Pennsylvania lawmakers have introduced legislation to increase funding for school construction projects and Governor Wolf recently stated that he intends to include school construction funds in his 2020-2021 state budget proposal which will be released in early February.
A 2018 law required schools to conduct water quality tests and disclose the results to the PA Department of Education. The results revealed that over 100 school buildings across Pennsylvania show lead levels that exceeded the safe drinking water limit.
Most of the Commonwealth’s schools were built during the 1950’s and some even earlier. Cases of asbestos found in Pennsylvania schools are also not an uncommon occurrence. Even though steps were taken to correct the lead problems, adequate funding for school construction projects has been lacking in prior years. The coming months will show if the health and safety of PA’s students, teachers, and other school employees will be supported by increased funding through pending legislation and state budget negotiations.
