Sustainable Schools

The Goal:

To promote environmental sustainability in the Pittsford School District. We believe the best way to do this is for the district to establish a sustainability committee composed of students, administrators, members of the Board of Education, educators, and parents with expertise in theses issues. This sustainability board would identify, develop, coordinate, and help implement various goals and help the district lower their environmental impact.

Why is this important?
The climate crisis is something we cannot ignore and it is important for our children to be learning about important practices to live a sustainable life. This can be everything from learning in a building with clean heating and cooling and LED lights to actively taking part in native pollinator gardens and composting lunch-time food waste. Also critical is that students see that their school district is taking bold action to adapt to and mitigate climate change!

Current Campaigns

District Sustainability Committee: We have been advocating for the Pittsford School District to create a sustainability committee to keep track and implement sustainable practices throughout the district. A petition was made and we got over 200 signatures in a very short time frame! We presented the results of the petition to the PCSD Board of Education in May of 2023, which got the attention of the central office administration. A couple of CPG members that are parents of pittsford students met with a district employee several times over the summer who championed the formation of an ad hoc sustainability committee with the District Planning Team (DPT) in September, which is the body with the power to form such committees. And after some deliberation, they did!

The ad hoc committee will meet once a month and is so far composed of Mike Vespi (Assistant Superintendent for Business), Melanie Ward (Assistant Superintendent for Instruction), Jeffrey Beardsley (Director of Operations, Maintenance and Safety), and Nancy Wayman (Director of Communications) as well as Amanda Casey and Jane McConnochie, Pittsford parents and members of CPG. It will begin its work by identifying a framework to use to assess progress and gaps in the district’s efforts toward sustainability. It will bring in others as needed to complete the assessment, but having those four central office leaders at the table is significant. Our understanding is that on the basis of the assessment, we will make recommendations toward a more sustainable PCSD to the DPT.

We believe this ad hoc committee will lay the groundwork for a comprehensive sustainability plan and process in PCSD, which may ultimately include such a standing committee.

Thank you to everyone who supported the petition! We showed that Pittsford has many concerned and thoughtful citizens. We will update the website periodically when we have things to share about the ad hoc. Together we can make a difference!!

Native Pollinator Gardens: We are encouraging every school to continue developing their pollinator gardens, and also incorporate them into curricular activities.