Testifiers highlight urgent need for school facility assessments
Committee hearing focused on building maintenance, modernization
Education September 22, 2025 | 4:57 PM
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 22 – Continuing its effort to ensure Pennsylvania students and educators have safe and comfortable learning environments, the House Education Committee convened a public hearing Monday to find solutions from experts on how to improve school facility maintenance and modernization efforts.
“We had a robust discussion today with many school facility experts who shared insights into the urgent need for school renovations and upgrades. What we need right now is adequate and accurate information regarding current school building conditions,” said Education Committee Majority Chair Peter Schweyer (D-Lehigh). “The average age of a Pennsylvania public school is over 70 years old, and we need to know what issues need to be addressed so children and teachers can have safe and updated educational spaces.”
Testifiers highlighted positive programs and incentives utilized in recent years to address environmental hazards in school buildings, such as the Public School Environmental Repairs Grant Program and the Public School Facility Improvement Grant Program but recognized the need for full school assessments to fully understand the upgrades and construction needs for schools.
“Evaluations of building conditions must be conducted by experts familiar with educational settings to guide investments toward the greatest need,” said Jeremiah Woodring, American Institute of Architects, Pennsylvania. “Such standards help ensure we are providing solutions that best serve the communities impacted by outdated facilities.”
State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler also spoke at today’s hearing highlighting her legislation which would create a school facilities advisory committee and would allow Pennsylvania school buildings to undergo thorough assessments to learn what their exact conditions are and how the advisory committee would be able to assist schools in getting those issues resolved.
“In the last two state budgets, we’ve secured historic funding for basic education and school building repairs, but the next step is using that funding efficiently to address the highest-need schools. This legislation will help us move forward with projects quickly and make smart use of taxpayer dollars at the same time,” said Fiedler (D-Phila).
Today’s hearing can be viewed here, while testimony from this hearing and other committee hearings and informational meetings can be found here.