In the U.S., more than 9 million students school closures or canceled activities due to extreme weather during the 2024-25 school year. In western North Carolina, 76,000 students were affected by Tropical Storm Helene in 2024, with some missing up to 40 days of instruction due to flooding, power outages and damaged roads. That same year, Phoenix experienced of temperatures at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, disrupting school activities and creating a on learning.

Extreme and prolonged conditions like these have repercussions that build over time. Repeated closures and altered schedules make it harder for students to stay on track academically and create ongoing stress for both children and caregivers.

Such disturbances have led to learning loss, as reflected in , and the consequences often hit students already experiencing the hardest. As an on environmental injustice highlights, people of color are disproportionately more likely to live in flood-prone areas and attend under-resourced schools, with outdated HVAC systems that are vulnerable to extreme heat. These challenges, combined with unstable housing, poorer health care and limited access to reliable transportation, make it significantly harder for families and students to regain stability when daily routines are knocked off kilter.

As such disasters become more frequent, intense and unpredictable, schools and communities are going to have to grapple with these inevitable realities. Reducing carbon footprints and improving climate education are key strategies for adaptation.

For example, the Maryland Association of Boards of Education declared that in order to provide schools that are safe, functional and fair for all students, a plan should be put in place. The state also has an that brings together state and federal agencies, nonprofits and community-based youth groups to develop conservation鈥慺ocused recommendations, help teachers meet environmental literacy standards and aid districts in sustainability efforts.

New Jersey instituted and formed the to prepare public school teachers to integrate climate education across grade levels and content areas. In 2024, Colorado鈥檚 legislature approved a .

Other states, including California, Connecticut, Maine, Illinois, Oregon and Washington, have passed legislation promoting . Embedding eco-education across subjects and grade levels can prepare young people to embrace environmental stewardship. Project-based approaches like environmental monitoring, design challenges and student energy audits can deepen learning while improving campus conditions. In addition, taking deliberate steps to prepare learners for green or clean energy jobs and helping them feel confident in science and math can help ensure every student is adequately prepared for future economies.

These approaches align with KnowledgeWorks鈥� latest 10-year forecast, , which looks ahead at how schools and learning are likely to change over the next decade. The report asks policymakers and district leaders to start planning now for a future of education where learning increasingly happens outside physical classrooms and decisions and resources are managed with the understanding that worsening environmental conditions will continue to shape school operations and learning experiences.

Districts around the U.S. have been devising and establishing environmental sustainability offices, and some teachers unions have demanded that their districts establish or update them.

These plans outline commitments and connect resources and initiatives that can help insulate schools and districts from the ill effects of weather-related events. This might include installing solar panels and battery storage to keep schools open during power outages or ensuring that students have access to laptops and the internet for remote learning during closures. Training counselors and educators to address climate-related stress and the impacts of disruption and displacement on students can be another powerful tactic.

Longer term, as the forecast highlights, schools might consider flexible, year-round calendars that allow for quick adjustments during climate disruptions. Communities could partner with libraries, recreation centers and businesses to create learning hubs during emergencies in return for tax breaks or other incentives.

Alternatively, states might put in place climate readiness certifications that would require schools, especially new and renovated buildings, to meet resilience standards for infrastructure, energy systems and emergency protocols.

In the meantime, resources are available to help state and district leaders take concrete steps toward addressing the current and future impacts of climate change and related events.

Among them, a by Aspen Institute鈥檚 This Is Planet Ed helps schools and districts consider how to adapt to climate change, mitigate its impacts, educate young people about successful green economies and advance equity by prioritizing and involving communities that are most impacted.

In addition, UNESCO鈥檚 provides international guidelines for creating environmentally friendly learning environments that reduce waste, save energy and use sustainable materials.

Schools and districts play a central role in community stability and opportunity. Designing facilities, operations and instruction that can withstand extreme weather, adapt to changing environmental conditions and recover quickly when disasters strike will be critical. In doing this work, the people and neighborhoods that face the greatest challenges should be asked where the most acute problems show up and what support would make the biggest difference when daily life is interrupted.

With coordinated support from state and regional partners, districts can move from reactive responses to proactive systems: stronger buildings, adaptive calendars, clean energy infrastructure, climate-ready teaching and shared community resources.

