What is a Master Plan for Healthy, Sustainable, and Climate-Resilient Schools and why is it important?
Over the last year, momentum has been building across the state for a Master Plan for Healthy, Sustainable, and Climate Resilient Schools.
The Master Plan was a core recommendation of a report released in March 2023 entitled Climate-Resilient California Schools: A Call to Action, authored under the leadership of Stanford University’s Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research, Center for Innovation in Global Health, Action Lab for Planetary Health (ALPHA), the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Cities + Schools, UndauntedK12, and Ten Strands, in collaboration with a diverse group of stakeholders and experts.
In September 2023, the California legislature passed SB 394, a bill introduced by Senator Lena Gonzalez, that would have created a Master Plan for Healthy, Sustainable, and Climate-Resilient Schools as envisioned in the report. Although the legislature passed the bill with a vote of 115-1, Governor Newsom vetoed the bill the following month.
In spite of the Governor’s veto, the need for a Master Plan only increases with each passing year.
Why does California need a Master Plan?
We need a Master Plan to ensure that our schools make an equitable transition to sustainable, climate-resilient facilities and grounds. It has become increasingly difficult for California’s aging public school buildings, of which 40% are at least 50 years old, to maintain safe conditions for teaching and learning. At worst risk are the 60% of California’s K-12 students whose families are socioeconomically disadvantaged, who also disproportionately live where climate impacts – including extreme heat, wildfire smoke, and flooding – are most intense. School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic widened the achievement gaps that disadvantage Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous students, potentially affecting their lifetime attainment and earnings. These unacceptable disparities will persist, and likely worsen, unless vulnerable schools across the state are supported to adapt and keep students in school, even as local conditions change.
A Master Plan will close a gap in State policy, wherein mandates and incentives that are prompting local governments and other actors to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions don’t apply consistently to public school districts. Without clear guidance and support, districts continue to invest in antiquated, energy-inefficient, fossil gas-dependent systems and appliances. Once installed, such equipment – heating and air conditioning systems, for example – can run for 30 years. As a result, decisions local districts make in the 2020s will largely determine whether the State’s 11,000 public schools will play a part in fulfilling California’s longer-term climate goals. A Master Plan process will spark much-needed communication and coordination across State, County, and local agencies to identify approaches that meet the unique needs of schools and ensure that State assistance is actually helping local school districts update and safeguard their facilities.
Last but not least, a Master Plan will help position California schools to win grants and leverage incentives for decarbonization and climate adaptation under the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act. Potential billions in federal aid to boost California’s schools is at stake – an especially important consideration in light of the State’s current revenue challenges.
What would a Master Plan do?
As conceived in SB 394, the Master Plan would do 10 things to advance healthy, sustainable, climate resilient schools for every child in the state.
Develop a much needed assessment of the current state of climate resilience in California’s school buildings and grounds, including an assessment of emissions and impacts on neighboring communities. It would also include recommendations for how to better track this data over time.
Set priorities, benchmarks, and milestones for health, resilience, and decarbonization of school buildings and grounds that can be used for future policy and implementation decisions.
Identify specific action steps and budgets for state agencies to meet the goals of the plan.
Develop recommendations for future policy and funding for local education agencies (LEAs) to develop climate resilient school buildings and grounds.
Develop recommendations for future school infrastructure spending, including state bond measures, including how to maximize federal Inflation Reduction Act resources and prioritize vulnerable communities.
Develop recommendations to local education agencies (LEAs) on the development of local school bonds.
Develop recommendations for state agencies and county offices of education to support local education agencies to create climate resilient school buildings and grounds.
Make recommendations for developing, training, and supporting local education agency employees to create climate resilient school buildings and grounds.
Make recommendations for connecting student learning experiences and career pathway programs with the creation of climate resilient school buildings and grounds.
Make recommendations for how to ensure that local education agency leaders are included in city and county wide climate adaptation efforts.
