We are excited that at the January 13, 2022 PGCPS Board of Education Meeting Dan Daughtry-Weiss of Cheverly spoke in favor of having a PGCPS Sustainability Officer and the Climate Change Action Plan. You can share your story too. Sign up to testify.
On Thursday December 9, 2021 one of our volunteers spoke in favor of creating a position for a PGCPS Climate Officer (also called a Sustainability Officer) that would report to the CEO and work across the various departments to implement the forthcoming Climate Change Action Plan. There will be more opportunities to testify in January and February, so if you are interested please sign up here.
You can watch the testimony below:
While we expect a final Climate Action Plan will likely be final around Earth Day 2022 we need to get a head start on several issues. We need you to voice your support for a “Sustainability Officer” for PGCPS in the FY23 budget. That way when the plan is done there will somebody that can work across departments to make our plan a reality.
The opportunities to sign up to speak at Board Meetings happen quick so let us know if you can participate and we will let you know when to register. The next meeting we will need you to testify at is on January 13.
Today our work for 100% Clean Energy Schools was featured by Aspen Institute K-12 Climate Action Program as part of the rollout for their School Climate Action Toolkit through a blog post co-authored by Board Member Pamela Boozer-Strother and lead volunteer Joseph Jakuta.
As climate change has become a more pressing and visible issue over the past decade, one thing we have learned is that we have the solutions available. What we need is to bring people along, to listen, and to involve all stakeholders in finding the solutions that work for all of us. This is certainly true in school systems, which are deeply rooted in communities and are charged with preparing today’s students for the future.
Communities around the country – often led by youth and parent activists – have been advocating for schools, communities, and governments to take action on climate change. One way schools can address climate change is to reduce their carbon footprints by transitioning to clean energy….
Read the full post: https://k12climateaction.org/blog/community-engagement-is-necessary-to-decarbonize-schools
In case you missed it, the Climate Change Action Plan Focus Workgroup met on October 20 to discuss how the PGCPS new school construction process works, how the build Net Zero and its benefits, the current buildings in the PGCPS construction pipeline, and the challenges ahead.
We heard from special guests Reilly Loveland of the New Buildings Institute, Shawn Matlock, Director of Capital Programs, and Antoine Taylor, PGCPS Building Services Operations Supervisor.
The Prince George’s County Board of Education wants to know what parents, teachers, students, and residents think should be part of the school system’s climate action plan. Include your thoughts on equity, education, jobs, buildings, transportation, grounds, food, and waste. This will be the last chance to provide feedback before the Focus Workgroup starts drafting a plan. Fill Out The Survey by 10/31: http://bit.ly/pgcps-climate-survey
In case you missed it, the Climate Change Action Plan Focus Workgroup met on October 6 to discuss how the food production and distribution process works in PGCPS, the need for healthy, climate friendly food, composting pilot projects in PGCPS, the PGCPS recycling program, and the synthetic turf waste stream.
We heard from special guests Joan Shorter, Director of Food and Nutrition Services, Sara Gillespie, Maintenance Technician for Recycling, Antoine Taylor, and Diana E. Conway, President, Safe Healthy Playing Fields Inc. and Kathleen Michaels, PhD, Advocate, Safe Healthy Playing Fields Inc..
On Thursday September 9, 2021 the Board of Education held a public hearing on the Draft 2023-2028 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). We provided testimony on the need for all buildings, including those that use Alternative Construction Financing (ACF), need to be LEED Gold and use geothermal heating. A good number of members of the public also stressed the need for efficiency, healthy, green schools. It was great public testimony and keep telling PGCPS we need 100% Clean Energy Schools. You can also watch our testimony.
PGCPS is taking comments on the 2023-28 Capital Improvement Plan and we need to support PGCPS continuing to build schools with geothermal heating and cooling and that meet LEED Gold.
Register to Testify Sep 9 at 6PM: bit.ly/cppg-cip2021
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.