Together, these steps can help schools meet immediate challenges while laying the groundwork for long-term sustainability. By acting now, education leaders can build a more resilient future of learning for every student.

Jeremiah-Anthony Righteous-Rogers, senior manager of strategic foresight at KnowledgeWorks and a former community organizer and program assistant in New Orleans and Washington, D.C., also contributed to this essay.

Schoolyards are hot and getting hotter, but only a tiny fraction of California鈥檚 grade school students can play in the shade.

Researchers and advocates are pushing the state to allocate money for , which can include trees, grass or gardens in place of the flat asphalt or rubber play surfaces at most schools. 

With the help of more than $121 million in state grants, 164 schools already are on their way to either designing or building green schoolyards. Many more applied for the school greening grants, with requests totaling more than $350 million for projects they hoped to build.

The high applicant numbers highlight growing demand for greenery at schools as the climate gets hotter. But with California鈥檚 Green Schoolyards program depleted and a state general of $56 billion over the next two fiscal years, where will the money for green school projects come from?

Some environmental groups are pushing for a proposed  that would include $350 million for the green schoolyards program. They also are pushing for a $1 billion carve-out in a proposed $14-$15 billion  that could go before voters this November.

鈥淚t is well known that our K-12 schoolyards, play structures and campuses are among the most dangerous climate liabilities currently facing the state 鈥� principally due to the deadly heat and flood potential our kids are being exposed to now,鈥� environment groups wrote in a letter to authors of two school infrastructure bond proposals, Assemblymember , a Democrat from Torrance, and state Sen. , a Democrat from Orinda.

Muratsuchi told CalMatters he is reluctant to dictate how schools should use bond money.

鈥淚鈥檓 aware of their request, but we have many other requests to consider,鈥� he said, such as funds for heating and air conditioning systems and solar energy on campuses. 鈥淏ut those priorities will be defined by local school districts.鈥�

Students need outdoor shade

On a typical 90-degree day under full sun, grass can reach 95 degrees, while asphalt can hit 150  and rubber surfaced play areas can reach 165 degrees, according to  for Innovation. 

Forget 90 degrees; other research predicts much of the country is on track for more than double the usual number of  by midcentury. Fresno already averages 33 days of 100+ degrees each year, Sacramento has 19 and Riverside has 14, federal . 

Unrelenting sun and high heat are bad for kids, the Luskin Center says: 鈥淧laying outside in the heat can lead to dehydration, headaches, heat stroke and other health impacts.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Shade from trees is one of the best ways to cool things down, the researchers said, because it can reduce heat exposure to children by as much as . 

But most of California鈥檚 schools lack tree canopy, and the trees that do exist on campuses are often around the perimeter, where students can鈥檛 access their shade during recess.

Green Schoolyards America, a nonprofit dedicated to building more green space on campuses, recently conducted a  shading the state鈥檚 more than 10,000 public schools. 

It found that an average of 6.4% of the school areas students access are covered by tree shade. More than 2.5 million students attend schools with less than 5% tree canopy in student areas.

That鈥檚 a far cry from what urban forestry and  They say there needs to be enough trees to cover . Driven by that goal, Green Schoolyards America is pushing for ways to plant trees to cover at least 30% of each school area used by children during the day. 

So far only 29,452 California students have that level of tree canopy, out of nearly 6 million students.

鈥淭his is a long-term infrastructure problem,鈥� said Sharon Gamson Danks, chief executive of Green Schoolyards America. 

 鈥淚t鈥檚 not building a little garden in the corner. It鈥檚 actual infrastructure, on par with highway building. It鈥檚 an investment, and we want children to not be overlooked in preparing for climate and protecting their health.鈥�

Most greening projects on school campuses include more trees, but they can also include mulch, grassy fields to replace asphalt, and wooden play and learning structures, said 艩谩rka Volejn铆kov谩, the  program director for Bay Area parks.

The difference green space makes

At the C茅sar E. Ch谩vez Education Center in Oakland, students 鈥� many from low income families 鈥� used to play on a yard that was 90% asphalt. The school is surrounded by freeways and industrial factories, and students suffer with high asthma rates, said Eleanor Marsh, the school鈥檚 former principal. 

