The Field Act requires the Department of General Services under the police power of the state to supervise the design and construction of any school building or the reconstruction or alteration of or addition to any school building, if not exempted, to ensure that plans and specifications comply with adopted rules and regulations and building standards published in regulations, and to ensure that the work of construction is performed in accordance with the approved plans and specifications for the protection of life and property.

This bill would require the State Department of Education and the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Office of Planning and Research, the Division of the State Architect, the Office of Public School Construction, and any other appropriate state entities, as determined by the department and the agency, to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop, prepare, on or before December 1, 2024, recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards. schoolyards that, among other things, recommends a statewide goal for the number of schools with green schoolyards to be achieved by a specified date, recommends strategies to overcome identified barriers to green schoolyards, and identifies recommendations and best practices to prevent or mitigate the impacts of extreme heat in schools. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the Department of Parks and Recreation to incorporate the recommendations and best practices from the master plan into the guidelines for specified state programs. The bill would provide that the master plan is advisory for local educational agencies, defined as school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools. The bill would require the department and the agency to report the recommendations for a submit the master plan for green schoolyards to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before December 1, 2024.

Existing law establishes the State Allocation Board and specifies its membership and duties. Existing law imposes specified duties on the board with respect to the allocation and expenditure of state funds for the construction of public school facilities. Existing law requires the board to obtain construction plans for school buildings appropriate for school districts in various climates and geographical conditions of the state.

This bill would instead require the board to obtain construction plans for school buildings appropriate for school districts in various climates, temperatures, and geographical conditions of the state.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular Session

AB 1642 (Gipson) - School facilities: master plan for green schoolyards: greening programs

Bill Summary:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) and the Natural Resources Agency to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

Fiscal Impact:

• The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) indicates that this bill would require one-time General Fund costs of $500,000 to engage professional services to develop a statewide strategic plan for green schoolyards. This estimates assumes that contracting for professional services would be the most feasible and expedient method due to the short time frame for developing and delivering the statewide strategic plan. In addition, the costs would be borne by Cal Fire’s Resource Protection and Improvement Program.
• The California State Parks estimates one-time General Fund costs of between $200,000 and $400,000 to repeat the public input process to revise the Statewide Park Program guidelines, including a public comment period. This estimate assumes a timeframe of three to six months, but the costs and timeframe will be dependent on the complexity of the master plan recommendations and best practices that will need to be incorporated.
• The CDE indicates that any costs as a result of this bill would be minor and absorbable within existing resources.

Background:

Existing law requires the governing board of any school district to meet with appropriate local government recreation and park authorities to review all possible methods of coordinating planning, design, and construction of new school facilities and schoolsites or major additions to existing school facilities and recreation and park facilities in the community.

Existing law makes findings and declarations that school gardens provide an interactive, hands-on learning environment in which pupils learn composting and waste management techniques, fundamental concepts about nutrition and obesity prevention, and the cultural and historical aspects of our food supply. School gardens also foster a better understanding and appreciation of where food comes from, how food travels from the farm to the table, and the important role of agriculture in the state, national, and global economy.

Existing law establishes the Instructional School Gardens Program, administered by the CDE for the promotion, creation, and support of instructional school gardens through the allocation of grants, and through technical assistance provided, to school districts, charter schools, or county offices of education.

Existing law encourages schools to establish school garden programs. The Green Schoolyards grant program, a component of CalFire’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, is designed to assist with planning and implementing projects to plant trees that, when mature, will cover at least 30% of each school property, shading areas used most often by students during the school day. Priority for these grants is being given to districts and schools in under-served communities with the highest poverty levels, hottest climates, and least existing tree cover. Non-profit child care facilities that receive state or federal funding are also eligible for these grant funds. The 2022-23 Budget included $150 million over two years for Green Schoolyard grants ($117 million in 2022-23 and $33 million in 2023-24).

Proposed Law:

This bill requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Division of the State Architect, the Office of Public School Construction, and any other appropriate state entities, as determined by the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop, on or before December 1, 2024, recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

This bill also requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency to, on or before December 1, 2024, report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

Related Legislation: AB 527 (Calderon, 2023) would require Cal Fire to develop a competitive grant program to support school greening projects. The bill is pending on the Suspense File in this committee.

AB 2566 (Calderon), of the 2021-22 Legislative Session, was nearly identical to AB 527. AB 2566 was vetoed by the Governor.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular Session

AB 1642 (Gipson) - School facilities: master plan for green schoolyards: greening programs

Bill Summary:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) and the Natural Resources Agency to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

Fiscal Impact:

• The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) indicates that this bill would require one-time General Fund costs of $500,000 to engage professional services to develop a statewide strategic plan for green schoolyards. This estimates assumes that contracting for professional services would be the most feasible and expedient method due to the short time frame for developing and delivering the statewide strategic plan. In addition, the costs would be borne by Cal Fire’s Resource Protection and Improvement Program.
• The California State Parks estimates one-time General Fund costs of between $200,000 and $400,000 to repeat the public input process to revise the Statewide Park Program guidelines, including a public comment period. This estimate assumes a timeframe of three to six months, but the costs and timeframe will be dependent on the complexity of the master plan recommendations and best practices that will need to be incorporated.
• The CDE indicates that any costs as a result of this bill would be minor and absorbable within existing resources.

Background:

Existing law requires the governing board of any school district to meet with appropriate local government recreation and park authorities to review all possible methods of coordinating planning, design, and construction of new school facilities and schoolsites or major additions to existing school facilities and recreation and park facilities in the community.

Existing law makes findings and declarations that school gardens provide an interactive, hands-on learning environment in which pupils learn composting and waste management techniques, fundamental concepts about nutrition and obesity prevention, and the cultural and historical aspects of our food supply. School gardens also foster a better understanding and appreciation of where food comes from, how food travels from the farm to the table, and the important role of agriculture in the state, national, and global economy.

Existing law establishes the Instructional School Gardens Program, administered by the CDE for the promotion, creation, and support of instructional school gardens through the allocation of grants, and through technical assistance provided, to school districts, charter schools, or county offices of education.

Existing law encourages schools to establish school garden programs. The Green Schoolyards grant program, a component of CalFire’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, is designed to assist with planning and implementing projects to plant trees that, when mature, will cover at least 30% of each school property, shading areas used most often by students during the school day. Priority for these grants is being given to districts and schools in under-served communities with the highest poverty levels, hottest climates, and least existing tree cover. Non-profit child care facilities that receive state or federal funding are also eligible for these grant funds. The 2022-23 Budget included $150 million over two years for Green Schoolyard grants ($117 million in 2022-23 and $33 million in 2023-24).

Proposed Law:

This bill requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Division of the State Architect, the Office of Public School Construction, and any other appropriate state entities, as determined by the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop, on or before December 1, 2024, recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

This bill also requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency to, on or before December 1, 2024, report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

Related Legislation: AB 527 (Calderon, 2023) would require Cal Fire to develop a competitive grant program to support school greening projects. The bill is pending on the Suspense File in this committee.

