Solar panels in San Marin’s staff parking reflect the increase
in climate-friendly power by NUSD.
On Apr. 2, 2024, two Novato Unified School District (NUSD) students presented their Electrification Resolution to the Board of Trustees, who unanimously passed and adopted the proposal. This resolution states that NUSD schools will be switching from gas-powered items to electric in hopes of combating the struggle of climate change.
San Marin senior Noela De Frenza and Novato High junior Dhanya Subramanian helped pass the Electrification resolution with the help of 350 Marin and Sustainable Marin Schools.
“It’s about switching to electric school buses, landscaping equipment, appliances like ovens, air conditioning, and generators,” De Frenza said.
During an internship with 350 Marin, Subramanian was asked to work on the issue surrounding gas-powered items in schools with the help of 350 Marin committee members Julia Janeway and Al Grumet, Sustainable Marin Schools founder Lisa Clarke, Superintendent Tracy Smith, and their sponsor Joshua Braff, the Chief Financial Officer of NUSD. Subramanian then brought the idea to De Frenza. De Frenza had a fellowship with the California Climate Youth Policy and was tasked with creating a climate policy that she wanted to get passed in the district.
“We wanted to go to the board so we could make sure that it is implemented in all the schools,” De Frenza said.
Subramanian and De Frenza discussed ideas with Braff to ensure that the resolution would be passed.
“I sponsored the resolution, so Dhanya and Noela put in all the hard work, they wrote the thing, then they worked with some of our board members to really hammer out some of the language,” Braff said. “Then they brought it to me as sort of the last set of eyes, to say; can our district actually implement this.”
Switching to electric-powered items can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the use of fossil fuels. According to the NUSD board resolution number 19-2023/2024, Commitment to Electrifying Transportation, Building, and Landscape Maintenance Equipment, “implementing more battery-powered and electric landscape equipment can be operated at a lower cost, and can lead to better air quality and respiratory health.”
The district has been tackling climate change with the schools throughout the years through grant programs such as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, as well as uploading new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems in the high schools. De Frenza hopes the new electrification resolution will continue to grow.
“We’re hoping that it can start next year, and kind of gradually build up,” De Frenza said.
A plan is in the works to move the Electrification Resolution past the NUSD schools to other districts in the Marin County area.
“We’re not doing this just in Novato…,” Janeway said. “We have different adults leading each team, because I live in Novato, I was the main mentor for Dhanya leading this, Al lives in Southern Marin so he was handling the Tam Union School District, and then we had another one in San Rafael. It’s in multiple districts.”
Overall, the goal of the resolution was to positively impact both NUSD and climate change, which Subramanian hopes it will do.
“It (electrical equipment) would cut costs, there are multiple health benefits, and they would make our school more climate-friendly—truly making an impact on the global issue,” Subramanian said.
