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Students press Sequoia Union trustees to adopt climate resolution, push for zero‑waste steps
Summary
Student leaders and a nonprofit partner urged the board to adopt a revised climate resolution, create a public climate dashboard, reduce idling at school drop‑offs and move toward reusable, non‑toxic lunchware and milk dispensers to cut waste and exposure to harmful chemicals.
At the May 7 meeting, student members of the district sustainability committee and allied community advocates urged the Sequoia Union board to adopt a revised climate resolution and to pursue specific operational changes to reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
Danielle Levy, a Carlmont High junior and leader of the district sustainability committee’s clean energy subcommittee, described living on a fire‑prone ravine and said rising extreme weather makes local mitigation and mitigation planning urgent. "Fire season is approaching," Levy said, urging the board to support actions including reduced idling at drop‑off, increased drop‑off curbs and a public climate dashboard on the district website to track energy and emissions.
Kiara Louie, a junior at Crystal Springs Uplands who serves as a youth representative for Peninsula Clean Energy, urged adoption of zero‑waste and clean‑energy policies and said the district’s greenhouse gas footprint from gas heating alone is substantial. "We need a sustainability resolution right now," she told trustees, listing milk dispensers, reusable mealware and bulk purchases as concrete steps.
Ben Schlifer, green and clean purchasing coordinator at the Center for Environmental Health, told the board his organization has worked with student sustainability committees regionally and urged district commitment to phase out toxic food packaging after past testing in the district showed elevated compounds in meal service ware.
Other student speakers echoed those requests and described site‑level problems—plastic‑sealed compostable trays, single‑use heated containers and persistent idling at pickup—arguing they create environmental harm and raise health and equity concerns for students who rely on free meals.
Trustees did not take immediate action on a climate resolution at the meeting; multiple board members thanked students and asked staff to consider the requests and next steps for district policy or a future resolution.
