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[Welcome and Opening Remarks]
AFTERNOON, EVERYONE.UM, WELCOME TO THE GREENING SCHOOLS AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE COMMITTEE.
I'M DR. RIVAS, THE CHAIR, AND I WELCOME EVERYONE WHO'S HERE.
EVERYONE WHO'S HERE, PRESIDENT WATCHING US REMOTELY.
UH, THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS, OUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS, OUR STUDENTS, AND, UH, COMMUNITY LEADERS FOR GO.
JOINING US AS WE CLOSE THIS SEMESTER WITH AN AGENDA THAT REFLECTS BOTH THE URGENCY OF CLIMATE CRISIS AND THE HOPE WE SEE IN OUR SCHOOLS EVERY DAY.
UH, TODAY'S MEETING BRINGS US, UH, TOGETHER FOR TWO ESSENTIAL, WITH TWO ESSENTIAL FORCES THAT DEFINE THIS WORK, INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP THROUGH THE DISTRICT'S ECO SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE AND COMMUNITY ROOTED LEADERSHIP THROUGH THE YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES OF SOUTH LA WHO ARE RESHAPING WHAT CLIMATE RESILIENCE LOOKS LIKE IN THEIR, AT THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL ACROSS OUR CAMPUSES.
THE DATA IS CLEAR, EXTREME HEAT, WATER SCARCITY, ENVIRONMENTAL BURDENS ARE NOT ABSTRACT THREATS.
THEY SHOW UP AS, AS OVERHEATED CLASSROOMS, UNSAFE AIR PLAY, GUARDS WITHOUT SHADE, AND COMMUNITY STILL CARRYING THE LEGACY OF LONG-TERM ENVIRONMENTAL DISINVESTMENT.
AND AS THIS SEMESTER HAS SHOWN, A RESPONSE MUST BE BOLD, COORDINATED, AND EQUITY DRIVEN.
TODAY, WE WILL HEAR HOW THE ECO AND STABILITY OFFICE, ITS ADVANCING MAJOR INITIATIVES ACROSS WATER CONSERVATION, UH, WASTE DIVERSION, RENEWABLE ENERGY, CLIMATE LITERACY, AND OUR NEWLY ADOPTED RESILIENT SCHOOLS, EXTREME HEAT MITIGATION AND DISASTER PREPAREDNESS RESOLUTION.
WE ARE ALSO HONORED TO SPOTLIGHT THE WORK OF GREENHOUSE SOUTH LA AND I'M VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE PRESENTATION THAT THEY'RE AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT BECOMES POSSIBLE WHEN YOUTH POWER COMMUNITY EXPERTISE, AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS WORK TOGETHER TO BUILD A FUTURE THAT IS SAFE, SUSTAINABLE, AND ROOTED IN JUSTICE.
SO, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL, FOR BEING HERE.
[1 Eco-Sustainability Office Updates (036-25/26)]
I'D LIKE TO FIRST INVITE OUR CHIEF ECOS SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER, UH, MR. CHRISTUS CLIO, TO PRESENT THE LATEST ECOS SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE UPDATES.UH, TODAY'S PRESENTATION SPANS SEVERAL MAJOR PILLARS OF OUR DISTRICT-WIDE CL CLIMATE WORK, INCLUDING OUR RENEWED L-A-D-W-P PARTNERSHIP, WATER CONSERVATION PILOTS, DISTRICT WIDE WASTE DIVERSION STRATEGIES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OEHS, FOOD SERVICES AND ITS AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LAST MONTH'S EXTREME HEAT RESOLUTION.
SO THANK YOU MR. CLIO, AND, UM, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED LEADERSHIP.
LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR PRESENTATION, AND THE FLOOR IS YOURS, MADAM CHAIR, DR. RIVAS, UH, BOARD PRESIDENT, MR. SCHON, AND TO OUR COMMITTEE.
PLEASURE TO BE HERE TODAY TO BE PRESENTING ON THE UPDATES THAT WE HAVE FOR THE ECOS SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE.
AND I'M GONNA BE TOUCHING ON SOME OF THE UPDATES.
THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING WITHIN THE, WITHIN OUR OFFICE, AND I JUST SELECTED A HANDFUL OF ITEMS THAT I WANTED TO BRIEF YOU TODAY.
AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE, UH, ON THE FIRST SLIDE THAT WE HAVE, THE OPENING SLIDE, IT SHOWS A PHOTOGRAPH OF, UH, HOBAR BOULEVARD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
THIS IS ONE OF OUR EL LAB PROJECTS THAT, THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY, WE'RE ABLE TO CELEBRATE YESTERDAY WITH A CUTTING CEREMONY.
I WAS VERY EXCITED TO, TO BE THERE AND SHOWCASE THE PROJECT.
THERE WERE SEVERAL ATTENDEES, UM, THAT WERE THERE MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, THE CHILDREN THAT WERE THERE TO CELEBRATE, UH, THE PROJECT ITSELF.
UH, THE PRINCIPAL, MR. YUNG, WAS VERY HAPPY ABOUT THIS PROJECT, AND SHE SCHEDULED THIS RIBBON CUTTING A FEW TIMES.
AND BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO REALLY, UH, CELEBRATE THE WORK THAT WAS DONE IN HER SCHOOL, THIS SCHOOL WAS SELECTED BECAUSE, UM, INITIALLY IT WAS, UH, HAD, UM, LESS THAN 10% OF GREENING ON THE SCHOOL, AND IT WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF THE LAB PROJECTS THAT, UH, WE LOOKED AT IT, UH, ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO.
AND, UH, WITHIN, UH, LESS THAN TWO YEARS, WE'RE ABLE TO HAVE IT COMPLETED.
AND, UH, RIGHTLY TO SAY THAT WE'RE ABLE TO IMPROVE APPROXIMATELY 18,000, UH, SQUARE FEET OF, UH, OF BUILDING AREA, WE'RE ABLE TO REMOVE APPROXIMATELY 18,000 SQUARE FEET OF ASPHALT AREA TO INCREASE THEIR GREEN SPACE AND REALLY TRANSITION AND TRANSFORM THIS SPACE TO A, A, A REAL BEAUTIFUL, UH, SPACE FOR, UH, STUDENTS TO PLAY, UM, INCLUDING TO GIVE THEM A, UH, WE GIVE THEM A TURF FIELD THAT WE'RE ABLE TO PLAY SOCCER AND OTHER ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING SOME NATIVE PLANTING AND, UH, AND, UH, AND ALSO THE COMPOSED GRANITE WITH DIFFERENT SEAT AREAS WITHIN THE SCHOOL.
SO, UM, IT WAS NICE TO BE ABLE TO CELEBRATE, AND
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THIS IS ONE OF THE MANY SCHOOLS THAT I'LL BE TOUCHING MORE ON THE LAB PROGRAM ITSELF AND HOW WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS TO CONTINUE GREENING OUR SCHOOLS.SO TODAY'S, I JUST WANNA ADD REALLY QUICK THAT THAT'S WHERE I WENT TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
THAT WAS MY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, SO IT MAKES ME HAPPY TO KNOW THAT.
IT WAS NICE TO SEE THE TRANSFORMATION, REALLY.
SO TODAY, UH, I'LL BE TOUCHING ON THE E SUSTAINABILITY PLAN UPDATE.
I'LL BE TOUCHING ON THE CLIMATE LITERACY TASK FORCE REPORT AND THE RELEASE OF THE REPORT, THE RENEWAL OF THE NEW, UH, D-W-P-M-O-U, AND THE, UH, UH, SOME RELATED WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAMS. I'LL BE TOUCHING ON WASTE DIVERSION, AN AREA THAT WE'RE FOCUSING RIGHT NOW, WE'RE TRYING TO ADVANCE IN TERMS OF, UH, WASTE.
AND THEN I'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THE EXTREME HEAT BOARD RESOLUTION THAT PASSED RECENTLY, AND SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE HAVE BE HAVING COMING, UH, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
AND THEN, UH, TOUCH ON THE OF GREEN PROGRAMS. AND, UH, AND THEN THE ACTUAL GRANT PROGRAM, SOME OF THE ACTUAL GRANTS THAT WE'RE APPLYING FOR THAT WE TRY TO ADVANCE SPECIFIC AREAS TO CREATE MORE, UH, SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTS IN OUR SCHOOLS.
SO THIS GIVES YOU A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE E SUSTAINABILITY PLAN.
AND IN TERMS OF, WE ARE TODAY, YOU CAN SEE, UM, RIGHT, WE HAVE THE DATA ANALYSIS, WHAT WE ARE HERE.
UM, WE HAVE BEEN, UH, COLLECTING AND BENCHMARKING, UH, A LOT OF THE DATA.
WE'RE TRYING TO ESTABLISH CERTAIN BASELINES IN TERMS OF WHAT WE ARE AS A SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND THEN, UH, LOOKING AT DIFFERENT, UH, RISKS AND, UH, DEFINING THE INITIAL MEASURES WITH THE GOAL OF STARTING TO SETTING UP, UM, OUR, OUR MEETINGS TO ESTABLISH OUR VISION, OUR GOALS AND STRATEGIES AND, AND HOW WE CAN ALIGN EVERYTHING TO OUR BOARD RESOLUTION.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT WE ARE.
SO WE'RE GONNA BE GETTING INVITED TO SOME OF THE MEETINGS.
WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING WITH OUR, UM, EXECUTIVE CABINET, WITH OUR DIFFERENT DIVISIONS, WITH OUR BOARD TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU, EVERYONE HAS A, A PLACE ON IT.
THAT, UH, YOU'RE ABLE TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK AND, AND SHARE AT LEAST YOUR THOUGHTS AND IDEAS OF HOW WE CAN ESTABLISH OUR GOALS AND STRATEGIES.
WE THEN, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO THE NEXT PHASE TO, UH, TO START PRIORITIZING A LOT OF THE, THE ROADMAPS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ESTABLISHING, THEN SETTING UP A, A BUDGET SO WE CAN, AT LEAST WE KNOW EXACTLY WE'RE ESTABLISHING A BUDGET, SO WE KNOW WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN IN TERMS OF IMPLEMENTING SOME OF THOSE PLANS, SETTING UP, UH, PRIORITIZATIONS AND TIMELINES.
SO THAT'S KIND OF HOW IT'S GONNA BE MOVING FORWARD.
AND I'LL BE, I'LL MAKE SURE THAT WE PROVIDE UPDATES, UM, PERHAPS MONTHLY, SO AT LEAST YOU KNOW, HOW WE'RE PROGRESSING AND HOW WE'RE REALLY ADVANCING IN THIS AREA OF DEVELOPING WHAT WE CALL THE FINAL SUSTAINABILITY PLAN FOR THE ENTIRE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
THAT'S A VERY EXCITING, UM, UH, AREA FOR US, BECAUSE REALLY IT'S GONNA DEFINE OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT AND HOW WE'RE MOVING FORWARD TO ACHIEVE THE, UH, THE INITIAL, THE E SUSTAINABILITY PLAN.
BUT, BUT THEN HOW BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE AND MEET THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES THAT WERE SET FORWARD BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
SO I'M PLEASED TO SHARE THAT WE RELEASE THE CLIMATE LITERACY TASK FORCE REPORT.
YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE A COPY OF THE REPORT AND THE REPORT ITSELF.
IT'S ALSO AVAILABLE, AVAILABLE@THELAT.ORG SLASH UH, CL LTF.
AND THE REPORT ITSELF FOCUSED ON FOUR DIFFERENT AREAS.
WE FOCUS ON ULA ON WORKFORCE, UH, DEVELOPMENT ON OUTDOOR EDUCATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
YOU CAN SEE THAT ON THE OUTDOOR EDUCATION WE LOOKED AT ON ONSITE AND OFFSITE TO MAKE SURE WE UNDERSTAND THE ACTUAL, UM, UH, UH, OBJECTIVES THAT WE'RE TRYING TO SET UP THERE FOR ON SITE AND OFFSITE OUTDOOR EDUCATION.
WE LOOKED AT SOLAR, WATER, QUALITY, TRANSPORTATION, AND STORM WATER.
AND, UM, AND WHAT WE'VE, UH, SHARING HERE IS SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WERE, WE JUST EXTRACTED SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS TO SHARE HERE IN TERMS OF, FOR EXAMPLE, THE CURRICULUM, UH, HOW WE'LL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT, UH, TOWARDS CLIMATE LITERACY, HOW WE'LL CONTINUE TO INCREASE OUR CLIMATE CHAMPIONS AS WE MOVE FORWARD, AND HOW WE CAN, UH, CONTINUE WITH OUR GOAL, HAVING A CHAMPION FOR EVERY SCHOOL SET, AT LEAST GETTING PEOPLE TO SHARE THEIR INTERESTS AND BE ABLE TO SUPPORT THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING ON THE SCHOOL SITE.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING IS THAT WE'VE, UH, WE, WE HAVE ISSUED A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, AND WE'RE ABLE TO IDENTIFY SOME FIRMS THAT SOME CONSULTING FIRMS, UM, THAT WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR OUR SCHOOLS AT NO SCHOOL, AT NO COST TO US, MEANING LIKE, UM, I'M WORKING WITH THE, UH, WITH THE, UH, LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER THROUGH THE MOU THAT WE HAVE THE AGREEMENT THAT WE JUST ESTABLISHED TO BE ABLE TO HELP SUPPORT SOME OF THOSE INITIATIVES.
THAT INCLUDES ALSO SOME OF THE OTHER AREAS THAT I'M WORKING WITH, THE D-W-P-M-O-U TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THEM HELP SUPPORT US ADVANCE SOME OF THOSE AREAS, INCLUDING, UH, CAMPUS GREENING.
SO THAT'S GOOD NEWS FOR US BECAUSE, UM, WE ARE TRYING
[00:10:01]
TO IDENTIFY, WHILE IDENTIFY THESE RECOMMENDATIONS, NOW, WE'RE TRYING TO BRING THEM THOSE INTO IMPLEMENTATION.AND WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE THIS WITH THIS PLAN UNTIL 2028, UM, BY CONTINUE HAVING THE MINUTES AND DISCUSSIONS AND PROCEED WITH IMPLEMENTATION.
NOW, UM, THIS IS FAR EXCITING, I HAVE TO SAY THIS, MOU AND THE RENEWAL OF THE MOU, THIS HAS BEEN IN THE WORKS.
AS I SHARED BEFORE, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE STARTED, UM, AT LEAST INITIALLY WITH DWP OVER 12 YEARS AGO.
AND THROUGH ITS SUCCESSES FROM, UH, EIGHT AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS, MOU, WE'RE ABLE TO NOW EXECUTE $120 MILLION MOU.
AND, UH, CERTAINLY THE 20 MILLION IS, UH, CONTRIBUTED BY THROUGH BOND FUNDS TO HELP SUPPORT, IMPLEMENT SOME OF THE DIRECT INSTALL PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE.
THE REST OF IT IS BY L-A-D-W-P.
AND THROUGH MEETINGS DISCUSSIONS, WE'VE, UH, DISCUSSED HOW WE CAN BE ABLE TO ADVANCE THE DIRECT INSTALLATION PROGRAM BY, UM, UM, ACCELERATING BY DOING MORE PROJECTS, UM, IN TERMS OF, UH, HOW WE CAN BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE THOSE.
AND, UH, SO WE IDENTIFIED ABOUT, UH, 37 PROJECTS, AND THE PLAN IS TO KEEP, CONTINUE TO IDENTIFY PROJECTS AHEAD OF TIME SO WE CAN BE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT, IMPLEMENT THEM TIMELY.
WE ACTUALLY HAVE THREE PROJECTS RIGHT NOW THAT WE WENT AND WE DID THE EDITING ON THE SCHOOL SITES, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA START IMPLEMENTATION DURING THE WINTER BREAK.
SO WE TRY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR BREAKS SO WE CAN START IMPLEMENTING THE DI PROGRAM.
THE DI PROGRAM IS A GREAT PROGRAM BECAUSE IT'S REALLY COST AVOIDANCE IN TERMS OF OUR UTILITY BILL.
SO ANYTIME WE CHANGE THESE, UH, THE LIGHTS THAT WE HAVE, THE FLUORESCENTS THAT WE HAVE WITH LEDS, WE'RE SEEING A DECREASE IN, IN TERMS OF ENERGY USE BY ALMOST 70%.
SO, UM, THAT WE WANT TO CONTINUE ACCELERATING THIS FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
WE'RE GONNA SEE A LOT, A LOT OF PROJECTS THAT ARE GONNA BE IMPLEMENTED OUT OF THIS, UH, PROGRAM.
THE LAST FIVE YEARS, WE'RE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH APPROXIMATELY 57 PROJECT SCHOOL SITES THAT WE'RE ABLE TO TRANSITION TO LED, BOTH IN, UH, INTERNAL WITHIN OUR BUILDINGS, AND ALSO EXTERNAL LIGHTING AS WELL.
SO, AND THEN WE HAVE THE EDUCATIONAL AWARENESS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCIES FOR 5 MILLION.
WE HAVE THE GREEN CLIMATE RESILIENCY ACTIVITIES, WHICH IS THE NEW ITEMS THAT WE ADDED FOR 10 MILLION, AND THEN FOR 5 MILLION, THE WATER CONSERVATION MEASURES THROUGH SOME OF THE EXISTING PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE.
SO, UM, IT'S GREAT TO SEE THAT, UH, SOME OF THE PROGRAMS THAT OUR MENTIONED HERE, WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO HELP SUPPORT, UH, THROUGH THIS MOU.
AND THAT'S WHY YOU CAN SEE THE GREENING CLIMATE RESILIENCY ACTIVITIES.
THE GOAL THERE, THE OBJECTIVE, THE THINKING WAS THAT AS WE'RE FALLING A LITTLE SHORT ON SOME OF THE PROJECTS THAT WE HAD TO SUPPLEMENT WITH SOME OF THE FUNDING THAT WE HAVE WITH, UH, DWP.
AND, UM, I'LL BE PROVIDING MORE UPDATES AS WE CONTINUE THE EFFORTS AND HOW WE'RE ABLE TO AT LEAST HELP SUPPORT SOME OF OUR SCHOOL SITES TO ACHIEVE MORE GREENING, UM, MORE WATER CONSERVATION AND MORE ENERGY MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
AND ALSO ADVANCE EDUCATIONAL AWARENESS ON OUR SCHOOLS.
NOW, OUT OF THE D-W-P-M-O-U, WHICH YOU CAN SEE IS, UH, A SAMPLE HERE OF A PILOT PROJECT THROUGH, UH, ONE OF THE STRATEGIES THAT WE HAD BEFORE, UM, IN TERMS OF, UH, TESTING NEW EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES.
