Austin Independent School District Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes January 28, 2015 6:30 8:30 pm Carruth Administration Center, 1111 W. 6 th Street, Board Auditorium Attendees Members in Attendance Laura DiCarlo Kris Hafezizadeh Gina LaMotte* Sherry Lepine Chris Moore Anne Muller Matthew Nelson* Juan Nunez Stephanie Perrone Mary Priddy Monica Sanchez* Ilya Shmulenson* Jonathan Stott Dub Taylor Susan Wall Members Not in Attendance Chris Carillo-Spano Martha Cason Amy Chamberlain Charlie Gutierrez Dawn Lewis Lauren Maples Margaret Russell Denise Shaw Martha Stockton Staff Coordinators in Attendance Jennifer Cregar Chaneel Daniels Lawrence Fryer Paul Turner Citizens Communication Pamela Abee-Taulli Jesus Kain Cristina Pena Jonathan Stott Visitors Pamela Abee-Taulli Marissa Aleman Denise Graham Andrea Guerra Donna Hoffman Jesus Kain Shayna Lee Catherine Molina Christina Pena Kevin Richerson J Ross Ric Talavera Lynn Tunison Armando Valdez, Jr. * Indicates Committee Chair 1
Minutes I. Welcome and Approval of Minutes The ESAC Chair Ilya Shmulenson called the meeting to order at 6:43 pm. The November 12, 2014 meeting minutes were approved once quorum was reached. II. Citizens Communication Jesus Kain from the Hispanic Austin Leadership (HAL) Environmental Sustainability Team signed up to speak and shared information about an upcoming plastic water bottle reduction student video contest that they are designing for AISD students. They are targeting Title I schools and will offer a grand prize of a water bottle filling station, with possible runner-up prizes like reusable bottles. HAL is still determining the exact eligibility and submission criteria, but videos will likely be 30 seconds to 1 minute in length and open to multiple grades. HAL is hoping to roll out the contest soon so that the winning video may be selected in April. An ESAC member mentioned that the City of Austin had supported past environmental projects that HAL has undertaken, including a public service announcement (PSA) at Williams Elementary. Cristina Pena and Pamela Abee-Taulli with Williams Elementary School s Green Team recognized HAL and the City of Austin for doing a PSA with Williams Elementary last school year. Williams has a green classroom; however, they need more help to address sustainability issues like removing Styrofoam trays from the cafeteria, using vegetables grown in their school garden in the cafeteria, and purchasing reusable water bottles. An ESAC member requested that district staff coordinators provide an update on the percentage of schools that are using Styrofoam in cafeterias. The member thought that Styrofoam had been removed. The AISD Sustainability Coordinator Jen Cregar thanked Cristina, Pamela, and other Campus Green Team Representatives for attending and expressed enthusiasm for working with them to increase district-wide collaboration on similar issues. Jonathan Stott with EcoRise Youth Innovations mentioned the availability of $500 Eco- Audit Grants for 5 th through 12 th grade students to undertake environmental audits and other green improvement projects on their campus. Applications must be submitted by April 3, 2015, for projects undertaken this spring. The preference is for projects that are student-driven. Each campus can earn up to 4 individual grants of $500 each, but the awards must be for separate projects. III. Updates Sustainability Coordinator Report The AISD Sustainability Coordinator provided an update on initiatives she is currently working on and proposed future projects as she strives to build a sustainability plan and culture at AISD. Projects underway include: 2
getting a baseline understanding of existing environmental initiatives at AISD schools and at the district administration level, through stakeholder meetings and an in-development survey; understanding and accessing communications channels available to share information about ESAC and district sustainability events, successes, and other news; and starting to build a cohesive AISD sustainability program. The Sustainability Coordinator mentioned working with Texas Disposal Systems, district staff, and community partners to optimize recycling and composting at AISD. An ESAC member mentioned that it is common for janitorial staff to place recycling in the trash. A visitor indicated that there is confusion about recycling in general in the schools and clarification is needed. Potential future projects mentioned by the Sustainability Coordinator include: continuing to build a holistic AISD sustainability plan with goals, metrics, and an implementation timeline; integrating sustainability considerations in the district s strategic plan; establishing sustainable funding mechanisms for environmental projects; increasing transparency about AISD s resource consumption and associated carbon footprint through campus and district-level report cards; and building a culture of sustainability across the district so that environmentally friendly behavior becomes the norm. Multiple ESAC members stressed the importance of awards and recognition not just for teachers and campuses completing environmental projects, but also for Facilities and other district staff that support waste diversion initiatives, energy and water conservation, etc. The University of Texas was mentioned as an institution that has successfully implemented Facilities-level staff recognition. EcoRise and the City of Austin are working on a teacher recognition program, and AISD s Bravo employee award program was mentioned as an existing avenue for recognizing achievements. A visitor expressed support for AISD s environmental initiatives and the hiring of a sustainability coordinator and stressed the important of educating the new superintendent and staff on environmental topics. The Sustainability Coordinator mentioned efforts to try to create a sustainability orientation program for new and returning teachers and other staff at the start of each school year. AISD Chief Operations Officer Dr. Lawrence Fryer indicated that he and Executive Director of Facilities Paul Turner have sustainability related performance measures in their annual evaluations. An ESAC member encouraged the district to include environmental literacy and leadership performance measures in addition to physical environmental related measures in staff evaluations and in the district s overall metrics. The Whole-School Sustainability Framework was offered as a resource in crafting appropriate metrics. Another ESAC member expressed interest in the district quantifying the number of cars taken off the road through promotion of active transportation like biking and walking to school. The Sustainability Coordinator also mentioned the in-development Eco-School USA Green Flag District designation as a potential framework for shaping AISD s 3
sustainability strategy. A visitor expressed support for the Eco-School USA program, especially because of the availability of a local coordinator to help campuses attain certification and the use of local partnerships. Multiple ESAC members stressed the importance of AISD getting recognition for its existing environmental initiatives and marketing its commitment sustainability, especially with quantitative metrics like school report cards, to help get funding. The Sustainability Coordinator also provided an overview of proposed revisions to the ESAC bylaws that will be voted on at the March ESAC meeting in advance of ESAC chair elections to be held in May. 2/25 Sustainability Resource Fair The AISD Sustainability Coordinator provided an overview of the resource fair, proposed schedule, and invited participants. ESAC members provided the following suggestions: Emphasize in invite that parking will be free at City Hall Contact the City of Austin s Watershed Protection Department for zero waste suggestions based on past zero waste event success Stress the importance of bin placement and educational signage as a district requirement Provide opportunities for attendees to ask questions, offer feedback, and sign up for future correspondence Add the Children in Nature Collaborative of Austin (CINCA) as a potential exhibitor Ask attendees to bring sample trash items from their schools for the sign-making workshop but also have trash on hand because not everyone will bring their own; perhaps ask schools to hold trash collection drives to provide supplies for workshop ESAC members volunteered to help with the following tasks in preparing for and hosting the resource fair: Overall coordinator = AISD Sustainability Coordinator Jen Cregar Backup onsite coordinator = AISD Facilities staff Exhibitor onsite coordinator = Mary Priddy Sign-in table = Sherry Lepine, Chris Moore + 2 of her staff ESAC table = Amy Chamberlain, Susan Wall, Stephanie Perrone/Dub Taylor (alternate as greeter) Greeters = Gina LaMotte, Matthew Nelson, Monica Sanchez, Ilya Shmulenson, Stephanie Perrone/Dub Taylor (alternate as ESAC tabler) Sign workshop supplies = Laura DiCarlo, Sherry Lepine Sign workshop onsite coordinators = Susan Wall, Donna Hoffman Set-up / Clean-up = TBD based on availability IV. Subcommittee Reports Communications The Communications Subcommittee is continuing to gather story ideas and is working with the Sustainability Coordinator to identify the best avenues for sharing the district s 4
sustainability news. They are also working with Austin EcoNetwork to share AISD sustainability information to the larger Austin environmental community. An ESAC member shared a news item about a City of Austin Youth Council Career Festival for high school students at Palmer Events Center on April 7. Infrastructure The Infrastructure Subcommittee has reviewed its original three goals for this year and agreed to: work with the Sustainability Coordinator to provide recommendations on a to-bedeveloped survey; benchmark other school districts sustainability initiatives related to measurement and verification, funding, etc.; and work with the Sustainability Coordinator to provide updates to the Communications Subcommittee. School Empowerment The School Empowerment Subcommittee is continuing to work on the schoolyard greening project guidelines and is working with the Sustainability Coordinator and Outdoor Learning Specialist to institutionalize new procedures where needed. The subcommittee would like the Facilities Department to review and will make available print and online versions. The goal is to rollout the guidelines by next school year. V. Requests for Information and Future Meetings The ESAC co-chairs clarified that requests for information should be directed to the AISD Sustainability Coordinator Jen Cregar. The meeting was adjourned at 8:34 pm. The next regular ESAC meeting will be March 25, 2015, and the ESAC will host the AISD Sustainability Resource Fair on February 25, 2015. 5