We’re asking the Governor and the Legislature to fund climate resilient schools.

We remain steadfast in our resolve to drive action that dramatically reduces greenhouse gas emissions and to protect our communities, schools, and children from the increasing threats from extreme weather. We must do more towards prevention, preparedness, and resilience—especially investment in school infrastructure—where our children spend more of their waking hours than anyplace else. And school campus decision-makers, who are on the front lines of these increasingly extreme events, deserve more support.

In December, we asked Governor Newsom and the legislature to fund a $10M grant program at the California Department of Education for regional support and capacity building to advance climate-resilient, healthy, efficient schools. The goals of this program include directly supporting school districts through extreme weather events, coordinating emergency response with counties, developing new regional tools for school climate adaptation that bolster school campus resilience, and maximizing funding to get this urgent and necessary work done. Details about these specific goals are outlined after the partner signatures starting on page 5.

As we’ve seen all too frequently, the costs of response, recovery, and rebuilding after climate catastrophes are astronomical, and don’t include the disruption, trauma, and lost learning time children and families face. A modest $10M investment is a step in the right direction to increase staff capacity so that we can move towards prevention and resilience.

Schools should be able to provide clean, cool air, and healthy learning environments during extreme weather events—many cannot. School buildings should be working towards decarbonization so that our public infrastructure is not contributing to these extreme weather events—many are not. There’s more we must do. Join us in asking the Governor and the Legislature to prioritize and fund climate resilient schools.