THIS, UH, THIS PILOT OF THESE, UH, HYDROGELS, WHAT THEY ARE, THEY'RE ACTUALLY VERY SMALL, UH, I WOULD SAY WITHIN, UM, I WOULD SAY IN TERMS OF THEIR SIZE, IT'S, IT'S REALLY LIKE LITTLE, UM, LIKE THE PELE KIND OF, UH, SIZE APPROXIMATELY ABOUT, UH, I WOULD SAY ONE EIGHTH OF AN INCH, VERY SMALL.
AND THERE, UH, THERE, THAT'S A SOIL AMENDMENT THAT YOU PROBABLY GONNA SEE IF YOU GO TO HOME DEPOT OR ANYWHERE YOU GO, AND YOU GET THE SOIL MIXTURE, THEY'RE NOT INCLUDING IT IN A LOT OF THEIR SOIL AMENDMENTS.
AND WHAT IT DOES, IT HELPS BECAUSE IT RETAINS, UH, MOISTURE WHEN IT GETS WET.
SO LET'S SAY WHEN WE HAVE, UH, RAIN, UH, THEY, THEY GET, UH, THE MOISTURE AND THEY EXPAND.
WHEN THEY EXPAND, THEY RETAIN THAT WATER FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME, SOMETIMES THREE TO FIVE DAYS OR MORE.
AND SO WHAT HAPPENS IS, UH, WE'VE TESTED THIS ON OUR GRASS FIELDS BECAUSE WE WANTED TO FIND OUT HOW WE CAN REDUCE IRRIGATION.
SO THOSE ARE INJECTED AND THEY'RE INJECTED BY A MACHINE, AND THEY'RE INJECTED ABOUT, UH, THREE INCHES BELOW THE SOIL.
AND, AND THEY, AND WITHIN TIME, THOSE, UH, THOSE, UH, CELLS, THEY'RE BIODEGRADABLE.
AND WHAT HAPPENS IS WITHIN FIVE YEARS, THEY PRETTY MUCH DEGRADE INTO THE SOIL.
BUT THE BENEFIT THAT WE HAVE IS THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO WATER OUR GRASS FIELDS AS MUCH ANYMORE.
WE DON'T HAVE TO DO, UM, SPECIFICALLY EVEN TIMES OR WINTER TIMES.
SOMETIMES WE CAN GO WITHOUT WATERING FOR WEEKS.
SO WE'VE RUN THIS STUDY AND WE CAN SEE WE, WE, WE TOOK WHAT WE CALL A CONTROL AREA AND A TEST AREA.
AND SO WE KIND OF TOOK THE SAME LOCATION AND WE BI BIFURCATE THE PLAY FIELD INTO WHAT WE CALL THE TEST AREA AND THE CONTROL AREA.
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AREA NORMALLY LIKE WE DO.AND THEN THE TEST AREA, WE'VE, UH, REDUCED WATERING BY 40% OR MORE.
AND WHAT WE FIND OUT IS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO, BY DOING THAT, WE'RE ABLE TO REALLY, UH, UH, SAVE APPROXIMATELY ABOUT $27,000, UH, PER YEAR.
SO THE, THE COST FOR THE APPLICATION WAS ABOUT 26,700 WE'RE ABLE TO BENEFIT IN, IN, UH, WITHIN THE, THE FIRST YEAR.
SO OUR RETURN INVESTMENT WAS WITHIN YEAR ONE, AND THEN EVERYTHING ELSE FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS, IT WAS SAVINGS.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE ACCUMULATIVE COST SAVINGS IS APPROXIMATELY $110,000.
NOW, PICTURE THIS, IF WE WERE TO START DOING THIS ON ALL OF OUR FIELDS, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT AS WE TEST AND WE'VE, UH, FIND OUT THAT IT WORKED VERY WELL.
AND BY THE WAY, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE WORKED WITH OUR MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS TEAM WITHIN THE FACILITIES DIVISION, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY, EVERYBODY REVIEWED THE DATA AND LOOKED AT THE DATA TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE ACTUAL DATA THAT EVERYBODY AGREED ON.
UM, THEN THE PLAN IS NOW TO IMPLEMENT IT TO OUR SPECIFICATIONS AND STANDARDS AS, AS AN OPTION SO IT CAN BE ABLE TO AT LEAST START UTILIZING THIS TECHNOLOGY SO IT CAN BE ABLE TO REDUCE, UH, OUR COSTS ON OUR IRRIGATION COSTS.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE EXCITED THAT, UH, IT WAS SUCCESSFUL, AND THE PLAN IS TO CONTINUE USING IT ELSE ELSEWHERE.
THE 110,000, IS THAT PER SCHOOL OR AT BOTH SITES? THAT, THAT WAS FOR THE APPLICATION ON A SPECIFIC LOCATION AT A SCHOOL? YEAH.
SO, UH, AND THAT'S HOW WE PROJECTED IT.
SO THE IDEA IS THAT NOW, UM, IF WE DO IT IN MORE AREAS, IT'S GONNA BE A LOT MORE, BUT IT'S BASED ON SQUARE FOOT BEFORE, UH, UH, WE GO ON, WE HAVE TO RESURFACE THE FIELDS EVERY SO OFTEN.
SO IF THEY WOULD RESURFACE THE FIELD, THEY WOULD DESTROY THE, UH, HYDROGEL, WOULD THEY NOT? OR WOULD THEY NOT HAVE TO RESURFACE IT? YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? NOT RESURFACE RES RESET.
SO WOULD THAT, WOULD THIS AVOID OTING? SO WHAT, WHAT THIS IS GONNA DO IS THE, THE HYDROGELS THAT GO THREE TO SIX INCHES BELOW THE SOIL.
SO RESITING, UH, IT'S TYPICALLY WHEN YOU RESORT, IT'S EVEN, UH, AT A HIGHER LEVEL.
OR IS, UH, IS PRETTY MUCH ADDING NEW SEED.
ONE IS JUST TO PUT NEW SEED AND JUST PUT A NEW SEED ON TOP, RIGHT? AND THEN, UH, AND JUST PUT A, A VERY MINIMAL LAYER OF SOIL ON TOP SO IT CAN BE ABLE TO COME OUT AGAIN.
UM, SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, UH, POOR PRESIDENT, NO, IT'S NOT.
UH, THE HYDROGENS ARE BELOW THAT ARE THREE TO SIX INCHES BELOW THAT, BUT IT'LL PROBABLY MAINTAIN THE GRASS SO MUCH BETTER THAT WE, MAYBE THEY JUST WOULD HAVE TO REEDE A LITTLE BIT OR FERTILIZE.
BECAUSE THAT'S GONNA HELP YOU ACTUALLY, YOU'RE NOT GONNA SEE THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA BE USING AS MUCH WATER.
SO IT'S GONNA LAST A LOT LONGER.
WHAT IS THE FUNDING SOURCE BY WHICH WE COULD EXPAND THIS OPPORTUNITY TO OTHER SCHOOL SITES? SO, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION, CHRISTINA.
IT'S SOMETHING FOR US TO DISCUSS AND EXPLORE.
OBVIOUSLY IT'S GONNA BE A, A COST AVOIDANCE ON OUR UTILITIES.
SO, UM, I THINK WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT THE OPTIONS IN TERMS OF WHAT THE BOARD PRESIDENTS SHARE WITH US RIGHT NOW, THAT, UM, IF WE DON'T HAVE TO RESET THIS, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? IS THERE SAVINGS FOR NOW RE RESIGNING? SO CAN WE USE THOSE SAVINGS? UM, THEN THE OTHER THING IS GENERAL, SO MAINTENANCE FUNDS MAINTENANCE.
AND, AND AGAIN, WE HAVE TO EXPLORE AND THINK THROUGH IT.
UM, ALWAYS SHARING HERE IS THAT THIS PO THIS PILOT, UH, HELPED TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN TERMS OF REDUCING OUR COSTS, IN TERMS OF OUR WATERING.
AND I THINK IT'S A, IT'S GREAT NEWS FOR US TO FURTHER EXPLORE AND SEE HOW WE'RE GONNA IMPLEMENT, HOW WE CAN IDENTIFY FUNDING TO DO THAT.
SO ANOTHER PLUS FOR NATURAL FIELDS, RIGHT? RATHER THAN ARTIFICIAL TURF, THAT'S ANOTHER PLUS.
AND, AND CERTAINLY, UM, THAT'S ANOTHER THING THAT WE CAN BE ABLE TO, TO SEE THE ADVANTAGE OF THAT AS WELL.
AND IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE THE MACHINE, HOW IT DOES IT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT THIS TECHNOLOGY FOR THE LAST THREE TO FOUR YEARS, WE'VE TESTED AND DOUBLE TESTED TO MAKE SURE THAT IT WORKS.
SO, AND THEN IN TERMS OF OUR WATER CONSERVATION, UH, PILOT PROJECTS, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE BEEN, UH, DISCUSSING WITH THE L-A-D-W-P.
AND FOR THE LAST, UH, SIX, EIGHT YEARS, WE IDENTIFIED, UH, LOCATION WHERE WE, UH, WE CAN REALLY USE RECYCLED WATER.
AND WE IDENTIFY NINE SITES, FIVE OF THEM.
WE, WE HAVE THE RECYCLED WATER, WE JUST CELEBRATED NOW THIS ONE HERE AS ANOTHER PROJECT THAT AT THIS VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL THAT WE CAN USE RECYCLED WATER.
UM, WHAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE IS SOME OF THE PURPLE, YOU KNOW, THAT'S HOW IDENTIFIED PURPLE PIPES.
AND, UM, SO AT LEAST PEOPLE KNOW THAT THAT'S RECYCLED WATER.
IT'S ONLY USED FOR IRRIGATION OF THE FIELDS.
AND, UH, TO OUR ADVANTAGE, WE'RE ABLE TO REALLY SAVE, UH, A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF MONIES TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
SO, UM, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ACTUAL COST, WE SHARE, SHARE A COST OF 126,000 UTILITY COSTS ANNUALLY.
UM, THAT'S BASED ON THE ACTUAL COST FOR RECYCLED WATER.
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UM, I'M TRYING TO ACCELERATE THIS AND FINISH THE REST OF THE SITES, BECAUSE DWP STARTED INFORMING US THAT RECYCLED WATER WOULD BE, WILL COME CLOSER TO REGULAR, UM, UH, PORTABLE WATER.SO FOR US, IT'S TO LOCK IN THE AGREEMENTS, SECURE THE AGREEMENTS ON GETTING THE PRICE OF THE RECYCLED WATER, WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY ABOUT ONE EIGHTH OF THE COST OF POTABLE WATER ON THE REST OF OUR SITES.
SO WE HAVE FOUR MORE SCHOOL SITES THAT WOULD LIKE TO DO THAT.
BUT THE GOOD THING IS THAT, UM, WE HAVE IT AT FIVE.
THE FOUR PROJECTS ARE IN, UH, READY START CONSTRUCTION TO DO THAT.
THEN THIS ONE HERE IS ABOUT THE, UH, WASTE DIVERSION.
THAT'S ANOTHER AREA THAT WE STARTED FOCUSING, WORKING WITH HEALTH AND SAFETY, UH, FOOD SERVICES AND INFORMATION, UH, TECHNOLOGY.
UH, THE REASON WHY WE'RE DOING THIS, WE REALIZE THAT, I MEAN, WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF THE WASTE.
AND IF YOU, IF YOU WERE TO LOOK AT, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH WASTE WE HAVE AS A SCHOOL DISTRICT, AND WE HAVE A PICTURE UP THERE THAT'S SHOWING APPROXIMATELY HOW MANY POUNDS OF WASTE THAT WE HAVE, AND WE SHOW THE LAX SAYING THAT IT'S APPRO, IT'S APPROXIMATELY THREE INCH OF TRASH AREA COVERING THAT AREA, WHICH, UM, IT IS SUBSTANTIAL.
AND THE IDEA IS THAT HOW DO WE MINIMIZE THAT? SO WE HAVE BEEN MEETING, UM, WITH, UH, HEALTH AND SAFETY AND FOOD SERVICES, AND WE HAVE BEEN IDENTIFYING PROGRAMS SPECIFICALLY ALSO TO, TO THE E-WASTE, THE ELECTRONIC WASTE THAT WE HAVE ALSO, UM, THROUGH OUR TECHNOLOGIES, BECAUSE AS WE UPDATE TECHNOLOGIES, THAT BECOMES WHAT WE CALL E-WASTE.
AND OUR PLAN IS TO CONTINUE TO IDENTIFY PROGRAMS IN TERMS OF, UH, LOOKING AT COMPOSTING PROGRAMS AND HOW WE CAN, WE'RE DOING AN ACTUAL PILOT OF HOW WE CAN REDUCE WASTE FOOD WASTE.
SO WE'RE TESTING SOME OF THE SCHOOL SITES RIGHT NOW.
AND THE GOOD THING IS THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF SUPPORT FROM THE SCHOOL SITES.
A LOT OF THE SCHOOL SITES, UH, SHARE THEIR SUPPORT TO THESE PROGRAMS. AND AS WE GO THROUGH THE PROCESS WITH, UH, FOOD SERVICES, THE PLAN IS TO REALLY CAR THIS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
WE WANNA MINIMIZE OUR WASTE, UM, AS MUCH AS WE COME THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
THAT'S ANOTHER AREA THAT WE'RE PUTTING A LOT OF FOCUS RIGHT NOW.
YOU'RE GONNA BE SEEING MORE INFORMATION AS WE MOVE FORWARD, UM, WITHIN THE NEXT YEAR.
AND THEN THE RESILIENCE SCHOOLS, THE EXTREME HEAT BORDER SOLUTION, I, AS IT WAS ADOPTED BY THE BOARD ON NOVEMBER 18TH, 2025, THE RESOLUTION ITSELF TALKED ABOUT MANY, MANY THINGS AND, AND, UH, FOCUS ON SPECIFIC ITEMS, UH, IN TERMS OF ACCELERATING THE HVSC MODERNIZATION PROJECTS TO LOOK AT, UH, UH, INSTALLATION OF HEAT PUMPS.
SOMETHING THAT WE STARTED TO DO.
AND WE'VE, UH, TALKED ABOUT THE HEAT PUMP TECHNOLOGY AND THE BENEFITS THAT IT'S GIVING US.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT IT'S IN THE WORKS, AND I KNOW THAT FACILITIES, UM, IS GONNA BE LOOKING AT THAT TO SEE HOW THEY CAN ACCELERATE THESE.
AND THEN, UM, UH, TALKS ABOUT THE INTERIM COOLING PLANTS FOR SCHOOLS AND, UH, HOW CAN DEPLOY MORE PORTABLE AC UNITS, SHADE STRUCTURES, HYDRATION STATIONS, AND MYSTIC SYSTEMS. ONE THING I CAN SHARE IS THAT, UM, IN ADDITION TO THAT, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT AS SUSTAINABILITY IS TO REALLY HAVE MORE RESILIENCE IN SOME OF OUR SCHOOLS.
SO WE ARE GONNA SELECT, WE'RE SELECTING SOME SCHOOL SITES, AND WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO SEE HOW WE CAN REALLY, UM, DEVELOP MICRO GRIDS AND AREAS THAT THEY REALLY CAN FUNCTION, UM, AS, AS SHELTERS FOR THE SCHOOLS, UH, BUT ALSO FOR THE COMMUNITY IF WE NEED TO IN THE FUTURE.
AND THEN THE NEXT ONE IS PROHIBITING NEW ARTIFICIAL TURF INSTALLATIONS AT EARLY EDUCATION.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT, UH, THE BOARD ADOPTED.
AND, UH, WE'RE HAPPY TO SUPPORT THIS.
AND BY LOOKING AT FINISHES, LIKE I, WHAT I SHARED EARLIER ABOUT, UH, USING IRRIGATION SYSTEMS, THAT, UM, AT LEAST THE, THE HYDROGEL CONCEPT OR OTHER CONCEPTS OF HOW IT CAN BE ABLE TO SUPPORT MORE GREENING ON OUR SCHOOLS AND ELIMINATE ARTIFICIAL TURF.
UM, AND ALSO I, THE REQUEST WAS TO EXPAND AND DO A, A, ANOTHER STUDY FOR THAT AS WELL.
SO THE, UH, IN TERMS OF THE RELATED RESEARCH THAT WE'RE WORKING ON RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE BEEN MEETING WITH THE ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY AND UCLA.
AND, UH, IT'S SOMETHING THAT, UM, THE ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY APPROACHED US AND THEY WANTED TO HELP ADVANCE, IS CULTIVATING SCHOOL HEAT READINESS IN THE SOUTHWEST AS THEY TITLE IT.
'CAUSE THIS RESEARCH RESEARCH IS GONNA HELP US OUT TO SEE WHAT ELSE, UM, WE SHOULD BE DOING THAT WE'RE NOT.
UM, AND SO WE'RE SHARING INFORMATION WITH THEM, AND HOPEFULLY WITH THIS STUDY, WE'LL LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT ELSE WE SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT.
WE'VE, UH, LOOKED AT DIFFERENT TYPES OF SPECIES, WHICH SPECIES THAT CAN SUPPORT BETTER.
SPECIFICALLY THE ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY, HAVING TO DEAL WITH EXTREME HEAT ALL THE TIME BECAUSE THEY'RE LIVING ON A DIFFERENT CLIMATE, WHICH IS HOTTER.
THEY'RE ABLE TO SHARE WITH US A LOT OF INFORMATION THAT'S GONNA HELP US UPDATE OUR SPECIFICATIONS SO WE CAN BE ABLE TO HAVE, UH, MORE NATIVE PLANTS THAT CAN BE ABLE TO WITHSTAND THE EXTREME HEAT WE'RE GONNA BE SEEING AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
AND, UM, IT'S ALSO, IT'S GONNA HELP US OUT IN PREPARING, UM, AND RESPONDING TO THE
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NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF SCHOOL YARD HIT, MAKING OUR SCHOOLS MORE RESILIENT.THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT I THINK AS WE LEARN MORE ABOUT, UM, AT LEAST WHAT THEY'RE ADAPTING TO, AND WE CAN ADAPT IT HERE LOCALLY AS WELL.
IT'S GONNA HELP US, UM, AT LEAST HAVE MORE GREEN SPACES ON OUR SCHOOLS.
NOW, THE, IN TERMS OF OUR GREEN SCHOOL YARD IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, AND THIS IS THE, A LAB PROGRAM THAT I WAS SHARING EARLIER ON OUR RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY AT HOBAR BOULEVARD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE OTHER SIDES.
AND REALLY, I MEAN, THESE PICTURES ARE BEAUTIFUL.
YOU CAN SEE BOTTOM LEFT HOBART BOULEVARD ELEMENTARY BY WOODCREST, LASAL AND FORD.
