Findings point to need for asset investment planning to address funding challenges

A recent study from Brightly Software, a Siemens company and leader in intelligent asset management solutions, found that the majority of Americans believe their local, public K-12 schools lack the funding required to repair (59%) or replace (66%) aging school infrastructure. The poll of over 1,000 U.S. consumers also indicates that while 52% of respondents feel their community’s public K-12 schools have the resources to serve students, only 22% are confident their schools maximize those resources effectively.

“While our communities recognize that our country’s public K-12 institutions don’t have the funding to support aging infrastructure, they believe schools could be doing more with what they do have,” said Katie Gramajo, senior education industry expert at Brightly Software. “School buildings and facilities, like any physical asset, only continue to depreciate without appropriate maintenance, and waiting until problems reach a critical point leads to costly repairs that disrupt the learning environment. By implementing capital planning, school officials can avoid emergency situations, maximize budgets and make decisions that keep our schools running far into the future.”

Additional insights from the study include:

• Passing Grades for School Conditions... for Now: 35% of respondents graded their local, public K-12 schools’ building conditions and infrastructure a “B”, while 1 in 5 gave a “C” rating. However, only half (51%) believe their local school district knows the age and condition of their facilities. Despite these ratings, 56% are “somewhat confident” their local schools could manage a natural disaster. While our communities believe school buildings are in decent shape, they admittedly lack knowledge of the true age or condition of the facilities.
• Quality Facilities Create Quality School Districts: Almost half (46%) of respondents believe the quality of facilities is an important decision when evaluating district quality, and 44% would consider alternative education options due to the condition of a school’s infrastructure.
• Lack of Long-Term Planning: 61% believe their local town or city does not have a long-term facilities plan in place to maintain or upgrade infrastructure. Similarly, 64% are not confident their local schools have the data to make informed decisions about these upgrades.
• Low Confidence in Sustainability Programs: 78% of respondents do not feel confident their schools are energy efficient, and 55% don’t know if their local schools have a sustainability program in place at all. 53% of respondents believe their town or city governments should prioritize infrastructure improvements over sustainability initiatives.

“We’re at an inflection point in America with school registrations decreasing and schools closing across the country due to infrastructure failure or devastating impacts from natural disasters. As we look ahead to the 2024-2025 school year, it’s critical for our local, public K-12 schools to prioritize long-term capital planning so our schools remain safe and functional for generations to come,” says Nigel Hughes, head of product at Brightly Software. “We’re proud to support our country’s educational institutions in making data-driven decisions that not only optimize asset lifecycles and budget allocation but promote a safer, healthier learning environment for all.”

Brightly Software works with schools across K-12, private institutions and colleges and universities to forecast outcomes on spending and deferred maintenance decisions and support smarter maintenance, planning and budgeting. Organizations like the Baltimore City Public Schools and Waco Independent School District rely on Brightly Software to maintain safe and effective learning environments for tens of thousands of students. The company was recently recognized as “a Leader” in the Verdantix Green Quadrant®: Asset Investment Planning Software 2023 report.

Learn more about Brightly Software’s suite of education-related solutions, here. View more findings from the data, here.

About the Study

This survey was conducted via Dynata and polled 1,000 general U.S.-based consumers over 18 years of age in April 2024. Respondents were segmented and analyzed across age groups, gender, marital status, having children and household income. For complete survey methodology, please email Brightly@pancomm.com.

About Brightly Software

Brightly Software, a Siemens company, enables organizations to successfully manage the entire lifecycle of their assets, facilities and infrastructure. As the global leader in intelligent asset management solutions for more than 25 years, Brightly’s sophisticated cloud-based platform is expertly designed to improve capital planning through smarter, data-driven decision making, empower technicians to predict, prioritize and manage preventative maintenance activities, and support organizations to achieve sustainability, compliance and efficiency goals. Combined with award-winning training, legendary support and managed services, more than 12,000 clients worldwide depend on Brightly to optimize their teams, operations and strategic planning initiatives. For more information, visit brightlysoftware.com.

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