AB 2566 (Calderon), of the 2021-22 Legislative Session, was nearly identical to AB 527. AB 2566 was vetoed by the Governor.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER

Senator Dave Min, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular

Bill No: AB Hearing Date: July 10, 2023

Subject: School facilities: master plan for green schoolyards: recommendations

BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW

Existing law:

1. Establishes the State Department of Education (Department of Education) in state government under the control of the director. Education Code §§33300 and 33302.
2. Authorizes the Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to manage and award financial assistance for the preparation and implementation of green infrastructure projects that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and provide multiple benefits to specified entities for projects that include, for example, the greening of existing public lands and structures, including, schools. Government Code §12802.10.
3. Establishes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) in CNRA under the control of the director. Public Resources Code (PRC) §701.
4. Establishes the California Urban Forestry Act of 1978 (PRC §§4799.06 et seq.) and states that the purpose of the act, among other things, is to promote the use of urban forests to increase integrated projects with multiple benefits in urban communities, as specified. PRC §4799.08.
5. Directs CalFire to implement a program in urban forestry and encourage demonstration projects that maximize the benefits of urban forests in conjunction with school construction and improvements, school greening, and sun-safe schoolyards, among others, as specified. PRC §4799.10.
6. Authorizes the CalFire director to provide grants to fund 25 – 90% of the costs for urban forestry projects. PRC §4799.12.

Background

Extreme heat trends, projections, and impacts. Average global temperatures have increased with climate change, with the fastest relative increase beginning in the 1980s. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration, the ten hottest years on record are 2016, 2020, 2019, 2015, 2017, 2022, 2021, 2018, 2014, and 2010. Further, according to preliminary data, July 4, 2023, was earth’s hottest day on record. According to scientists, the planet is the hottest it has been in roughly 125,000 years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define extreme heat conditions as weather that is much hotter – and sometimes more humid – for a particular time and place. California informally defines extreme heat days as those above the 98th percentile of maximum temperatures based on 1961-1990 data for a given location’s warmest months. For example, in San Francisco the extreme heat day threshold is 85 °F, whereas in Los Angeles, it is 91 °F.

Despite California’s ambitious climate change policies, our state is already warming as a consequence of climate change. Average temperatures in California have been increasing over the past century and heatwaves are becoming more common. While temperatures and the frequency of extreme heat events are increasing across the state, data collected by NASA between 1950 and 2000 show that the biggest increases are being observed in southern California, where average temperatures rose by greater than 2°F. Ventura County is warming faster than any other county in the continental United States. The county has warmed 4.75°F since 1895, which is about a half degree warmer than either Los Angeles or Santa Barbara Counties, and one degree hotter than the global average temperature of warming that will be catastrophic around the world, according to climate scientists. Further, an Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment report shows that nighttime increases in extreme heat trends are at least two times greater than daytime trends, especially along the central coast as humidity, in part due to ocean warming, increases.

In California, the statewide average temperature is predicted to increase 1.9°F by 2025, and 4.6°F by 2050. Historically, California experienced an average of four extreme heat days per year; by 2050, extreme heat days are projected to increase to 40-53 days annually. Further, Heat-Health Events (HHEs), which better predict risk to populations vulnerable to heat, will worsen drastically throughout the state; by midcentury, the Central Valley is projected to experience average HHEs that are two weeks longer, and HHEs could occur four to ten times more often in the Northern Sierra region.

Dense urban cores, especially in areas with limited tree vegetation, are hotter than coastal and rural areas. This is due to the urban heat island effect. Structures such as roads, pavement, and buildings absorb and re-emit more of the sun’s heat than natural landscapes such as forests, parks, or bodies of water. Plants help to reduce temperatures through evaporative cooling and by providing shade. Average daytime temperatures in urban areas are 1-6°F warmer than surrounding areas, but at night that can increase by as much as 22°F as the heat is gradually released from buildings and paved surfaces.

The harmful effects of extreme heat on human health are well known. Extreme heat can exacerbate chronic illnesses and lead to strokes, heat exhaustion, and death. Indeed, heat causes the most weather-related deaths in the United States. Following a record-breaking 2006 California heat wave, over 16,000 emergency room visits, more than 1,100 hospitalizations, and at least 140 deaths were reported. Future increased temperatures are expected to translate to up to 4,300 excess deaths in 2025 and up to 11,300 in 2050, with associated economic costs of up to $84.8 billion per year by 2050. Even small increases in average temperature can have dramatic impacts on fertility, learning outcomes, job performance, accident rates, quality of sleep, and overall health. Higher nighttime temperatures are particularly concerning because they inhibit people’s ability to recover from daytime exposure to heat.

The urban heat island effect increases the health risks associated with extreme heat for populations living in those areas. At the community level, disadvantaged communities in California are not only hotter because they have less access to green spaces, but are at greater risk of negative outcomes from extreme heat because they have less access to technologies such as air conditioning that can provide relief when temperatures are high.

Many other impacts arise from extreme heat events. Increased demand for air conditioning can strain the power supply. Blackouts and power outages may result. Water demand also increases. Agricultural impacts include crop losses, reduced milk and egg production, and livestock illnesses and deaths. Fire risk increases as vegetation dries out. Damage to roadways, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure may also occur.

Heat impact on students and their academic performance. As climate change intensifies, students are increasingly burdened by worsening heat waves, wildfires, drought, and other extreme weather-related events that hinder their wellbeing and academic development, according to a 2023 report from the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University and other partners, Climate Resilient California Schools: Safeguarding Children’s Health and Opportunity to Learn in TK-12. According to a 2022 Legislative Analyst’s Office report, Climate Change Impacts Across California K-12 Education, climate change has led to students experiencing greater learning loss, poorer academic outcomes, food insecurity, and traumatic mental health problems. Children are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather conditions because their bodies are more sensitive and less capable of self-regulating temperature.

Children of color who live in high-poverty neighborhoods are often exposed to more heat, which contributes to racial disparities in health outcomes. Further, according to a 2020 American Economic Journal: Economic Policy article, Heat and Learning, students of color and students in lower-income areas are the most affected by heat-driven learning losses, exacerbating racial and income-based achievement gaps. According to a 2020 Journal of Human Resources article, Hot Temperature and High Stakes Performance, hot temperature reduces performance by up to 13 percent of a standard deviation and leads to persistent impacts on high school graduation status, despite compensatory responses by teachers who selectively upward manipulate grades after hotter exams.

School greening. California has about 10,000 public schools, the majority of which have less than five percent canopy cover and a high degree of impervious surfaces. Schoolyards are often the hottest locations in communities due to the large swaths of asphalt. This leaves children, who are already disproportionally impacted by extreme urban heat, in even unhealthier environments than the surrounding urban areas. The lack of nature, exposure to extreme heat, and associated number of indoor-only days to avoid the heat affect not only children’s physical activity and health, but also their mental health and wellbeing.

Last September, in response to a heatwave and overheated kids, Reclaim Our Schools LA — an association of parents, educators, students, and community members – demanded more green space and shade on playgrounds in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The coalition called for, among other things, making all schools 50 percent green space.

The Climate Ready Schools Coalition, a coordinated effort between doctors, medical and environmental health researchers, educators, and youth and community groups, released the report, Climate-Resilient California Schools: A Call to Action on March 3, 2023, that looks at the impact of climate change on California’s children and makes 14 evidence-based recommendations to center climate resilience in California’s schools. The report explains that two out of five public school buildings in California are at least 50 years old — built long before the impacts of climate change began to affect school kids. The recommendations include creating green schoolyards that increase shade and reduce the presence of asphalt and other impervious surfaces.

