School Building and Siting

“One thing is clear: As long as decisions about building versus renovating, about school size and school siting, are made simply on the basis of narrowly conceived—and, in some cases, misguided—cost formulas, school districts will continue to build big. For decades, these decisions were justified in part by the belief that larger schools resulted in better overall performance and that bigger schools produced economies of scale that translate into greater opportunities for students—better facilities, a broader curriculum, and more extracurricular activities. But a growing body of research suggests that small, community-centered schools outperform so-called megaschools. For example, studies show that smaller schools have lower drop-out rates and that students at larger schools are actually less likely to participate in extracurricular activities.”