鈥淚n lower income areas the schools have more concrete,鈥� Marsh said. 鈥淭hat is just the reality. And in higher income areas, kids have more natural play structures that have been fundraised for by PTA鈥檚. It becomes an equity issue around mental health and access to core academics.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

The school received a $1.2 million grant from the California Natural Resources Agency鈥檚 Urban Greening program and worked with the Trust for Public Land in 2020 to completely renovate the schoolyard, adding more greenery, trees and play structures that would be cooler and more academically enriching. 

Students were part of the process, taking the temperature of the asphalt and rubber playground and recommending alternatives.

Now students take outdoor gardening classes and play and run through their new 鈥渞iver鈥� made with bricks, which doubles as a stormwater runoff system on rainy days. 

There鈥檚 no lack of enthusiasm for greening projects among educators, said Marsh, now principal at San Pedro Elementary School in San Rafael. 

鈥淓very public school in California is up against huge  cuts,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is no money at the school site level to improve the physical space for students. So we are really relying on support from the state.鈥�

Where the money could come from 

The time to dedicate more funding to green schoolyards is now, said Manny Gonez, director of policy initiatives for the Beverly Hills environmental group 

The latest proposals for a climate bond, which would be paid off over many years, includes an ask for $150 million for an urban greening grant, which doesn鈥檛 exclusively fund school greening programs but has in the past. TreePeople also supports the request for $1 billion in the proposed school infrastructure bond.

Traditionally school bonds are for new school construction or renovation. School districts can apply for the state bond funds for projects and must provide local matching funds. There is money set aside for financially strapped districts that can鈥檛 provide as much of a local match. 

鈥淭his is a small down payment to really scale up the work that the state has been doing with these 164 schools,鈥� Gonez said, referring to schools that already have green schoolyard grants.

The Trust for Public Land wants money set aside for green schoolyard projects and for the most needy schools to get priority, said Juan Altamirano, the group鈥檚 director of government affairs.

Earmarking the funds in the proposed school bond would boost support for the measure overall, Altamirano said. California voters 鈥� even those without children 鈥� support more green schoolyards, an April survey of 800 voters by the Trust for Public Land showed.  

Some legislators were noncommittal when discussing the request. 

Muratsuchi said he has been an environmental champion in the Legislature and understands the need for more green school funding. But in this case, it鈥檚 not up to him to define that as a priority in the school infrastructure bond. 

鈥淯ltimately the priorities for school facilities funding should be driven by educators and not by the environmental lobby,鈥� he said.

Glazer denied Calmatters鈥� request for an interview, saying he is not directly involved in the decision making of this issue. 

California already has committed to increasing the tree canopy on schoolyards on paper, but how that will happen is unclear.

In the state鈥檚  published in April, officials said the state would prioritize greening schoolyards through its , 鈥渆nsuring greening schoolyards is not just a consideration but an integral expectation when local educational agencies undertake new school construction projects and modernization projects.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 office did not answer questions about plans to fund greening school projects. Alex Stack, a Newsom spokesperson, said 鈥淣o other governor has done as much as Gov. Newsom to .鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

Stacks said the green schoolyard grants already allocated are part of Newsom鈥檚 2022 , funded by $52.3 billion in the California Climate Commitment budget. 

Newsom , and other parts of the budget, by more than 7% in his May revised proposal.

This story was originally published at .

To solve these challenges, the state and the nation at large need a that is prepared to address the concerns of today, find solutions for tomorrow and transition the country to a more climate-conscious economy. Unfortunately, the rapidly growing clean-energy sector is bumping up against serious labor constraints, having difficulty filling jobs and ensuring that workers have the needed skills. In the next seven years, there are expected to be over  in the U.S. In 2022 alone, green job postings on LinkedIn jumped 20% 鈥� yet the pool of workers with the skills required to fill them grew by only 8.4%.

Regions like the Yampa Valley need help attracting and developing talent that can combat this worsening crisis. A leader in this initiative is Lyra, a nonprofit that seeks to reimagine education by designing and broadening climate-driven career pathways and empowering school communities to drive their own reforms. The organization does this through : innovation zones, mission accelerators and that is increasingly pertinent to solving some of the state鈥檚 most dire challenges. 