YOU CAN SEE THE TRANSITION OF THE SCHOOLS TO THE GREEN SCHOOL YEARS THAT WE HAVE.
YOU DON'T SEE THE ASPHALT HERE, BECAUSE IF YOU WERE TO SEE THE ASPHALT, YOU SEE REALLY HOW MUCH WE TRANSFORM OR TRANSITION, TRANSITION THESE SCHOOLS TO GREEN SPACES.
WE HAVE 17 PROJECTS THAT WERE COMPLETED OUT OF, OUT OF THE 34, AND WE HAVE 15 PROJECTS OUR RIGHT NOW THAT ARE IN PRE-CONSTRUCTION AND CONSTRUCTION.
THE PROJECTS WILL TRANSITION NOW FROM OUR ECOS SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE TO THE FACILITY SERVICES DIVISION, WHERE THEY'RE DOING THE ACTUAL, UH, CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROJECTS.
AND WE HAVE TWO PROJECTS THAT WERE IN DESIGN.
UH, THOSE ARE PROJECTS THAT THEY REALLY HAD SOME CHALLENGES, CHALLENGES IN TERMS OF THE DESIGN, UM, FEATURES.
AND THOSE WILL BE ABLE TO, UH, SOON TRANSITION INTO CONSTRUCTION AS WELL.
SO THE GOOD THING IS THAT THIS
THAT'S HOW WE ESTIMATED 'EM, AND THAT'S HOW WE'RE PROCEEDING FORWARD.
SO WE'LL SHARE THE, THE NUMBERS AND THE IMPACT ONCE WE'RE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE PROGRAM ITSELF.
BUT VERY SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM, QUICK TURNAROUND AND LOW COST.
THE, THE ONE AT HOBART BOULEVARD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, THE ACTUAL COST PER SQUARE FOOT WAS ABOUT $94 A SQUARE FOOT.
AND IT WAS NICE TO SEE THAT ALL OF US COME TOGETHER, MEANING LIKE THE E SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE WITH OUR FACILITIES, WITH MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS, DOING THE IMPLEMENTATION TO ABLE TO SEE, UH, LOW COST IN TERMS OF IMPLEMENTING THOSE PROJECTS.
THE AVERAGE COST FOR THIS ALLOP FOR THIS LAB PROGRAM IS APPROXIMATELY A HUNDRED DOLLARS PER SQUARE FOOT.
SOME OF THEM ARE INTERESTED IN 120, 130, BUT THERE ARE DIFFERENT PROJECTS THAT UNIQUE IN TERMS OF, WE FOCUS ONLY ON SPECIFIC AREAS, AND WE'RE ABLE TO, IN MOST OF THEM, UM, AND NOT HAVE TO GO THROUGH DSA THROUGH THE STATE ARCHITECTS.
SO THEY'RE UNIQUE, THEY'RE DIFFERENT, BUT ALSO THE OUTCOME IS WE HAVE THESE BEAUTIFUL GREEN SPACES WITH SHADE ON OUR SCHOOLS.
NOW, THIS IS ANOTHER ONE, ANOTHER PILOT THAT I'M QUITE EXCITED ABOUT IT BECAUSE I, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I WANTED TO DO FOR, FOR THREE, FOUR YEARS.
AND FINALLY I WAS ABLE TO CONNECT WITH, UH, WITH, UH, THE, UH, WITH ERI, THE ELECTRIC POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE.
ERI CAME TO PLAY ABOUT THREE, ABOUT, AROUND THAT TIME TO SHARE WITH US THAT, UH, AFTER THEY, THEY HEAR SOME OF THE THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS THAT WE'RE MAKING IN TERMS OF HOW WE CAN REALLY REDUCE POWER, HOW WE CAN CENTRALIZE, AND BEING ABLE TO MANAGE OUR DIFFERENT SYSTEMS THAT WE HAVE ON OUR SCHOOLS.
AND, UH, THIS VIRTUAL POWER PLAN, UH, UH, SYSTEM, IT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT, UH, THEY, IT WAS DEVELOPED THROUGH THEM AND THEY APPLIED FOR IT.
THEY WERE ABLE TO GET $2.6 MILLION.
AND THROUGH THAT PARTNERSHIP THAT WE DEVELOPED, WE'RE ABLE TO IDENTIFY TWO OF OUR SCHOOL SITES, TWO FACILITIES THAT MAYWOOD ACADEMY AND MAYWOOD CENTER FOR ENRICH STUDIES.
WHAT THIS IS GONNA DO, UM, IT'S PRETTY MUCH WHAT IT IS.
IF YOU CAN PICTURE A COMPUTER THAT'S GONNA CONNECT TO THE REST OF OUR SYSTEMS, I'LL HAVE ON OUR SCHOOL, AND IT'S GONNA BE ABLE TO PULL DATA IN TERMS OF OUR SOLAR, IN TERMS OF OUR EV INFRASTRUCTURE, IN TERMS OF OUR MECHANICAL SYSTEMS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS. SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO HAVE THE, TO BE ABLE TO MANAGE THOSE SYSTEMS AND, AND BEING ABLE TO MANAGE 'EM, UH, ON ONSITE AND REMOTELY THROUGH A COMPUTER.
WE'LL BE ABLE TO SHUT SYSTEMS DOWN, AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO OPERATE SYSTEMS AS EFFICIENTLY AS WE CAN.
RIGHT NOW, WE KNOW WE'VE SEEN THIS, THAT SOMETIMES OUR SYSTEM WILL BE FUNCTIONING ON THE WEEKENDS.
WE FUNCTION IN CERTAIN DAYS, UM, WHEN THE SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED.
SO OUR GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO ELIMINATE THAT AND BEING ABLE TO FUNCTION THE SYSTEMS ONLY WHEN THEY NEED TO FUNCTION.
ONCE WE DO THAT AND, AND THIS PILOT, IT'S GONNA BE ABLE TO HELP US DO THAT AND PROVE THAT PRINCIPLE.
ONCE WE DO THAT, IT'S NOT, THAT'S SOMETHING ELSE THAT WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THIS NOW TO, UH, RUN IT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
UH, PICTURE, YOU KNOW, JUST LEAVING YOUR LIGHTS AT HOME OR LEAVING YOUR MECHANICAL SYSTEMS RUNNING ON THE WEEKENDS, SOMETIMES, UH, OR AFTER HOURS.
IF THE KIDS ARE OUT OF SCHOOL AT THREE, FOUR, AND YOU DON'T HAVE ANY AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS, THE IDEA IS TO BE ABLE TO MANAGE THAT.
AND WE KNOW, AND THROUGH PATTERNS, THOSE ARE RECORDED AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE ABLE TO ADVISE US AND THROUGH THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT THEY HAVE, SO WE KNOW HOW WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO MANAGE THOSE SYSTEMS REMOTELY.
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EXCITING PILOT.HONESTLY, FOR ME, IT WAS SOMETHING THAT I WANTED TO DO FOR A LONG TIME.
THIS PULLS ALL THE SYSTEMS TOGETHER.
EVEN IF WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, LOOKING AT THE, UH, MECHANICAL SYSTEMS AND HOW WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO MANAGE THOSE, THIS WILL PULL, UM, ALL THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS INTO ONE HUB, ONE LOCATION, SO WE CAN BE ABLE TO, TO HELP SUPPORT, UM, AND JUST GIVEN THE POWER THAT THEY NEED ON THERE WITHOUT WASTING ANY POWER.
AND THIS IS ANOTHER GRANT THAT WILL BE APPLYING TOMORROW.
THIS IS THE PATRICK LEHE FARM, UH, TO SCHOOL GRANT.
THE DECISIONS WERE MADE, WE SIGN OFF SO WE CAN BE ABLE TO, UM, APPLY FOR THIS GRANT.
UM, WE'VE COLLABORATED WITH, UH, UM, ON THIS ONE HERE, WE ACTUALLY WORK WITH THE, UH, THE, THE GARDEN SCHOOL FOUNDATION, WHERE THEY HAD A PROGRAM INITIALLY AT EIGHT SITES.
AND, UH, THROUGH THIS GRANT APPLICATION, WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING WITH THEM.
WE'RE GOING TO, WE'RE TAKING THE LEAD, WORKING WITH, UH, FOOD SERVICES, AND IT'S GONNA BE ABLE TO EXPAND THIS TO NINE SCHOOL SITES FOR COOKING CLASSES AND TO ANOTHER 40 SCHOOL SITES.
SO WE'RE GONNA, IT'S GONNA HELP US DO A DISTRICT WIDE GARDEN INVENTORY AND MAPPING TO KNOW EXACTLY, UM, HOW THIS, UH, PROGRAM IS, UH, UH, IS MANAGED MOVING FORWARD.
BUT THE GREAT, THERE'S A LOT OF GREAT BENEFITS OUT OF THIS PROGRAM.
SO THE, UH, THE LEADS, UH, WILL BE THE GARNER SCHOOL FOUNDATION, WORKING WITH A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AS THIS FARMS, UH, WHICH SUPPLY, LOCALLY GROWN PRODUCE.
AND WE'RE GONNA BE COORDINATING THIS GRANT, UH, THROUGH THE E SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE, UH, LEADING THE MAPPING INITIATIVE AND, AND ENSURING THAT WE'RE PROCEEDING BASED ON THE DISTRICT GOALS.
BUT THIS IS WHERE WE, UM, PRETTY MUCH, WE HAVE OUR OWN PRODUCE AND WE'RE ABLE TO BRING IT INTO, UM, THE, THE KITCHEN AND WE'RE ABLE TO BENEFIT OUT OF, OF TEACHING OUR STUDENTS HOW THEY CAN REALLY, UM, LEARN HOW TO GROW, UM, VEGETABLES AND, AND FRUITS AND AT THE SAME TIME HOW THEY CAN BE ABLE TO UTILIZE THEM AS WELL.
ANOTHER PROGRAM THAT WE'RE SEEING IT, THE ADVANCEMENT ON IT TO ANOTHER 40 SCHOOL SITES WITH A PLAN TO IMPLEMENT IT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
SO WITH THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS THE UPDATES THAT I HAVE FOR TODAY.
THERE'S CERTAINLY MORE ACTIVITIES THAT ARE HAPPENING WITHIN THE E SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE, BUT I WANTED TO AT LEAST SHARE AND BRING EVERYONE UP TO DATE.
AND, UH, IN TERMS OF SOME OF THE WORKS THAT WE'RE DOING.
AND I WANT ALSO WANTED TO TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO THANK MY TEAM BECAUSE A LOT OF THIS WORK IS, SO, THEIR DEDICATION AND THROUGH THEIR TIME, A LOT OF THEM ARE PASSIONATE ON SPECIFIC AREAS, AND THEY WANNA ADVANCE AREAS, ANYTHING FROM WASTE MANAGEMENT TO, UH, TO GREENING TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
SO WE'RE FORTUNATE ENOUGH THAT WE HAVE A, A DEDICATED TEAM THAT REALLY PUT THEIR HEART OUT, AND THEY REALLY CONTINUE TO WORK HARD TO ADVANCE OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT.
UM, AND DR. RIVAS, I TURN IT BACK TO YOU.
UM, WONDERFUL, GREAT PILOT PROGRAMS AND, AND, UH, AND AREAS THAT, YOU KNOW, LIKE YOU MENTIONED THAT WE'VE BEEN WANTING TO REALLY ADDRESS FROM WASTE MANAGEMENT TO LIKE, YOU KNOW, UH, FARM TO SCHOOL AND ALL, ALL, ET CETERA.
BUT, UM, WE'LL, I'LL HAVE A, JUST A FEW QUESTIONS, UM, JUST BASED ON YOUR PRESENTATION.
SO I'LL START WITH WHERE YOU, WE LEFT YOUR LAST SLIDE, WHICH IS THE, UM, THE FARM TO SCHOOL GRANT.
SO YOU'RE STARTING AT NINE SCHOOLS, AND HOW LONG IS THIS PILOT PROGRAM FOR? WHAT YEAR? SO THIS, THIS IS GONNA BE, IT'S A TWO YEAR PILOT.
AND, AND THEN YOU'RE EXPANDING TO 40 SITES AND THE FUNDS WILL COME.
ARE YOU LOOKING AT HOW, WHERE THE FUNDS WILL COME? YEAH, SO, UM, SORRY ABOUT THAT.
SO WHAT IT IS, IS ACTUALLY WE HAVEN'T SELECTED THE 40 SITES.
WE'VE, UH, THE FUNDS WERE COMING FROM THE, UH, US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, THE PATRICK LEHE FARM TO SCHOOL GRANT PROGRAM.
AND OUT OF THE HALF A MILLION WE HAD TO MAKE A CERTAIN CONTRIBUTION.
THE, THE CONTRIBUTION, UH, WAS, UH, WITH, UH, WE HAD TO, UH, CONTRIBUTE ABOUT 136,000, I BELIEVE.
AND OUT OF, OUT OF THE 136,000, UM, THE, UH, A CERTAIN, UH, PORTION WAS FROM THE, UM, UH, FROM THE GARDEN SCHOOL FOUNDATION, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT WE'RE CONTRIBUTING ABOUT, UM, I WANNA SAY ABOUT 34,000 OR SO.
AND THEN, UH, THAT MONEY'S GONNA COME EITHER FROM, UM, THE E SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE REBATE ACCOUNT, OR FROM L-A-D-W-P.
IT'S JUST TO PAYING FOR, UH, MY TEAM'S TIME TO COORDINATE THE GRANT.
AND THEN FOR THE VPP FLEX GRANT, THE SAME, HOW LONG IS THE THIS PILOT PROGRAM FOR? THAT'S ANOTHER TWO YEAR TWO.
THE IDEA IS WE STARTED GATHERING DATA.
NOW WE'VE, UH, ENGAGED BY, UH, BY, UH, WORKING WITH MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS, BY GOING OUT INTO THE FIELD AND, AND, UH, AND GIVING THEM ACCESS SO THEY CAN START LEARNING ABOUT THE DATA, ABOUT THE SCHOOL ITSELF.
JUST PULL DATA AND IT'S GONNA GO FOR, UH, IT'S A YEAR.
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WANT TO HAVE A WHOLE YEAR OF ACTIVITY SO WE CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND THE, HOW THE SCHOOL OPERATES THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE YEAR.AND THEN IN EXPANDING IT, YOU WILL, THE SELECTION OF SCHOOLS WILL BE BASED ON THE SYSTEMS THAT THEY HAVE, OR THEY HAVE SOLAR PANELS, OR IN ORDER FOR THIS, FOR THE, UM, ORDER TO, TO HAVE THOSE SYSTEMS IN ONE PLACE.
WE, WE SELECTED THE EXISTING SITES BECAUSE WE'VE, UH, WELL, WE SAW SOME OF THE SYSTEMS ARE BECOMING OBSOLETE OR OUTDATED.
SO, UH, AS PART OF THEIR EFFORT, THEY'LL UPDATE AND UPGRADE THE SYSTEMS SO THEY'RE FUNCTIONING PROPERLY.
THAT WAS THE FIRST PART OF THE PROJECT.
SO I, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS TO DO THAT, TO MAKE SURE WE UPGRADE THE SYSTEMS, AND THEN, UH, THEY'RE GONNA CONTINUE ONCE THEY PUT THE CONTROLLERS AND EVERYTHING IS FUNCTIONING PROPERLY TO BE ABLE TO GIVE US DATA.
BUT YES, IT'S TO, UM, TO THEN LOOK AT OTHER PROJECTS, UH, SITES THAT WE HAVE, SIMILAR SYSTEMS. WE HAVE SOLAR BATTERY STORAGE.
UM, I MEAN, IT CAN FUNCTION WITH ONLY EVEN WITH, UH, MECHANICAL SYSTEMS. BUT THE IDEA IS TO SELECT SITES THAT THEY HAVE ALL THE DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES SO IT CAN BE ABLE TO LEARN FROM THE DIFFERENT TECHNOLOGIES, HOW WE CAN MANAGE SOLAR PRODUCTION VERSUS, UM, EV UH, EV EV CHARGING OR TO MANAGE HVAC SYSTEMS VERSUS SOLAR PRODUCTION.
SO, UM, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO KIND OF UNDERSTAND AT THE SAME TIME AS WELL.
UM, AND JUST MY LAST QUESTION BEFORE I OPEN IT TO, UM, COMMITTEE MEMBERS FOR THE WASTE, WASTE DIVERSION, THE FOOD SERVICES, COMPOSTING AND FOOD WASTE REDUCTION PILOT PROGRAM, YOU MENTIONED FOUR SCHOOLS, OR HOW MANY SCHOOLS ARE IN THIS PARTICIPATING IN THIS PILOT PROGRAM, THE FOOD SERVICES COMPOSTING? YEAH, SO WE'VE, WE'VE, WE'RE EXPANDING THAT PROGRAM ACTUALLY.
UM, I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT NUMBER I, I, BUT I, I BELIEVE IT'S A LOT MORE THAN THAT.
WE HAD, UH, I WANT TO SAY 12, BUT I'LL, I'LL VERIFY IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF SCHOOLS, BECAUSE THE IDEA WAS THERE'S ANOTHER GRANT THAT WE'RE ABLE TO GET THROUGH THE FOOD SERVICES AND WORKING WITH FOOD SERVICES ON THAT GRANT TO EXPAND IT.
SO I'VE, UH, I KNOW THAT THERE WERE INITIAL 12 SITES, BUT THEY WERE EXPANDING IT TO MORE THAN THAT.
AND THE, WERE THE SCHOOLS SELECTED BASED ON A, THE PRO THE INTEREST OF THE SCHOOL RIGHT.
BUT ALSO, DID THEY HAVE A PREEXISTING SORT OF COMPOSTING SORT OF PROGRAM THERE THAT YOU IT WAS, IT WAS MOSTLY THE ONES THAT THEY EXPRESSED INTEREST AND THEY, THAT THE WANTED TO SUPPORT THE PROGRAM AND WE WORKED WITH THOSE SCHOOLS AND EVENTUALLY IS TO EXPAND IT TO OTHER SITES.
WELL, I HAVE ONE SCHOOL, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S PART OF THE 12 MARSHALL HIGH SCHOOL.
THEY, UM, HAVE BEEN WORKING A COMPOSTING PROGRAM WITH THE COMMUNITY, AND I'M SURE THEY WOULD LOVE TO BE PART OF THIS PILOT PROGRAM.
UM, STUDENTS ARE VERY INVESTED AND SO IS THE COMMUNITY.
ANYWAY, SO I'LL, I'LL FORWARD YOU INFORMATION ON, ON THEIR PROGRAM YOU, BECAUSE I THINK IT WOULD REALLY HELP THEM.
