On April 19th, Harmony Union School Board members Mariah Lander, Steve Bair, and Henry Goff unanimously passed Resolution #2017/18-5 to Support Climate Change Action. This resolution:

• advocates for science-based climate policies
• declares climate change a human rights and generational justice issue
• calls on Congress to take swift and effective action on climate to "protect current and future students"
• celebrates the many existing sustainability initiatives within the district
• includes a "communications clause" to ensure the message of this resolution reaches other school and political leaders around the state and country​
• suggests that bipartisan carbon-pricing policies would substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions

This is one of the strongest and clearest statements about the need for climate action and climate advocacy ever passed by a school board. Thank you for speaking up to protect current and future students!

A big thanks to Tanya Turneaure, Allison Gravis, and Kaelyn Ramdsen who also contributed to this effort. 

The logjam on national climate action currently threatens all of our young people (and future generations). Thanks to our constitutional rights and our decentralized democratic traditions (such as local school district governance) all Americans, young and old, who care about the well-being of our country, our children, and future generations can speak directly to elected leaders to advocate for commonsense climate policies. No one has to be silent about the enormous and unnecessary burden we, as a nation, are currently placing on our young people due to our lack of national climate policy. 

Harmony Union School District is the 14th school district since December, 2017 to pass a climate action resolution in order to protect students. We believe thousands of other school boards across the country agree with the content of this resolution. Please help spread the word about this campaign so that the chorus of voices from the educational sector can help break the  logjam on commonsense climate action in Washington, DC. 

Thank you HUSD Board and Superintendent/Principal for all that you do to create bright futures for young people!

On Thursday, 4.12.18 the school boards of Kenwood School District (Sonoma County) and Twin Hills School Districts (Sebastopol, Sonoma County) both articulated the political will for common sense climate policies in order to protect current and future students. 

Here's the Kenwood School District resolution:
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I will post the Twin Hills one soon. 

Thank you to the Kenwood school board members:

• Trustee Stoecker
• Trustee Threewit
• President Alexander, and
• Superintendent Bob Bales

Thank you to the Twin Hills school board members:

• Terry Beck, President
• Monica Brent
• Josh Katz
• Michael Ost, Clerk  
• Maben Rainwater, and 
• Superintendent Dr. Barbara Bickford

A big thanks to Zero Waste hero and teacher Sunny Galbraith for organizing the effort at Twin Hills.

Apparently, a troop of Girl Scouts showed up to the Twin Hills board meeting to advocate for the resolution. Go Girl Scouts! Way to be assertive and to advocate for your generation. Someday, you'll be able to proudly tell your grandkids about the time in elementary school when you were on the leading edge of the wave of youth climate activism that swept the nation and set us on a course towards a healthier, more prosperous, and more sustainable future. Let's all follow their lead!

High school Juniors Kelley T. and Lucy L. led the effort empowering Novato Unified School District Board Members to speak up for climate action to protect current and future students. Novato USD Board Members responded enthusiastically and unanimously---and lightening fast! This process took exactly 6.5 weeks from when Lucy was first introduced to Schools for Climate Action to when her school board passed a climate action resolution. Young people and (adults who care about kids), thanks to our great local democratic institutions and traditions, you have incredible power to create a groundswell of political leverage from grasstops leaders in your own community. Many school board members have a cry of grief stuck in their throats about the way our national government has abandoned young people on this issue. They are hungry for a non-partisan tool to speak up. Very few people in all of human history have had such awesome power to influence the course of human history as all Americans, but especially young Americans do at this critical juncture. Young people can move recalcitrant politicians in ways that elders working alone cannot. (I wish it were otherwise because I know this climate change mess is NOT your responsibility.) Together, we can create a groundswell that could break the logjam on common sense climate policy in DC. Please spread this example far and wide. 3 months from now, there could be hundreds of these resolutions. Please spread the word. 

Thank you Lucy and Kelley and the Novato Unified School District Board and Superintendent! 

Park Guthrie
SCA Lead Volunteer and 6th grade teacher