Generation 180 has a piece out today on how our coalition of elected officials, students, parents, and advocates came together to work with PGCPS to be a national leader in school climate action.
Check out and share the piece:
Category: News
We had a great time at the Prince George’s Green Summit in Hyattsville this Saturday. It was a great opportunity to talk about PGCPS’s Climate Change Action Plan, the progress being made, and how folks can get involved. Residents are excited to hear that composting is expanding to more schools and that an electric bus lot is being built. They are also concerned that schools are still being built in flood zones and want to see more climate-friendly food options.
Last month PGCPS released the second progress report on Climate Change Action Plan implementation (CCAP). Once agin they are showing great progress on many of the CCAP Focus Workgroup recommendations. Of course, there is always need for more on this very important issue and we will continue to advocate for full implementaiton.
Read the report here.
On May 11, we testified to the Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) on the need to develop regulations as directed by the General Assembly in Maryland Education Code Section 5-319 to require solar installation to be analyzed for new buildings and major renovations. The IAC was very receptive to our comments and even stated they are moving towards net-zero school construction. You can watch the video and read our written statement below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj7EqvjUOAY
Read the comments.
IAC’s response was excellent as well:
“The IAC is moving forward to implement, in coordination with all the other state agencies around the climate change requirements laid out in the recent Climate Solutions Now Act, as well as other statutes recently enacted. We are looking forward to pushing forward with all the LEAs around net-zero of which we are able to support with a 5% state share as well as solar for other projects in school facilities. This is all part of a larger movement forward. The IAC is fully on board with those actions.”
Unfortunately, climate champion and CEO of PGCPS, Dr. Monica Goldson is retiring at the end of the school year. The hiring process is underway for her replacement, and we need to act to make sure the new superintendent will continue her work on implementing the Climate Change Action Plan.
On April 26, County Executive Angela Aslobrooks is hosting a town hall to allow residents to speak on what they want to see in the new superintendent. We spoke out encouraging the hiring committee to ensure that the new superintendent continues Dr. Goldon’s leadership on school climate action and implementing the Climate Change Action Plan.
We also submitted written testimony that you can read here.
We had a great meeting this week with Director Shorter of Food and Nutrition Services, Pamela Boozer-Strother: Board Member PGCPS District 3, the William Schmidt Center, and several clubs at Eleanor Roosevelt High to discuss ways to have healthier, climate-friendly food in the schools and reduce food waste. There are no easy answers but PGCPS is taking this seriously.
Oh and EHRS has a great student led composting project going too! Go Raiders!
It was a beautiful day to be talking about the PGCPS Climate Change Action Plan at the Prince George’s County DOE Green Summit. We had a great time talking to residents and other organizations about the Climate Change Action Plan. It was exciting to spread the word and success.
We collaborated with the Climate Justice Wing to take the lead on submitting comments to the IAC on their Proposed 14.39.07 Public School Facilities Educational Sufficiency Standards (September 9, 2022).
On July 14, 2022 we testified to the Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) on the need for the IAC to update their rules and guidance to require school construction decisions to be made in light of full Life Cycle Cost Analyses (LCCAs) and the need to include Maryland’s statutory climate goal of net zero emissions by 2045 in its (LCCAs).
Watch the Testimony:
Read the Written Testimony Here.
CR-032-2022 – 2022-07-12 – Testimony – Climate Parents of Prince George’s
We submitted two sets of comments to the full Prince George’s County Council urging them to adopt the County Climate Action Plan. This plan is important for our work since the PGCPS Climate Change Action Plan was developed with this plan as a complement to the one developed by the County Council. You can read our comments here.
And the good news is that on July 12th the County Council passed the resolution adopting the Climate Action Plan in response to all of the positive comments submitted by the public.