For 85 years, schoolchildren in Kokomo, Ind., have been learning their ABCs inside the familiar brick walls of the 280-student Howard Elementary School. But that's a tradition that may soon be coming to an end. Like many other older school buildings, Howard is slated to be torn down and its students sent to a brand-new, larger school nine miles away. With 24,000 American schools now more than 50 years old, a move toward new construction is hardly surprising. But some critics say existing policies and attitudes make destruction of the old buildings almost inevitable.
Many observers say that makes sense.
Education and demographic patterns have changed, they argue, and new school construction can offer benefits like sophisticated technology, better athletic facilities, and air conditioning. More families also live outside town centers, where there is often more land available, allowing for construction of larger campuses. But others argue that the old schools were better and more attractively constructed. Also, they are often centrally located in communities and tend to be smaller, something increasingly considered a plus. Kokomo's Howard School is a traditional structure but has been upgraded to include a satellite system and high-speed computer access lines.