SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS COMMITTEE
Minutes, April 16, 2009
NEXT MEETING: THURSDAY, MAY 21, 10-12, Building D
(We are trying to set all meetings on the third Thursday of the month.)
Please mark your calendar. Action items are underlined.
PRESENT:
Members: Bret Anderson, Claire Elliott, Walt Hays, Wendy Hediger, Marilyn Keller, Sharon Kelly, Shani Kleinhaus, Bruce Lesch, Karen Matthys, Annie Sexton,
Lauren Swezey.
District Staff: Luis Cepeda, Bob Golton, Chuck McDonnell, Pete Pearne, Ron Smith
REPORTS AND ACTIONS
A. PV on the SRC.
Ron reported that a final contract with Akeena Solar is being circulated between attorneys and will hopefully be signed before our next meeting. He also confirmed that the contract includes not only solar arrays on the roof, but also a “widget,” namely, a device on the ground such as a water pump, operated by a small panel, which will give students a hands-on experience of PV.
B. PV at Schools.
As promised, Bob contacted other districts that entered into Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with Chevron, in which investors offer to absorb the cost of installation and maintenance and charge districts for the energy generated at a rate lower than the prior rate. Milpitas seemed unclear about whether costs were saved. Both they and San Jose avoided roofs because of maintenance concerns and instead used shade structures.
Bob said the next step would be to set a meeting with the Chevron representative, Lindsey Corbin, and agreed to do so, with the PV subcommittee of Lisa Benatar, Karen Matthys and Walt.
C. Green Teams.
1. Sustainable Teams.
Annie Sexton, who attended for the first time, introduced herself. She is the consultant hired by City Public Works to help schools form “sustainable” green teams in both public and private schools in the City; i.e., ones that persist even after a particularly active parent moves on. She reported that such teams have been established in 17 schools. Wendy, from Public Works, noted that Annie’s contract is being renewed for another year to work with the remaining schools.
2. Communication.
Bret recommended that we adopt that a locally initiated communications tool, Up-To-Us, usually called Uptous, which allows very easy communication between green teams as well as calendaring and reporting, and that separate systems also be established for each team. The committee agreed. Karen offered to set up the inter-team system, and Bret agreed to present both it and the intra-team program to teams at the next green team conference.
3. Green Team Conference.
Karen, Bret and others suggested that we hold another conference as a follow-up to the one held in November, and the Committee agreed. By now teams have tried various activities and will be in a position to share best practices. Also, teams could decide on a uniform recycling system (including dealing with food waste, which the City will start collecting as of 7/1), and as indicated above, could be taught how to use Uptous. Bob agreed to seek a date in May after star testing when the board room would be available.
D. Energy Monitoring.
Karen, who had worked with Joseph, a clerk for the District, in coming up with comparative figures on use of electricity and gas, said that Joseph is no longer available for that job. Bob reported that Lisa Gelfand, the architect who spoke at the last green team conference, emphasized that reducing demand through conservation is much more cost-effective than actions like installing PV. Bob has also had preliminary conversations with a company called Energy Education, which helps districts with conservation and bases its charges on a percentage of savings. Karen said that getting the job done requires an internal person. She and Bob agreed to meet separately to discuss where to go from here. Bruce noted that City Utilities are instituting a new billing system that might be useful in making comparisons, and suggested that the District consider being a beta user.
E. Water Conservation/Landscaping.
Walt reported that Trustee Dana Tom installed weather-based irrigation at his home and wondered if the District has a similar system. Chuck McDonnell said that the City uses such a system in maintaining certain District athletic fields. The District does not on its other fields or landscaping, but it is currently installing a system at Gunn and getting the bugs out of it.
The discussion brought up the idea of replacing decorative grass at schools with drought-tolerant landscaping, which would save water and money. Bruce pointed out that the City has a “cash-for-grass” program under which entities like the district can obtain rebates up to $20,000 for replacing grass. Bob noted that the District can’t replace grass without the consent of principals and parents. The Committee agreed, and decided to move in that direction by presenting the concept at the green team conference.
Shani and Claire asked why not extend the discussion to include all the District’s landscaping. Wendy noted that the City also provides some funding for “Bay-friendly landscaping.” Walt agreed to put the subject on the next SSC agenda. In the meantime, Chuck offered a spot where volunteers could plant a demonstration native garden, and he and Claire agreed to meet and pursue that option.
F. Tree Policy.
Sharon reported that a draft policy had been presented to the District’s Property Committee, consisting of Dana Tom and Barbara Klausner. There was initially some reluctance to pursue it, but Bob had recommended doing so with the following modifications: (1) making the policy very brief, to conform with other District policies; and (2) adopting the more lengthy parts of the draft as “regulations.” Sharon revised the draft accordingly and sent it to Asst. Superintendent Scott Lawrence for review, but had not yet heard back. Bob assured the group that the policy would be pursued, and pointed out that the District has a thick book of revised policies to consider, and the Tree Policy would probably be presented to the Board as part of that book.
Shani and Claire asked that the short policy be amended to emphasize planting only non-invasive plants, and the Committee agreed. Sharon will email the amended policy and regulations to Walt, who will forward them to the Committee.
G. Uniform Recycling.
Green teams have been struggling with this issue and asking for more blue containers. Wendy explained that the City has had problems with providing containers; namely, (1) cost; (2) the fact that containers disappear; and (3) they are too big for elementary students. She added that to be effective, recycling containers have to be placed net to garbage cans, and custodians don’t always do so. Pete noted that the reason containers disappear is that kids vandalize them. Lauren added that students in general don’t take the trouble to lift the lids of the blue containers. Wendy added that the issue will become even more complicated as of 7/1, when there will be a third container for food waste and the city will eventually fine entities for mixing food or recycling with garbage. Finally, Bob noted that custodians have many duties and tight time schedules, so requiring them to do more with containers may mean eliminating some other task.
Countering all the foregoing issues, the Committee agreed that reducing garbage enough to eliminate the need for one dumpster could save a lot of money. Accordingly, they established a Recycling Subcommittee, consisting of Wendy, Bret, Pete and Walt, to study the issue and report back.
Respectfully submitted,
Walt