Publications

As California increases efforts to promote a more sustainable, multi-modal transportation ecosystem, it is important to understand how different parcel uses, especially those that benefit from public funding, such as schools, determine parking requirements. Given California’s evolving approach to off-street parking provisions and the state’s funding of new school development projects, the amount of parking…

Amid fires, wildfire smoke, extreme heat, and other climate-driven disasters and health hazards, California’s leading experts in children’s health and education have come together to call for a cost-effective, ten year $150 billion investment to ensure K-12 public schools can remain open and provide safe and healthy places for California’s children to learn and grow….

Problem Statement: To support its policy goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in recent years, California has enacted land use and transportation policies aimed at reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT). One of these new policies, Senate Bill (SB) 743 (Steinberg, 2013), requires lead agencies to measure development impacts on VMT and identify feasible mitigation…

Public school districts across California struggle to upkeep and modernize their school facilities. For many districts, aging inventory, coupled with limited capital funding opportunities, has led to school facilities with ballooning deferred maintenance problems and classrooms that do not appropriately support modern instructional practices. These realities also work against California’s priorities for high quality, equitable…

Children born today will bear the brunt of the burden of climate change despite having the least responsibility for causing it. Growing calls to position climate change as a child’s rights crisis are rooted in research on the unique physical and mental health impacts that high temperatures, poor air quality, and stress associated with living…

Education Workforce Housing in California: Developing the 21st Century Campus, a new report and companion handbook from cityLAB, Center for Cities + Schools, and the Terner Center for Housing Innovation, provides a comprehensive overview of the potential for land owned by school districts to be designed and developed for teachers and other employees. Developed in…

As the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, rapidly spread across the globe in Spring 2020, one of the most widely implemented risk reduction measures utilized was to physically close all school buildings. Reopening America’s public schools for site-based instruction safely amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (without a vaccine) is remarkably complicated and hotly debated. Operating healthy school…

One way to serve healthier school meals is by incorporating “scratch-cooking” techniques, whereby many or most of the ingredients are prepared onsite from a raw and/or minimally processed form, into school food service programs. However, the vast majority of public school kitchens across the U.S. and in California are not designed and/or equipped to scratch…

A research report on the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) student assignment policy, which was designed to help with school choice to reverse the trend of racial isolation and the concentration of underserved students in the same school, and to provide equitable access to programs offered in the district.

In 2017, the California Department of Education (CDE) announced the “Small School District Assistance Initiative,” aimed at providing targeted assistance to small and rural school districts in the state. To aid CDE’s efforts, this study investigates the facility challenges and issues facing rural and small school districts in California. We utilize a mixed method approach to understand the capital investment…

California’s 6-million-student public school system includes a vast inventory of publicly owned buildings and property. All of these facilities need to be maintained and some need major renovations to ensure health, safety, and educational suitability. Some communities also need new school buildings to house a growing student population. Research suggests students learn better in classrooms…

The current housing affordability crisis in california, coupled with stagnant wages for teachers and school district staff, has contributed to high teacher turnover and widespread teacher shortages. In response, school districts have begun to develop employee housing programs as a strategy to recruit and retain high-quality teachers and staff. This study provides a detailed look…

Every day millions of elementary and secondary school children in the U.S. attend public school in deteriorated and obsolete facilities that harm their health and undermine achievement. Why? Because capital funding for public school facility infrastructure remains the most regressive element of public education finance. Policy brief by BASIC ([Re]Build America’s School Infrastructure Coalition

Vincent, Jeffrey M., Miller, Ruth, and Dillon, Lianne California Journal of Politics and Policy, vol. 9, no. 3 As California looks to implement a Health in All Policies approach into state decision making, and weave health, equity, and environmental sustainability into more policies, a better understanding of the relationship between school siting and walkability is…

Schools serving low-income communities of color are often in disrepair and untidy. The condition of a school’s facilities leads to student tardiness increasing their likelihood of not preforming well in class. Additionally, this blog argues that it makes students feel like they do not deserve to be in a clean school.

