California electric bill relief plan would gut low-income energy programs
A California bill proposes cutting funding for CalSHAPE, a program that helps school upgrade their HVAC system for student health and learning. Advocates for the program argue the cuts will harm schools and vulnerable communities with little benefit to ratepayers.
Editorial: Too many kids are going back to school this month without functioning A/C
Some California students are returning to classrooms this month with inadequate cooling — or no air conditioning at all. In Long Beach Unified, the state’s fourth-largest school district, thousands of students will be returning this month to 556 classrooms at 13 schools that don’t have air conditioning.
Protecting Children From Extreme Heat Is Critical for Their Health, Learning, and Development
As climate change intensifies extreme heat around the globe, policymakers must take steps to develop heat standards for children and support infrastructure improvements to ensure schools, child care centers, and communities are safe and healthy places for children.
Education and the Environment: School buildings, playgrounds and carbon
Throughout California, students and teachers spend classroom time learning about the climate crisis while simultaneously experiencing its impacts. The Climate Ready Schools Coalition (CRSC) wants to address this.
Schools that never needed AC are now overheating. Fixes will cost billions.
As heat waves creep north, they are baking schools that previously did not need air conditioning. Fixing the problem will be neither cheap, nor easy.
Why Education Equity Should Include Climate Justice
Climate change is a top issue among teachers, students, and parents, which is why Education Equity must include Climate Justice.
It’s Not Just Snow Days: How Can Districts Work Extreme Weather Into Their Calendars?
“This is a threat multiplier for educational inequity,” Klein said. “It’s a serious issue that directly impacts kids’ learning opportunities.”
‘Next generation of climate leaders’: These Utah students are trying to get their school district to commit to clean energy
These Utah students are trying to get their school district to commit to clean energy. The initiatives have unfolded in a state where K-12 buildings rank as some of the highest producers of carbon emissions per million square feet nationally.
Two Massachusetts schools are ditching oil for geothermal heat pumps
The upfront costs for geothermal heat pumps in New Bedford would normally be nearly $14 million. But with federal and state rebates, installation costs will drop to about $6.1 million.
Sacramento City Unified commits to carbon neutrality by 2045
“There’s urgency behind the transition: State officials have noted the increasing climate impacts on California schools and the need to adapt buildings to weather these changes.”
Schools Can Use These Little-Known, Unlimited Funds to Make Their Buildings Greener
“Unlike a grant program with a fixed amount of money for districts to spend on particular expenses, schools and other tax-exempt entities like local and tribal governments can get reimbursed for work that’s already been completed simply by correctly filing tax return forms with the Internal Revenue Service.”
This Is Your Kid’s Brain on Extreme Heat
It’s too hot for school, as stifling classrooms cause some teachers to switch to remote learning—or cancel lessons altogether. And the heat will only get worse.
How California schools can finally quit burning fossil fuels
“Statewide planning is key to making safe, electrified schools a reality. With more than 11,000 buildings spanning 730 million square feet and more than 125,000 acres of land, California’s school system has a vast footprint. We need a plan now for all these buildings to stop creating pollution.”
School week ends with more heat in the classroom
Sara Ross speaks with NBC Boston about extreme heat in local schools as officials tried to assure the community that in the few schools that were not able to be outfitted with air conditioning, they provided fans and water.
As schools reopen in a heat wave, a warning of the climate future
Many schools in Massachusetts need HVAC upgrades to not only heat their buildings in winter, but keep things cool as temperatures increase.
What Educators Need to Know About Schools and Hot Weather
We’re having these breaks and disruptions in our in-person learning, and those disruptions are inequitably felt. Communities that have been redlined, underinvested in over decades are the ones where the school buildings are more out of date.”
Polluted Skies and High Heat Expose School Facility Issues, Threaten Students’ Health
“The wildfire smoke, the heat, the drought, flooding—all the impacts of climate change are here,” said Jonathan Klein, co-founder of Undaunted, a national nonprofit that advocates for solutions to fight climate change. “Schools are where students spend more of their waking hours than anywhere else. We need to make sure they’re resilient and prepared for extreme weather events.”
How to climate-proof schools: Revamping schools to withstand what’s coming
Closing schools is a common, but unsustainable, response to heat waves, wildfires and other extreme climate events.
“Kids are losing out on learning time,” said Jonathan Klein
How can we shield children from the impacts of climate change? Investments in schools can help.
“In terms of a broader climate strategy, and the transition to clean energy that we need to make, school should be some of the first places we do that work. Because that’s where young people are: 1 in 6 Americans is on a school campus every day.”
Coalition urges California to invest $150 billion in climate-resilient, healthy schools
“A coalition of health, city planning and education nonprofits issued a report Thursday urging California leaders to invest $150 billion over a decade to build and renovate schools to mitigate to the increasingly hazardous effects of climate change on children’s health and well-being.”