I KNOW THEY DONE, AND I'LL DOUBLE CHECK AS WELL.
ANY OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS WORTH ANY QUESTIONS? GO AHEAD.
HI, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS.
THIS IS LAURA KIM, AND SORRY FOR BEING A FEW MINUTES LATE.
THE, UM, I HAD A FEW QUESTIONS ON THE, UM, JUST ON THE, WHILE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE WASTE AVERSION.
UM, WHEN I HAD, UH, HAD COLLEAGUES WHO HAD LOOKED INTO THIS AND BEEN WORKING ON THIS BEFORE, I KNOW THAT THERE, SOME OF THE THINGS THEY RAN INTO WITH REDUCING FOOD WASTE, UH, IN TERMS OF BEING ABLE FOR ITS HIGHEST USE OF BEING EATEN BY SOMEONE ELSE RIGHT BEFORE, IT HAS TO BE COMPOSTED THAT ONE, THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN KINDS OF RESTRICTIONS ON THE ABILITY FOR THE DISTRICT TO DONATE FOOD OR ALLOW, BUT THAT THERE ARE SCHOOLS WHERE THEY HAVE SHARE TABLES TO WHERE THEY CAN ALLOW STUDENTS TO TAKE FOOD OR SHARE FOOD, KIND OF TRY TO ALLOW FOR STUDENTS TO ACCESS FOOD THAT MIGHT OTHERWISE GO TO WASTE.
IS THAT, HAS THAT BEEN PART OF THE EFFORT IN TERMS OF EXPANDING THOSE KIND OF PROGRAMS OR OTHER WAYS THAT, UM, THIRD PARTY PARTNERS MIGHT BE ABLE TO, UM, THAT THE SCHOOL MIGHT BE ABLE TO CONNECT WITH EXTERNAL PARTNERS FOR THE DONATION OF FOOD BEFORE IT'S, UM, COMPOSTED? UH, THANKS LAUREN.
SO I THINK WE'RE LOOKING AT ALL THE DIFFERENT IDEAS AND CONCEPTS RIGHT NOW, UM, AND HOW WE CAN MINIMIZE, UH, WASTE, UH, CERTAINLY THE SHARING TABLE, IT'S ONE OF THE IDEAS AND CONCEPTS THAT WAS DISCUSSED, AND IT'S SOMETHING WE'RE DISCUSSING WITH FOOD SERVICES BECAUSE THEY, THEY HAVE MOST OF THE EXPERIENCE AND BASED ON THE PATTERNS THAT THEY SEE PER SCHOOL.
AND WE'RE SEEING PATTERNS THAT VARY FROM SCHOOL TO SCHOOL.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN'T WORK.
UM, SO WE'LL HAVE MORE INFORMATION ON THIS, I THINK COMING UP AS WE, 'CAUSE RIGHT NOW WE TRY TO ESTABLISH AND IDENTIFY WHAT IS THE BASELINE, WHAT ARE WE USING, WHAT ARE WE WASTING? SO AT LEAST WE KNOW, UH, HOW WE
[00:40:01]
CAN MAKE PROGRESS ON THIS.SOMETHING THAT WASN'T DONE BEFORE.
SO, AND I THINK NOW WE GETTING A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT, HOW BEACON, WHAT THE PROBLEM MEANS SO WE CAN BE ABLE TO SOLVE IT.
'CAUSE I ASSUME IT ALSO DEPENDS, THERE ALSO IS PROBABLY FOODS THAT ARE MORE POPULAR
AND SO THEY TEND TO GET EATEN MORE THAN MAYBE OTHER THINGS.
UM, SO THAT KIND OF INFORMATION SEEMS REALLY HELPFUL.
AND I THINK ANOTHER THING THAT I'VE OBSERVED JUST AT MY KIDS' SCHOOL, UM, IS THAT I, I THINK THAT IS BEING CONSIDERED UNDER POTENTIAL FOR BOND FUNDING, IS HOW TO HAVE, UM, HOW TO DECREASE THE AMOUNT OF PACKAGING BY HAVING SOME MORE CENTRALIZED FOOD PREPARATION.
AND SO THAT JUST, THAT, IF THAT HAS THE ABILITY TO CONNECT WITH THIS, THAT FEELS REALLY, UM, UH, YEAH, REALLY ALIGNED AND A REALLY GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE IT ALSO EASIER TO COMPOST WHAT IS LEFT.
BECAUSE IF THERE'S A HUNDRED DIFFERENT SUNFLOWER SEED JELLY SANDWICHES IN PLASTIC WRAPPERS, THAT'S GONNA BE A TREMENDOUS PAIN FOR SOMEONE IF THEY'RE GONNA TRY TO COMPOST THOSE.
UM, WHEREAS IF IT WAS THOSE SAME A HUNDRED SANDWICHES, BUT NOT IN THOSE A HUNDRED SEPARATE LITTLE PLASTIC PACKAGES, IT WOULD BE, IDEALLY IT WOULD BE DONATED, BUT IT WOULD BE MUCH EASIER TO COMPOST THEM IF THEY'RE NOT ALL SEPARATELY WRAPPED.
NO, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY, PLEASE SHARE THEM WITH HER, WITH ME.
SHE SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH SOME OF THE IDEAS YOU HAVE OR THINGS THAT YOU'VE SEEN THAT WORKS.
UM, BECAUSE THAT, THAT THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE DOING.
WE'RE JUST TRYING TO IDENTIFY WHAT, WHAT'S GONNA WORK BETTER FOR OUR SCHOOLS AND, AND CERTAINLY EVEN LOOKING AT HOW WE CAN COMPOSE AND USE THAT, SOME OF THAT WITHIN, UH, SCHOOLS AS WE CAN AS WELL.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THOSE OPPORTUNITIES AS WELL.
YEAH, I, I AM, I KNOW IT'S A, A BIG TOPIC, SO WE'LL DEFINITELY LOVE TO FOLLOW UP.
I HAD, UM, I THINK ANOTHER, I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT THE, IF THERE WERE INITIAL CONSIDERATIONS OF WHAT THE 10 MILLION FROM THE D-W-P-M-O-U MIGHT BE, UH, AL ALLOCATED FOR GREENING AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE ACTIVITIES, IF THERE ARE INITIAL THOUGHTS ON WHAT THAT MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP ADDRESS OR FUND.
YEAH, SO WE, I, WE IDENTIFIED SOME OF THE PROJECTS AND WE MET WITH LDWP TO SHARE WHAT, AT LEAST INITIALLY, WHAT WE WANTED TO USE THE MONEY FOR.
UM, AND, UH, WE'RE DISCUSSING WITH THEM RIGHT NOW BECAUSE WE JUST IMPLEMENTED MOU, BUT SOME OF THE IDEAS INCLUDE, UH, MICROGRIDS MM-HMM
BECAUSE I WANTED TO HAVE MICROGRIDS ON SPECIFIC, UH, LOCATIONS THAT ARE MORE VULNERABLE WITH, UH, EXTREME HEAT OR WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT WE HAVE, UH, THROUGHOUT.
SO, UM, WE'LL BE IDENTIFYING SOME OF THOSE LOCATIONS.
WE'LL HAVE HIGH WINDS, UM, FLOODING OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT REALLY COULD BE MORE IMPACTFUL.
UM, THE OTHER ONE WAS PROJECTS THAT, UH, IN TERMS OF GREENING THAT WE'VE, UH, FELL A LITTLE SHORT IN TERMS OF DOING SOME OF THE WORK.
AND THERE'S SOME OF THE PROJECTS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED.
SO, UM, I'M DISCUSSING THOSE WITH WDWP TO HELP IF THEY CAN SUPPLEMENT THE FUNDING SO WE CAN BE ABLE TO AT LEAST COMPLETE THE PROJECTS AT THOSE LOCATIONS.
UM, SO THOSE ARE JUST TWO OF THESE EXAMPLES THAT WE HAVE, BUT THERE'S MORE IN TERMS OF HOW WE DEVELOP MORE RESILIENCY.
ANOTHER ONE IS, IT IS TO DEVELOP A RESILIENCY PLAN.
MEANING LIKE, TO HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE RESILIENCY PLAN FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT AND NOT AS, UM, JUST WORKING ON SPECIFIC PROJECTS, BUT REALLY COMING UP WITH A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING ELSE THAT I'VE, I'VE BEEN TALKING TO DWP ABOUT.
SO GETTING, UH, THE SUPPORT OF OTHER PROFESSIONALS TO HELP US OUT SO THEN WE CAN IMPLEMENT IT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SCHOOL DISTRICT, UH, IN TERMS OF OUR SCHOOLS FOR EXISTING FACILITIES AND EVEN NEW PROJECTS.
SO THAT'S ANOTHER AREA THAT WE HAVE BEEN MEETING AND DISCUSSING WITH D WP AND ALSO WITH LACEY, THE LOS ANGELES CLINTECH INCUBATOR.
THEY'RE HELPING US ALSO AS WELL.
THOSE ALL SOUND REALLY PROMISING.
UM, AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION WAS AROUND THE, UM, EXCITING UPDATES FROM THE ELOP GREENING PROJECTS.
AND I WAS CURIOUS, I THINK WE'VE TALKED SOME ABOUT THIS PERHAPS IN EARLIER MEETINGS, BUT JUST HOW THIS MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP INFORM THE PRO, UH, POTENTIAL PROJECTS THAT COULD BE FUNDED THROUGH MEASURE US IN TERMS OF THE ADDITIONAL, LIKE PACE UP AND GREEN SCHOOL YARD UPGRADE PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING CONTEMPLATED, UM, WITH THOSE BOND FUNDS.
HOW THIS, THE LESSONS LEARNED IN THE, IN THESE ELAP GREENING PROJECTS MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP INFORM THE, THE NEXT STEPS ON THOSE PROGRAMS. YEAH, AT ONE TIME, I, UH, WE DEVELOPED A LESSONS LEARNED.
I BELIEVE I SHARED IT WITH FACILITIES, BUT I THINK EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE SHARING, UM, RIGHT NOW, IT IS LESSONS LEARNED FOR ALL OF US.
I THINK WE'RE SHARING AT LEAST WHAT WE'VE SEEN, UM, IN TERMS OF HOW WE IMPLEMENT SOME OF THESE PROJECTS, UH, IN TERMS OF THE SCHEDULE, IN TERMS OF THE ACTUAL COST AND WHAT WE'RE FINDING.
'CAUSE THERE ARE NOW ACTUAL PROJECTS.
SO, UM, WE'LL CONTINUE TO SHARE THAT INFORMATION AND SEE HOW, UM, IT CAN HELP SUPPORT THE LONG VISION OF MEETING THE, UH, THE 2035,
[00:45:01]
UH, RESOLUTION OF 30% GREENING, UM, YOU KNOW, TO, TO US.I MEAN, WE'RE ALL, UH, THE 30% IT'S A GOAL DEFINITELY.
AND, UH, IF WE CAN NEAR THAT GOAL ON OUR SCHOOLS AND PROVIDE THE SHADE, UM, THAT AS MUCH AS WE CAN, AND ALSO THE GREEN, THAT WOULD BE A, A REALLY A GREAT ADVANTAGE TO OUR SCHOOLS.
OH, UM, CHRISTINA TOS, CHIEF FACILITIES EXECUTIVE.
UM, I DID WANNA ADD ONE OF THE KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE ELOP PROJECTS WAS THEY DID NOT TRIGGER DSA, UM, AND THEY'RE, FOR THE MOST PART, NOT BOND FUNDABLE 'CAUSE THEY TOOK EXISTING SPACES AND ADDED SHEET OR LANDSCAPING.
UM, WE KNOW THROUGH OUR EXPERIENCE THAT MOST OF OUR, UM, LARGE 30%, UM, GREENING PROJECTS DO TRIGGER A DSA REQUIREMENT, WHICH WE, YOU KNOW, IN SOME WAYS THE INTENT IS GOOD BECAUSE IT ALLOWS OUR DISABLED STUDENTS TO HAVE ACCESS TO SHADED AREAS.
UM, AND THAT WE ALSO WANNA CREATE SPACES WHERE WE CAN HAVE CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION IN NATURE, WHICH ALSO TRIGGERS A DSA REQUIREMENT.
SO THAT'S REALLY THE BIGGEST IMPACT IS A DSA REQUIREMENT VERSUS A NON DSA REQUIREMENT.
UM, THANKS FOR SUCH AN EXCITING, UM, PRESENTATION.
THERE WAS A LOT OF IN THERE THAT ACTUALLY, LIKE, I WAS LIKE EXCITED TO SEE.
SO, UM, THANKS AGAIN FOR THAT.
AND ALL YOU AND YOUR TEAMS WORK TOWARDS THIS.
I JUST HAD, UM, A QUESTION AROUND THE DRAFT, WELL, I GUESS THE ECOS SUSTAINABILITY PLAN THAT YOU'RE WORKING ON, WHEN, WHAT'S THE TIMELINE FOR THE DRAFT ECOS SUSTAINABILITY PLAN? UH, OUR PLAN IS TO HAVE IT FINALIZED BY, UH, JULY OF NEXT YEAR.
UM, YEAH, I THINK THAT'S IT FOR ME.
I'M REALLY EXCITED FOR ALL THESE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES.
I, I'M JUST HAVE SOME CURIOSITY QUESTIONS.
I KNOW THAT I WILL LOOK INTO THE RECOMMENDATION REPORT FOR THE CLIMATE LITERACY TASK FORCE TO LEARN MORE.
BUT IF YOU COULD JUST TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE CURRICULUM AND THE OUTDOOR EDUCATION AND HOW THAT WILL BE DISSEMINATED OR IMPLEMENTED.
I'M JUST CURIOUS IF IT'S PART OF THE REGULAR CURRICULUM, IF THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPE OF EDUCATORS THAT WILL COME INTO PLAY.
AND THEN THE OTHER PIECE OF THAT THAT I'M ALSO CURIOUS ABOUT IS THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PARTICULARLY.
UM, HOW IS LIKE THE SECONDARY AND ADULT EDUCATION, UM, HOW IS THAT CONNECTED TO ANY, LIKE, PATHWAYS TO REAL EMPLOYMENT? YEAH, JUST LEMME TOUCH ON THIS A LITTLE BIT.
SO, UH, SO PRETTY MUCH WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IT, IT'S UH, AND THAT'S WHAT I MENTIONED ABOUT THE CONSULTANTS WE'RE TRYING TO, WE ACTUALLY SELECTED THEM AND THEY WERE APPROVED, UH, GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS TO TASK THEM SO THEY CAN PREPARE ADDITIONAL CURRICULA THAT CAN GO TO THE SCHOOLS.
SO SPECIFIC TO CLIMATE LITERACY, NOW WE ALREADY HAVE CLIMATE LITERACY, UM, UH, AVAILABLE TO OUR SCHOOLS, BUT THIS IS GONNA EVEN ADVANCE IT FURTHER.
SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE MORE OPTIONS.
SO ALL THAT WILL BE DOWNLOADED AND SHARED WITH OUR SCHOOLS SO THEY CAN BE ABLE TO UTILIZE THIS.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING IN ADDITION TO WHAT WE HAVE TODAY.
UM, IN TERMS OF THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, UH, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN CONTINUOUSLY, UH, WORKING ON HOW WE CAN REALLY, UM, UH, USE OUR PROJECTS MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
THAT WE HAVE THE PROJECTS THAT FACILITIES HAVE, THE PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE WITHIN THE SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, AS A SCHOOL DISTRICT, WE ENGAGE OUR STUDENTS EARLY IN THE PROCESS SO WE CAN DEVELOP PATHWAYS, CAREER PATHWAYS FOR THEM AS THEY MOVE FORWARD.
THE SOLAR PROJECTS THAT WE EXECUTED 21 PROJECTS, WE'VE MADE SURE THAT ON THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND WHEN THE AGREEMENTS THAT WE EXECUTED WITH BOTH THE MR. SCO AND CENTRICA TO, TO PROVIDE CLIMATE, UH, TO PROVIDE, UH, CAREER PATHWAYS AND PROVIDE TRAINING TO OUR SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS AND TO PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
SO THE IDEA IS THAT TO DO THAT, NOT JUST ON THE SOLAR, ON THE CHARGING, BUT TO START DOING THAT ON OTHER PROJECTS AS WELL.
SO OUR STUDENTS HAVE, UH, FIRSTHAND LEARNING THROUGH THE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE.
SO WE WANT TO KEEP ADVANCING THAT.
NOW, NOT ALL THE PROJECTS HAVE THAT INITIALLY, BUT AS WE MOVE FORWARD, I'M TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE GO FOR A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS, WE HAVE THAT AS A REQUIREMENT MOVING FORWARD.
SO I KNOW YOU'RE NOT IN CHARGE OF FOOD SERVICES, I KNOW THAT.
SO MY QUESTION THOUGH, MAYBE YOU DO KNOW, IS WHEN FOOD FROM THE CAFETERIA IS TOSSED, WHERE DOES THE CAFETERIA WASTE GO? IN THE GREEN BIN OR IN THE BLACK BIN SHOULD GO IN THE GREEN BIN.
[00:50:01]
SO, UM, THAT MEANS THAT IT SHOULD NOT GO INTO PLASTIC BAGS AND THEN THROWN INTO THE GREEN BIN.SO WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE OF THAT.
AND THAT'S WHAT, AND I ACTUALLY, UM, UH, BOARD PRESIDENT WHAT HAPPENED.
YOU'RE GONNA SEE EVEN THE ONES THAT WE, UH, IS DELIVERED NOW TO OUR, TO OUR HOMES AS WELL FROM DWP, YOU'RE GONNA SEE THE ACTUAL, UM, THEY PUT SOME SETTING THERE SAYING THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS TO BE USEFUL BOTH NOW THE GREEN GRASS, BUT ALSO FOR THE FOOD WASTE, BUT JUST FOOD SCRAPS.
'CAUSE EVEN AT HOME WE HAVE THOSE LITTLE BASKETS THAT DWP GIVES US TO PUT LIKE EGGSHELLS AND BANANA PEELS.
NOW I'LL TELL YOU SOMETHING I'M VERY STILL UNHAPPY ABOUT AND THAT IS THE BLUE BIN.
AND I'LL TELL YOU, ONCE UPON A TIME MY SCHOOLS HAD THOSE BLUE MOVING ON WHEELS, UH, I GUESS YOU CALL IT, WHAT WOULD YOU CALL IT? UH, TRASH CANS.
AND EVERY SCHOOL HAD IT, AND I WOULD SEE THAT ON TRASH DAY, THEY WOULD WHEEL THEM OUT TO THE CURB AND DE UH, THE TRASH COMPANY WOULD PICK THEM UP.
