A New Website For the Climate Ready Schools Coalition

In the spring of 2022, a group of education, climate, health, youth, and labor leaders began collaborating to share policy priorities and develop common state policy and budget asks in support of #climatereadyschools for California's most vulnerable students. Since the initial working group meetings, the Coalition has grown from a handful of organizations to 30 diverse groups representing various perspectives on education and climate policy.

The Coalition's mission is to ensure California's school buildings and grounds are sustainable and resilient to equitably support student health, safety, learning, and well-being in a time of rapidly increasing extreme weather. The Coalition prioritizes efforts to support students of color, low-income students, and those disproportionately impacted by extreme heat, airborne toxins, and environmental injustice.

This year, the Coalition has been active in advocating for climate ready schools in the Governor’s budget proposal and in supporting the California Energy Commission’s proposed guidelines for CalSHAPE funding for school HVAC upgrades to be used for the installation of zero emission equipment.

This month, our coalition took a significant step forward in launching a website to promote our efforts and expand the reach of the coalition. The website includes information about the coalition’s latest work, members, and resources to support climate-resilient California schools. 

This spring, we plan to support SB394 (Gonzalez) which calls for a statewide master plan for sustainable and climate-resilient schools and to develop implementation resources for county and school district leaders to increase the number of healthy, decarbonized, climate-resilient schools. Check out the new website at www.climatereadyschoolscoalition.org and be in touch if you’re interested in learning more or contributing to the work.