Scott Layne Named Chair of the Association For Learning Environments

San Diego — The Association for Learning Environments (A4LE) has named Scott Layne, ALEP, chair of its board of directors. Layne, who is the assistant superintendent for support services for the Irving Independent School District (ISD) in Texas, assumed the role at the LearningSCAPES Conference held Oct. 22-26.

At Irving ISD, Layne oversees facilities services, security, transportation, nutrition services, health services, technology, athletics, and construction.  After receiving his degree in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois, his career in public education began in the Katy Independent School District in 1982.  Six years later, he was named the director of school plant services for Midland ISD.  In 1991, he joined Irving ISD, where he has served as assistant director of maintenance and operations, director of maintenance and operations, and executive director of facilities before being named assistant superintendent in 2006.

An active member of A4LE since 1998, Layne has served as the 2003 president of the North Texas Chapter, and the 2007 president of the Southern Region.  He has served on the International Board of Directors since 2009.  In his new role as chair, he hopes to expand the association’s global reach.

“The Association for Learning Environments is as strong as our members,” he says. “I am confident that we will continue the great work that has brought us to this moment, and I know that we will forge new paths of excellence into the future.”

The Association for Learning Environments (A4LE), formerly the Council of Educational Facility Planners (CEFPI), is the only professional organization whose primary purpose is improving the places where children learn.  With approximately 4,400 members, A4LE encompasses six geographic regions across the United States, and supports regional representation in Canada, Australasia, and the UK.  A4LE embraces a collaborative network of professionals with one single goal – building healthy, safe, resilient and sustainable 21st Century learning places that inspire transformation in education, enhance student and teacher performance, and support culture and community vitality. To learn more, visit www.a4le.org.

Featured

  • Spaces4Learning Launches 2026 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey

    Spaces4Learning recently launched the 2026 Facilities and Construction Brief Survey, which collects data on the previous year’s K–12 and higher education construction projects nationwide.

  • Q&A: How to Prevent Kitchen Grease Fires in Commercial Kitchens

    School cafeterias and university dining halls serve thousands of meals daily, relying on high-heat equipment like fryers, grills, and ovens. While these operations keep students fed, they also generate significant grease-laden vapors. Without proper controls, this grease becomes a silent fire threat. As a certified exhaust cleaning specialist and business coach who has helped hundreds of institutional facilities achieve NFPA 96 compliance, I emphasize that proactive grease management isn’t optional; it’s a core fire/life safety practice.

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.

  • Opportunity by Design Framework

    Opportunity by Design

    Educational improvement efforts often focus on curriculum, instruction, assessment, professional development, and intervention systems while treating the physical school building as background. But school design is not a passive backdrop to learning — it is a structural lever for equity.