THEN I LEARNED THAT SOME OF THE SCHOOLS HAD THEM REMOVED.
I DON'T KNOW WHY THEY HADN'T REMOVED, BUT THEY DID.
AND THEREFORE, RECYCLING WASN'T DONE LIKE IT USED TO BE.
THERE WAS A WHEELING BIN, LIKE NEAR EACH BUILDING, AND THE KIDS WOULD GO OUT THERE AND THROW THE STUFF IN THERE AND GO BACK IN THEIR CLASSROOM.
NOW THERE'S SUPPOSED TO BE ONE BLUE BIN ALL THE WAY WHERE THE BLACK BIN IS FOR TRASH, AND THE GREEN BIN IS, AND THEY'RE NOT RECYCLING LIKE THEY USED TO.
SO SOME SCHOOLS HAVE IT AND SOME SCHOOLS DON'T HAVE IT.
WHY THEY TOOK THEM, I DON'T KNOW WHY SOME SCHOOLS STILL HAVE THEM AND HAVE THEIR TRASH PICKED UP.
BUT I SURE WOULD LIKE TO GO BACK WHERE WE HAD THOSE WHEELING BINS AND THE KIDS WERE ABLE, TEACHERS WERE ABLE TO THROW THE RECYCLABLES RIGHT OUTSIDE THEIR, UH, CLASSROOM AREA BECAUSE THEY DO HAVE THOSE LITTLE BINS IN THE ROOM, BUT THOSE KIDS AREN'T WALKING CLEAR, CLEAR ACROSS THE SCHOOL TO EMPTY IT INTO THE BIG BLUE BIN.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S YOUR DEPARTMENT.
IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING, AND I'LL SHOW WHAT HAPPENED IS, UH, IT'S ACTUALLY THE OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY.
WHAT HAPPENED IS THAT THE, THE CITY STOPPED THE PROGRAM ITSELF, BUT THE PROGRAM IS MANAGED BY OUR HEALTH AND SAFETY.
SO IF THIS SCHOOL DOESN'T HAVE, UH, THE RECYCLED BINS, THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO CONTACT HEALTH AND SAFETY.
AND MANY OF OUR, MANY OF THE SCHOOLS CONTACTED US IN THE PAST AND WE SHARE THE INFORMATION SO THEY CAN BE ABLE TO GET THOSE RECYCLED BINS TO THEIR SCHOOL.
THE ONES THAT YOU WHEEL, NOT THE, THAT'S, THAT'S MY UNDERSTANDING, BUT I'LL SHARE WITH, UH, MR. TORRES CARLOS TORRES TOO.
BUT IF THERE'S ANY SCHOOL SPECIFICALLY, PLEASE LET 'EM KNOW TO CONTACT US AS WELL.
OR IF THEY'RE LISTENING TO ME TODAY, THAT'S ONLY MY DISTRICT, SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN YOUR DIS IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING WE, YOU KNOW.
YOU MENTIONED THAT THERE WERE NINE SCHOOLS INCLUDED IN THE COOKING CLASS PROGRAM.
WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO TELL US THE NINE SCHOOLS? UM, I, I, I WILL NEED TO SHARE THEM THROUGH AN EMAIL,
I HAVE, YEAH, JUST SOME, UM, FURTHER QUESTIONS FROM ME.
SO AS THE ECOS SUSTAINABILITY PLAN ADVANCES TOWARDS THE FINALIZATION, AND AS WE HEAR IN JULY OF 2026, HOW, UM, WILL THE DISTRICT ENSURE CROSS DEPARTMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY SO THAT THE GOALS, WHETHER TIED TO WATER WASTE, CLEAN ENERGY, OR HEAT MITIGATION ARE OPERATIONALIZED CONSISTENTLY FROM FACILITIES TO INSTRUCTION? I THINK AS WE SET UP, SORRY, AS WE SET UP THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES, WE'LL HAVE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES FOR THE DIFFERENT AREAS.
YOU, I'M SORRY, I MISSED THAT.
WE'LL HAVE RESPONSIBLE PARTIES FOR THE DIFFERENT AREAS IF IT'S THAT ARE GOING THROUGH THOSE AREAS.
UM, THE WATER CONSERVATION PILOTS, UM, SHOW IMPRESSIVE SAVINGS IN THE MONEY.
SO 40% RE REDUCED IN IRRIGATION AT ROY BALL HIGH SCHOOL AND BIRD MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND OVER 5.7 MILLION GALLONS ANNUALLY AT EAST VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL.
SO HOW WILL, HOW WILL WE EVALUATE EXPANSION OPPORTUNITIES, UM, WHILE ENSURING SCHOOLS HAVE THE STAFFING AND TRAINING NEEDED TO MAINTAIN THESE SYSTEMS LONG TERM? SO THE IDEA IS THAT AS WE, UH, FINISH THE PILOTS IS TO BE ABLE TO, UH, SHARE THIS NOW, UH, FACILITIES WAS WORKING WITH US, THE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS WORK WITH US THROUGH THESE TESTING PILOTS.
SO NOW IT'S SHARING 'EM AND MAKING PART OF OUR STANDARDS OR GUIDELINES AND, UH, AS CASINO WAS MENTIONING, TO IDENTIFY FUNDING WHICH PART OF FUNDING WE SHOULD BE USING FOR THAT.
AND, UH, IF IT'S GONNA BE GENERAL FUND OR IF IT SHOULD BE ANOTHER FUNDING SOURCE.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE DISCUSSING AND LOOKING AT IT.
THEN IDENTIFYING THE, THE SITES AND PRIORITIZING
[00:55:01]
SITES THAT, UH, PERHAPS THEY, THEY HAVE MORE INCLEMENT WEATHERS THAT WE CAN BE ABLE TO SUPPORT THE GREEN, UH, THE GREEN ON THOSE SITES.WELL, IF THERE AREN'T ANY MORE FURTHER QUESTIONS, I WANNA THANK YOU, UM, MR. CLIO FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE UPDATES THUS FAR, AND LOOKING FORWARD TO, AND I KNOW YOU'LL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE UPDATES, UM, IN 2026 ALL THE WAY TO THE FINALIZATION OF THE, UM, THE PLAN.
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
MAKES CLEAR HOW INTERDEPENDENT ALL OF THESE AREAS ARE FROM AN INFRASTRUCTURE, CURRICULUM, WORKFORCE, AND RESILIENCE, AND WHY THIS WORK MUST MOVE FORWARD IN A VERY INTEGRATED WAY PART AND WITH PARTNERSHIP FROM L-A-G-W-P TO, YOU KNOW, UCLA, UNIVERSITY OF, UH, ARIZONA.
SO IT'S, IT'S GREAT THAT WE'RE EXPANDING THOSE PARTNERSHIPS BEYOND SO WE CAN GET THIS WORK DONE.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT.
[2 Partner Spotlight: Redeemer Community Partnership - GreenHouse South L.A (035-25/26)]
WE MOVE ON TO THE SECOND PART OF OUR, OF THE COMMITTEE MEETING.UM, IT IS MY HONOR TO, UM, INTRODUCE OUR PARTNER, SPOTLIGHT GREENHOUSE, SOUTH LA REDEEMER COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP, AND THE YOUNG LEADERS SHAPING A CLIMATE READY FUTURE FOR THEIR COMMUNITIES AND PARTICULARLY THEIR NEIGHBORS.
WHAT MAKES THIS PRESENTATION SO IMPORTANT IS NOT ONLY THE ACHIEVEMENTS THAT WE WILL HEAR HERE TODAY, IT IS THE MODEL AND THE PEOPLE BEHIND IT.
SO WE ARE JOINED TODAY BY YOUTH LEADERS FOUNDER, UH, KENNETH GILBERT, UH, PROGRAM DIRECTOR WENDY SALVADOR, AND STUDENTS FROM FHE LEARNING CENTER AND GALA.
SO THANK YOU HERE FOR BEING HERE.
WE HAVE WENDY, KENNETH, EMILY, ISABELLA.
AND DO WE HAVE JADA? OH, SHE JADA'S RUNNING LITTLE LATE.
OKAY, SO THE FLOOR IS YOURS, SO PLEASE GO RIGHT AHEAD, PRESENT.
IT IS AN HONOR TO BE HERE WITH YOU ALL TODAY TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING, NOT ONLY IN OUR COMMUNITY, BUT IN OUR DISTRICT.
UH, AGAIN, I'M WENDY, AND WE, WE'VE INTRODUCED OURSELVES.
THANK YOU FOR THE INTRODUCTION.
WE'LL GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE AND THEN YEAH, WHO WE ARE GREENHOUSE SOUTH LA AND RCP YOUTH.
WE'RE A 5 0 1 C3 NONPROFIT ROOTED IN EXPOSITION PARK, SOUTH LOS ANGELES, AND OUR SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES.
OUR MISSION IS TO BUILD A SAFE, HEALTHY, AND OPPORTUNITY RICH, UM, COMMUNITY WHERE FAMILIES CAN THRIVE.
OUR KEY FOCUS AREAS ARE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION, ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, SAFE STREETS AND MOBILITY, JUSTICE, AND OF COURSE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN, UH, SPECIALIZING IN CLEAN ENERGY.
WELL, I'LL TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT OUR CORE VALUES, UH, COMMUNITY ROOTED LEADERSHIP, BEAUTY AND BELONGING, DIVERSITY, UH, SUSTAINABILITY AND JUSTICE, YOUTH VOICE AND AGENCY, AND COMPASSION, AND THE GREENHOUSE SOUTH LA UH, JUST AS A BASIC DESCRIPTION, WERE A HUNDRED PERCENT ELECTRIFIED COMMUNITY POWERED RESILIENCE HUB BUILT AND LED BY MYSELF, KENNETH GALBRATH.
UH, I'M A 30-YEAR-OLD, UH, 30 YEAR, UH, LICENSED ELECTRICIAN AND CONTRACTOR.
UM, WE'RE A TRUSTED AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM.
UH, WE DO WORKFORCE AND DEVELOPMENT AND WE EQUIP YOUNG PEOPLE WITH ACADEMIC SUPPORT AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS AND PASS TO MEANINGFUL CAREERS.
WE SERVE AS A SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH TO GATHER WHEN THE SCHOOLS CLOSE.
UH, FOR AN EXAMPLE, UM, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR WHEN WE HAD THE LA FIRES, THE YOUTH WERE ABLE TO COME, UH, WHEN THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANY PLACE TO GO AND, UM, JUST BE WITH EACH OTHER AND HAVE A SAFE PLACE TO STAY.
AND ALSO WE DID THE SAME THING DURING THE, UH, THE HOTTEST DAYS OF SUMMER WHERE THE YOUTH CAN COME AS A, UH, AND HAVE LIKE A COOLING CENTER, A PLACE TO HANG WITH THEIR FRIENDS AND JUST, UH, ASSOCIATE WITH ONE ANOTHER AND FEEL SAFE.
SO WE ALSO SUPPORT THE FAMILIES AFFECTED BY THE ICE RAIDS.
WE PROVIDE A, A FOOD PANTRY, A DISTRIBUTION FOR THEM AND ANY OTHER SUPPORT THAT, UH, IS NECESSARY FOR THEM TO GET THROUGH THIS DIFFICULT PERIOD.
SO THE GREENHOUSE STRENGTHENS OUR COMMUNITY WITH RESOURCES AND WORKSHOPS ON HOME ELECTRIFICATION AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY.
AGAIN, MY NAME IS EMILY AND AT THE GREENHOUSE SOUTH LA WE ACTUALLY GIVE THE LUSD STUDENTS A SAFE, CREATIVE SPACE TO LEARN AND LEAD IN CLIMATE ACTION, ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE.
AND THIS IS WHAT THIS SPACE HAS BEEN FOR ME.
IT'S BEEN A SPACE WHERE I'VE BEEN ABLE TO FIND POWER IN MY VOICE AND WHERE I'VE LEARNED THAT I'M CAPABLE OF MAKING REAL CHANGE IN MY COMMUNITY.
ALONG WITH MY OTHER FELLOW YOUTH ARE YOUTH TYPICALLY ENGAGED IN YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, LEARNING HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR THEMSELVES, THEIR COMMUNITY AND
[01:00:01]
THEIR ENVIRONMENT.THEY LEARN ABOUT CLIMATE MITIGATION, COMMUNITY GARDEN SUSTAINABILITY, AND PUBLIC SPEAKING AS WELL.
IN THAT PICTURE, YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE OUR PEERS, ARLENE DIANARA AND ALEXIA LEARNING A CURRICULUM ABOUT ENERGY BEING EVERYTHING.
THEY'RE ACTUALLY MAKING THEIR OWN LITTLE WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM.
SO IT SHOWS THEM HOW THEY CAN APPLY ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY TO THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES.
AND FINALLY, TO CONCLUDE, WE PROVIDE ONE-ON-ONE MENTORSHIP FOR ALL SKILLS.
AND AN IMPORTANT THING WE WANNA HIGHLIGHT IS THAT IT IS PRIMARILY YOUTH LED.
SO ALL THE CURRICULUM WE KIND OF LEAD OUR YOUNGER PEERS.
WE SHOW EACH OTHER THAT ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, SUSTAINABILITY IS NOT SOMETHING THAT IS INTIMIDATING THAT YOU DON'T REALLY USE IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE.
WE SHOW THEM THAT IT IS SOMETHING THAT APPLIES TO ALL OF US.
IT'S SOMETHING TANGIBLE, SOMETHING THAT WE CAN IMPLEMENT INTO OUR OWN PRACTICES, OUR OWN LIVES.
AND TO KIND OF ADD ONTO THAT, ANOTHER KEY PART OF THIS WHOLE PROGRAM IS THE COLLABORATION THAT WE HAVE WITH ONE ANOTHER.
THIS COLLABORATION HAS ALLOWED US TO CREATE INCREDIBLE THINGS AND ALLOWED US TO DISCOVER NEW THINGS ABOUT OURSELF AND NEW PASSIONS SUCH AS ENVIRONMENTALISM OR SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY ADVOCACY LIKE MYSELF.
SO LET ME TALK ABOUT A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT OUR WORKFORCE IN GREEN JOBS PATHWAYS.
OUR TRAINING PREPARES STUDENTS FOR CAREERS IN COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP, SUSTAINABILITY ROLES, AND IN THE TECHNICAL TRADES.
AND I'M GONNA LET ISABELLA EXPOUND A LITTLE BIT MORE.
SO OUR COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP TO EXTENDS TO MANY FIELDS SUCH AS THAT PICTURE DOWN THERE, YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE ME AND EMILY.
AND THAT IS DURING A HEARING ABOUT A LOCAL OIL DRILL SITE NEAR US.
UM, IT WAS ACTUALLY THE MURPHY DRILL SITE AND WE ACTUALLY WERE ABLE TO SPEAK IN FRONT OF THE LA COMMISSIONERS REGARDING HOW THIS HAS AFFECTED US.
OUR SCHOOLS, THE MURPHY DRILL SITE WAS ACTUALLY LOCATED RIGHT NEXT TO AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
SO THAT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT WE'VE LEARNED THROUGH THIS PROGRAM THAT WE CAN ADVOCATE FOR OURSELVES HOW TO DO THAT.
AND WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT? YEAH, OF COURSE.
SO SOMETHING I REALLY WANNA EMPHASIZE IS THAT THE GREENHOUSE SOUTH LA IS A SPACE WHERE WE CAN LEARN ABOUT THESE ISSUES BECAUSE PRIOR TO THIS, I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT THESE OR DRILL SITES HAD ON MY HEALTH, HAD ON MY FRIEND'S HEALTH HAD ON MY FAMILY'S HEALTH.
BUT JUST LEARNING ABOUT THIS, IT REALLY INSPIRED ME TO KIND OF GET OUT THERE AND TO ADVOCATE AND TO KIND OF HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE DECISIONS THAT ARE BEING MADE FOR US AND FOR OUR FAMILIES.
UH, NEXT I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT THE TWO IMAGES NEAR THAT, WHICH IS MY PIERRE MON, SHE'S ACTUALLY LEARNING HOW TO USE POWER TOOLS AND SHE'S LEARNING HOW TO INSTALL A HEAT PUMP WATER HEATER.
SO ONE THING I WOULD LIKE TO EMPHASIZE IS THAT OUR YOUTH SHOULD BE ON THE FOREFRONT OF THE GREEN REVOLUTION, WHICH IS KIND OF LEARNING HOW TO USE MORE CLIMATE FRIENDLY APPLIANCES.
AND OUR STUDENTS ARE ACTUALLY VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THAT, WHICH IS SOMETHING I'M VERY PROUD OF.
I THINK I AM MORE ON THE ADVOCACY SIDE, SO I'D LOVE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THAT.
BUT IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING I'M VERY PROUD OF OUR KIDS FOR AND I THINK SHOULD REALLY BE EMPHASIZED BECAUSE AGAIN, THEY ARE GOING TO BE ON THE FOREFRONT OF THIS GREEN REVOLUTION.
AND OUR NEXT PICTURE IS OUR PIERRE JOHN LEARNING HOW TO BUILD THINGS, MEASURE IT'S SKILLS THAT WE DON'T USUALLY CONSIDER, BUT THAT ARE VERY NECESSARY IN, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, HE WAS INSTALLING A HEAT, HEAT PUMP, WATER, YES, A HEAT PUMP, UM, WATER HEATER, WHICH IS A VERY USEFUL AND COST EFFECTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL TOOL.
IT'S ALSO VERY ECO-FRIENDLY, SO WE DEFINITELY WANT OUR KIDS TO BE A PART OF THAT.
ALRIGHT, SO, UM, ANOTHER KEY PART OF THIS PROGRAM IS OUR ADVOCACY, AS YOU HAVE HEARD.
AND WE'VE ACTUALLY BEEN ABLE TO WORK ON DIFFERENT INITIATIVES AND CAMPAIGNS, ONE OF THEM BEING NORMANDY BEAUTIFUL.
AND WITHIN THIS CAMPAIGN, IT'S BASICALLY A SAFE STREETS INITIATIVE, AND IT'S IN WHICH THE YOUTH ADVOCATE FOR SAFER STREET INFRASTRUCTURE WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND WHAT ACTUALLY PROMPTED THIS CAMPAIGN WAS ACTUALLY BEING A WITNESS TO THIS, A TRAGIC ACCIDENT THAT OUR YOUTH GROUP HAD ACTUALLY ENCOUNTERED RIGHT BEFORE OUR, I.
SO AS WE WERE CROSSING A NORMANDY STREET, WE ACTUALLY WITNESSED A USC STUDENT GET HIT BY A CAR RIGHT IN FRONT OF US ON HIS SCOOTER.