Extreme Heat Action Plan. In 2022, the state released Protecting Californians from Extreme Heat: A State Action Plan to Build Community Resilience (Extreme Heat Action Plan), which outlines a set of state actions to adapt and build resilience to extreme heat. The document identifies 13 goals, 55 actions, and 71 recommendations to improve heat resilience in California. Actions in the plan are organized into four tracks – (A) Build Public Awareness and Notification; (B) Strengthen Community Services and Response; (C) Increase Resilience of Our Built Environment; and (D) Utilize Nature-Based Solutions. Under the D Track, the document recommends partnering with school districts, youth, and community-based organizations to accelerate school greening projects in tribal and climate vulnerable communities across the state.

The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) administers the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program (ICARP), which leads implementation of the Extreme Heat Action Plan. ICARP also administers the state’s Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program, which coordinates the state’s comprehensive response to this climate impact and builds capacity for heat action planning and project implementation in the most heat-burdened communities by providing funding and technical support.

CNRA’s Urban Greening Program funds natural and green infrastructure projects, such as replacing schoolyard asphalt with native trees, plants, pollinator gardens, and nature-based outdoor play areas; restoring wetlands or riparian corridors; and constructing new commuter paths to reduce vehicles miles traveled. These projects must reduce GHG emissions and provide multiple benefits, including expanding access to parks and green spaces in disadvantaged communities across the state. In April 2023, CNRA announced $47.5 million in grant funding awards for 23 projects, including $2.75 million to the Trust for Public Land to create a green schoolyard at 107th Street Elementary School in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The project includes removing asphalt and replacing it with shade trees, drought-tolerant landscaping, nature-based play areas, and outdoor classrooms to educate and offer sanctuary for students. The program also awarded over $2.9 million to TreePeople for the Middleton Street Elementary Living Schoolyard Project.

CalFire’s Urban and Community Forestry Program seeks to optimize the benefits of urban trees and related vegetation through multiple objective projects. CalFire has seven regional urban foresters throughout the state to provide expert urban forestry support to communities, nonprofit groups, and municipal governments to create and maintain sustainable urban forests. These specialists also administer and provide technical support for grants that are offered for activities such as tree planting, municipal tree inventories and management plans, urban forest educational efforts, and innovative urban forestry projects. According to CalFire, local communities have planted more than 80,000 trees through this program since 2015, primarily in disadvantaged communities. The program also works with CalFire’s Fire Prevention Program to advocate for fire-safe landscaping for homeowners and communities.

CalFire’s Green Schoolyards Program. The 2022-23 Budget included $150 million to CalFire over two years for school greening ($117 million in 2022-23 and $33 million in 2023-24). CalFire is administering this program as a component of the Urban and Community Forestry Program. The program offers planning and implementation grants for multi-benefit projects. At least 70 percent of funds are available for projects that focus on in-need education facilities, as defined, and the program provides assistance to school greening applicants with the greatest need to ensure the development and implementation of high quality, feasible school greening projects. Specifically, the program makes a CalFire urban forester available for advice and technical expertise in the planning of projects and assigns an urban forester post award to each project to provide overall support to ensure project success, including sharing expertise and opinions to improve outcomes. Further, certain projects are eligible to receive up to two cycles of funding for ongoing tree care and maintenance.

PROPOSED LAW

This bill would direct the Department of Education and CNRA, in consultation with specified state entities, to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop and report recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards to the Legislature, as specified, by December 1, 2024, as specified. Further, the bill would make findings and declarations, and make the reporting requirement inactive on December 1, 2028.

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT

According to the author, “Reimagining our playgrounds can change the way our children experience the outdoors and enhance their learning and social development. With this bill, we can modify grim blacktop ‘playgrounds,’ by turning them into vibrant, verdant areas of play. AB 1642 aims to create green playgrounds, which promote healthy play for children as well as provide our communities with a way to reduce the high temperatures that are caused by asphalt playgrounds. Access to nature has been proven to affect health, happiness, and prosperity. It is time to think about our communities and how we can change them in ways that will transform the lives of students, families, teachers, and the whole community.”

The Association of California School Administrators writes in support of the bill, stating, “We recognize the impact that climate change has in California and the role that school facilities can have in improving student health and learning outcomes. We also appreciate the approach that AB 1642 takes to provide recommendations and best practices through a schoolyard master plan rather than a top-down, one-size fits all approach that may be not be appropriate for all school sites given the diverse climates and geographies in our state… Many local educational agencies are taking steps to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat as well as the force and frequency of natural disasters at their school sites. Our members have expressed a desire to have updated guidance to reflect the current conditions as well as the anticipated increase in severe weather events, such as heatwaves.”

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION

None received.

COMMENTS

Referral. This bill was referred to the Senate Education Committee first and this Committee second. The Senate Education Committee passed the bill 7-0 on June 28, 2023. Elements of the bill under that Committee’s jurisdiction were discussed there and are included here for context and completeness only.

Urban greening, forests, and their benefits. Urban greening, including urban forests, provide substantial environmental, economic, social, and public health benefits. In particular, one of the more effective strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of the urban heat island effect is to increase canopy cover by planting trees. According to CalFire’s California Forests and Rangelands 2017 Assessment, the average annual cost associated with planting and maintaining an urban street tree is $19 per tree, but the benefit is $110.63 per tree. This assessment also estimates a return on investment of $5.82 for every $1 spent. Further, according to the 2018 California Forest Carbon Plan, urban greenspace and urban forests also provide significant public health and community benefits. They are associated with increased physical activity, decreased childhood obesity, longevity among seniors, lower stress, and improved concentration in children with attention deficit disorder.

Additional benefits of urban forests in California include: CO₂ storage and sequestration (110 million metric tons/year); air pollution removal (23,700 metric tons/year); rainfall interception; improved water quality runoff; reduced energy use; and jobs and economic value to the state economy. Some of these values have been estimated monetarily statewide. For example, reduced energy use from canopy shading and cooling saves an estimated $568 million annually. Annual benefits to water infrastructure, including rainfall interception, reduced water pollution, and reduced flood risk, are estimated at $324.6 million. The economic activity associated with urban forestry in 2009 in California was $3.6 billion, and urban forestry related jobs in California totaled over 60,000 that year.

Committee amendments. According to the Trust for Public Land, the bill’s sponsor, highlights that “reports of dangerous 165-degree surface temperatures are becoming too common as the planet continues to heat up. Extreme heat is now harming our students and making their playgrounds and campuses unsafe. Most of our public schools were built in the decades following WWII and are in dangerous disrepair, covered in heat absorbing asphalt, offer no tree canopy or green spaces and are ‘climate liabilities’ to our communities and children.”

“Recognizing the urgent need to respond to this emerging climate crisis facing our public schools, the Administration and Legislature committed significant funding to create and implement a new “Green Schoolyards Program’ at CalFire, and to award grants to school districts and non-profits this year to adapt our K-12 campuses to extreme heat by increasing tree canopy, removing heat absorbing concrete and asphalt, and modernizing play structures and surfaces.”