The Climatarium brings together education, industry and state and local policymakers to encourage collaboration to build climate-related education pathways and offer youth leadership and career opportunities in relevant fields. There are five in the state, including one in the Yampa Valley. The hubs have created regional partnerships among seven colleges, 20 rural K-12 school districts and more than 40 employers and community-based organizations. They are developing and sustaining a range of green job pathways, including in energy, agriculture and outdoor tourism.聽

These offerings have the potential to impact more than by creating college and career opportunities in highly in-demand fields. This, in turn, can boost the economic prosperity of rural areas of the state by creating strong talent pipelines that are attractive to industry. To expand these best practices and ensure their impact, there needs to be broader, statewide support, which is why it is so important that , the Seal of Climate Literacy Diploma Endorsement, recently passed through the House Committee on Education.

Students can earn the seal on their high school diplomas by, for example, taking Advanced Placement physical, life or earth sciences, or participating in a career education program geared toward alternative energy, like solar farms. The bill’s sponsor, Democratic state Sen. Chris Hanson, said the seal would help students get skills for jobs that are expected to grow by , including installing solar panels, electric chargers or heating and cooling systems. The seal would also prepare students for college by signaling their understanding of climate-related issues to admissions officers and could even result in college credit. 

The bill is also endorsed by Superintendent Kirk Henwood of the South Routt School District, which is located in the Yampa Valley. Henwood that, 鈥渉aving a seal of climate literacy furthers our efforts to ensure that our high school graduates have the verified skills and knowledge needed to enter the workforce and postsecondary education opportunities.鈥� He added, 鈥渦nderstanding the climate and environment is critical to sustain a rural way of life where land and water are literally the building blocks of our world.鈥�

While the bill is waiting for final passage, it shows that progress is being made to prepare Colorado鈥檚 workforce for the energy-related jobs of today and tomorrow. It’s a win for the state 鈥� and, said Lyra CEO and founder Mary Seawell, other states are interested in replicating both the Seal of Climate Literacy and place-based approaches to climate education.

Other state and federal leaders can and should commit to this work 鈥� supporting a 21^st century education system that is more responsive to labor market demands, the community and the . This includes expanding high-quality opportunities in career and technical education, youth apprenticeships, STEM programs and other pathways so young people are prepared for careers across the energy sector. This work is critical to transforming students’ lives, ensuring that communities stay economically vital and guaranteeing that places like the Yampa Valley never stop being breathtaking.

Disclosure: Walton Family Foundation and the City Fund provide financial support to the Progressive Policy Institute and 蜜桃影视.

Children in their early years are not only uniquely susceptible to the effects of climate change, but they are also the key to solving its challenge, he says.

Capita envisions a future in which children and their families can realize their full potential in a 鈥渏ust, peaceful, prosperous society on a healthier, cleaner and safer planet.鈥� In pursuit of that objective, Capita has released the first in a series of papers that will explore how young children, families and communities can flourish in this time of climate transition. Capita commissioned the paper, 鈥�,鈥� to support the Capita/Aspen  Early Years Climate Action Task Force members in thinking about the most promising approaches to accomplish that goal. The task force will publish its first U.S. Early Years Climate Action Plan later this year.

The paper鈥檚 key messages are:

• In the face of climate change, focusing on our youngest children and families is an important avenue for ensuring an equitable, sustainable future for all.
• Aligning early years and climate change policies, practices and financing protects those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and drives action on adaptation, mitigation and reducing loss and damage.
• The are the best framework for aligning action on climate change with action on the needs of young children.

Presently, children are barely in the picture in the global campaign to address climate disruption, though according to the World Health Organization (WHO), young children鈥檚 developing bodies and brains bear the brunt of impacts from the fossil fuel consumption that鈥檚 driving climate change.  According to the journal Pediatrics, 88% of the illnesses, injuries and deaths due to climate change occur to children, particularly those living in poor and under-served areas. Look at any devastation related to climate change, and it lands on small children and the most vulnerable communities first and hardest.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a life-altering statistic,鈥� Waters says. 鈥淥n the basis of that information alone, we have to completely reimagine our public health, health care and all the other systems of support for children in the face of climate change. How do we create environments, ecologies that enable flourishing, despite all the negative changes in our environment that are going to happen because of climate disruption?鈥�

The redeeming news is that supporting young children and their families is a powerful tool to address both the short-term threats and long-term challenges of climate disruption, Waters says. Meeting the needs of young children and their families today can create the foundation for resilient communities going forward. Doing so doesn鈥檛 require reinventing the wheel, though it may require reallocating some resources.

