white light in the morning have shown faster cognitive processing speed and better concentration performance.
Grow Schools Healthy School Benefits
Resources for Building Upgrades

The scientific evidence presented in the Harvard study represents only a fraction of the vast body of research supporting the need to upgrade and improve school buildings.

The good news is that when schools take action, tangible results follow. Here are more resources to help you if you’re starting a building renovation project.



If you feel that finding the perfect facility for your charter school seems like a huge, complicated undertaking, you’re in good company. Across the U.S., facilities are, by far, the greatest challenge faced by charter schools. Planning and financing any facility project is complex, time consuming, and has the potential to distract your team from its core mission: serving your students. Check out these five key considerations when considering charter school facility financing.

1. Before you do anything else, understand what you can afford.

Take the time to understand your revenue and expenses. Knowing what you can afford for rent will inform how much you can borrow for your new facility or facility expansion.

2. Plan at least a year ahead.

Any kind of facility expansion will involve quite a lot of effort and likely involve your entire team. The range of burden varies, but moving staff, students, furniture, and equipment is an enormous undertaking. If you’re renovating your current facility, you still need to plan ahead so your programs aren’t disrupted.

3. Look at market trends

The charter school market boils down to this: Plenty of kids want to attend charter schools, but there just aren’t enough seats, classrooms, and schools to serve all of them. Looking at market trends, money is cheaper than it was a decade ago or even five years ago, but interest rates have actually been rising over the last few years and are expected to continue to rise even more. The Federal Reserve Board is always analyzing the effect of interest rates on inflation and economic growth and has the ability to raise or lower them at any time. Changing interest rates affect every aspect of the capital markets.

4. Reconcile your dreams with your budget realities

Three key considerations here are:

  • Requirements: Everyone wants a school that they can be proud of, but that isn’t as important as having a facility that enables you to meet your academic mission, fulfill the promises made in your charter, and meet your charter’s enrollment goals in the near term. So, go back to your mission and your board of advisors and dive deeply into what your facility must have to carry out your mission. Science lab for a STEM school? Auditorium or music room for a performing arts school?
  • Curb Appeal: What are the minimum requirements needed to attract enough families to meet your enrollment goals? The way your facility looks isn’t as important as what it can do—but it’s still important. Depending on the area, the way a school looks can have a significant impact on student enrollment, and enrollment numbers drive operating revenue, which in turn affects the quality of your academic programs.
  • Budget: Taking into account revenue and financing streams, what can you afford? Getting prequalified is the key first step in the process of renovating, expanding, or finding a new facility.

5. Understand the financing options available to your school

There are four main types of financing that charter schools use to finance facilities:

  • Cash
  • Investment Banks
  • Bonds
  • Long-term Leases

Your financing options may expand as your school matures. After a school secures its first charter renewal, more options become available, and the more conservative players in the capital markets begin to feel more confident about participating.
Depending on your school’s specific situation, one option may be the obvious best choice, or maybe you’ll need to weigh the pros and cons of a few different options. For each option, compare and contrast the amount of funds you’ll spend up front and annually to get the facility that you need. The time and opportunity costs associated with each option can vary widely, with bonds generally on the high end and long-term leases on the low end. Some transactions can take six to 12 months; a long-term lease typically takes between 60 and 90 days.

Charter school facility financing is complex, that’s why it’s so important to find the right funding partner to help guide you through the process and help you succeed. Charter School Capital has years of experience in navigating the unique needs and challenges of charter schools and has helped schools achieve their facility goals using each of those methods—and our team of dedicated charter school experts will help you see which solutions might be best for your school’s situation. Connect with one of our charter school advisors to learn how we can help you achieve your goals.

If you’re still feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry, we’ve developed a manual to cover our perspectives on the charter school facilities landscape market and provide you with practical and actionable advice on planning and realistically balancing your team’s facility dreams with budget realities. We also cover in-depth the four primary funding structures that charter schools use to finance facilities mentioned above: cash, banks, bonds, and long-term leases.

Download this guide to get a deeper dive into the five keys to charter school facilities financing we’ve mentioned in this blog post.



The Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facility Financing:
Thinking about a new facility for your charter school or enhancing your current one? This guide shares straightforward and actionable advice on facilities planning, financing options, getting approved, choosing a partner, and much more! Download it here.

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charter school facilities financing
 

Your Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facilities Financing

If you clicked from somewhere to read this blog post, you probably already feel that finding charter school facility financing finding or locating the perfect facility for your charter school is a huge, complicated undertaking. Not to worry, you’re in good company. We understand that most charter school leaders aren’t financial or real estate experts, and for a good reason—you’re focused 100% on educating children. And, you want the best for them. Planning and financing any facility project is complex, time-consuming, and has the potential to distract your team from its core mission: serving your students.
Across the U.S., accessing charter school facilities is, by far, the greatest challenge faced by charter schools. In addition, planning and financing any facility project is complex,time-consumingg, and has the potential to distract your team from its core mission: serving your students.
We’ve created this manual to share our insights and perspectives on the charter school facilities landscape market and also share advice on planning—and realistically balancing—your team’s facility dreams with budget realities.
In it, we also cover the four primary funding structures that charter schools use to finance facilities: cash, banks, bonds, and long-term leases.
It can indeed be a complicated endeavor and that’s a key reason as to why it’s so important to find the right funding partner to help guide you through the process and help you succeed. Charter School Capital is 100% dedicated to charter schools and has years of experience in navigating the unique needs and challenges they face. We have helped schools achieve their facility goals using each of those methods—and we’ll help you determine which options might be the best fit for your school’s unique situation.
Over the past ten years, we’ve invested almost $2 billion in more than 600 charter schools to help them grow, finance facilities, and achieve academic excellence and operational stability. We view ourselves as a long-term partner of charter schools and a strong advocate of the charter school movement.
Download this free guide to get all of your facilities questions answered!
In it, you’ll get straightforward, actionable advice on:

  • Facilities planning
  • Financing options
  • Getting approved
  • Choosing a partner
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Charter School Capital logoIf you are trying to meet operational expenses, expand, acquire or renovate your school building, add an athletic department, enhance school safety/security, or even buy new technology, complete the online application below and we’ll contact you to set up a meeting. Our team works with you to determine funding and facilities options based on your school’s unique needs and mission. Contact us, we’d love to get to know you.

 Charter School Facilities

Learn the Five Essential Steps to Charter School Facilities Planning

Charter school facilities planning can be daunting. We’ve created this handy checklist as a starting point to help you move towards realizing your facility expansion or relocation goals. We understand that the planning and financing of any facility project are complex, time-consuming, and have the potential to distract your team from its core mission: serving your students. Download this manual to get concrete, actionable steps for success!

The 5 Essential Steps to Charter School Facilities Planning

If you think that finding the perfect facility for your charter school seems like a huge, complicated undertaking, you’re in good company. This handy, information-packed guide, will help as you move towards realizing your facility expansion or relocation goals.
In it, we cover these five essential charter school facility planning steps—in detail:
Charter School Facilities Planning

  1. Plan – Begin planning at least one year in advance
  2. Fund – Understand your options to make savvy decisions
  3. Acquire – You know what you can afford and how you’ll pay for it … now go get it
  4. Design – Partner with experts to design your new space
  5. Execute – Let the construction begin and get ready to move in
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Facilities Financing

Your Facilities Financing Journey with Charter School Capital

We are 100% dedicated to the charter school space and measure our success by the number of students we serve.
We’ve created this infographic to show you what a typical facilities funding journey with Charter School Capital looks like. Our team works closely with you to find innovative solutions to your facilities challenges. We pride ourselves on having the ability to be as creative, flexible, and innovative as possible to meet your specific needs so you can focus on your mission — educating students. You can download a PDF of the infographic here!
We are so excited to share this new infographic with you, so let us know what you think!
Facilities Financing

Charter School EnergyProudly Announcing Our New Charter School Energy Program!

