Smart Growth and Schools

EPA Resources
Other Publications
Presentations
Organizations

Over the next few decades, thousands of schools around the country will be built and renovated. Where and how schools are built will profoundly affect the communities they serve and the quality of their air and water. While a first-rate education in a safe facility must always be the primary consideration when making school spending decisions, a growing number of communities are using these investments to meet multiple goals -- educational, health, environmental, economic, social, and fiscal.

Many communities that are reevaluating their growth patterns are also assessing how and where they spend their education dollars. Investments in schools both respond to and influence growth. Although challenging, the boom in school construction offers an unprecedented opportunity to improve the quality of schools and communities together, by applying the principles of smart growth to educational facility planning. Smart growth development:

conserves resources and land;
offers choices in housing, transportation, shopping, recreation, and jobs;
encourages community collaboration; and
fosters distinctive, attractive neighborhoods.

Educators who support community-centered schools share many of these principles. A school that is safe and easy for students, teachers, parents, and other community members to reach on foot or by bicycle helps reduce the air pollution from automobile use, protecting children's health. Building schools compactly and in the neighborhoods they serve minimizes the amount of paved surface they create, which can help protect water quality by reducing polluted runoff.

EPA Resources

Decisions about school construction and renovation have profound implications for towns, cities, and counties nationwide. This publication takes a look at trends opportunities, and impacts schools have, and the positive role planners and planning commissioners can play. Also includes insights on how to breach the wall of separation that too often exists between planning and school boards. This publication was produced and distributed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in partnership with the Planning Commissioners Journal. The content of this publication is from the Planning Commissioners Journal special focus issue on schools and planning, published in October 2004.

To receive a FREE HARD COPY, send an email to Tim Torma (torma.tim@epa.gov).

Schools for Successful Communities: An Element of Smart Growth (PDF) (54 pp, 2.1MB, about PDF)
Council of Educational Facility Planners International and U.S. EPA, September 2004. EPA-231-R-04-003. Hard copies available by calling (800) 490-9198.
This publication explains why and how communities can employ smart growth planning principles to build schools that better serve and support students, staff, parents, and the entire community. Each community should use its education dollars to fulfill academic considerations and to express the values and vision of the community. When school districts collaborate with community leaders to find a location for a school, the community benefits socially, environmentally, and economically. This publication helps communities invest in schools that will give children the best possible education, use taxpayer dollars wisely, and improve the quality of life for all citizens.

Travel and Environmental Implications of School Siting, U.S. EPA, October 2003. EPA-231-R-03-004. Hard copies available by calling (800) 490-9198.
This study provides important information about how the location of a school affects how its students get to it. It shows that school siting and design can influence traffic congestion, air pollution, school transportation budgets, and children's health and obesity. This research provides a basis for making sound school investment decisions that will lead to the kind of high-quality schools and neighborhoods we all desire.

For more information on the EPA's resources to help address and resolve environmental issues in schools, including information on chemical use, design and construction, indoor air quality, waste reduction, drinking water, energy efficiency, environmental education, and many other topics, please visit the EPA Schools Web site.

Top of page

Other Publications

"Build Smart" (PDF) (561K) , Barbara McCann and Constance Beaumont, American School Board Journal, October 2003

Creating Communities of Learning: Schools and Smart Growth (PDF) (3MB) , Ellen Shoshkes, Ph.D., Education Law Center, April 2004

Dollars and Sense: The Cost Effectiveness of Small Schools , Barbara Kent Lawrence et al., KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2002

"Edge-ucation" , Rob Gurwitt, Governing, March 2004

Education and Smart Growth: Reversing School Sprawl for Better Schools and Communities (Translation Paper #8) , Sam Passmore, Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, March 2002

Hard Lessons: Causes and Consequences of Michigan's School Construction Boom , Mac McClelland and Keith Schneider, Michigan Land Use Institute, February 2004

Local Governments and Schools: A Community-Oriented Approach (PDF) (40 pp, 855 K) , ICMA and Smart Growth Network, 2008.

Public Schools and Economic Development: What the Research Shows , Jonathan D. Weiss, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2004

Public Schools: A Toolkit for Realtors® , Carol Everett, Karen Lee Ryan, and Stephen Smith, National Association of Realtors®, 2005

School Buildings and Community Building (PDF) (5 pp, 640K, About PDF), Tim Torma, EPA, in The Commissioner, American Planning Association, 2007

Schools as Centers of Community: A Citizen's Guide for Planning and Design , Steven Bingler, Linda Quinn, and Kevin Sullivan, National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, Building Educational Success Together, Council of Educational Facility Planners International, Coalition for Community Schools, October 2003

Schools, Community and Development: Erasing the Boundaries (PDF) (300K) , Tony Proscio, The Enterprise Foundation, 2004

"Smart Growth for Better Schools," On Common Ground , Winter 2005

Top of page

Presentations

Video Presentation: School Buildings and Community Building , presentation by Tim Torma, EPA's Development, Community, and Environment Division, at the 3rd Annual Safe Routes to School State Coordinators National Meeting, May 13, 2008. Please note: This session requires the free Adobe Flash Player and begins playing automatically.

School Siting: The Elephant in the Living Room? (PDF) (29 pp, 1.6MB) presentation by Tim Torma, Acting Director of the Development, Community, and Environment Division, EPA, National Bike Summit, March 5, 2008

"The State of Schools" (PDF) (150 pp, 21MB) , presentation by Richard Baron, Chairman and CEO, McCormack Baron Salazar, New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, January 28, 2005

"Smart Schools and Smart Growth" (PDF) (45 pp, 7MB) , presentation by Tim Torma, Policy Analyst, U.S. EPA, New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, January 28, 2005

"Segregated Schools, Segregated Neighborhoods: What's the Smart Growth Solution?" - Part 1 (PDF) (10 pp, 2.3MB) Part 2 (PDF) (1 pg, 54K) , presentation by Eric Pinckney, New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, January 29, 2005

"The Action Plan for Smart Growth and Public Health: We Owe it to Our Kids!" (PDF) (137 pp, 20.3MB) , presentation by Dr. Howard Frumkin, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, January 29, 2005

Top of page