Student asks board for public accounting of 2021 sustainability resolution’s 35% landfill-reduction goal

A Middleton High School junior told the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District Board of Education on April 20 that students want publicly accessible data showing whether the district has met a 35% landfill-waste reduction goal set in a March 2021 sustainability resolution.

Annabelle Goldberger, a member of the district Green Team’s Policy and Planning Committee, said the 2021 resolution stated a goal to “reduce landfill waste through sustainable practices by 35% in 2025.” She asked whether the district is monitoring that goal, whether the reduction has been achieved and why progress reporting is inaccessible to the public and to students who are affected.

Goldberger also said students at Middleton High School remain concerned about the absence of some practices named in the 2021 resolution, specifically consistent recycling and schoolwide composting access. “We fully support and respect the efforts set in place by the 2021 sustainability resolution but it is difficult to support progress we cannot see,” Goldberger told the board during public comment.

Board president Sheila Hibner thanked Goldberger for her testimony and said she appreciated the Green Team’s efforts. The meeting record does not show the board providing a data report or announcing a schedule for public progress updates that night.

Ending: The board heard a request for transparency and accountability tied to the March 2021 sustainability resolution’s 35% landfill-reduction goal but did not provide the requested report at the April 20 meeting. The Green Team’s concerns were entered into the public record for follow-up.