“AB 1642 is simple much-needed legislation to create a ‘Statewide Master Plan for Green Schoolyards’ that would seek to ensure equitable implementation, best practices, standards and measurable goals to mitigate impacts from extreme heat impacting thousands of California public schools annually.”

“Extreme heat is increasing and Green Schoolyards are desperately needed to protect our children. AB 1642 will create the roadmap to implementing these projects statewide, while also ensuring we are using the best science and practices across all schools to achieve measurable and significant mitigation of extreme heat.”

This bill would require the Department of Education and CNRA to develop recommendations through an interagency and stakeholder process for a master plan for green schoolyards by December 1, 2024, and to submit this plan to the Legislature. The language of the bill does not fully reflect the author and sponsor’s stated vision. Committee staff worked with the author and sponsor on the proposed amendments listed below to better reflect this vision:

• Require the master plan to include the following:
  • Recommend a definition for green schoolyard.
  • Inventory and map in-need education facilities, as defined, categorized according to the level of vulnerability of those facilities to extreme heat.
  • Recommend a statewide goal for schools with green schoolyards that prioritizes the most vulnerable school.
  • Identify barriers and recommend strategies to overcome the barriers to implementing green schoolyards.
  • Identify recommendations and best practices:
    • To prevent or mitigate the impacts of extreme heat in schools, including through nature-based solutions, as specified.
    • To maximize co-benefits, as specified.
    • To support the long-term success and sustainability of school greening projects.
    • To support equitable implementation and outcomes of school greening projects.
  • Promote school greening projects that occur within school areas used by pupils, as specified.
• Require specified agencies to incorporate the recommendations and best practices of the master plan into their grant programs.
• Clarify that the master plan is advisory for schools.
• Authorize CNRA to designate a department under its jurisdiction to prepare the master plan.
• Define terms, including in-need education facility.
• Make other minor, technical changes.

In addition to the amendments proposed above, committee staff also recommends adding OPR to the list of agencies that the Department of Education and CNRA must consult with in the preparation of the master plan. Staff recommends this addition because this office is leading implementation of the Extreme Heat Action Plan, which includes items related to school greening, and because the office has expertise related to extreme heat and climate resilience.

The Committee may wish to adopt the amendments listed above and detailed in the amendments section of this analysis.

Management considerations. Because urban vegetation and forests are long-lived, it can be difficult to sustainably maintain and manage them over time on often-fluctuating budget cycles. This can be especially true for cash-strapped school districts. Local governments, school districts, and organizations often need assistance to plan, develop, expand, and maintain these paces. The Committee amendments proposed for this bill seek to address this issue by requiring the master plan for green schoolyards to include recommendations and best practices to support the long-term success and sustainability of school greening projects, including for the long-term care and maintenance of the trees, vegetation, and green space.

Related legislation.

AB 527 (Calderon, 2023) would require CalFire to develop a competitive grant program to support school greening projects. This bill is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 1567 (Garcia, 2023) would enact a new bond act, which, if approved by the voters at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election, would authorize $15.995 billion in bond funds. Specifically, this bill would make $150 million available to CalFire to protect or augment California’s urban forests, and mitigate the urban heat island effect and extreme heat impacts. This bill is pending in this committee.

SB 306 (Caballero, 2023) would codify the Extreme Heat Action Plan and require three-year updates to this plan that must include, among others, a review of efforts to address extreme heat on California’s school campuses, and recommendations on additional measures to protect pupils and students from the impacts of extreme heat while on school campuses. This bill is pending in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

SB 499 (Menjivar, 2023) would require all schoolsites to develop and implement an extreme heat action plan, as specified. This bill is pending in the Assembly Education Committee.

SB 867 (Allen, 2023) would enact a new bond act, which, if approved by the voters at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election, would authorize $15.5 billion in bond funds. Specifically, this bill would make $50 million available to CalFire to protect or augment California’s urban forests, and mitigate the urban heat island effect and extreme heat impacts. This bill is pending in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS

Amend proposed section 17607 of the Education Code as follows:

17607. (a) The department and the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, Division of the State Architect, the Office of Public School Construction, and any other appropriate state entities, as determined by the department and the Natural Resources Agency, shall facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop prepare, on or before December 1, 2024, recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards. The master plan shall include all of the following:

(1) Recommend a definition for green schoolyard.

(2) Inventory and map in-need education facilities in the state, categorized according to the level vulnerability of those facilities to extreme heat.

(3) Recommend a statewide goal for the number of schools with green schoolyards to be achieved by a specified date. This goal shall prioritize green schoolyards for in-need education facilities that are the most vulnerable to extreme heat, as identified in paragraph (2).

(4) Identify barriers to planning, designing, constructing, implementing, and maintaining green schoolyards.

(5) Recommend strategies to overcome the barriers identified in paragraph (4).

(6) Identify recommendations and best practices to prevent or mitigate the impacts of extreme heat in schools, including through nature-based solutions, such as increasing tree canopy cover, vegetation, and green space, and by modifying, removing, or replacing surfaces and materials to increase solar reflectance, promote evaporative cooling, increase permeability, or reduce the amount of heat absorbed.

(7) Identify recommendations and best practices to maximize co-benefits, including greenhouse gas reductions, biodiversity, air and water quality, flood and stormwater management, recreation, and public health.

(8) Identify recommendations and best practices to support the long-term success and sustainability of school greening projects, including through the use of native vegetation, drought-tolerant vegetation, and storm-tolerant vegetation, and recommendations and best practices for the long-term care and maintenance of the trees, vegetation, and green space.

(9) Recommendations to support equitable implementation of and outcomes from school greening funding, programs, projects, and practices.

(10) Promote school greening projects that occur within school areas used by pupils, including, but not limited to, areas used for recreation, recess, lunch, or instruction outdoors.

(b) (1) The department and the Natural Resources Agency shall, on or before December 1, 2024, report submit the master plan for green schoolyards to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards developed pursuant to subdivision (a).

(2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed pursuant to paragraph (1) is inoperative on December 1, 2028, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

(c)(1) The Natural Resources Agency shall incorporate the recommendations and best practices from the master plan for green schoolyards in the Urban Greening Program established pursuant to Section 12802.10 of the Government Code.

(2) The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall incorporate the recommendations and best practices from the master plan for green schoolyards in the school greening component of the Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program established in Section 4799.12 of the Public Resources Code.

(3) The Department of Parks and Recreation shall incorporate the recommendations and best practices from the master plan for green schoolyards in the Statewide Park Development and Committee Revitalization Program established pursuant to Section 5643 of the Public Resources Code.

(d) The master plan for green school yards shall be advisory for schools and school districts.

(e) The Natural Resources Agency may designate a department under its jurisdiction to fulfill its responsibility to prepare the master plan for green schoolyards.

(f) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “In-need education facility” means a schoolsite of a local educational agency in which either of the following apply:

(A) A schoolsite located in a disadvantaged community, as identified in Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code, or a low-income community, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 39713 of the Health and Safety Code.

(B) A schoolsite in which 70 percent or more of the pupils are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, as defined in Section 42238.01 of the Education Code.

(2) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school that maintains a kindergarten or any of the grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

SUPPORT

The Trust for Public Land (sponsor)

Association of California School Administrators

OPPOSITION

None Received

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Senator Josh Newman, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular

Bill No: AB 1642 Hearing Date: June 28, 2023

Subject: School facilities: master plan for green schoolyards: recommendations.

