ED-GRS District Nominating Authority Application Thank you for your interest in completing the Massachusetts application for nomination to U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools (ED-GRS). In order to complete this application, you will need to collect data about your school's facility, health and safety policies; food service; and environmental and sustainability curriculum. ED-GRS recognizes schools taking a comprehensive approach to greening their school. A comprehensive approach incorporates environmental learning with improving environmental and health impacts. Becoming a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School is a two-step process. The first step is to complete and submit this form to be selected as a nominee by Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE). The second step of the process requires signatures for the nominee package that will be sent to the U.S. Department of Education (ED). ED selects honorees from those presented by states and other eligible nominating authorities nationwide. Selection will be based on documentation of the applicant's high achievement in the three ED-GRS Pillars: Pillar I: Reduce environmental impact and costs. Pillar II: Improve the health and wellness of students and staff. Pillar III: Provide effective environmental and sustainability education, incorporating STEM, civic skills and green career pathways. Schools demonstrating exemplary achievement in all three Pillars will receive highest rankings. It is important to document concrete achievement. It will help you to assemble a team to complete the application. This team might include: a facilities manager, physical education director, food services director, curriculum director, finance department representatives, teachers and students. You should consult the ESE Green Ribbon Schools page for Massachusetts specific resources and the ED-GRS resources page for standards, programs and grants related to each Pillar, Element and question. This is an excellent clearinghouse of resources for all schools, not just those who apply. ESE encourages schools to reach out to the contacts provided if you are not able to provide documentation in certain areas. They are willing to assist you in compiling and accessing this information. The questions in this application will help you demonstrate your high achievement in these Pillars as well as provide space for you to include pertinent documentation. Applicants should be as comprehensive as possible. If the application does not touch upon a program or initiative that your school is participating in, please include further information. Please be advised applications must be under 20 pages. Massachusetts provided an appendix section for schools to submit additional documentation for the state level review (maximum of 5 pages). Applications are due to ESE by Monday, January 4, 2016. Applications may be sent electronically to Lauren Greene at lgreene@doe.mass.edu (781-338-3107) Note that if selected for nomination to ED-GRS, the district superintendent must be prepared to certify that each of the statements below concerning both the individual schools and overall district s eligibility and compliance with the following requirements is true.
1. The district has some configuration of multiple schools that include one or more of grades K-12. 2. The district has been evaluated and selected from among districts within the Nominating Authority s jurisdiction as highest achieving in the three ED-GRS Pillars: 1) reduced environmental impact and costs; 2) improved health and wellness; and 3) effective environmental and sustainability education. 3. Schools within the nominated public school district are not refusing the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) access to information necessary to investigate a civil rights complaint or to conduct a district-wide compliance review. 4. OCR has not issued a violation letter of findings to the public school district concluding that any public schools within the nominated district have violated one or more of the civil rights statutes. A violation letter of findings will not be considered outstanding if OCR has accepted a corrective action plan to remedy the violation. 5. The U.S. Department of Justice does not have a pending suit alleging that schools within the public school district or the district as a whole have violated one or more of the civil rights statutes or the Constitution s equal protection clause. 6. There are no findings of violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in a U.S. Department of Education monitoring report that apply to the schools within the district or the overall public school district in question; or, if there are such findings, the state or public school district has corrected, or agreed to correct, the findings. 7. All schools in the district meet all applicable federal, state, local and tribal health, environmental and safety requirements in law, regulations and policy and are willing to undergo EPA on-site verification. District Contact Information District Name: Street Address: City: State: Zip: Website (if applicable): Facebook page (if applicable): Superintendent Name: Superintendent Email Address: Phone Number: Lead Applicant Name (if different): Lead Applicant Email: Phone Number: 2 P age
