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Students ask committee to consider sustainability goals; board staff to draft proposal
Summary
Students from a district sustainability committee asked the policy committee to consider adopting sustainability goals modeled on Radnor Township’s plan; the committee asked staff to draft language that would include cost‑benefit caveats and options for township collaboration.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Student members of Springfield Township SD’s sustainability committee asked the policy committee to consider district sustainability goals, and committee members asked staff to draft a goals statement that would reflect fiscal constraints.
At the April 28 meeting the administration shared Radnor Township’s sustainability goals as an example; student representative Ari Schwartzman was identified as one of three students who requested the discussion. The students asked the board to adopt goals that communicate values and direction but would not commit the district to specific projects, such as purchasing electric buses.
Committee members said they were supportive of the idea but urged language that requires cost‑benefit analysis and fiscal feasibility. One member noted the district recently purchased two conventional buses and that electric bus costs and infrastructure remain prohibitive, citing past district analysis that photovoltaic panels did not offer financial benefit compared with other capital investments.
“I think it’s something that we should take into account, but I think as a board we have to weigh all of our options,” one committee member said.
The committee asked staff to draft a goals document or resolution, including explicit caveats about resource availability and potential collaboration with the township, and to bring the draft back to the next policy meeting for consideration before it would be forwarded to the full board.