AND THIS IS, WAS AN INCREDIBLY AN TRAUMATIC INCIDENT, AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO WITNESS.
AND THIS HAS BECOME SO NORMALIZED WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND I'M NOT SURE IF YOU ALL KNOW THIS, HOWEVER, TRAFFIC VIOLENCE CAN ACTUALLY IS ACTUALLY THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH WITHIN THE YOUTH IN SOUTH LA, WHICH IS INCREDIBLY SAD.
AND THAT'S KIND OF WHAT INSPIRED US TO PURSUE THIS CAMPAIGN AND TO ADVOCATE FOR OUR NEIGHBORS.
SO SOME OF OUR DEMANDS THAT WE'VE HAD WITHIN THIS CAMPAIGN INCLUDES PEDESTRIAN SAFETY FEATURES, IMPROVE STREET LIGHTING, GREENING AND BEAUTIFICATION, AND SAFE ROUTES FOR ALL OF OUR STUDENTS BECAUSE NO STUDENT SHOULD HAVE TO FEAR CROSSING THE STREET EVERY SINGLE DAY.
AND MANY STUDENTS TAKE, HAVE TO WALK TO SCHOOL, SO THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE AN OPTION.
[01:05:01]
AND SO THIS IS WHAT YOUTH DESIGNING FOR THE FUTURE ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE WITHIN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.AND AS A RESULT OF OUR ADVOCACY, WE WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO OBTAIN A LARGE PUBLIC GRANT OF $27 MILLION TO FUND THE PROJECT.
AND WE WERE ALSO ABLE TO SECURE A PROJECT MANAGER.
AND WE WERE ABLE TO, TO DO THIS BY ACTUALLY REACHING OUT TO ONE OF OUR LOCAL OFFICIALS, THE COUNCIL PRESIDENT MARKIS HARRIS DAWSON.
AND WHAT WE DID WAS WE JUST TOLD HIM OUR STORY AND WE TRULY EMPHASIZED THE URGENCY OF SAFER STREET INFRASTRUCTURE WITHIN SOUTH LOS ANGELES, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT IS INCREDIBLY LACKING.
AND AS A RESULT, WE WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO SECURE THIS PROJECT MANAGER, WHICH WAS AN INCREDIBLE STEP FORWARD.
AND IT IS ALSO WHAT CONTINUES TO INSPIRE ME AND SHOWS ME THAT CHANGE IS POSSIBLE AND THAT THE YOUTH IS THE FOREFRONT OF THE CHANGE.
ANOTHER THING I'D LIKE TO ADD IS THAT ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, ONE THING THAT OFTEN GETS OVERLOOKED IS OUR INFRASTRUCTURE REDLINING HOW THAT HAS HISTORICALLY IMPACTED UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES, ESPECIALLY THIS PICTURE RIGHT HERE WAS TAKEN RIGHT NEAR OUR SCHOOL.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE'D LIKE TO EMPHASIZE THAT IN INSPIRING THESE YOUTH TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THESE OPPORTUNITIES, UM, TAKE AGENCY OVER THEIR OWN, UH, PUBLIC HEALTH, THAT THEY'VE ACTUALLY BEEN INSPIRED TO BECOME PROJECT MANAGERS AND CONSIDER IMPLEMENTING THINGS LIKE GREENER ENVIRONMENTS, MORE TREES.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE DEFINITELY EMPHASIZED WHEN TALKING TO THESE ELECTED OFFICIALS, DEPUTY MAYOR RANDALL WINSTON, MARQUISE HARRISSON, IS THAT WE WOULD LIKE GREENER AREAS IN OUR COMMUNITIES AS THIS HAS OFTEN BEEN OVERLOOKED.
SO THAT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE WANNA CONSIDER AS WELL.
UH, THIS AGAIN IS CONTINUING WITH OUR ADVOCACY EFFORTS.
THIS IS A SAFE STRIDES INITIATIVE AND IT WAS LED BY ME AND MY PEER, JAYDEN MORISSETTE.
AND IT ACTUALLY CAME TO BE AFTER WITNESSING TRAFFIC VIOLENCE INCIDENTS NEAR OUR SCHOOL AND ON HIGH INJURY CORRIDORS LIKE NORMANDY AVENUE.
AND THROUGH THIS INITIATIVE, WE ACTUALLY WERE ABLE TO CONDUCT WALK AUDITS DESIGN A STUDENT-LED MOBILITY JUSTICE MODEL.
AND THROUGH THIS PROGRAM, WE WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO GO REPRESENT LASC NATIONALLY.
WE RECEIVED AN ENDORSEMENT FROM REGION SOUTH SUPERINTENDENT, DR.
ANDRE SPICER, AND WE WERE ABLE TO PRESENT AT THE YMCA NATIONAL CHANGEMAKERS CONFERENCE AND REPRESENT REGION SOUTH.
AND SOMETHING I WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT IS THAT LESC STUDENTS ARE PART OF AND CAN BE PART OF REDEFINING WHAT ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH LOOKS LIKE.
SO ALL OF THAT, WHAT WE STATED SO FAR IS WHAT YOUTH ADVOCACY AND ACTION TRULY LOOKS LIKE.
OUR STUDENTS ARE ABLE TO ADVOCATE DIRECTLY WITH ELECTED OFFICIALS AND LEGISLATORS, SCHOOL LEADERS AND ADMINISTRATORS, AND CITY AND STATE GOVERNMENTS.
AND WE ALL DO THIS FOR THE GOAL OF ENSURING THAT SAFE STREETS, CLEAN AIR, AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE ARE ALL PRIORITIZED IN POLICY AND CITY BUDGETS.
AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE CORNER, WE HAVE A PICTURE WITH LA MAYOR KAREN BASS, AND THAT'S ACTUALLY WHEN WE WENT TO GO PRESENT WITH STAND LA, WHICH IS A COALITION THAT PRIORITIZES, UM, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND, UM, PREVENTING OIL DRILL SITES FROM BUILDING IN OUR COMMUNITIES.
SO SOMETHING WE'D LIKE TO EMPHASIZE IS THAT WE HAVE AGENCY TO OUR YOUTH, THAT WE HAVE AGENCY OVER THESE DECISIONS.
WE TEACH THEM HOW TO WRITE LETTERS TO ELECTED OFFICIALS, WHICH WE THINK SHOULD BE VERY IMPORTANT.
WE'VE ACTUALLY GOTTEN INVITED TO A FEW OTHER SCHOOLS ON SHOWING WORKSHOPS ON HOW TO WRITE THESE LETTERS TO ELECTED OFFICIALS, HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR THEMSELVES.
NEAR THAT, YOU CAN SEE US DURING OUR MEETING WITH DEPUTY MAYOR RANDALL WINSTON.
UM, A LOT OF OUR YOUTH, WE MADE SHIRTS AS A SIGN OF PROTEST AND WE WANTED TO REALLY EMPHASIZE THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO HOLD THEIR OWN DURING MEETINGS.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT OFTEN GETS OVERLOOKED.
IT'S NOT A TRADITIONAL EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE DEEM VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THESE ARE GOING TO GROW INTO THE PEOPLE WHO TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR COMMUNITIES, FIGHT FOR THINGS THAT THEY NEED IN THE FUTURE.
AND FINALLY, AS YOU CAN SEE UP THERE, WE COLLABORATE.
WE HAVE A BIG EMPHASIS ON COMMUNITY COLLABORATION.
WE PARTNERED WITH MARQUISE HARRIS DAWSON, WE INVITED HIM TO OUR GREENHOUSE.
AND THROUGH THAT WE ARE ABLE TO SECURE PARTNERSHIP WITH LOCAL ARTISTS, MIKE NORRIS.
SO WE DEFINITELY WANNA EMPHASIZE THAT WE USE MANY METHODS, WE USE MURAL.
WE HAVE A MURAL RIGHT THERE THAT WAS DESIGNED BY ONE OF OUR VERY OWN STUDENTS, UM, AND WE'RE PARTNERING WITH HIM TO EVENTUALLY, UM, PAINT THAT MURAL AND GET MORE ATTENTION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH IN SOUTH LA.
SO YEAH, THAT'S BASICALLY THE EXTENT OF OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY AND ACTION.
AND I ALSO WANNA EMPHASIZE THAT THIS IS WHAT MAKES THIS PROGRAM SO UNIQUE.
IT'S A SPACE WHERE YOUTH CAN TRULY BE THEMSELVES AND WHERE THEY CAN LEARN HOW TO MAKE A REAL IMPACT.
AND LIKE ISABELLA SAID, IT'S NOT THE TYPICAL CURRICULUM, BUT IT'S THE CURRICULUM THAT MATTERS.
WELL, OUR VIS OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE INCLUDES TRAINING, INFRASTRUCTURE, LEADERSHIP AND EXPANSION.
UH, WE ENVISION HOW WONDERFUL IT WOULD BE IF THERE WERE
[01:10:01]
A GREENHOUSE TYPE HUB NEAR EVERY LOCAL SCHOOL.UH, SO NEXT WE'D LIKE TO GO INTO HOW THIS WORK STRENGTHENS LIOS D'S CLIMATE AND STUDENT SUCCESS GOALS.
ONE THING THAT WE REALLY WANNA EMPHASIZE IS CTE ALIGNMENT.
UH, STUDENTS ARE ABLE TO ENGAGE ON HANDS-ON ELECTRIFICATION AND SUSTAINABILITY TRAINING THAT FITS CTE PATHWAYS.
UM, SO A LOT OF, UH, THE KIDS IN OUR PROGRAM ARE ACTUALLY IN OUR ROBOTICS PROGRAM AT SCHOOL.
AND THROUGH THIS, THEY'VE ACTUALLY BEEN ABLE TO ENGAGE IN ACTIVITIES THAT THEY REALLY HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DO BEFORE.
WORK WITH POWER TOOLS, WORK ON INSTALLING THINGS THAT MAY BE ABLE TO GET THEM JOBS IN THE FUTURE.
SO IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF KIDS WEREN'T ABLE TO CONSIDER BEFORE, BUT DUE TO THEM BUILDING ON WHAT THEY'VE LEARNED ON ALREADY AT SCHOOL, THEY'RE ABLE TO EXPAND THEIR OPPORTUNITIES.
WE WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO BE ABLE TO GO DO RESEARCH WITH USC KEC ON PFAS PREVENTION IN LOS ANGELES.
SO IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT PROVIDES A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH.
UM, WE ALSO EMPHASIZE STUDENT SAFETY, YOUTH STREET SAFETY WORK SUPPORTS SAFE ROUTES INITIATIVES.
SO AS YOU SAW WITH OUR EARLIER ADVOCACY, WE'RE ABLE TO ACTUALLY USE OUR VOICES AS YOUTH AND CONTINUE THAT AS WE GROW OLDER IN ORDER TO SECURE A BETTER FUTURE FOR US AND OUR FUTURE FAMILIES GENERATIONS.
FINALLY, WE ALSO EMPHASIZE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE AS STUDENTS HEAT AND AIR QUALITY RECOMMENDATIONS ALIGN WITH ELIAS'S CLIMATE GOALS.
AS MENTIONED EARLIER, HEAT PUMP, WATER HEATERS, CAR CHARGERS, SOLAR PANELS, OUR STUDENTS, WE WANT THEM TO LEARN HOW NOT ONLY HOW IMPORTANT THESE DEVICES ARE, BUT HOW THEY CAN BECOME INVOLVED IN GETTING INVOLVED IN THIS ECONOMY.
UM, BUILDING THOSE THINGS, THAT IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'S SUPER FOREIGN, THAT IT'S SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN BECOME ENGAGED WITH AND SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN WORK ON IN THE FUTURE.
AND IT PREPARES STUDENTS FOR CLEAN ENERGY CAREERS.
AREN'T THESE GIRLS AMAZING? THERE'S LIKE 50 MORE, UM, WANTING TO COME JOIN YOU ALL.
UH, IT REALLY IS, UH, IT IS AN HONOR TO LEAD THESE YOUTH.
AND, AND I JUST WANNA BRAG ABOUT THE MAJORITY OF OUR YOUTH ARE ALL L-A-U-S-D STUDENTS.
UH, WE'RE ALL L-A-U-S-D PARENTS.
AND TO ME, I PERSONALLY FEEL LIKE THESE GIRLS AND YOUNG MEN ARE REALLY TRULY THE CONNECTOR TO THE FUTURE.
AS FAR AS THE CLEAN ENERGY AND THE ENERGY REVOLUTION.
WE'VE SEEN FIRSTHAND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR NOT ONLY OUR SURROUNDING SCHOOLS, BUT EVEN THE CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE SEEKING THEM AND SAYING, CAN THEY COME AND TALK TO OUR KIDS? CAN THEY COME AND LEAD A WORKSHOP? AND OUR ANSWER TO THEM IS ALWAYS LET US FOCUS ON OUR SURROUNDING SCHOOLS AND OUR STUDENTS.
AND THEN, SO I APPRECIATE THAT THEY, UM, REALLY TRULY FOLLOW THE, THE LEADERSHIP.
BUT SO PRETTY MUCH LOOKING AHEAD, OUR CONTINUED COMMITMENT FOR THE GREEN HOUND HOUSE IS EXPANDING THE SUSTAINABILITY AND THE GREEN TRADES, UH, STRENGTHENING OUR COMMUNITY, UH, ENGAGEMENT, ALSO BRINGING A LOT OF OTHER, UM, VOICES, UM, AND OPPORTUNITIES, RESOURCES.
WE HAVE A LOT OF OUR YOUTH ARE WORKING ON A FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAM, UH, WHICH PRETTY MUCH IS, UH, COMPLIMENTARY TO THE WORK THAT WE ARE DOING.
SO, UH, OVERALL OUR GOAL IS TO KEEP BUILDING, UH, SOUTH LA WHERE EVERY STUDENT HAS ACCESS TO SAFE STREETS, CLEAN AIR, AND OPPORTUNITIES TO THRIVE JUST LIKE THESE YOUNG GIRLS ARE TODAY AND EVERY DAY ACTUALLY.
SO, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING TO OUR PRESENTATION TODAY.
WE'D LOVE TO EMPHASIZE THIS IN PARTICULAR, OUR STUDENTS HAVE DRAWN SO MUCH ATTENTION FOR THEIR KIND OF HEADSTRONG RESILIENCE, THEIR ADVOCACY THAT WE'VE ACTUALLY HAD A LOT OF OUR LOCAL CANDIDATES, UM, COME VISIT THE HOUSE RIGHT THERE.
THAT'S ELMAR
AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE WANNA EMPHASIZE, THAT WE WANT OUR STUDENTS TO BE CIVICALLY ENGAGED, UM, OR IN ORDER TO TAKE CONTROL OF THEIR OWN FUTURE, HIGHLIGHT THEIR ADVOCACY.
I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING ISABELLA SAID.
AND WHAT'S REALLY VALUABLE ABOUT THIS IS OUR CD NINE.
CD NINE CANDIDATES ARE COMING TO VISIT THE YOUTH.
THE YOUTH ARE THE FUTURE, AND THEIR OPINIONS MATTER, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE TRULY APPRECIATE ABOUT ALL OF THESE CANDIDATES COMING TO LEARN ABOUT WHAT THE YOUTH THINK IS IMPORTANT.
BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE DECISIONS THAT ARE BEING MADE, THEY NOT ONLY AFFECT THE ADULTS, BUT THEY ALSO AFFECT THE YOUTH WITHIN OUR COMMUNITIES.
AND THE YOUTH VOICES ARE OFTEN SO OVERLOOKED.
HOWEVER, IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE THEM
[01:15:01]
RECOGNIZE THAT THEIR VOICES ARE POWERFUL AND THAT THEIR OPINIONS MATTER AND THAT THEIR INSIGHT IS VALUABLE, ESPECIALLY WITHIN CITY DECISIONS.THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LIST TAKING THE TIME TO LEARN ABOUT THE GREENHOUSE SOUTH LA TOGETHER WE CAN CONTINUE CREATING A FUTURE WHERE SOUTH LA YOUTH LEAD, INNOVATE AND SHAPE A CLIMATE READY CITY.
WE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING, UH, TO US TODAY.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING US HERE TODAY.
AND WE'D LIKE TO OPEN IT UP TO ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS.
NOT ONLY DO WE WANT, YOU KNOW, PUSHING THE DISTRICT TO BE ECOS SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND, AND CHANGING OUR SCHOOLS FOR THAT, BUT IT'S ALSO ABOUT BRINGING AGENCY, RIGHT? BRINGING AGENCY TO A BROWN AND BLACK COMMUNITIES OR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE, AS YOU MENTIONED, HAVE BEEN REALLY LEFT BEHIND AND HAVE LOST THEIR VOICE, BUT NOT ANYMORE BECAUSE WE HAVE YOU ALL BRINGING THAT VOICE FORWARD AND, AND JUST MAKING SURE, LIKE AS YOU MENTIONED, YOU ARE, THE STUDENTS ARE MAKING SURE THAT ELECTED OFFICIALS, AND I WAS ONE OF THEM.
I WENT TO SCHOOL AND TO THE HOUSE AND, UM, THE STUDENTS LED ME THROUGH THE WHOLE HOUSE AND EDUCATED ME, AND I WAS JUST SO IMPRESSED, ASKED ME QUESTIONS, TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING, AND I SAID, YOU'LL ALL HAVE TO COME AND I'M TO THE, TO THIS COMMITTEE.
YOU'RE HERE BECAUSE WE, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO TEACH US AND YOU'VE TAUGHT US SOMETHING SO MUCH RIGHT NOW.
SO I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR TEACHING US AND FOR, FOR ALLOWING US TO HEAR YOUR VOICE.
AND I KNOW YOUR VOICE IS THE VOICE OF ALL OF THE STUDENTS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN, IN THIS, UM, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE EFFORT.
AND I KNOW AS, UH, AS I SEE WENDY AND KEN IS JUST SO PROUD IN LISTENING TO THEM, SO THANK YOU AS WELL, BECAUSE THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY IF IT WASN'T FOR DEDICATED COMMUNITY MEMBERS LIKE YOU AS WELL.
SO I THINK THIS IS AN AMAZING, AMAZING OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR YOUTH.
AND THE OTHER, UM, OBJECTIVE OF THIS COMMITTEE IS ALSO GREEN JOBS, RIGHT? MAKING SURE THAT OUR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR ARE NOT LEFT BEHIND AND THE, AND, AND, AND THIS SORT OF, UM, AND THESE INDUSTRIES, BUT HAVE THE ABILITY AND KNOW THAT THEY CAN BE PART OF THIS BECAUSE SO MANY, YOU KNOW, FOR TOO LONG, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE LEFT BEHIND IN THESE EFFORTS.