NOTE: This bill has been referred to the Committees on Education and Natural Resources and Water. A "do pass" motion should include referral to the Committee on Natural Resources and Water.

SUMMARY

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) and the Natural Resources Agency to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

BACKGROUND

Existing law:

1. Requires the governing board of any school district to meet with appropriate local government recreation and park authorities to review all possible methods of coordinating planning, design, and construction of new school facilities and schoolsites or major additions to existing school facilities and recreation and park facilities in the community. (Education Code (EC) Section 35275)
2. Makes findings and declarations that school gardens provide an interactive, hands-on learning environment in which pupils learn composting and waste management techniques, fundamental concepts about nutrition and obesity prevention, and the cultural and historical aspects of our food supply. School gardens also foster a better understanding and appreciation of where food comes from, how food travels from the farm to the table, and the important role of agriculture in the state, national, and global economy. (EC 51795)
3. Establishes the Instructional School Gardens Program, administered by the CDE for the promotion, creation, and support of instructional school gardens through the allocation of grants, and through technical assistance provided, to school districts, charter schools, or county offices of education (COEs). (EC 51796)
4. Prohibits a local governing board from siting a school located on land that was previously a hazardous waste disposal site, that contains pipelines that carry hazardous substances, or that is near an airport runway or freeway, other busy traffic corridors and railyards that have the potential to expose students and school staff to hazardous air emissions. (EC 17213 and 17215)
5. Requires the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to identify disadvantaged communities for investment opportunities. Requires these communities to be identified based on geographic, socioeconomic, public health, and environmental hazard criteria, and may include, but are not limited to, either of the following:
   1. Areas disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and other hazards that can lead to negative public health effects, exposure, or environmental degradation; or
   2. Areas with concentrations of people that are of low income, high unemployment, low levels of homeownership, high rent burden, sensitive populations, or low levels of educational attainment. (Health and Safety Code 39711)

ANALYSIS

This bill:

1. Requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Division of the State Architect (DSA), the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC), and any other appropriate state entities, as determined by the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop, on or before December 1, 2024, recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.
2. Requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency to, on or before December 1, 2024, report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

STAFF COMMENTS

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “Reimagining our playgrounds can change the way our children experience the outdoors and enhance their learning and social development. With this bill, we can modify grim blacktop ‘playgrounds,’ by turning them into vibrant, verdant areas of play. AB 1642 aims to create green playgrounds, which promote healthy play for children as well as provide our communities with a way to reduce the high temperatures that are caused by asphalt playgrounds. Access to nature has been proven to affect health, happiness, and prosperity. It is time to think about our communities and how we can change them in ways that will transform the lives of students, families, teachers, and the whole community.”
2. Heat impact on students and their academic performance. As climate change intensifies, students are increasingly burdened by worsening heat waves, wildfires, drought, and other extreme weather-related events that hinder their well-being and academic development, according to a 2023 report from the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University and other partners, Climate Resilient California Schools: Safeguarding Children’s Health and Opportunity to Learn in TK-12. Children are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather conditions because their bodies are more sensitive and less capable of self-regulating temperature.

According to a 2022 Legislative Analyst Office report, Climate Change Impacts Across California K-12 Education, climate change has led to students experiencing greater learning loss, poorer academic outcomes, food insecurity, and traumatic mental health problems. Moreover, minority children who live in high-poverty neighborhoods are often exposed to more heat, which contributes to racial disparities in health outcomes. School facilities located in low-income neighborhoods have historically had fewer financial resources to invest in efficient HVAC systems, thereby compounding student health risks from worsening climate change.

Indoor temperatures in California public schools are not currently subject to any upper limits in existing law, and schools are not required to have air conditioning or other cooling systems. Indoor classrooms that cannot maintain healthy temperatures exacerbate existing inequities in student and health outcomes (Patel, 2023). According to a 2020 Journal of Human Resources article, Hot Temperature and High Stakes Performance, hot temperature reduces performance by up to 13% of a standard deviation and leads to persistent impacts on high school graduation status, despite compensatory responses by teachers who selectively upward manipulate grades after hotter exams. According to a 2020 American Economic Journal: Economic Policy article, Heat and Learning, students of color and students in lower-income areas are the most affected by heat-driven learning losses, exacerbating racial and income-based achievement gaps. It is estimated that 5% of the nationwide gap in academic achievement between white and black students is due to heat and air conditioning disparities.

1. School garden programs. Existing law encourages schools to establish school garden programs. The Green Schoolyards grant program, a component of CalFire’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, is designed to assist with planning and implementing projects to plant trees that, when mature, will cover at least 30% of each school property, shading areas used most often by students during the school day. Priority for these grants is being given to districts and schools in under-served communities with the highest poverty levels, hottest climates, and least existing tree cover. Non-profit child care facilities that receive state or federal funding are also eligible for these grant funds. The 2022-23 Budget included $150 million over two years for Green Schoolyard grants ($117 million in 2022-23 and $33 million in 2023-24).

In 1995, the CDE launched the Garden in Every School initiative and collaborates with entities that support school gardens, including public and private agricultural agencies, waste management agencies, health agencies and others.

In 2006, AB 1535 (Nunez), Chapter 437, Statutes of 2006, provided $15 million for a grant program administered by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI). Kindergarten through grade 8 schoolsites were eligible to receive a maximum of $2,500 and high schools were eligible to receive a maximum of $5,000. Funds were used for instructional school garden equipment or supplies and professional development for teachers, garden volunteers and food service staff. According to the CDE, approximately 3,500 schoolsites received grants.

Existing law also requires a local governing board to evaluate methods for coordinating and planning new schoolsites and parks in the community. Many new schools are now constructed adjacent to a city park.

1. Arguments in support. The Trust for Public Land writes, “Climate change impacts on our K-12 schools and students have received increasing attention from scientists, universities and the California legislature as reports of dangerous 165-degree surface temperatures are becoming too common as the planet continues to heat up. Extreme heat is now harming our students and making their playgrounds and campuses unsafe. Most of our public schools were built in the decades following WWII and are in dangerous disrepair, covered in heat absorbing asphalt, offer no tree canopy or green spaces and are ‘climate liabilities’ to our communities and children.”

SUPPORT

Association of California School Administrators

OPPOSITION

None received

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 1642

Author:(Gipson)

As Amended Ver:March 20, 2023

Majority vote

SUMMARY

Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) and the Natural Resources Agency to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop, on or before December 1, 2024, recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

Major Provisions

1. Requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Division of the State Architect (DSA), the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC), and any other appropriate state entities, as determined by the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop, on or before December 1, 2024, recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.
2. Requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency to, on or before December 1, 2024, report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

COMMENTS

Greener schools. The majority of the state's urban schools are covered in hard surfaces, particularly in neighborhoods that already are suffering from park scarcity. Play spaces are covered in asphalt and concrete, which contribute to the urban heat island effect. Green space, such as grass, trees, and shrubs, which have been shown to lower temperatures is linked to improved child development outcomes. In addition to reducing heat, spending time in green spaces has been shown to improve student's academic achievement, improve concentration, and reduce stress. Greenery near schools has also been shown to improve air quality.