A joint report from the Center for Cities + Schools, 21st Century School Fund, Center for Green Schools, and National Council on School Facilities Our country’s elementary and secondary (PK–12) public school infrastructure is in crisis. Every day, millions of children in the U.S. attend public school in unhealthy, unsafe, educationally inadequate, environmentally unsustainable, and…

CC+S is partnering with the 21st Century School Fund, The Center for Green Schools, and the National Council on School Facilities to address the structural problems of inequitable and inadequate school facilities found in too many communities across the U.S. 

To inform state lawmakers on appropriate policies for K-12 school facility planning and design, this paper investigates standards in seven state policy areas (educational space, minimum essential facilities, indoor human comfort/environmental quality, school site size, planning process, maintenance, and charter schools) in ten case study states: California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York,…

Through this initiative, six national cross-sector working groups have developed a menu of solutions to guide government, industry, labor, and the civic sector in the delivery of high performance public PK-12 infrastructure for all children. The six working groups are organized around basic elements of a well-managed facilities program: Data and Information, Educational Facilities Planning,…

After decades of dedicated investment, state funding to assist local California school districts in the construction, modernization, and maintenance of their school facilities has come to a halt. Our analysis of school facility spending across California finds that, compared to industry standards, there is an ongoing, structural pattern of inadequate and inequitable spending in many…

K-12 public school facilities need regular investment to ensure student health and safety and support educational programming. Yet, the future of K-12 school facility funding in California is uncertain. A strong state-local partnership has existed that funded new construction, modernization, and other investments in public school facilities across the state since 1998, under the School…

This field report describes how high school students from Richmond, California used an innovative educational strategy called Y-PLAN (Youth – Plan, Learn, Act, Now) to actively participate in the planning and transformation of their school, neighborhoods and city. Our description follows students through the five-step YPLAN process, highlighting how they effectively challenged the ways in…

In many parts of the country it is difficult for families, particularly low- or moderate- income families to afford a suitable home in a transit-rich neighborhood with good schools. This report synthesizes the ideas and policy recommendations from a national convening of local, state, and federal stakeholders from across the country on innovative policy and…

Joint use of public school facilities is a complex but manageable approach to efficiently enhancing the services and programs available to students and supporting the community use of public schools. Building upon on our 2010 paper titled Joint Use of Public Schools: A Framework for a New Social Contract, this paper identifies the policy framework…

Access to safe, affordable, and convenient transportation shapes the ‘geography of opportunity’ for many children and youth. This study looks at how​localities across the country are implementing new and innovative alternative approaches to student transportation that expand regional transportation access for K-12 students, improve cost-effectiveness, and leverage inter-agency partnerships beyond the traditional yellow school bus.

The School Facilities Cost Calculator: A Joint-Use Tool for Fair Fees, a free tool that helps school districts and communities determine the costs of owning and operating their facilities and develop a fair and transparent joint-use fee structure, is now available in an interactive web-based format. The Cost Calculator includes rich data from nearly 15,000…

California lawmakers are debating the future of the state’s role in providing school construction and modernization funds to local school districts – a school facility funding role the state has played since 1947. Previous statewide school construction bond authority is exhausted. To inform this policy debate, our paper describes the role each of the 50 states plays…

Under California’s new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) K-12 funding system, Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) must address “school facilities in good repair. ” (as defined in California Education Code § 17002d). This webinar will give participants the knowledge and tools to actively participate in their school districts good repair plan. (Sponsored by The…

Despite the growing interest in expanding the joint use of K–12 public schools by public health and planning practitioners to promote healthy, sustainable communities, the topic has received little attention in the urban planning and public health scholarship. The objective of this article is to situate joint use in the academic literature focused on the…

SFUSD, like many districts, allows use of its classromms, gymnasiums, and other indoor facilities to external groups. But similar to other districts, SFUSD has struggled to apply use fees consistently, fairly and equitably. Building from the recommendations of the 2010 report, San Francisco’s Public School Facilities as Public Assets: A Shared Understanding and Policy Recommendations for…

On December 6, 2012, UC Berkeley’s Center for Cities & Schools, in collaboration with the California Department of Education, California Department of Public Health, Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, Strategic Growth Council, and Health in All Policies Task Force, brought together leaders from across California to discuss the alignment of important policy agendas: ensuring…