Number of Schools at each level and enrollment Elementary (PK - 5 ) enrollment- K-8 Middle (6-8 ) High (9-12) enrollment- enrollment- enrollment- Does your district serve 40% or more students from disadvantaged households? ( ) Yes ( ) No How would you describe your district? ( ) Urban ( ) Suburban ( ) Rural % receiving FRPL % limited English proficient Other measures District Name ( ) Largest 50 Districts in the country Total Enrolled: MA Accountability Level Graduation rate: Attendance rate: Application Outline: ED-GRS Pillars and Elements Pillar I: Reduce environmental impact and costs Pillar II: Improve the health and wellness of students and staff Pillar III: Provide effective environmental and sustainability education, incorporating STEM, civic skills and green career pathways Total Points 30 points 30 points 40 points 100 points 1. Are any of your schools or the district participating in a local, state or national school program, such as EPA Energy Star, MA-CHPS, EcoSchools, or others, which asks you to benchmark progress in some fashion in any or all of the Pillars? ( ) Yes ( ) No Program(s) and level(s) achieved: Schools (if applicable): Does your school participate in any Massachusetts environmental, health, or STEM programs/partnerships? 2. Has your district, schools, staff or student body received any awards for facilities, health or environment? ( ) Yes ( ) No-- Award(s), year(s) and, schools (if applicable): 3 P age
3. Has your district constructed or renovated building(s) in the past ten years? ( ) Yes ( ) No ( ) Number of schools Building Specifications Building 1: Building Constructed (year): Area: Renovations: Year Meets green building standard: Year certified: Total area certified: Green/Efficiency Features (heating, windows, insulation, etc.): % of building renovated: Building 2: Building Constructed (year): Area: Renovations: Year Meets green building standard: Year certified: Total area certified: Green/Efficiency Features (heating, windows, insulation, etc.): % of building renovated: Note: If needed, please add more rows to the table. Pillar I: Reduced Environmental Impact and Costs Provide a summary describing how your district is reducing environmental impact and costs associated with energy use including: - Reduced greenhouse gas emissions, using an energy audit or emissions inventory and reduction plan, cost-effective energy efficiency improvements and on-site renewable energy and/or purchase of green power; - Improved water quality, efficiency, and conservation; - Expanded use of regionally appropriate/water-efficient landscaping and the alternate water sources used for irrigation; - Reduced solid waste production, through increased recycling, reduced consumption, and improved management, reduction, or elimination of hazardous waste streams; - Expanded use of alternative transportation to, during, and from school, through active promotion of locally-available options and implementation of enabling projects and policies. - Calculations and inclusion of data from energy portfolio or tracking system is encouraged. 4 P age
1. What number of the district s schools use energy obtained from: School 1: On-site renewable energy generation: Type: Purchased renewable energy: Type Participation in federal or state school energy program: Use of an energy portfolio to track energy consumption and reduction: School 2: On-site renewable energy generation: Type: Purchased renewable energy: Type Participation in federal or state school energy program: Use of an energy portfolio to track energy consumption and reduction: Pillar 2: Improve the health and wellness of students and staff Provide a summary describing how your district is improving the health and wellness of students and staff with a focus on the areas of: - Pesticide use, hazardous contaminants, chemical management, asthma management, building moisture control, airborne contaminants, ventilation systems, indoor environmental quality 5 P age - Is there a district plan or guidelines to measure hazardous waste generated? How is hazardous waste disposal tracked? - Is there a district practice for inspecting and maintaining building ventilation? Describe actions taken to ensure consistency with state or local codes, or national ventilation standards. - Describe actions your school takes to: manages and controls student and staff exposure to chemicals (including pesticides) routinely used in the school - Nutrition, physical activity, and outdoor education - This may include participation in a Farm to-school program, an on-site food garden, cooking class, gardening club, stress reduction, anti-bullying, or any other unique partnerships. - Has the district implemented guidelines for minutes per week of physical education, percentage of physical education spent outdoors, and health measures integrated into assessments?
Pillar 3: Effective Environmental and Sustainability Education Provide a summary describing how your district ensures effective environmental and sustainability education including: - Integration of environmental and sustainability concepts throughout the curriculum and assessments; - Interdisciplinary learning about the key relationships between dynamic environmental, energy and human systems - Engagement projects integrating environment and sustainability topics; - An environmental or sustainability literacy requirement; - Use of the environment and sustainability to develop STEM content knowledge and thinking skills to prepare graduates for the 21st century technology-driven economy; - Development of civic engagement knowledge and skills, and students' application of these to address sustainability and environmental issues in their community; - AP Science, Environmental Science course offerings, enrollment, and exam results; - Use of sustainability and the environment as a context for learning green technologies and career pathways? - Teacher professional development in environmental and sustainability education. 6 P age