To the editor:
A common statement from those opposed to the bond referendum is that new buildings have nothing to do with the education, only the rooms student sit in. They assume this is an investment in buildings rather than anything that directly impacts students.
However, research supports that school facilities have a positive impact on student achievement and outcomes. With that knowledge why would we not improve our facilities and invest in our students?
Some may assume that once a student’s basic physical needs are met, the environment ceases to impact them. However, the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations found that several physical characteristics of schools directly or indirectly affect learning. These characteristics are the school’s external physical condition; internal physical condition (ex: HVAC system, lighting); security and safety; ambient environmental health (ex: air circulation, air quality, asbestos); physical classroom space (ex: lighting, acoustics, temperature control, design/arrangement); and psychological conditions (Ex: peeling paint, crumbling plaster, privacy).
Take a moment to measure these conditions against current century-old Greene County facilities. We are failing with regard to nearly every item on this list. Improved physical conditions, security, environment and spaces will impact our students positively with regard to their academic, physical, and mental health, and that makes this a wise investment.
A 2013 study conducted by the Journal of Facility Management found that in school buildings with sufficient environmental elements such as indoor air quality, ventilation, thermal comfort, day lighting, and classroom acoustics, school climate improves and students respond by producing higher academic outcomes. This reinforces that student success is related to overall school building condition. A large part of this success is due to the way the condition of a school’s facility sends a message to students, teachers, and administration about community concern for academic interests.
What message do our current facilities send? If you want to positively impact students, the message about how our county views education and its importance must change, and that makes this a wise investment.
US News and World Report supports this idea in a 2015 article examining the ways school infrastructure boosts student learning. Their research found that even seemingly minor issues such as weak air quality can lower student achievement. But how? Air is air, isn’t it? Not when it is filled with mold, bacteria, and other impurities that can negatively impact the way our students function.
The Center for Innovative School Facilities similarly found in 2015 that lighting, air quality, and noise impact student performance. Better lighting has been shown to impact health, behavior, and achievement in students. Air quality is tied to achievement as poor air circulation fills classrooms with dust, mold, bacteria, allergens, and higher carbon dioxide levels. Noise issues include background noise from outdated facility equipment and poor acoustics, which can lead to fatigue, irritation, and lost teaching time. As the Shive-Hattery needs assessment found Greene County Middle and Intermediate schools to have poor air quality and circulation, changing these environments will impact the very air our students breathe, and that makes this a wise investment.
Moving to two school buildings improves instruction for students. Currently, if students require accelerated courses, issues of logistics create a barrier to success. Middle School students must be bussed (at expense of both money and time) across town in order to take upper level courses. Special education services and consultants – such as speech pathologists or reading specialists – lose valuable time with students because they are commuting between multiple buildings. Art, foreign language, physical education, band, and choir teachers are shared between buildings and lose instructional contact because they are traveling all over the county. These instructional improvements impact students, and that makes this a wise investment.
Changing our facilities is an important step toward impacting our students. Physical environments, environmental elements, and improved instructional services all affect student outcomes and are a wise investment. These components have one thing in common – they cannot be accomplished within our existing infrastructure. We are choosing to invest in the future of Greene County through our YES vote. We hope you will join us in doing the same on Sept. 13.
Mark & Wendy Vander Linden , Jefferson
