At the PGCPS Board of Education Meeting on July 28 we provided the following testimony thanking the Board for their support of the work of the Climate Change Action Plan Focus Workgroup.
Chair Miller, Vice-chair Williams, and members of the Board I would like to thank you for this opportunity to address you this evening as the lead volunteer of Climate Parents of Prince George’s.
I would like to thank you for extending the time frame for completion of the Climate Change Focus Workgroup and for adding these three students to the Workgroup.
The Workgroup has been a huge success to date. In our fact finding we have learned of the importance of addressing equity and diversity in a final climate action plan and approaches for doing so. We have learned of how state and county legislation impacts climate planning for our schools and how we can affect it. We learned how to impact education of the climate in our curriculum. We also heard from the students directly, the students that need us to be successful. Next we will learn of how our climate plan will address staff and others in the unions.
While we had hoped to complete this work in time for FY22 that unfortunately was too quick. We do need to integrate our understanding of larger issues with the technological solutions available and the data that represents our school systems buildings, buses, grounds, and meals. We also needed the new group of students to participate since Asia and Nanette, whom have given amazing and thoughtful effort, are moving on to the next stage in their lives. We are thankful that you allowed the workgroup the necessary time, added the new student members, and are glad to see this strong leadership from the Board.