The impact of heat on students and their academic performance. As climate change intensifies, students are increasingly burdened by worsening heat waves, wildfires, drought, and other extreme weather-related events that hinder their well-being and academic development, according to a 2023 report from the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University and other partners, Climate Resilient California Schools: Safeguarding Children's Health and Opportunity to Learn in TK-12. Children are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather conditions because their bodies are more sensitive and less capable of self-regulating temperature.

According to a 2022 Legislative Analyst Office report, Climate Change Impacts Across California K-12 Education, climate change has led to students experiencing greater learning loss, poorer academic outcomes, food insecurity, and traumatic mental health problems. Moreover, minority children who live in high-poverty neighborhoods are often exposed to more heat, which contributes to racial disparities in health outcomes. School facilities located in low-income neighborhoods have historically had fewer financial resources to invest in efficient HVAC systems, thereby compounding student health risks from worsening climate change.

Indoor temperatures in California public schools are not currently subject to any upper limits in existing law, and schools are not required to have air conditioning or other cooling systems. Indoor classrooms that cannot maintain healthy temperatures exacerbate existing inequities in student and health outcomes (Patel, 2023). According to a 2020 Journal of Human Resources article, Hot Temperature and High Stakes Performance, hot temperature reduces performance by up to 13% of a standard deviation and leads to persistent impacts on high school graduation status, despite compensatory responses by teachers who selectively upward manipulate grades after hotter exams. According to a 2020 American Economic Journal: Economic Policy article, Heat and Learning, students of color and students in lower-income areas are the most affected by heat-driven learning losses, exacerbating racial and income-based achievement gaps. It is estimated that 5% of the nationwide gap in academic achievement between white and Black students is due to heat and air conditioning disparities.

Benefits of green space in areas with pollution. According to the National Parks Service, "Poor air quality is a common problem in many urban areas. It can lead to decreased human health, damage to landscape materials and ecosystem processes, and spoiled scenic views due to reduced visibility...Trees can improve air quality through a number of means, including by 1) reducing air temperature thus altering pollution concentrations, 2) reducing energy consumption in buildings, which consequently reduces air pollutant emissions from the power sources, and most notably, 3) directly removing pollutants from the air. Urban forests can remove multiple tons of ozone, gaseous air pollution, and particulate matter each year either through direct uptake of gasses or temporarily intercepting airborne particles. The combined positive impacts of an urban forest lead to a net reduction in urban ozone formation, according to multiple studies from the USDA Forest Service."

Environmental health scientists promote the use of green environments to improve air quality and public health. According to the University of Washington's Green Cities: Good Health website, "vegetation and trees, in particular, can act as natural filters for both gases and particulate matter in urban environments."

According to a 2008 Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health study, Children Living in Areas with More Street Trees Have Lower Prevalence of Asthma, "Areas with more street trees experienced a lower prevalence of early childhood asthma. This association was stronger after adjusting for potential confounders such as population density and proximity to sources of air pollution."

School garden programs. Existing law encourages schools to establish school garden programs. The Green Schoolyards grant program, a component of CalFire's Urban and Community Forestry Program, is designed to assist with planning and implementing projects to plant trees that, when mature, will cover at least 30% of each school property, shading areas used most often by students during the school day. Priority for these grants is being given to districts and schools in under-served communities with the highest poverty levels, hottest climates, and least existing tree cover. Non-profit child care facilities that receive state or federal funding are also eligible for these grant funds. The 2022-23 Budget included $150 million over two years for Green Schoolyard grants ($117 million in 2022-23 and $33 million in 2023-24).

In 1995, the CDE launched the Garden in Every School initiative and collaborates with entities that support school gardens, including public and private agricultural agencies, waste management agencies, health agencies and others.

In 2006, AB 1535 (Nunez), Chapter 427, Statutes of 2006, provided $15 million for a grant program administered by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI). Kindergarten through grade 8 schoolsites were eligible to receive a maximum of $2,500 and high schools were eligible to receive a maximum of $5,000. Funds were used for instructional school garden equipment or supplies and professional development for teachers, garden volunteers and food service staff. According to the CDE, approximately 3,500 schoolsites received grants.

Existing law also requires a local governing board to evaluate methods for coordinating and planning new schoolsites and parks in the community. Many new schools are now constructed adjacent to a city park.

According to the Author

"Reimagining our playgrounds can change the way our children experience the outdoors and enhance their learning and social development. With this bill, we can modify grim blacktop 'playgrounds,' by turning them into vibrant, verdant areas of play. AB 1642 aims to create green playgrounds, which promote healthy play for children as well as provide our communities with a way to reduce the high temperatures that are caused by asphalt playgrounds. Access to nature has been proven to affect health, happiness, and prosperity. It is time to think about our communities and how we can change them in ways that will transform the lives of students, families, teachers, and the whole community."

Arguments in Support

The Trust for Public Land writes, "Climate change impacts on our K-12 schools and students have received increasing attention from scientists, universities and the California legislature as reports of dangerous 165-degree surface temperatures are becoming too common as the planet continues to heat up. Extreme heat is now harming our students and making their playgrounds and campuses unsafe. Most of our public schools were built in the decades following WWII and are in dangerous disrepair, covered in heat absorbing asphalt, offer no tree canopy or green spaces and are 'climate liabilities' to our communities and children."

Arguments in Opposition

None on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, "One-time cost to the CDE of about $15,000 to redirect a portion of an existing staff member to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process and submit a report in coordination with the Natural Resources Agency."

VOTES

ASM EDUCATION: 7-0-0

YES: Muratsuchi, Megan Dahle, Juan Carrillo, Hoover, Lee, McCarty, Quirk-Silva

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 15-0-1

YES: Holden, Megan Dahle, Bryan, Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Dixon, Mike Fong, Hart, Lowenthal, Mathis, Papan, Pellerin, Sanchez, Weber, Ortega

ABS, ABST OR NV: Robert Rivas

UPDATED

VERSION: March 20, 2023

CONSULTANT: Marguerite Ries / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0000825

Date of Hearing: May 3, 2023

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Chris Holden, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1642

Author:(Gipson) – As Amended Ver:March 20, 2023

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) and the Natural Resources Agency to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop, on or before December 1, 2024, recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Division of the State Architect (DSA), the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC), and any other appropriate state entities, as determined by the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop, on or before December 1, 2024, recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.
2. Requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency to, on or before December 1, 2024, report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

FISCAL EFFECT:

One-time cost to the CDE of about $15,000 to redirect a portion of an existing staff member to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process and submit a report in coordination with the Natural Resources Agency.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author:

Reimagining our playgrounds can change the way our children experience the outdoors and enhance their learning and social development. With this bill, we can modify grim blacktop ‘playgrounds,’ by turning them into vibrant, verdant areas of play. AB 1642 aims to create green playgrounds, which promote healthy play for children as well as provide our communities with a way to reduce the high temperatures that are caused by asphalt playgrounds. Access to nature has been proven to affect health, happiness, and prosperity. It is time to think about our communities and how we can change them in ways that will transform the lives of students, families, teachers, and the whole community.

1. Background. “Greening” schoolyards refers to the process of introducing trees and other live vegetation to asphalt covered school ground. Preliminary research suggests the majority of school campuses in California have less than 5% canopy cover and a high degree of hard surfaces like asphalt and concrete. Lack of canopy cover combined with increasing temperatures resulting from climate change contribute to exposure to extreme heat for school children.

