New School Construction as a Catalyst for Sprawl

When faced with the decision to renovate an existing school building or build a large new one, many school leaders across the country are opting for the latter. But the decisions often have adverse effects on a town's sense of community or are not economically necessary . "Driven in part by concerns about stemming urban sprawl, in part by movements promoting smaller, neighborhood schools as antidotes to ailing educational quality, and in part by burgeoning concern over keeping community cores intact, many people are asking whether it makes sense to keep putting up large new schools on the edge of town."