At the Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, Sept. 26 the Board heard an update on their sustainability practices from the past year and for the future.
Environmental Literacy
The Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Committee shared their highlights from the 2023 – 2024 school year. Recently, they won the Green Ribbon Schools Bronze Awards which commemorates the sustainable qualities the District has incorporated into the facilities, operations, and environmental literacy. They also made an amazing resource called the Campus Sustainability Dashboard which shows data on water, electrical, and gas usage across District sites. Ashmitha Kumaran, a Sophomore at Wilcox High School, did a summer internship with the Santa Clara Schools Foundation where she worked on the dashboard. Notably, Kumaran created an algorithm to populate the dashboard with Silicon Valley Power data which saves them hundreds of hours of work, said Michal Healy, Co-Chair of the committee and Director of Facility Development and Planning. The committee has also set up guidelines for teaching and maintaining school gardens as well as lessons tailored for TK – 5th grade. They raised awareness around zero waste and started the annual Earth Day celebration
Looking forward, focus areas for the 2024 – 2025 school year include working on the Environmental Literacy curriculum, improving equity of student access to the Farm and Nature Area, and developing more guidelines teaching in and maintaining the school gardens. They are also getting a Strategic Energy Initiative Fellow.
Other Business
During unagendized public comment parents from MacDonald High School pleaded with the Board to help their growing school. The 3-year-old high school has already had its problems but these parents specifically asked for more administrators and funds. The Board directed staff to get in contact with the concerned parents.
The Santa Clara Unified Board meets next on Thursday, Oct. 10. Meetings are live-streamed on the District’s YouTube page, and agendas are posted on their website.