The 2022-23 state budget included $150 million over two years for the Green Schoolyard grant program, which is housed within CAL FIRE’s Urban Forestry Program. Specifically, $117 million is allocated for the 2022-23 fiscal year and $33 million is allocated for the 2023-24 fiscal year. CAL FIRE released final guidelines for this new program in February 2023 with a grant application deadline of April 28, 2023. Implementation grants range from $500,000 to $30 million per applicant, with a maximum of $2.5 million per school campus. Planning grants range from $75,000 to $3 million per applicant, with a maximum of $200,000 per school campus.

1. Related Legislation. AB 384 (Calderon) of this legislative session would require the California Department of Education to conduct a research study and submit a report and policy recommendations to the Legislature related to safe indoor air temperature at public schools. The bill is pending in this committee.

AB 527 (Calderon) of this legislative session would require the CAL FIRE to develop a competitive grant program to support school greening projects. The bill is pending on this committee’s suspense file.

AB 2566 (Calderon), of the 2021-22 Legislative Session, was nearly identical to AB 527. AB 2566 was vetoed by the Governor.

Analysis Prepared by: Natasha Collins / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 12, 2023

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Al Muratsuchi, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1642 (

Author:Gipson) – As Amended Ver:March 20, 2023

SUBJECT: School facilities: master plan for green schoolyards: recommendations

SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) and the Natural Resources Agency to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop, on or before December 1, 2024, recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Division of the State Architect (DSA), the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC), and any other appropriate state entities, as determined by the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency, to facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to develop, on or before December 1, 2024, recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.
2. Requires the CDE and the Natural Resources Agency to, on or before December 1, 2024, report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the recommendations for a master plan for green schoolyards.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Requires the governing board of any school district to meet with appropriate local government recreation and park authorities to review all possible methods of coordinating planning, design, and construction of new school facilities and schoolsites or major additions to existing school facilities and recreation and park facilities in the community. (Education Code (EC) Section 35275)
2. Makes findings and declarations that school gardens provide an interactive, hands-on learning environment in which pupils learn composting and waste management techniques, fundamental concepts about nutrition and obesity prevention, and the cultural and historical aspects of our food supply. School gardens also foster a better understanding and appreciation of where food comes from, how food travels from the farm to the table, and the important role of agriculture in the state, national, and global economy. (EC 51795)
3. Establishes the Instructional School Gardens Program, administered by the CDE for the promotion, creation, and support of instructional school gardens through the allocation of grants, and through technical assistance provided, to school districts, charter schools, or county offices of education (COEs). (EC 51796)
4. Prohibits a local governing board from siting a school located on land that was previously a hazardous waste disposal site, that contains pipelines that carry hazardous substances, or that is near an airport runway or freeway, other busy traffic corridors and railyards that have the potential to expose students and school staff to hazardous air emissions. (EC 17213 and 17215)
5. Requires the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) to identify disadvantaged communities for investment opportunities. Requires these communities to be identified based on geographic, socioeconomic, public health, and environmental hazard criteria, and may include, but are not limited to, either of the following:
   1. Areas disproportionately affected by environmental pollution and other hazards that can lead to negative public health effects, exposure, or environmental degradation; or
   2. Areas with concentrations of people that are of low income, high unemployment, low levels of homeownership, high rent burden, sensitive populations, or low levels of educational attainment. (Health and Safety Code 39711)

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS:

Need for the bill. According to the author, “Reimagining our playgrounds can change the way our children experience the outdoors and enhance their learning and social development. With this bill, we can modify grim blacktop ‘playgrounds,’ by turning them into vibrant, verdant areas of play. AB 1642 aims to create green playgrounds, which promote healthy play for children as well as provide our communities with a way to reduce the high temperatures that are caused by asphalt playgrounds. Access to nature has been proven to affect health, happiness, and prosperity. It is time to think about our communities and how we can change them in ways that will transform the lives of students, families, teachers, and the whole community.”

Urban Forests. An urban forest is comprised of trees and other vegetation in and around our communities, including the trees in our yards and along residential streets, in parking lots and along commercial thoroughfares, on school grounds and in parks and open spaces. Trees provide energy conservation, reduce urban heat island effects, reduce storm-water runoff, improve local air quality, support public and mental health benefits, provide wildlife habitat, and increase property values. Trees are critical to the quality of life in our urban environments. Climate change, pollution, drought, arboreal disease, and other factors strain our urban forests. Extreme weather and emerging tree pests such as the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer and Kuroshio Shot Hole Borer threaten the gains California has made in increasing the urban canopy. Investments in maintaining and protecting our current urban forests and developing new urban forests can help combat those threats and further the state’s goals for urban forestry.

Greener schools. The majority of the state’s urban schools are covered in hard surfaces, particularly in neighborhoods that already suffering from park scarcity. Play spaces are covered in asphalt and concrete, which contribute to the urban heat island effect. Green space, such as grass, trees, and shrubs, which have been shown to lower temperatures is linked to improved child development outcomes. In addition to reducing heat, spending time in green spaces has been shown to improve student’s academic achievement, improve concentration, and reduce stress. Greenery near schools has also been shown to improve air quality.

The impact of heat on students and their academic performance. As climate change intensifies, students are increasingly burdened by worsening heat waves, wildfires, drought, and other extreme weather-related events that hinder their well-being and academic development, according to a 2023 report from the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University and other partners, Climate Resilient California Schools: Safeguarding Children’s Health and Opportunity to Learn in TK-12. Children are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather conditions because their bodies are more sensitive and less capable of self-regulating temperature.

According to a 2022 Legislative Analyst Office report, Climate Change Impacts Across California K-12 Education, climate change has led to students experiencing greater learning loss, poorer academic outcomes, food insecurity, and traumatic mental health problems. Moreover, minority children who live in high-poverty neighborhoods are often exposed to more heat, which contributes to racial disparities in health outcomes. School facilities located in low-income neighborhoods have historically had fewer financial resources to invest in efficient HVAC systems, thereby compounding student health risks from worsening climate change.

Indoor temperatures in California public schools are not currently subject to any upper limits in existing law, and schools are not required to have air conditioning or other cooling systems. Indoor classrooms that cannot maintain healthy temperatures exacerbate existing inequities in student and health outcomes (Patel, 2023). According to a 2020 Journal of Human Resources article, Hot Temperature and High Stakes Performance, hot temperature reduces performance by up to 13% of a standard deviation and leads to persistent impacts on high school graduation status, despite compensatory responses by teachers who selectively upward manipulate grades after hotter exams. According to a 2020 American Economic Journal: Economic Policy article, Heat and Learning, students of color and students in lower-income areas are the most affected by heat-driven learning losses, exacerbating racial and income-based achievement gaps. It is estimated that 5% of the nationwide gap in academic achievement between white and Black students is due to heat and air conditioning disparities.

