Comment Log Display

Dear California Air Resources Board,

Thank you for revising the Draft Investment Plan to ensure that
K-12 public schools are eligible to receive AB-32 funds! This is an
important step in creating sustainable communities with numerous
co-benefits. Green Schoolyards America signed a group letter
submitted by Green Schools Initiative, and we wish to add
additional information to further explain the value of directing a
portion of your green infrastructure investments to school grounds.
A “Sustainable School Grants Program” would allow schools to
implement integrated infrastructure projects that could span all
three ARB categories: Transportation and Sustainable Communities;
Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency; and Natural Resources and Waste
Diversion. By creating model environments at schools, the next
generation learns how to be responsible stewards of the
environments.

Public school districts are one of the largest landowners in almost
every city and town across the United States and around the world.
In California alone, over 10,300 schools in more than 1,000 school
districts serve more than 6 million pre-kindergarten to 12th grade
students each year, on more than 125,000 acres of publicly-owned
land. Choices made by school districts about how they manage their
buildings and grounds profoundly impact their cities and
generations of residents across our state whose perspectives are
shaped through daily experiences at school. 

The green school ground field is gaining momentum around the world,
weaving the ideas of urban sustainability, climate change
mitigation and ecological design together with academic
achievement, public health, children’s wellbeing, sense of place,
and community engagement. Green schoolyards bring nature back to
cities and suburbs by transforming barren asphalt and ordinary
grass into vibrant places for learning and recreation, set within
the context of the rich, local ecosystems that nurture wildlife and
the natural processes that underlie and sustain our urban
environment. 

The California state government passed a resolution in 2014
(ACR-128, Ting), recognizing the importance of improving ecological
infrastructure on land managed by public schools and connecting it
to children’s academic achievement and health. The resolution urges
“the State Department of Education, school districts, county
offices of education, and charter schools to continue to prioritize
the design and construction of student-accessible green space on
school campuses and to integrate use of this space into the
teaching of standards based curriculum.” We believe that
investments from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund should be used
to help public school districts build outdoor park-like spaces that
serve both as green infrastructure and benefit the local community
and students. Sustainable communities cannot be achieved without
including schools in the planning process. 

Most of California’s urban school grounds are covered with asphalt
and concrete that have high surface temperatures, often 20 to 40 °C
hotter than vegetated areas. Heavily paved campuses—most common in
disadvantaged communities—contribute directly to urban heat island
effects and atmospheric warming, and create unhealthy conditions
for children. Paved, impermeable surfaces also carry polluted
runoff into our natural water systems. By removing schoolyard
asphalt, planting trees, and allowing stormwater to infiltrate
onsite, surface temperatures can be decreased, carbon can be
sequestered in the soil, and financial savings can be achieved
through reduced reliance on municipal water and sewage treatment.
These improvements, if placed in student-accessible locations on
school campuses, also greatly improve children’s experience at
school.

Investing in green infrastructure on school grounds is a way to
address climate change equitably, while bringing nature to parts of
our cities that lack green space. Studies have shown that exposure
to nature reduces stress, aids social cohesion and helps students’
concentration and academic achievement. Air quality problems are
also of particular concern for schools since children’s smaller
body size, faster metabolism and weaker immune systems leave them
particularly vulnerable to ozone, carbon and particulate matter
(PM10). Several studies correlate the increased presence of these
elements with increased sick days for local school children.

Green school grounds benefit students, their schools, and their
communities in the short-term by increasing physical activity,
promoting healthy food choices, and providing valuable hands-on
experiences in outdoor classroom settings, while making the
physical environment more resilient, healthy, comfortable and
enjoyable. The long-term benefits of green schoolyards multiply
over time: Not only are they highly visible community hubs, but by
incorporating stewardship and environmental education into the
physical school grounds and school curricula, students grow up to
become adults who care for their environment.  

Our future needs citizens who understand complex environmental
issues and can help to find solutions to ongoing problems.
Investing in climate change mitigation measures on school grounds
will help solve the growing climate problems we now face, while
also preparing our children to be the environmental leaders of
tomorrow.

Thank you for considering our perspective on including schools as
part of California’s solution for mitigating climate change.

Sincerely,
Sharon Danks

CEO, Green Schoolyards America
Berkeley, CA
sharon@greenschoolyards.org