School district finally gives into students' months-long demand: 'Seeing that our voices matter'

Palo Alto High School student Avroh Shah and friends have scored a win for sustainability, according to Palo Alto Online.

Shah, a member of the Palo Alto Student Climate Coalition, was a leading voice lobbying the Palo Alto Unified School District board to hire a sustainability program manager. It's a move the advocates said would restore the district's planet-friendly mindset to pre-pandemic levels. 

The position was cut in a move Shah told the publication was "disappointing." 

"This [job] listing is a significant step in the right direction for the district, but it is also only a first step," Shah wrote in a statement to PAO. Bringing back the position is a positive step "after many years of unnecessary delay." 

The board hasn't officially approved the hiring. During the most recently covered meeting, they tabled the vote until the next session to better review the opening's details. It's encouraging that key requirements, including education and other qualifications, are agreed upon. It's also set to be a 12-month position, per PAO. 

The job wasn't listed on the school's website as of Oct. 6, though the board doesn't meet again until Oct. 14. On its website, the district has a stated goal to "embed sustainability across instruction and operations." The sustainability program manager would seemingly fit into the game plan well. Palo Alto has 10,200 students, according to its website. 

School board vice president Shounak Dharap indicated that the delay isn't a cause for concern. 

"At the [sustainability] committee, we discussed bringing this particular job description back to the committee to look at one more time before it gets to the board for approval," he said in PAO's report. 

Renewing the position comes after months of lobbying the board, which is in the midst of budget planning and other educational matters.

"We began meeting as early as September last year so it's really been a year in the works," junior Anika Deshpande, who is a part of her school's environment and medicine club, told PAO.  

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Advocates elsewhere are making their voices heard in the effort for cleaner learning spaces, too. In Chicago, parents and students last year argued for asbestos-free classrooms with better ventilation. Students in Boulder, Colorado, have also had success lobbying for sustainable initiatives. 

It's work that has implications in the classroom, as a report from the Environmental Protection Agency linked Earth's overheating to lower academic performance and other health risks. 

It's also good for community members to stay informed on their school's follow-through on sustainability promises and to spot so-called greenwashing when it happens. That's when businesses or organizations make lofty planet-friendly goals, but never come close to meeting them. 

Solutions include weatherization upgrades and LEDs that can cut air pollution and save money — both at school and at home. You can also find sustainable causes to donate to, helping efforts that often aren't as well-funded as ones backed by dirty energy giants.

"I feel like seeing change and seeing that our voices matter when speaking at board meetings is so important in silencing that climate anxiety and showing us that we really can make a difference," Deshpande told PAO. "It's not a hopeless cause."

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