We are so proud to announce the official launch of our newest program exclusively for charter schools, Charter School Energy Powered by BioStar Renewables program.
We’re always listening to our school partners to better understand how we can best serve your needs and help you succeed—this new program was designed to do just that. With Charter School Energy Powered by Biostar Renewables, we are now able to offer access to energy efficient and renewable energy solutions for your school building.
These upgrades are designed to not only improve the learning environment for your students but also dramatically reduce your utility and maintenance expenses—positively impacting your bottom line. If you are interested in learning more details about this program, please visit our Charter School Energy page.
Charter School Energy is a full-service energy upgrade program with flexible financing options that enable school leaders to greatly reduce energy costs and enhance student learning environments through improved lighting, HVAC and thermostat upgrades and building controls. Renewable solutions such as solar allow the school to offset some or all of the building’s remaining energy consumption.
As always, we would welcome the opportunity of working with you to find sustainable solutions for your school’s success. Contact our team of dedicated professionals to learn how you can now access energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions for your charter school building.


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public school facilitiesCharter School Students Deserve Access to Quality Public School Facilities

Editor’s Note: This post was originally written by Nina Rees on October 18, 2018. Nina Rees is the president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and former deputy assistant for domestic policy to Vice President Dick Cheney. Follow her on Twitter @Ninacharters.
Though charter schools are public schools, supported by state and local tax dollars, they don’t usually have the same access to public school buildings, let alone funding for new facilities. Unfortunately, even when district-owned buildings are underused or completely abandoned, districts don’t like to give, sell, or lease them to charter schools, which are viewed by much of the educational establishment as their competitors.
Read on to learn about some potential solutions to this issue and what can be done to ensure that all students, both from traditional public district-run schools and public charter schools have access to school facilities that provide optimal learning environments for our nation’s children.
We think it’s vital to keep tabs on the pulse of all things related to charter schools, including informational resources, and how to support charter school growth and the advancement of the charter school movement as a whole. We hope you find this—and any other article we curate—both interesting and valuable.


Public school buildings belong to public school students — including charter students

As children conclude their first weeks of school across America, how do you envision their school buildings? The traditional brick-front building with big windows and rows of tidy desks? A more modern structure with laptops at workstations and a dual-use gym and theater?
How about an abandoned big box store in a strip mall?
For charter school students in many states, this last option is too familiar. Even though charter schools are public schools, supported by state and local tax dollars, they don’t usually have the same access to public school buildings, let alone funding for new facilities. As a result, they must dip into funds that would otherwise be used for instruction to pay for rents or mortgages. While charter schools are safe havens for learning, they don’t always have the amenities that one would typically associate with a school. Gyms, libraries, even cafeterias aren’t guaranteed for charter school students, because the schools are often located in buildings that were never designed to educate children.
Many students in district-run schools are learning in outdated spaces. But unlike most charter schools, district-run schools have free access to public buildings, and public financing options are more easily available to them. They get direct support from their state or community, or they can issue bonds that offer tax advantages to buyers, while taxpayers foot the bill for the added debt. Additionally, school districts usually maintain large inventories of school buildings that can be renovated to accommodate growing school enrollments. Charter schools rarely have these options.
Adding to the challenge is that school districts tend to be parsimonious with their own buildings. Even when district-owned buildings are underused or completely abandoned, districts don’t like to give, sell, or lease them to charter schools, which are viewed by much of the educational establishment as competitors. The anti-charter behavior can get so extreme that some school districts have not only refused to sell or rent school buildings to charter schools, but they’ve also attached legal riders that prevent private buyers from selling or renting their buildings to charter schools. Better to convert those old classrooms into condos than to allow a growing, high-demand charter school to teach students in them.
Some states, however, are rising to the challenge and giving charter schools a fair shake. Nine states include charter schools in district capital planning and bond issuance. However, existing efforts don’t even come close to meeting the estimated $375 million in additional funding needed annually to meet the facilities needs resulting from increased parental demand for charter schools.
With the need so great, state governments, the federal government, and private investors can all be part of the solution.
Every state should give charter schools the first right to unused district facilities. Public school buildings no longer needed by a school district should be used by other public schools — i.e. charter schools — if those schools need the space. Opposition to that is simply unjustifiable.
States could also provide facilities funding to charter schools in the form of a per-pupil facilities allowance, establishing a state grant program for charter school facilities, and requiring that charter schools be included in school district bonding and mill levy requests.
The federal government can help, too. Several federal programs exist to help charter schools access facilities, but funding is limited both numerically and geographically. Other programs require technical financial expertise that may be beyond the reach of local school founders. Many current programs are inaccessible to all but the largest charter school networks.
Support for charter schools is a rare issue that President Trump and congressional leaders of both parties agree on. The federal government can use public funding to incentivize better state policies, or private investment — for instance, by enabling the sale of charter school infrastructure bonds and notes to investors in the capital markets, in the same way, that other tax-advantaged bonds and notes are sold. The newly enacted Opportunity Zone tax incentives may provide help for charter schools that open facilities in the most economically distressed parts of the country, but it depends on investors willing to create funds that will invest in charter schools.
There are many possible solutions to the charter school facilities funding challenge, but action is needed now. Millions of parents want to choose their child’s school but can’t because a lack of facilities funding limits charters’ growth. And too many charter school students and teachers are making the best of inadequate facilities that lack essential school features. With smart investments now, policymakers can help more students start future school years in buildings designed for learning.



The Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facility Financing:
Thinking about a new facility for your charter school or enhancing your current one? This guide shares straightforward and actionable advice on facilities planning, financing options, getting approved, choosing a partner, and much more! Download it here.

GET THE RESOURCE

 

charter school facilities fundingCharter School Facilities Funding: It’s Time to Fill the Gap

Editor’s Note: This content originated here and was posted by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Across the U.S., facilities are, by far, the greatest challenge faced by charter schools and accessing a school building is often the biggest obstacle in expanding charter school options. And, it’s one of the main reasons we have over one million students sitting on charter school waiting lists. Most charter school leaders have to jump over serious hurdles to cobble together the charter school facilities funding to provide their students with an adequate school building. It’s time to fill the gap in public school funding.


charter school facilities funding


Note: The following content is also from The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools on September 18, 2018, and was originally published here.

Here are the five things we think you need to know about charter school facilities:

Charter schools rarely have access to taxpayer-funded facilities, even when they’re vacant.
Taxpayers own public school buildings and they should be available to all public school students, but that’s not the reality. Unlike district schools, charter schools don’t have an inventory of buildings to choose from. And in many places – like Detroit, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis – districts refuse to allow charter schools to lease or purchase buildings even when they’re vacant. As a result, you can find charter schools operating in shopping malls, office buildings, repurposed factories, or co-located with other schools.
Charter schools on average spend about 10% of per-pupil funding on facility space.
While some charter schools access federal or state programs these initiatives have limited funding and reach. They don’t work for all charter schools. Moreover, many of these programs simply reduce the cost of borrowing money – schools still need to cover the debt which shifts much needed funds from the classroom and to the building.
Charter school facilities often lack amenities like gymnasiums, libraries, or science labs.
Specialized instructional spaces, such as science labs, libraries, and computer labs, are an important part of a comprehensive educational program, but about 40 percent of charter schools do not have the right amenities or specialized classrooms to best implement their educational model.
Access to school buildings is one of the biggest obstacles to expanding charter school options.
Charter school leaders report that lack of access to adequate facilities is one of their primary concerns and one of the biggest barriers to growth. In fact, nearly one in five charter schools had to delay their opening date by a year or more due to facilities related issues. Even celebrities can’t avoid the facilities challenge.
5 million parents want to send their child to a charter school, but don’t have the option.
Based on parent demand, estimates suggest that the potential number of charter school students is 8.5 million – almost three times larger than today’s actual enrollment. Thirty percent of parents surveyed would be interested in sending their child to a charter school, with 10 percent saying that a charter school would be their top choice. Of interested parents with charter schools in their community, over half cited access problems – such as the school is too far away or has a wait list – as the reason their children do not attend a charter school.
Learn more about the facilities challenge many charter schools face and help ensure charter schools can open their doors to students!



The Ultimate Guide to Charter School Facility Financing:
Thinking about a new facility for your charter school or enhancing your current one? This guide shares straightforward and actionable advice on facilities planning, financing options, getting approved, choosing a partner, and much more! Download it here.

GET THE RESOURCE