CA Senate Bill 1091
Green Schoolyards America and Trust for Public Land are pleased to sponsor CA Senate Bill 1091, along with Senator Menjivar, who introduced the bill. CA SB1091 will reduce a significant barrier to school-ground greening and make it possible for many public schools, especially the ones with less resources, to implement greening projects.
The Need
In 2022, California released “Protecting Californians from Extreme Heat: A State Action Plan to Build Community Resilience” recognizing extreme heat as one of the deadliest climate-driven hazards in California.
School-ground greening offers a way to address the climate crisis with an intersectional approach and is a critical strategy to closing the equity gap in access to nature, improving health and wellness, providing opportunities for hands-on learning, climate literacy, and workforce development.
Long term planning and sustained public funding investments are necessary to bring green schoolyards to scale across the state, and in addition, certain policy and institutional barriers need to be addressed to ensure that those investments are successful in creating green climate resilient school grounds that serve the most vulnerable children and communities.
© Green schoolyards America
© Green schoolyards America
The solution
SB 1091 will address one of such policy barriers to greening school grounds by capping the required improvements to the path of travel, beyond the greening project boundary to 20% of the adjusted construction cost for the project, in line with federal ADA law.
Success!
The bill passed unanimously in both the State Senate and Assembly and was signed into law by the Governor on September 30, 2024!
If you have questions, reach out to sarah [at] green schoolyards [dot] org.
© Green schoolyards America
Supporters
Agency and organizational supporters include:
Oakland Unified School District, Petaluma City Schools, San Diego Unified School Board, Santa Clara Unified School District, Cal Poly Pomona, Stanford Children’s Health, Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education, Climate Ready Schools Coalition, Canopy, Center for Ecoliteracy, Elders Climate Action Northern and Southern California Chapters, Frontline Catalysts, Growing Together, Hyperion Street Safety Coalition, Inclusion Outdoors, Kids for the Bay, Latino Outdoors, Living Classroom, Los Angeles Beautification Team, Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, Los Angeles Waterkeepers, Moms Out Front, Northeast Trees, Northside Improvement Association, Project Coyote, Raptors are the Solution, Sacramento Splash, San Francisco Parks Alliance, Sage Garden Project, Save the Bay, Sonoma County Youth Environmental Education Committee, Tree People, Tri-Valley Air Quality Climate Alliance, Ultimate Restoration Unlimited, UndauntedK12, Watsonville Wetlands Watch, West County DIGS, The Wilderness Society, YES Nature to Neighborhoods and many more.
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