Students, community members thank board for Solar for Schools effort and urge pursuit of federal funds

Community members and students at the Duluth Public School District’s (ISD 709) Dec. 19 listening session praised the district’s work on a Solar for Schools grant and urged the board and administration to pursue additional federal funding and stronger curriculum and communications tied to the project.

Kate Yapel, a student, told the board she was “thankful” for the district’s work on the solar project and said installing an array would provide “tangible solutions” and classroom teaching about climate change. “This array will teach kids about climate change and sustainability,” Yapel said.

Amelia Gilbert, speaking for the district Climate Club, thanked the board “for your action towards the implementation of solar on our schools” and said the club stands ready to assist as the district moves toward the application deadline.

Community member and former teacher Diane Desatell thanked the board and administration for “moving the Solar for Schools grant of up to $500,000 forward” and asked the district to take three steps next: improve public communication about the project and its submission, apply for federal Inflation Reduction Act funds to offset the roughly $600,000 in designated district capital dollars mentioned in public comment, and integrate local student advocacy and sustainability curriculum into any grant-related education efforts. “Please apply for the federal Inflation Reduction Act dollars to help offset the $600,000 of the specifically designated capital dollars the district is using,” Desatell said. She also asked that the district tell the story of student advocacy connected to the project as part of grant-related curriculum.

Desatell referenced a proposed site partnership with the city at Lincoln Middle School and asked the board to begin a local fund for future arrays as roofs are replaced on other buildings. She also said the full Solar for Schools application was submitted to a new December deadline that she believed was Dec. 30 (she said “I think it’s thirtieth”), a detail she characterized as approximate.

Speakers emphasized both educational and economic benefits: they described the array as a teaching tool to reduce climate anxiety among students and as a future financial asset for the district. None of the public comments in the transcript recorded a formal vote or motion on the grant during this portion of the meeting.

The comments combined gratitude for district staff time and volunteer efforts with requests for the board to pursue federal funding sources, to increase public communications about the project, and to include the district’s student advocacy story in curriculum tied to the grant.