California Cap and trade reauthorization

Green Schoolyards America is working through several coalitions to secure dedicated funding from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for nature-based solutions, specifically urban forestry and urban greening, as part of the reauthorization of the Cap and Trade legislation.

CALIFORNIA Prop 2 - Public School Facilities Bond Implementation

As members of the Climate Ready Schools Coalition, led by Ten Strands and UndauntedK12, we are participating in the Office of Public School Construction’s (OPSC) stakeholder engagement process to finalize regulations for Proposition 2, which we helped to pass in 2024, to drive district and state school facilities decision-making towards climate resilience.

For more information, visit the Climate Ready Schools Coalition.

CALIFORNIA Prop 4 - Climate bond implementation

Having worked to help pass Prop 4 in 2024, Green Schoolyards America is participating in the public process with the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), along with its departments and other agencies, to implement programs funded by this bond. We are specifically advocating for programs to address extreme heat and nature based solutions, including green schoolyards. 

For more information, visit the Climate Bond Expenditure Plan.

California SB 341 - Regrowing School Gardens

Sponsored by Senator Sasha Renee Perez, Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, and Senator Susan Rubio, supported by the California School Garden Coalition. This bill 341 takes a critical first step in restarting and expanding California's unused, unfunded Instructional School Garden Program (ISGP) to include instruction and maintenance, so school districts can integrate garden-based learning into the curriculum, fostering the next generation of environmentally literate, engaged, and thriving students.

California AB 803 - Urban forestry: school greening

Sponsored by Assemblymember Robert Garcia. This bill proposed amendments to the Urban Forestry Act to explicitly include green schoolyards among other urban forestry projects. 

CALIFORNIA SB 1091 - Schoolyard Greening Projects

Authored by Senator Caroline Menjivar, and sponsored by Green Schoolyards America and Trust for Public Land, this bill removed a regulatory barrier to school ground greening. 

Unanimously passed and signed into law in 2024, the bill is already making it easier for under-resourced schools to green their schoolyards.

Living Schoolyards act

The Living Schoolyards Act (S-1538), introduced into the United States Senate by Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), is a groundbreaking bill will direct important federal resources towards upgrading school grounds into nature-based learning environments that help reduce the impacts of extreme weather while providing students access to shaded play, recreation, gardening and outdoor learning.

Living schoolyards month

We worked with California Assembly Member Phil Ting on Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 128 (ACR-128), which designates the month of May as "Living Schoolyard Month" in California every year. It also asks "...the State Department of Education, school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to continue to prioritize the design and construction of student-accessible green space on school campuses and to integrate use of this space into the teaching of standards-based curriculum."  Click here to learn more about this exciting state resolution.

Green Schoolyards America now produces a collaboratively written Living Schoolyard Activity Guide to support California's celebration of Living Schoolyard Month and contribute to the global celebration of International School Grounds Month in May.  Read more about these celebrations and download the free publications here.

Stay informed

Want to stay informed about our advocacy and policy efforts? Join our newsletter!