Benefits of green space in areas with pollution. According to the National Parks Service, “Poor air quality is a common problem in many urban areas. It can lead to decreased human health, damage to landscape materials and ecosystem processes, and spoiled scenic views due to reduced visibility….Trees can improve air quality through a number of means, including by (1) reducing air temperature thus altering pollution concentrations, (2) reducing energy consumption in buildings, which consequently reduces air pollutant emissions from the power sources, and most notably, (3) directly removing pollutants from the air. Urban forests can remove multiple tons of ozone, gaseous air pollution, and particulate matter each year either through direct uptake of gasses or temporarily intercepting airborne particles. The combined positive impacts of an urban forest lead to a net reduction in urban ozone formation, according to multiple studies from the USDA Forest Service.”

Environmental health scientists promote the use of green environments to improve air quality and public health. According to the University of Washington’s Green Cities: Good Health website, “vegetation and trees, in particular, can act as natural filters for both gases and particulate matter in urban environments.”

According to a 2008 Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health study, Children Living in Areas with More Street Trees Have Lower Prevalence of Asthma, “Areas with more street trees experienced a lower prevalence of early childhood asthma. This association was stronger after adjusting for potential confounders such as population density and proximity to sources of air pollution.”

How do trees remove air pollution? According to the National Parks Service, “Trees absorb gaseous molecules in the air. Tiny pores on tree leaf surfaces called stomata take in air that includes toxic pollutants. Once inside the leaf, the gases diffuse into intercellular spaces and may react with inner-leaf surfaces. This means pollutants like Sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone are permanently converted when inside the leaf. However, studies have found that ground-level ozone significantly reduces tree growth, injures the foliage, and predisposes trees to insect and disease attack.

Trees can remove particulate matter (PM) by “catching” them temporarily. Fine particulate matter is deposited on tree surfaces clinging to leaves and stems instead of floating about in the air. Most PM2.5 will only remain on surfaces. With rain or precipitation, the particulates can be dissolved in the storm water runoff or transferred to the soil. Particulates can also be resuspended or re-enter the atmosphere, making the tree only a temporary retention site for many atmospheric particles.”

School garden programs. Existing law encourages schools to establish school garden programs. The Green Schoolyards grant program, a component of CalFire’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, is designed to assist with planning and implementing projects to plant trees that, when mature, will cover at least 30% of each school property, shading areas used most often by students during the school day. Priority for these grants is being given to districts and schools in under-served communities with the highest poverty levels, hottest climates, and least existing tree cover. Non-profit child care facilities that receive state or federal funding are also eligible for these grant funds. The 2022-23 Budget included $150 million over two years for Green Schoolyard grants ($117 million in 2022-23 and $33 million in 2023-24).

In 1995, the CDE launched the Garden in Every School initiative and collaborates with entities that support school gardens, including public and private agricultural agencies, waste management agencies, health agencies and others.

In 2006, AB 1535 (Nunez), Chapter 427, Statutes of 2006, provided $15 million for a grant program administered by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI). Kindergarten through grade 8 schoolsites were eligible to receive a maximum of $2,500 and high schools were eligible to receive a maximum of $5,000. Funds were used for instructional school garden equipment or supplies and professional development for teachers, garden volunteers and food service staff. According to the CDE, approximately 3,500 schoolsites received grants.

Existing law also requires a local governing board to evaluate methods for coordinating and planning new schoolsites and parks in the community. Many new schools are now constructed adjacent to a city park.

Arguments in support. The Trust for Public Land writes, “Climate change impacts on our K-12 schools and students have received increasing attention from scientists, universities and the California legislature as reports of dangerous 165-degree surface temperatures are becoming too common as the planet continues to heat up. Extreme heat is now harming our students and making their playgrounds and campuses unsafe. Most of our public schools were built in the decades following WWII and are in dangerous disrepair, covered in heat absorbing asphalt, offer no tree canopy or green spaces and are ‘climate liabilities’ to our communities and children.”

Related legislation. AB 57 (Kalra) of the 2023-24 Session would establish the California Pocket Forest Initiative under the administration of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal FIRE) to provide grants to cities, counties, districts, nonprofit organizations, and public schools to establish pocket forests on public lands in order to test and demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the Miyawaki method in California.

AB 247 (Muratsuchi) of the 2023-24 Session would place the Kindergarten-Community Colleges Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2024 on the 2024 statewide ballot, to be operative only if approved by voters at the election.

AB 384 (Calderon) of the 2023-24 Session would require the CDE to conduct a research study on recommended indoor air temperature ranges and temperature control standards for public schools, to compile a statewide inventory of heating and cooling systems and interventions in all public schools, and to develop policy recommendations for safe indoor air temperature standards for public school facilities.

AB 527 (Calderon) of the 2023-24 Session would require the CAL FIRE to provide grants to qualified entities to support school greening.

SB 28 (Glazer) of the 2023-24 Session would place the Public Preschool, K-12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act on the ballot for the March 2024 statewide primary election.

SB 394 (Gonzalez) of the 2023-24 Session would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to develop a Master Plan for Healthy, Sustainable, and Climate-Resilient Schools on or before November 1, 2024, if an appropriation is made for that purpose. Requires the master plan to include specified elements, including, an inventory of the state’s public elementary and secondary school buildings and grounds and a set of priorities, benchmarks, and milestones for health, resilience, and decarbonization of public school campuses and support facilities.

SB 499 (Menjivar) of the 2023-24 Session would require 1) all schoolsites and child care facilities to develop and implement an extreme heat action plan to planting shade trees, install a school garden, and plant a coniferous tree barrier; 2) the CDE, in consultation with the Department of Social Services, to develop a template for an extreme heat action plan, make available a model program guidebook; and, 3) the Department of Social Services to identify a liaison for child care facilities.

SB 515 (Stern) of the 2023-24 Session would exempt the installation of shade structures on the Division of the State Architect’s (DSA’s) approved pre-check design list from requiring LEAs to also provide an accessible path of travel under the California Building Standards Code.

AB 2566 (Calderon) of the 2021-22 Session would have required the Cal FIRE to develop a competitive grant program to support school greening projects. AB 2566 was vetoed by the Governor, with the following message:

I share the author's commitment to school greening projects and my Administration is proud that the 2022-23 Budget included $150 million over two years for this purpose ($117 million in 2022-23 and $33 million in 2023-24). This funding will be administered through the existing Urban and Community Forestry Program. Additionally, Cal FIRE is able to update program guidelines to support implementation of this program and can incorporate program implementation elements outlined in this bill, as appropriate. Accordingly, neither the program nor the fund that would be established by this bill are necessary to administer the funding authorized in the Budget. Moreover, the budget agreement allocated one-time funds for this purpose, but this bill codifies an ongoing commitment not provided for in the budget.

With our state facing lower-than-expected revenues over the first few months of this fiscal year, it is important to remain disciplined when it comes to spending. We must prioritize existing obligations and priorities, including education, health care, public safety and safety-net programs.

The Legislature sent measures with potential costs of well over $20 billion in one-time spending commitments and more than $10 billion in ongoing commitments not accounted for in the state budget. Bills with cost pressure, such as this measure, should be considered and accounted for in the annual budget process.

AB 1535 (Nunez), Chapter 427, Statutes of 2006, provided $15 million for a grant program administered by the SPI. Kindergarten through grade 8 schoolsites were eligible to receive a maximum of $2,500 and high schools were eligible to receive a maximum of $5,000. Funds were used for instructional school garden equipment or supplies and professional development for teachers, garden volunteers and food service staff.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

The Trust for Public Land

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Marguerite Ries / ED. / (916) 319-2087