Schools trying to be integrated and serve their local communities often face a challenging question: Are “diversity” and “walkability” compatible? This summary document, drawn from a national dialogue among leaders in health and public education, with accompanying research, answers this question in the affirmative. The report highlights key obstacles and outlines the full range of factors that…

This report takes a comprehensive look at the state of K-12 school facilities in California, focusing on state-level policies and funding patterns. The recommendations lay out a detailed framework that re-envisions the state’s role in K-12 infrastructure to appropriately support educational quality and contribute to healthy, sustainable communities goals. Our hope is that this report…

This report presents research findings and policy recommendations from a year-long process involving a diverse stakeholder group to establish a more effective “joint use” strategy in San Francisco that supports students, families, schools and communities. The report includes: a) detailed descriptions and diagrams of current SFUSD facility policies and processes; b) findings on current utilization,…

Funded by the Council of Educational Facility Planners International, this study categorizes the types of joint use used by school districts utilized in California. We discern the challenges and lessons in joint use partnerships and make policy, procedural, and research recommendations to better support the joint use of public schools throughout the country.

This paper examines the connections between Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and families, schools, and expanding educational opportunities for all children. This paper is the first of its kind; therefore, we take an exploratory approach to understanding and framing these interconnections. We provide a rationale for the linkages at this nexus, highlight the Ten Core Connections between…

CC+S partnered with the California Strategic Growth Council and the California Department of Education to host an invited roundtable, bringing together local and state leaders together to discuss promising strategies for linking public schools to the creation of healthy, sustainable communities. Topics included, integrating schools into regional Sustainable Communities Strategies and local planning activities, school…

In this article, we measure the impacts of three public school construction regulations on the costs of construction in a model that incorporates a more comprehensive set of project and locality characteristics than previous research.

CC+S joins PACE (Policy Analysis for California Education) to explore California’s historic $82 billion school construction investment opportunity to advance educational quality and lift local communities. This report contributes to a new conversation about how mindful school construction decisions can enrich metropolitan areas and sustainable forms of regional development.

California’s ongoing school construction investment and innovations in public education, coupled with the new infrastructure planning approach in SB 375, create a strategic opportunity to make land use decisions that better support students, families, and communities.

CC+S testimony at the Joint Informational Hearing for the California Senate Committee on Housing and Transportation and the Senate Select Committee on State School Facilities: “Schools as Centers of Sustainable Communities: A Vision for Future School Facility Construction,” December 15, 2009.

CC+S partnered with the Local Government Commission and other members of the Ad-Hoc Coalition for Healthy School Siting to provide school facility planning and design policy recommendations to the California Department of Education (CDE). The Ad-Hoc Coalition for Healthy School Siting is a group of five entities across California that have analyzed research and policies…

While successful joint use partnerships can be found across California and the country, lack of information, guidance, and best practices keep many localities from pursuing this collaborative strategy. CC&S partnered with Public Health Law and Policy (PHLP) to conduct initial research on joint use school facility partnerships in California. Our report looks at joint use…

Over the past ten years, public education construction has seen unprecedented growth and California is among the front runners driving this trend. Rising costs, however, are increasing rapidly, impacting school districts’ ability to deliver the schools they are promising their constituents. This research report addresses the void in understanding school construction costs by addressing two…

In partnership with the California Department of Education, CC+S designed and facilitated a two-day roundtable (October 15-16, 2008), convening 75 national and state education and design leaders to explore the relationship between school design and learning and to generate recommendations for improved state policy on school design. From this “public research” event, CC&S crafted a…

This article discusses the ways in which schools affect urban development and transportation, acknowledging that their location, design, and physical condition may be some of the most important determinants of neighborhood vitality. As California continues to grow and the state continues to make significant investments in public school facilities, crafting a vision and strategic supporting…

CC+S and the American Architectural Foundation convened more than 40 policymakers and practitioners from across California to dialogue on the state’s massive ongoing investment in building new schools.

This study documented the growth in K-12 school construction and renovation spending across the country between 1995 and 2005. Our analysis finds disparities in spending by student incomes, neighborhood incomes, and race.

Our nation’s public schools are important elements of public social and physical infrastructure. The quality of cities depends on the quality of schools.