• Summary
• References

How old are America's public schools? How recently have public schools been renovated? Data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Fast Response Survey System (FRSS) can help answer these questions. In 1994, 1995, and 1996, FRSS surveys queried U.S. public school administrators about the age of their school buildings. The combined data from these 3 years can be used to help determine the average age of public schools, where the older and newer public schools are located, and whether school age is related to other school characteristics. Data from 1995, which include the date of each school building's last major renovation, make it possible to explore school condition and Internet accessibility.

In 1998, the average public school building in the United States was 42 years old. The mean age ranged from 46 years in the Northeast and Central states to 37 years in the Southeast (table 1). On average, schools located in the Northeast and Central regions of the country were older than those located in the Southeast and the West. Many of America's schools may be at an age where frequent repairs are necessary. According to Ornstein (1994), when a school is 20 to 30 years old, frequent replacement of equipment is needed. Between 30 and 40 years old, the original equipment should have been replaced, including the roof and electrical equipment. After 40 years, a school building begins to deteriorate rapidly, and after 60 years most schools are abandoned.

About one-fourth (28 percent) of all public schools were built before 1950, and 45 percent of all public schools were built between 1950 and 1969 (table 1). Seventeen percent of public schools were built between 1970 and 1984, and 10 percent were built after 1984. The increase in the construction of schools between 1950 and 1969 corresponds to the years during which the Baby Boom generation was going to school.

America's oldest schools have a higher proportion of children in poverty (table 1). Among schools with less than 20 percent of children eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch, 20 percent were built before 1950. Schools with larger percentages of children eligible for free and reduced-price lunch were more likely to have been built before 1950 (29 percent of schools with 20 to 49 percent of children eligible, and 34 percent of schools with 50 percent or more of children eligible). The age of a school and its size are also related. While 40 percent of small schools (enrollments of less than 300) were built before 1950, 23 percent of large schools (enrollments of 1,000 or more) were built before 1950.

In 1995, FRSS also collected data on the year that schools underwent their last major renovation. About three-fourths (73 percent) of schools reported having undergone at least one major renovation: 17 percent reported last undergoing a major renovation prior to 1980, 17 percent reported the last major renovation between 1980 and 1989, and 39 percent reported the last major renovation between 1990 and 1995 (table 2). Unlike the age of school buildings, the year since the last major renovation is not significantly related to the enrollment size, locale, or region (data not shown). Of the school buildings that had never undergone a major renovation, 50 percent were at least 25 years old in 1995.

A measure combining age of school and year of renovation represents a rough approximation of the "condition" of schools in 1995, assuming that all other building conditions were equal. Thus, schools built before 1970 and either never renovated or renovated prior to 1980 would be in the "oldest condition"--29 percent of all public schools fell into this category. Those schools built before 1970 and renovated in 1980 or later, or built between 1970 and 1984, may be considered to be in "moderate condition"--61 percent of all schools were in this category. The remaining schools, those built after 1984, are in the "newest condition"--10 percent of America's public schools fell into this category in 1995 (table 2).

The percentage of schools in the "oldest" condition (i.e., the 29 percent that were more than 25 years old and had not been renovated during the past 15 years) is of concern to educators and policymakers. While newer schools are more likely to be built with convenient connections to the Internet, there is reason for concern that schools in the "oldest" condition may be lagging behind in the nationwide push to connect all schools to the Internet by the year 2000. In fact, of schools in the "oldest" condition, 42 percent were connected to the Internet in 1995, whereas of schools in the "newest" condition, 59 percent were connected to the Internet (data not shown).

The condition of school buildings is related to both locale and region. Schools located in urban fringes were more likely to be in the "oldest" condition than schools located in towns (36 percent compared with 22 percent; table 3). Schools in the Central region of the country were more likely to be in the "oldest" condition than those in the Southeast region (36 percent and 21 percent, respectively). In contrast, schools in the West region were more likely to be in the "newest" condition than schools located in the Northeast and Central regions (15 percent compared with 5 and 6 percent, respectively). No differences were found among schools in the likelihood of being in the "oldest" and "newest" condition in terms of the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

A number of important findings regarding the age of school buildings were gleaned from the FRSS surveys:

• In 1998, the average age of public school buildings in the United States was 42 years.

• Almost half (45 percent) of U.S. public schools were built between 1950 and 1969.

• About three-fourths (73 percent) of school buildings reported having had at least one major renovation by 1995.

• In 1995, 59 percent of schools built after 1984 were connected to the Internet, compared with 42 percent of schools built before 1970 and renovated either before 1980 or not at all.