AND I THINK THIS IS A, THE GREENHOUSE AND UM, LAU ALL ARE EXEMPLARY OF EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED TO DO HERE IN THE CITY.
SO THANK YOU FOR REMINDING US JUST HOW IMPORTANT THE LEADERSHIP OF OUR YOUTH IS AND YOUR VOICE AND HOW YOU ARE ALSO MENTORS TO YOUR, YOUR PEERS WHO ARE FALLING, YOU KNOW, BEHIND YOU, IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS.
AND I KNOW THAT SOUTH LA IS GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, SO MUCH BETTER, UM, IN SO MANY IN WAYS BECAUSE OF, OF YOUR WORK AND WHAT YOU'VE BEEN LEADING THUS FAR.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I CAN GO ON AND ON, BUT I, I WANNA THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
AND BEFORE I ASK MY QUESTIONS, I WANNA OPEN IT UP TO OUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS IF THEY HAVE ANYTHING YOU KNOW, TO COMMENT OR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY WANNA HAVE.
I WANNA SAY THANK YOU TO, FOR, FOR YOU BEING HERE TODAY IS A TREAT TO LISTEN, UM, TO HEAR AND TO LEARN, UH, MORE ABOUT YOUR WORK.
I'M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SCOPE IN SOUTH LA.
WE HAVE WORKED VERY CLOSELY WITH REDEEMER ON THE STAND LA UH, COALITION, UH, WORKING FOR THE PAST 10 YEARS ON, UH, FACING OUT OIL DRILLING IN SOUTH LA.
SO THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING IS VERY NEAR TO MY HEART.
UM, AND IT'S VERY INSPIRING BECAUSE IN AT SCOPE WE'RE MAJORITY ADULTS AND NOW WE'RE ORGANIZING YOUNG ADULTS.
UH, WE DON'T NECESSARILY FOCUS ON ON HIGH SCHOOL AGE YOUTH, BUT, UM, IT'S REALLY AMAZING TO KNOW THAT, UH, WE'RE WORKING SIDE BY SIDE WITH AMAZING, TALENTED, SMART, UM, UH, YOUNG PEOPLE FROM SOUTH LA.
SO I JUST WANNA, UM, I WANNA ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONTINUE DOING THIS WORK TO, UH, THE TWO YOUNG LADIES WANNA SAY YOU'RE REALLY AMAZING SKILLED COMMUNICATORS.
I HOPE, UM, YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT, UM, I THINK YOU COMMUNICATE ACTUALLY PROBABLY BETTER THAN MOST ADULTS HERE,
UM, AND, UM, I KNOW RIGHT NOW YOU'RE LEADERS AMONG YOUTH AND IN THE CLIMATE MOVEMENT AND MAYBE ONE DAY, UM, PROBABLY ONE DAY YOU'LL BE, UH, LEADERS OF ORGANIZATIONS IN SOUTH LA LIKE THE ONES THAT WE LEAD NOW.
UM, THE, I JUST WANTED TO ALSO JUST KIND OF GET SOME CLARITY FOR MYSELF.
THE, SINCE WE'VE WORKED WITH REDEEMER, IS, UH, THE GREENHOUSE A PROJECT OF REDEEMER, OR IS IT TWO SEPARATE 5 0 1 C THREES? YEAH, IT IS TWO SEPARATE 5 0 1 C THREES.
[01:20:01]
BACKGROUND AND ELECTRICAL WORK AND HOME ELECTRIFICATION, WE PRETTY MUCH, WE, WE LIVE BY THE PHILOSOPHY OF, YOU KNOW, OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES IN SOUTH LA.A LOT OF TIMES PEOPLE THINK THAT WE REALLY DON'T HAVE A VOICE OR WE DON'T HAVE AGENCY, BUT REALLY, TRULY BEING, UH, FROM AN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY, IT REALLY IS BAKED IN US.
AND SO IT'S, IT REALLY IS A SHAME THAT A LOT OF TIMES THE KIDS ARE NOT GIVEN THIS OPPORTUNITY.
AND SO THROUGH KENT'S WORK, WE, WE WERE ABLE TO PURCHASE THAT PROPERTY.
UH, WE HAD A DEVELOPER BID FOR THAT PROPERTY, UH, CURRENT PRICE BID FOR THE PROPERTY.
AND LIVING IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD AND INVESTING IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, THAT FAMILY TOLD US, WE WANT YOU GUYS TO HAVE THE PROPERTY.
SO THAT'S PRETTY EMOTIONAL FOR US BECAUSE THIS GROUP OF KIDS WERE ACROSS THE STREET IN OUR HOUSE, EVEN THROUGH COVID, WE WERE LIKE, HERE, WE HAVE COMPUTERS, WE HAVE PAPER, WE HAVE, UH, INTERNET, ALL COMPLIMENTS OF THE
AND SO WE DID, WE ARE TWO SEPARATE, BUT WE DO WORK IN COLLABORATION WITH RICHARD AND REDEEMER BECAUSE OUR VOICES ARE IN ALIGNMENT.
OUR WORK AND OUR PASSION PROJECTS ARE IN ALIGNMENT.
I JUST TO ADD ON TO THAT, WE'VE ALSO HAD EPRI COME IN AND, UM, PRETTY MUCH DO YOU WANNA SPEAK ON THAT? OH, UM, WELL, JUST ABOUT EPRI, IT'S THE ELECTRIC POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE.
AND SO THEY'RE, UH, THINK TANK COMPRISING OF THE NATION'S, UH, PRIVATE ELECTRICAL UTILITIES.
AND SO THEY ACTUALLY CAME, UH, LAST YEAR TO TOUR THE GREENHOUSE AND SEE HOW WE TURNED A HUNDRED YEAR OLD HOUSE INTO A COMPLETELY ELECTRIFIED, UH, ENERGY EFFICIENT HOUSE.
AND IF WE CAN DO IT WITH A HOUSE THAT'S A HUNDRED PLUS YEARS OLD, HOW MUCH EASIER WOULD IT BE TO DO THAT WITH EVERY OTHER AND EVEN NEWER HOUSES.
SO, UH, WE WERE PROUD TO, TO HOST THEM, UM, THE EPRI TO THE GREENHOUSE.
THE LAST THING I I LIKE TO SAY IS WHEN YOU SAID POWER TOOLS, WHICH YOU SAID A COUPLE OF TIMES, I PERKED UP BECAUSE WE HAVE A MANUAL THAT'S CALLED THE POWER TOOL MANUALS.
UM, AND THEN I UNDERSTOOD YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT ACTUAL POWER TOOLS.
BUT, UM, AS A 30-YEAR-OLD ORGANIZATION THAT HAS DONE SOCIAL JUSTICE, RACIAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATION, WE'VE DEVELOPED A MANUAL THAT'S CALLED POWER TOOLS AND IT'S ABOUT BUILDING POWER, BOTH OF, YOU KNOW, YOUTH AND UM, FAMILIES IN SOUTH LA.
SO IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, WE'D LOVE TO GIFT YOU A POWER TOOLS MANUAL SO THAT YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT POWER ANALYSIS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE GOALS AND THEORY OF SOCIAL CHANGE AND THINGS OF THAT SORT.
I'M REALLY INSPIRED BY YOU ALL.
AND ALSO TO ADD ON TO THAT, WE ARE ALSO ON A MISSION TO ELECTRIFY SOUTH LA IT'S NOT ONLY GOOD FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT, BUT IT'S GOOD FOR OUR POCKETBOOKS.
SO WE'VE TAKEN IT UPON OURSELVES TO DO WORKSHOPS NOT ONLY FOR OUR NEIGHBORS, FOR ANYONE IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO IF YOU EVER ARE INTERESTED IN ONE OF OUR WORKSHOPS, WE TAKE MALE VERSIONS OF THESE LADIES TO, TO PRETTY MUCH EDUCATE OUR COMMUNITY ABOUT THE POWER TOOLS, THE ENERGY EFFICIENT APPLIANCES, AND THE INSTALLATIONS.
I'LL PROBABLY CONNECT WITH YOU DEFINITELY.
I TOO WANNA LIKE PILE ON THE PRAISE FOR YOU YOUNG LADIES.
UM, YOU'RE EXCELLENT PUBLIC SPEAKERS, SO THAT DEFINITELY LIKE SHOWS, AND I KNOW IT'S NOT EASY TO KIND OF GET IN FRONT OF ADULTS, BUT YOU ARE, UH, YOU HAVE DONE SUCH EXEMPLARY WORK, YOU KNOW, SPEAKING WITH ELECTED OFFICIALS AND SO MANY, AND REALLY YOU'RE, YOU'RE SPEAKING MY LANGUAGE, WHICH IS ANOTHER REASON WHY I'M EXCITED.
ONE, YOUR PUBLIC SPEAKING SKILLS ARE BETTER.
I TEACH AT USC AN UNDERGRAD COURSE AND BETTER THAN MOST PRESENTATIONS I'VE SEEN FROM MY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS.
SO, UH, I WAS LIKE, WOW, THEY COULD LEARN A THING OR TWO FROM YOU
UM, AND THEN THE OTHER THING I WANNA JUST, UM, KIND OF, UH, SHARE WITH YOU TO THINK ABOUT AS YOU ARE MOVING IN YOUR JOURNEY, UM, IS THERE'S THIS INTERSECTION AND INTERDISCIPLINARY, UH, YOU KNOW, LEVEL OF WORK THAT YOU'RE WORKING ON, WHICH IS AT THE INTERSECTION OF PUBLIC POLICY, UM, URBAN PLANNING AND PUBLIC HEALTH.
SO LIKE ALL OF THOSE THINGS THAT YOU'RE WORKING ON, THERE'S LIKE AN INTERSECTION THERE.
SO IF THERE'S EVER A CAREER PATH THAT YOU'RE LOOKING TO EXPLORE, LIKE THOSE ARE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S THAT POINT OF INTERSECTION, WHICH I OFTEN WORK AT AND TEACH ABOUT THAT INTERSECTION, BUT YOU'RE ALREADY THERE.
SO THAT'S JUST ANOTHER THING FOR YOU TO FILE AWAY, UM, TO THINK ABOUT LIKE YOUR CAREER PLANNING AS YOU THINK ABOUT THAT.
AND CONGRATS TO YOU ALL FOR YOUR MENTORSHIP AND THE TIME THAT YOU DEVOTE, UM, WITH THESE STUDENTS.
I FEEL HOW LONG HAS THE GREENHOUSE SOUTH LA BEEN AROUND? OUR NONPROFIT WITH THE YOUTH HAS BEEN AROUND ABOUT FIVE
[01:25:01]
YEARS AND GREENHOUSE SOUTH LA PROBABLY ABOUT TWO AND A HALF, ALMOST THREE YEARS.WAS THERE ANOTHER HOUSE THOUGH, OR SOMETHING HAPPENING THERE LIKE LONG, LIKE 10 TO 15 YEARS AGO? UM, I'M NOT, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT REALLY SURE TO BE HONEST WITH YOU.
'CAUSE I FEEL LIKE I WALKED THROUGH A HOUSE AND THERE WAS THINGS HAPPENING AND THERE WERE LIKE YOUTH AND IT WAS LIKE IN EXPO PARK AND I WAS LIKE, THAT WAS US ACROSS THE STREET.
SO I PROBABLY WAS THERE LIKE A LONG TIME AGO.
AND THIS, THE GROWTH IS AMAZING.
SO CONGRATULATIONS YOU SO MUCH.
YEAH, JUST WANNA ECHO AGAIN, THE GRATITUDE FOR YOUR PRESENTATION AND THE ADMIRATION FOR YOUR, UM, POLISHED AND ELOQUENT, UH, SPEAKING AND HOW, JUST HOW MUCH INFORMATION AND ALSO HOW ENGAGING YOUR PRESENTATION WAS.
AND AS A ALSO A PERSON FROM URBAN PLANNING BACKGROUND AND DOING COMMUNITY ADVOCACY WORK REALLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO LOOK INTO THOSE FIELDS AND RELATED FIELDS IN TERMS TERMS OF YOUR, UM, ACADEMICS WITH GREAT INSTITUTIONS LOCALLY OR, UM, THAT WE'VE GONE TO OR ACROSS THE COUNTRY, BUT, UM, TO PURSUE SOME OF THOSE PATHWAYS.
I HAD, UM, ONE QUESTION ABOUT THE, UH, VERY EXCITED TO HEAR ABOUT THE WORKFORCE IN GREEN JOBS PATHWAYS THAT I WORK AT THE LA ALLIANCE FOR NEW ECONOMY.
WE WORK A LOT WITH, UM, THE CONSTRUCTION TRADES AND THE ELECTRICAL WORKERS UNION.
SO I WAS CURIOUS IF THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PROGRAMS, UH, THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ASPECT OF THE PROGRAM TO HELP CONNECT TO THE APPRENTICESHIP READINESS PROGRAMS THAT THE BUILDING TRADES OPERATE, OR THROUGH THE, WHICH ARE ALSO AVAILABLE, I BELIEVE, THROUGH THE, UM, L USD'S, UM, ADULT EDUCATION, UM, SITES AS WELL.
SO JUST CURIOUS IF THERE'S BEEN OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT WITH THAT, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THE, A LOT OF THE PROJECTS THAT LESD BUILDS ARE COVERED BY THE DISTRICT'S LABOR AGREEMENT, WHICH HAVE CONNECTIONS TO THOSE WORKFORCE PATHWAYS.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF POTENTIAL IT FEELS LIKE WITH, UH, UM, ELECTRICAL EXPOSURE THAT, THAT YOUTH ARE ABLE TO HAVE THROUGH THIS PROGRAM.
UM, WELL, IF I CAN SPEAK TO THAT.
I'M AN IBW MEMBER AND, UM, SO, UM,
AND SO WHAT WE PLAN TO DO, OR WHAT WE DO IS WE'RE A CONDUIT.
WE INTRODUCE THE, THE YOUTH TO THE SKILLED TRADES, WHAT EACH OF THE TRADES DOES, WE INTRODUCE THEM TO BASIC HAND TOOL USAGE, BASIC POWER TOOL USAGE.
AND WHEN THEY SHOW INTEREST IN ANY SPECIFIC TRADE, WE'RE A CONDUIT WHO, UH, CONNECTS THEM WITH, LET'S JUST SAY I'VE HAD, UH, SOME OF THE YOUTH APPLY TO THE IBW 11 ELECTRICAL UNION, OR IF THEY WANT TO WORK THE, THE LINES, THE, THE, FOR THE A LINEMEN FOR THE HIGH VOLTAGE, WE'LL CONNECT THEM WITH IBW LOCAL 18, OR THE L-A-D-W-P, WHICH WILL AUTOMATICALLY BRING THEM INTO LOCAL 18.
SO, UH, WE HAVEN'T INTERFACED WITH THE EXACT PROGRAMS THAT YOU'VE TALKED ABOUT, BUT WE HAVE THE CONNECTION SO THAT IF THEY DO SHOW INTEREST, WE WILL GET THEM IN TOUCH WITH THE UNION, SHOW THEM HOW TO APPLY, UM, SHOW THEM, UH, THE DIFFERENT PATHWAYS IF THEY WANT TO GO TO TRADE TECH INSTEAD, IF THEY WANT TO GO THROUGH THE UNION, WE TEACH THEM, UH, ALL THE BENEFITS AND, AND DRAWBACKS OF GOING EACH WAY.
SO THAT, THAT'S WHAT WE TEND TO DO.
I'D LOVE TO HEAR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE, THE PROGRAMS THAT, UH, UM, YOU ARE, UH, MENTIONING.
THAT'S REALLY WONDERFUL TO HEAR.
AND I THINK THAT THERE HAS BEEN SOME EXPLORATION WITHIN LUSD, ALSO IN THE K 12 SYSTEM OF HOW TO BRING BACK SOME OF THE, THAT TRAINING INTO THE SCHOOLS.
AND SO THAT COULD BE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AS WELL.
AND THAT'S REALLY GREAT TO HEAR AND GLAD TO CATCH UP AFTERWARDS.
WELL, LAUREN, YOU ASKED BOTH OF MY QUESTIONS AND I'M HAPPY YOU DID THAT
BUT LET ME JUST TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, A LONG TIME AGO, THE DYNAMIC DUO USED TO BE BATMAN AND ROBIN, BUT I FOUND THE NEW DYNAMIC DUO.
I TOO HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A WELL ORGANIZED PRESENTATION.
FLAWLESS, FLAWLESS, BACK AND FORTH.
UM, QUESTION ABOUT THE FAMOUS NORMANDY AVENUE.
I KNOW THAT NORMANDY AVENUE, BECAUSE WHEN I GO TO ST.
SOPHIA'S CHURCH, THERE'S A RESTAURANT THERE.
YOU HAVE TO BE REAL FAST TO GET IN THAT PARKING LOT BECAUSE THE CARS GO LIKE CRAZY.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO IMPROVE NORMANDY AVENUE? WHAT IMPROVEMENTS ARE BEING MADE? DO YOU KNOW OF ANY THAT
THANK YOU SO MUCH THAT, THAT MEANT A LOT INITIALLY, THE DYNAMIC.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE THAT YOU ARE THE DYNAMIC DUO.
UM, SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, WE ACTUALLY, THROUGHOUT OUR PLAN, WE ADVOCATED FOR A LOT OF THINGS, MOST PROMINENTLY INFRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES.
[01:30:01]
A LOT OF ADDED SIGNS.FOR EXAMPLE, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE SEEN ANY SO FAR, BUT THE CITY HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTING, UM, STREET SIGNS THAT SAY FOR EXAMPLE, WATCH YOUR SPEED AS IT AFFECTS STREET SAFETY.
I THINK SPEED BUMPS DEFINITELY ROUNDABOUTS, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THEY EMPHASIZED.
JUST MORE THINGS TO KIND OF MITIGATE, UM, SPEEDING AND OTHER ISSUES LIKE THAT IN OUR COMMUNITY.
WE ALSO DEFINITELY EMPHASIZED MORE SIGNS.
THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE WERE REALLY ADAMANT ABOUT THAT SIGNS, FOR EXAMPLE, MORE VISIBLE SIGNS BECAUSE THERE ARE SIGNS, BUT A LOT OF THEM ARE NOT WELL MAINTAINED.
TREES ARE NOT WELL MAINTAINED.
THEY CAN OFTEN BE, UM, KIND OF BLOCKED OR CROWDED.
SO WE DEFINITELY EMPHASIZE THAT WE NEED BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE ACTUALLY WENT TO SANTA MONICA AND WE COMPARED TO THOSE STREETS, COMPARED TO OUR STREETS, AND THAT WAS DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT WE NOTICED THAT SANTA MONICA HAD A, SANTA MONICA HAD A LOT MORE SIGNS, A LOT BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE, WELL MAINTAINED INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO DEFINITELY THAT IS ONE THING THAT WE WOULD EMPHASIZE.
