NorCal school districts are taking climate change head on. Here's the changes they're making
SACRAMENTO -- Climate change is an issue we are all familiar with - but for many schools in northern California, it's becoming an issue they need to take head-on.
From Sacramento City Unified to Modesto City Schools, many districts are now trying to keep up with changes in the climate by making their own changes.
"School districts like ours must think deeply about how to both adapt to a rapidly changing climate and also how to mitigate our impact on it," said Chamberlain Segrest, Environmental Sustainability Manager at the Sac City Unified School District.
In a 2022 report from the California State Legislative Analyst's office, more schools are falling subject to closures and school impacts based on our changing climate.
"Wildfires, heatwaves, that result in power outages, flooding and storms. In each of those events as a result we've seen more and more schools having to close but then also just a disruption in just the day-to-day instruction," Jackie Barocio at the California State Legislative Analyst's Office said.
In 2020 alone, 104 school districts in California closed because of wildfires.
It's not just the wildfire but the impacts associated with them. Extreme heatwaves and poor air quality from wildfires may make it temporarily unsafe for students and staff to participate in outdoor activities, making them quickly shift between in-person to remote learning, or closures.
"Students are missing out on instruction days and that can lead to learning loss and then again overall poor academic outcomes for that schooling community, but then also when schools close students don't have access to services and supports that are traditionally offered at a school site," Barocio said.
Leaving many districts in the state asking what to do to keep up.
"Schools will definitely need to continue to plan for how to maintain the continuity of instruction and services and then establish and continually update emergency preparedness plans and response plans, and also evaluate facilities to make sure they can withstand these extreme weather events," Barocio said.
Changes are already in progress at several schools as they make shifts to reduce their impact on the climate.
Sac City Unified is now implementing new remodels of its schools and playgrounds to be more energy-efficient.
"A big picture goal is to eliminate carbon emissions from our buildings and our energy usage by 2045," Segrest said. " We are going to have greener and more climate resilient school yards."
In the Central Valley, Modesto City Schools are rolling out their new future with the addition of 50 new electric buses fueled by solar.
"That provides the necessary power we are using to power our batteries on the buses so we're actually supporting the local electric grid," Tim Zearley, Associate Superintendent with Modesto City Schools said.
It's not just the buses they are changing, but also adding solar-powered carports and creating sustainable learning environments to their campuses and heat-resilient spaces.
Zearley said the changes to solar will cut off 75-85 percent of their electricity bill annually.
"We get the benefit of producing clean energy again and we're supporting our local power grid," Zearley said.
Each district is trying to make their changes now to keep up.
"Hopefully what we are doing will be a small part, but it'll be our part here in Stanislaus County and Modesto to address those issues," Zearley said.
"These problems aren't going away, they are an issue today, they are going to be an issue tomorrow," Barocio said. "But then based off the trends we are seeing, they are going to be a bigger problem tomorrow."