A Path to Action

Climate financing is essential to implementing the quantum leap for humanity needed to successfully navigate the cascading effects of climate disruption; it also is one arena in which the failure to take young children into account is most blatant. According to a paper on climate change by the Children鈥檚 Environmental Rights Initiative 鈥� comprising UNICEF, Save the Children and Plan International and funded by Capita 鈥� an showed that children are being dramatically neglected in climate funding commitments globally. Just 2.4% of climate finance from multilateral climate funds 鈥� a cumulative $1.2 billion 鈥� can be said to support projects incorporating child-responsive activities.

The change if such child awareness were embedded in climate financing mechanisms would be comprehensive 鈥� everything from strengthening our early care and education system to be more resilient in the face of climate impacts, to altering infrastructure to offer more shade.

鈥淚 want to be very clear that we are not asking the early care and education sector to solve climate change,鈥� Waters says. 鈥淐limate disruption demands that we take a different lens, a different frame, to all our work.

鈥淐limate change is not an issue as much as it is a context,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o, we must reimagine all our systems and infrastructure across society for this context 鈥� as we did with Covid, which showed us that it鈥檚 doable. At the end of the day, government is the largest mechanism by which we tackle massive issues in our society. I鈥檓 unapologetic about the idea that the place where you can drive the biggest change over the long haul to deal with massive societal problems is government. It鈥檚 where we do big things together.鈥�

Reimagining Everything

What that new context might look like is as varied as communities themselves.

鈥淭ake cities as an example,鈥� he says. 鈥淐ities are already making investments in resilience, to adapt to the effects of climate change today. Cities are setting up cooling centers to support people who don鈥檛 have air conditioning. Are those child-friendly? Are there places to play? Are there places for parents to nurse their babies?

鈥淭hat鈥檚 one low-cost adaptation a city can make. Shade equity is another. Do the areas where our lowest-income, most vulnerable children live have adequate shade? Generally, not. But they could have. And we can clearly propose that, yes, this is good for everyone 鈥� not just our youngest. Let鈥檚 focus our efforts 鈥� whether shade-equity or similar solutions 鈥� in those areas first. Let鈥檚 prioritize those things.鈥�

Promoting the well-being of children in the face of climate disruption would involve strengthening communities and relationships, as well as providing parents and other caregivers with the knowledge and resources to support their children in a climate-related event.

鈥淗ow do we strengthen our early care and education system to be more resilient in the face of climate impacts?鈥� Waters says. 鈥淭o withstand heat waves, to withstand bad air-quality days and so forth.

鈥淥ur pediatric health care system is generally not attuned to providing anticipatory guidance to parents when there is a forecast of an extreme heat wave. That鈥檚 the type of investment in an early-warning system that needs to be made so parents and other caregivers have the tools they need to protect the health of their children.

鈥淚f you take a child health and well-being lens to climate change, you鈥檒l see that A.) All the systems that support children and families have a great deal they could be doing now with appropriate investment to support healthy development, and B.) All the other institutions that exist and are focused on resilience and adaptation could be taking much more robust child-sensitive and child-responsive lens to their work.鈥�

This paper encourages the U.S. to take a leadership role in addressing climate change and making the lives of young children a priority in that effort. As the country with the largest historical and per capita greenhouse gas on earth, it is critical that the U.S. advocates for and supports efforts to mitigate climate disruption. The group urges the U.S. to make financial contributions appropriate to the scope of the challenge, as well as bring forth the nation鈥檚 best minds and best efforts to addressing the many issues involved.

鈥淭he United States needs to be leading the world with investment, with putting children and families the world over first,鈥� Waters says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e contributed to this problem but we鈥檙e also one of the most innovative, creative, forward-leaning countries in the world, particularly when it comes to new ideas and new technologies.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity for us to do what Americans do best and have done historically, from the New Deal to NASA. This is a moonshot opportunity for America.鈥�

RESOURCES

• (Children鈥檚 Environmental Rights Initiative)
• (Capita)