YEAH, AND TO KIND OF ADD ONTO THAT, WE REALLY WANNA EMPHASIZE THAT A LOT OF THESE ACCIDENTS ARE IN
AND LIKE ISABELLA SAID, WE JUST NEED THE PROPER SIGNAGE, THE PROPER CROSSWALKS, BIKE LANES, ESPECIALLY THAT ACCIDENT THAT WE WITNESSED.
IT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTABLE IF THERE WAS A CROSSWALK, IF THERE WAS A BITE LANE, IF THERE WAS A SIGN.
AND TO KIND OF ADD ONTO THAT, I ALSO WANNA MENTION THAT NORMANDY BEAUTIFUL, IT'S A PROJECT THAT HAS BEEN UP FOR PROBABLY A COUPLE OF YEARS, BUT IT HADN'T HAD, HADN'T SEEN ANY IMPROVEMENT AT ALL BECAUSE THERE WAS NO PROJECT MANAGER.
SO THAT'S WHEN WE STEPPED IN AND WE HAD TO ADVOCATE FOR OUR PROJECT MANAGER TO GET THIS PROJECT MOVING BECAUSE IT'S SUCH A DIRE ISSUE AND IT'S EXTREMELY OVERLOOKED.
SO THAT'S WHERE WE STEPPED IN AND WE KIND OF, KIND OF EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING THESE SAFETY PRECAUTIONS IMPLEMENTED WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY BECAUSE LIKE I SAID BEFORE, MANY OF THE STUDENTS WALK THESE STREETS EVERY SINGLE DAY AND NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO BE IN FEAR FOR THEIR LIFE WHEN THEY'RE JUST TRYING TO WALK ACROSS THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE A LOT IN THE VALLEY ARE THEY CALLED THE POSTS THAT ARE IN THE STREET.
THEY'RE CONCRETE COVERED BY A REFLECTIVE MATERIAL, BALLARDS OR BOLLARDS, BOLLARDS, BOLLARDS.
THEY KIND OF SCARE ME OF THOSE BALLARDS BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE REAL CAREFUL WHEN YOU'RE MAKING A TURN THAT YOU DON'T HIT ONE OF THOSE BOLLARDS, EVEN IF YOU'RE GOING SLOW.
BUT THEY'RE VERY GOOD FOR PROTECTING PEOPLE WHO ARE CROSSING THE STREET.
SO YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER THE BOLLARDS.
I, THEY'RE, I BELIEVE THEY'RE CEMENT OR METAL AND THEY'RE COVERED BY REFLECTIVE MATERIAL.
AND YOU CAN PROTECT YOURSELF BY GETTING HIT BY A CAR THAT WAY.
YOU'LL SEE 'EM, YOU'LL SEE THEM.
YEAH, WE'LL DEFINITELY LOOK INTO THAT.
YEAH, WE'LL DEFINITELY TELL THE PROJECT MANAGER ABOUT THAT.
UM, AS YOU MENTIONED, MANY OF YOU, OF THE STUDENTS, YOUR PEERS, SERVICE FIRST RESPONDERS TO COMMUNITY NEEDS DURING EXTREME HEAT, UM, AND THE WILDFIRE EVENTS.
HOW CAN A DISTRICT PARTNER WITH COMMUNITY HUBS LIKE YOURS? AND I KNOW YOU WANNA EXPAND, UM, MORE OF YOUR HUBS TO ENSURE THAT STUDENTS AND FAMILIES HAVE DESIGNATED SAFE SPACES DURING CLIMATE EMERGENCIES? THAT REALLY IS AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.
WE WERE ACTUALLY AT UCLA, UH, ANOTHER HANDFUL OF OUR YOUTH WERE ABLE TO GO AND, UH, BE PART OF, UH, CONVENING FOR PRINCIPALS.
I'M NOT SURE IF YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH THAT.
UH, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID SUGGEST WAS THAT IF THERE WAS A BETTER AND EVEN MORE STRONGER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE L-A-U-S-D SCHOOLS AND THE LOCAL, UH, CBOS, IT, IT WOULD HELP NOT ONLY US BUT THE FAMILIES BECAUSE ALTHOUGH WE DO HAVE ACCESS TO THE TEACHERS WHO WE TRULY, TRULY APPRECIATE, AND I WAS JUST ON THE PHONE WITH ONE OF THE TEACHERS RIGHT BEFORE I STEPPED IN.
I MEAN, REALLY, I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT, UH, FHE AND THE, THE, THE STAFF THERE.
AND SO WHAT WE DID MENTION TO THE PRINCIPALS WAS THAT A LOT OF TIMES EVERYONE'S SO BUSY WITH THE REGULAR DAILY ROUTINES OF JUST BEING A, A PRINCIPAL, A TEACHER, EVEN A PARENT.
BUT IT'S IN THOSE MOMENTS WHEN THE KIDS COME AFTER SCHOOL AND THAT'S WHEN THEY START FEELING LIKE THEY'RE AT HOME, FEELING LIKE THEIR MOM COULD TALK TO ME, HAVE A CUP OF COFFEE WITH ME, WHATEVER IT MAY BE.
THOSE ARE THE REAL TRUE MOMENTS THAT WE HAVE MORE OF A PARTNERSHIP, MORE PARENT ENGAGEMENT.
AND IT REALLY IS DURING THOSE MOMENTS WHERE PEOPLE WILL OPEN UP AND SAY, HEY, I'M HAVING A HARD TIME.
WE, WE, I THINK THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING SO ACCESSIBLE, DR. RIVAS, WE HAD THE FIRST WEEKS DURING THE RAIDS, WE HAD A FAMILY JUST FLEE INTO THE HOUSE, RUN IN, LITERALLY RUN INTO THE HOUSE.
AND WE JUST SAID, DON'T WORRY, THIS IS YOUR HOME.
WE CLOSE THE HOUSE FOR THE YOUTH PROBABLY ABOUT A WEEK, BUT AGAIN, WE'LL MEET AT OUR
[01:35:01]
HOUSE IN THE BACK UNIT, WHATEVER IT MAY BE.BUT IT REALLY IS IMPORTANT FOR THE KIDS TO KNOW THAT THEY HAVE A SAFE SPACE BECAUSE ONCE THE KIDS KNOW THAT THEY HAVE A SAFE SPACE, THEN THEY START BRINGING THE MOM AND THE DAD AND THE THEOS AND THE GRANDMAS.
AND THAT'S WHEN THEY ARE ABLE TO OPEN UP AND SAY LIKE, HEY, I'M HAVING A HARD TIME.
THERE'S SO MANY OF OUR FAMILIES THAT WE HAD NO IDEA, UM, THAT WERE UNDOCUMENTED.
TO OUR SURPRISE, WE THERE WAS, WE HAD NO IDEA.
AND IT JUST, IT'S SO SHOCKING TO ME THAT WE SEE THESE PEOPLE EVERY DAY AND WE HAVE NO IDEA THAT THEY'RE HURTING, THAT THEY'RE GOING WITHOUT FOOD.
AND SO AGAIN, IF WE WERE ABLE TO, TO, UM, BUILD STRONGER BONDS WITH THESE CBOS THAT ARE REALLY TRULY INVESTING IN OUR COMMUNITY, I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY POWERFUL.
A LOT OF THE TIMES, UM, THESE KIDS THAT I, I AM GONNA BRAG A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THEM, NOT ONLY ARE THEY PAINTING SIGNS, NOT ONLY ARE THEY LEADING THE GROUP MEETING WITH RANDALL WINSTON, THE MAYOR, THEY'RE TAKING FIVE AP CLASSES.
SO LAST NIGHT WE WERE AT THE HOUSE TALKING AGAIN.
WE HAD SOMEONE ELSE FROM A QMD OR WHOEVER COME IN AND CHECK OUT WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
EVERYONE'S LIKE, WE WANNA BE IN AND SEE WHAT'S GOING ON.
AND THEY ALL JUST SAT THERE AND THEY STARTED OPENING UP AND THEY WERE JUST LIKE, IT'S TOUGH.
SCHOOL IS TOUGH, CLASS IS TOUGH.
AND THEN THEY JUST GIVE THEMSELVES THAT SPACE.
SO THEN THE PARENTS COME IN AND SAY LIKE, HEY, THANKS FOR TALKING TO MY DAUGHTER.
THANKS FOR CREATING THAT SPACE.
AND SO IT REALLY IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE THOSE SPACES OUTSIDE OF CAMPUS, OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL, BECAUSE WHEN THEY DO GET OUT OF SCHOOL, THEY'RE GOING SOMEWHERE AFTER SCHOOL.
THE MAJORITY OF OUR YOUTH GO TO AN AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM.
AND IT REALLY IS A PRIVILEGE TO HAVE THAT HOUSE OPEN, NOT ONLY TO OUR YOUTH, BUT TO THE FAMILIES AND OUR NEIGHBORS.
SO I THINK THAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL AND HAVING THAT SPACE, IT, IT JUST CREATES SO MUCH COMMUNITY FOR US.
SO DID I SAY ANYTHING
AND IN TERMS OF, UH, WANTING TO EXPAND MORE OF THESE, UH, SAFE HOUSES HUBS, WHAT IS YOUR PLAN THERE? HOW, HOW IS IT THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU PLAN ON DOING THAT? SO WE CAN HAVE THE SCHOOLS MORE SCHOOLS CAN HAVE PARTNERSHIPS WITH, UM, I MEAN, AGAIN, A LOT OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, A LOT OF PARENT ENGAGEMENT, A LOT OF, UH, RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE SCHOOLS, WITH THE STAFF, WITH THE, THE PRINCIPALS ESPECIALLY.
UH, IT'S GOOD TO KNOW THAT WE'RE GOING TO, IN WHATEVER SITUATION THAT WE ARE ENCOUNTERING, WHATEVER INITIATIVE WE'RE WORKING ON, THAT WE HAVE THE SUPPORT OF OUR LOCAL SCHOOL.
I MEAN, IN A TIME WHERE A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO GET OUR KIDS TO GO TO CHARTER SCHOOL FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER.
AND IT JUST REALLY MAKES US SO PROUD TO KNOW THAT EVERYTHING THAT OUR STUDENTS NEED IS, LIKE THE GIRL SAID, THEY'RE IN ROBOTICS, THEY'RE IN ALL KINDS OF AMAZING PROGRAMS AND WE'RE JUST THERE TO SUPPORT THEM.
UM, AND THOSE LITTLE AREAS WHERE THEY NEED A LITTLE BIT OF SUPPORT.
ALL OF THIS, I AM PROUD TO SAY, IS L-A-U-S-D.
THESE GIRLS HAVE BEEN PART OF LASD FROM KINDER TILL NOW.
AND NO MATTER HOW MANY PEOPLE TRY TO RECRUIT THEM 'CAUSE THEY HAVE TO CHARTER SCHOOLS OR OTHER SCHOOLS, THEY'RE JUST LIKE, NOPE, F IS F IS THE BEST.
WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN.
THIS HAS BEEN, UM, JUST WONDERFUL TO LEARN ABOUT THE WORK THAT Y'ALL, YOU KNOW, REALLY INVESTED IN.
AND TO KNOW THAT THE SOUTH LA HAS RIGHT THERE, GRASSROOT LEADERS READY TO TAKE ON, UH, FROM SAFETY TO CLEAN AIR, TO CLIMATE RESILIENCE, AND ALSO TO HAVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GREAT CAREERS, GREEN CAREERS.
AND THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL THAT YOU DO.
SO FOR THE DYNAMIC DUO
I'VE SEEN WOMEN ELECTRICIANS, I'M SURE YOU HAVE TOO, WOMEN PLUMBERS, WOMEN CARPENTERS, AND IT IS ISRAELI.
HOW MANY, WHEN YOU SAY THE KIDS COME OVER TO THE HOUSE TO HANG OUT AND TALK AND STUFF, WHAT PERCENTAGE ARE BOYS OR WHAT PERCENTAGE ARE GIRLS, DO YOU THINK? TRUTHFULLY, I WOULD SAY TRUTHFULLY, THE MAJORITY WHO WORKS ON THIS TYPE OF ADVOCACY CAMPAIGNS IS PRIMARILY WOMEN.
THAT'S WHY WE HAVE A CRISIS WITH OUR YOUNG MEN, ESPECIALLY OUR BLACK AND BROWN WOMEN.
GOOD FOR, I WAS KIND OF AFRAID THAT MAYBE IT WAS ALL BOYS AND JUST A FEW.
AND LASTLY, IF, IF ANYONE KNOWS OF ANY FUNDING THAT YOU COULD DIRECT US TO, WE WOULD LOVE ANY OF THAT INFORMATION.
[01:40:01]
THANK YOU SO MUCH.DEFINITELY MAKE SURE THAT WE, UM, HAVE THAT AND THEN YOU HAVE WONDERFUL, UM, ORGANIZATIONS HERE THAT ALSO CAN, YOU CAN CONNECT WITH LANE AND, UM, SCOPE AND OUR, UM, SORRY, OUR, UH, GREEN SCHOOL YARDS.
THANK YOU FOR ALSO EMPHASIZING THAT WHEN OUR SCHOOLS AND OUR COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS HAVE TRUE PARTNERSHIP, THEN WE CAN SERVE THE, THE NEEDS OF NOT ONLY OUR YOUTH, BUT ALL OF OUR, OUR FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY.
LAST REQUEST, CAN I GET A PICTURE OF YOU ALL AND THE DYNAMIC DO HERE? YES.
WE'LL DO THAT AFTER A PUBLIC COMMENT.
YEAH, WE'LL HAVE ONE PUBLIC COMMENT AND SO DON'T GO AWAY.
WE'LL DEFINITELY TAKE A PICTURE.
UM, WELL WITH THAT WONDERFUL PRESENTATION, UM,
[Public Comment]
WE WILL NOW MOVE TO OUR, UH, PUBLIC COMMENT SECTION.SO, UM, WE OPEN THE FLOOR FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
I KNOW WE HAVE AT LEAST ONE OR TWO, UM, UH, FOLKS THAT HAVE SIGNED UP.
SO MS. WILSON, WE HAVE TWO SPEAKERS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
THE FIRST SPEAKER IS MARIA DAISY ORTIZ.
I DO NOT SEE YOU SIGNED IN ONLINE.
ARE YOU HERE IN PERSON? TAMAR? FINE.
KIND PRESS STAR SIX TO UNMUTE YOURSELF.
YOU'LL HAVE TWO MINUTES TO SPEAK.
CAN YOU PLUS STAR SIX TO UNMUTE YOURSELF.
HI THERE, THANKS FOR TAKING MY CALL.
I'M WITH QUEEN AND PLACE ELEMENTARY PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION, AND I'M THRILLED TO HEAR ALL OF THESE INITIATIVES THAT EVERYBODY'S WORKING ON FOR CLIMATE AND, AND JUSTICE AND ALL OF THAT.
MY QUESTION IS, UM, REGARDING ALL OF THESE INITIATIVES, THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THEM, I, I FEEL LIKE THERE MIGHT BE SOME LAG TIME IN THAT, FOR EXAMPLE, WE JUST WANNA GET SOME, SOME SHADE ON OUR PLAYGROUND.
WE HAVE TWO SHADE, UH, TWO PLAYGROUNDS, AND WE WOULD LIKE TWO SHADE STRUCTURES AND WE WERE TOLD EACH STRUCTURE WILL COST $200,000.
UM, AND TO COMBAT THIS EXACT ISSUE, I KNOW THAT PEOPLE LIKE NICK MELVOIN AND OTHER BOARD MEMBERS PUT FORTH SB 515, WHICH WAS SIGNED BY GAVIN NEWSOM IN 2023, UM, SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE, THE BUDGET CONSTRAINTS FOR THESE SHADE STRUCTURES.
AND SO I JUST WANTED TO KNOW IF THERE'S A TIMELINE, WHAT WE CAN DO TO MAKE THIS MORE AFFORDABLE FOR SCHOOLS LIKE MYSELF WHERE WE DON'T HAVE $200,000 IN OUR BUDGET ANYWHERE, UM, OR LET ALONE $400,000 FOR OUR TWO, UH, UH, PLAYGROUNDS.
THAT CONCLUDES PUBLIC COMMENT.
WELL, UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE TODAY, UH, FOR OUR THE LAST OF THE 20, THE LAST COMMITTEE MEETING FOR 2025.
UM, I WANNA UPLIFT, UM, A THOROUGH LINE OF TODAY'S MEETING.
THE ECOS SUSTAINABILITY UPDATES REMIND US THAT SYSTEMS LEVEL CHANGES UNDERWAY, WELL UNDERWAY FROM WATER TO WASTE, FROM EXTREME HEAT RESPONSE TO CLIMATE LITERACY.
AND OUR GREENHOUSE, UH, SOUTH LA YOUTH LEADERS SHOW US THAT CHANGE LOOKS LIKE WHAT CHANGE LOOKS LIKE ON THE GROUND IN REAL COMMUNITIES WHERE RESILIENCE IS BUILT BY THE PEOPLE, BY THE YOUTH WHO HAVE BEEN CARRYING THESE BURDENS FOR GENERATIONS.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS TO CONTINUE BRINGING THOSE TWO WORLDS TOGETHER, ALIGNING DISTRICT RESOURCES WITH COMMUNITY WISDOM, BECAUSE BEST SOLUTIONS COME FROM THE BOTTOM UP AND ENSURING THAT EVERY INVESTMENT REFLECTS OUR VALUES, EQUITY, AND SUSTAINABILITY.
AND THANK YOU ALL FOR THE PARTNERSHIP FOR OUR COMMUNITY COMMITTEE MEMBERS HERE TODAY AND FOR DISTRICT STAFF AND MY FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS.
ONE THAT IS MISSING IS UNFORTUNATELY MS. HE NEW BILL, BUT SHE'S AT A CONFERENCE.
UM, BUT I WANNA THANK EVERYONE HERE FOR BEING PRESENT AND JAY
UM, BECAUSE THIS WORK, UM, IS SOMETHING THAT WE ALL HAVE TO COME TOGETHER AND DO, AND I THINK I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT THIS COMMITTEE IS DOING JUST THAT.
SO I APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR PRESENCE, YOUR INPUT, YOUR FEEDBACK, AND YOUR QUESTIONS.
AND, UH, WE WILL MOVE FORWARD IN 2026 WITH CLEAR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES AND MOVING THIS DISTRICT FORWARD, BUT ABOVE ALL TO MEETING THE CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE THAT OUR COMMUNITIES HERE IN LA DESERVES.
SO THANK YOU ALL AND HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY.