Deferred maintenance backlogs grow in Florida districts

From The Miami Herald: The boom-to-bust real estate cycle of the past 10 years, the recession and the mandate to reduce the number of students in classrooms all have contributed to a shortage of school funds in Florida. Miami-Dade, the nation’s fourth-largest school district, is broke in terms of capital dollars, according to its chief financial officer, and has at least $1.7 billion on its books for unmet capital needs and deferred maintenance. In Broward County, the nation’s sixth-largest school district, there are $1.8 billion in unmet facilities needs. In both districts, schools have old air-conditioning units, outdated electrical systems that don’t meet high-tech needs, leaky plumbing, peeling paint and aging roofs.

Also....from The Miami Herald: As people in Florida cut down their electricity and cable consumption — and drop their landline telephones for wireless smart phones — far less money is flowing into the Public Education Capital Outlay fund. That leaves public schools, colleges and universities on their own to address their aging roofs, leaky pipes and outdated air-conditioning systems.