Making the Grade: Navigating Funding Uncertainty in K-12 Schools
In 2021, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Infrastructure report card graded America's schools a D+. As we anticipate the 2025 report card's release, education facilities leaders hope to see an improved grade thanks to infrastructure projects and federal funding over the past four years.
However, new priorities by the Presidential administration could put this funding at risk, with proposed federal funding freezes and cuts to the Department of Education. For school leaders and facilities teams that rely on this funding, freezes or cuts present another roadblock in improving K-12 school infrastructure — an already daunting task. This budgeting squeeze is being felt by U.S. consumers as well, as a recent poll of 1,000 respondents reported that 59% don't believe their local public K-12 schools have the funding needed to repair aging schools.
No matter what the 2025 ASCE report card shows, or what happens within the federal government, school districts across the country must prepare for all possible funding scenarios by analyzing school asset and infrastructure conditions, understanding their funding needs, and developing a proactive maintenance strategy to stretch their funding dollars.
Analyzing and Ranking Asset Condition
Planning for upcoming school years with a smaller budget than anticipated can be daunting. Instead of operating from a place of fear, school leaders can take back some control by making a detailed list of each asset within the school or district they oversee and identifying which ones take priority.
While all assets are important, some take higher priority than others. For example, a new school gym or upgraded playground equipment are "nice to haves" compared to replacing an aging, beyond-repair roof or a 30-year-old HVAC system.
School leaders must evaluate each asset based on its age, current condition, maintenance history, and how it serves the safety and well-being of students and staff to understand where the true asset priorities lie. This analysis, which could be determined through a Facilities Condition Assessment (FCA), a comprehensive analysis of a facility and its assets, can then be used to determine what repairs and proactive maintenance must be done now versus what can be fully replaced in five to 10 years from now, which will support K-12 facility teams in optimizing budgets across the short- and long-term.
Validating Budgeting Decisions
Capturing asset condition information is critical for schools to balance both operational expenses and long-term capital planning needs. This is already a difficult and time-consuming challenge, but it can also be made worse by unexpected natural disasters, unplanned repairs, or regulations changes.
As K-12 facility teams are tasked with stretching budgets further and further, data from asset management software and visualization or asset lifecycle modeling capabilities can support the case for larger capital budgets. It can also support facilities teams in the face of unexpected disasters.
A relevant example is the Waco Independent School District (Waco ISD). In 2021, the G.W. Carver Middle School was destroyed by a fire two weeks before the fall semester and prior to the school's replacement. The district's insurance company reviewed coverage and offered $14 million for the replacement cost, but as Waco ISD had detailed information available about capital maintenance, updates, and repairs previously made to the building. The data highlighted that the offer wasn't enough to cover what was lost, and based on the data, the district received $22 million, an $8 million increase in insurance funding.
Having data on hand to back up any scenario — whether planned or unexpected — can validate budgeting decisions while offering transparency and accountability. And while capturing asset condition information is a heavy lift upfront, when changes are captured in real time in a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), this process will become easier in each following year.
Embracing Preventative Maintenance
Long-term capital planning is critical to optimize smaller budgets, but another important best practice to improving school infrastructure is preventative maintenance. A reactive "fix when it breaks" approach to asset health, or fixing buildings, boilers, HVACs, etc. when they break, is a Band-Aid approach.
When school facility leaders aren't scrambling to get additional funding or grants to fix failing assets, preventative maintenance keeps assets in their best shape and extends their useful life, ultimately saving money. As districts think about decreasing budgets, true asset lifecycle management can unlock funding for longer term capital planning.
As K-12 schools face funding uncertainty and school infrastructure challenges persist, school districts have an opportunity to rethink how they manage assets and allocate resources. Regardless of the 2025 ASCE Infrastructure Report Card outcome, schools that embrace a long-term, data-driven approach to asset lifecycle management and infrastructure planning will be more resilient and better positioned to continue providing safe learning environments.