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PGCPS sustainability office summarizes Climate Action Plan progress: LEED standard, grants, electric bus pilots
Summary
The district’s Department of Sustainability and Resiliency reported early progress on curriculum, building standards and pilot projects — including LEED‑silver minimum design for new construction, federal and state awards for electric buses and a pilot composting program — while noting funding uncertainty for some incentives and partner programs
Dorothy Morrison, director of the Department of Sustainability and Resiliency, told the Operations, Budget and Fiscal Affairs Committee on June 18 that the district is continuing implementation of its Climate Change Action Plan with work on curriculum, building standards, renewable energy and transportation pilots.
“We are a small department with a mighty mission,” Morrison said, describing the office’s role in curriculum audits, teacher training and student engagement around climate education. She said the department helped develop the Climate Action Plan in 2021; the Board of Education adopted it in April 2022 and the department was established in October 2023 to carry out 58 action items across eight priority areas.
Buildings and energy
Morrison said the district requires new construction to meet a minimum of LEED Silver equivalent performance and is pursuing building audits, LED retrofits and HVAC upgrades. She reported the district has applied for and received more than $3.6 million in school decarbonization grants and is pursuing IRA tax credits related to energy efficiency and renewable deployments.
School transportation and renewable energy
The department reported awards and pilot funding for electric buses: roughly $9 million in federal grants to purchase 21 electric buses and about $3.5 million in state grants for eight additional buses. Morrison said the district is developing charging infrastructure at the Mulliken bus lot to support up to about 50 buses, and is pursuing rooftop solar, EV‑ready construction and community solar partnerships for some schools.
Waste, land and curriculum
Morrison said the district piloted composting at 29 schools in the 2023–24 school year and recorded about 306,992 pounds of composted food waste during that pilot. She also said the system reported diverting approximately 3,000,000 (unit not specified in the presentation) of waste from landfills during the 2023–24 school year; the office plans to expand compost pilots to roughly 45 schools in FY‑26. Morrison described tree‑planting partnerships and stormwater management inventories as part of climate‑resilience work.
Challenges and next steps
Morrison cautioned that some external funding partners and incentive programs face uncertainty and pause decisions, which could slow planned work such as tree‑planting and certain energy rebates. She said the department is pursuing alternate funding — including philanthropic and state grant sources — and in‑kind partnerships to sustain priority projects.
Ending
Morrison closed by urging continued emphasis on climate education and community engagement. “We have to educate, inspire, and empower our young folks because they will be the leaders of tomorrow,” she said.
