Chapter 8

Policy Guidance and Funding Examples from
Around the Country

We are heartened to see that many government agencies, public health authorities, and educational institutions are beginning to incorporate outdoor spaces into their official guidance documents and protocols. Many published guidance about how to reopen schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by how beneficial and meaningful learning outdoors has been, many have continued to incorporate or center outdoor learning in their policy and guidelines, and we hope will do so well into the future.

We believe that outdoor learning policies should be rooted in environmental justice and equity. While the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to remote learning affected everyone, the health risks, education, and economic impacts have been disproportionately experienced in lower income and BIPOC communities. We recognize the power that policy and funding can have to equitably or inequitably shape students’ opportunities to participate in outdoor learning. We seek to share policy guidance that ensures that all students have access to educational and environmental resources they need to thrive. Our statement on equity has more information about our approach.

This chapter of our online library reflects work undertaken by the National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative’s Policy Working Group, which researched and cataloged policies made at the federal, state, and local levels, with the following overall goals:

  • We seek to make existing policies and funding easier for school districts around the country to locate and apply for during the pandemic, and in the years to come.

  • We would like to encourage policymakers to include outdoor learning (staff, supplies, and infrastructure, etc.) as a priority for their short-term financial allocation recommendations to address COVID-19 and help schools remain open for in-person learning outdoors, where virus transmission risk is lower.

  • We want to help ensure that green schoolyards and outdoor learning programs are seen as increasingly important, cost-effective assets for student learning across the country and become fully integrated into school infrastructure, green infrastructure planning processes and funding mechanisms, and state education standards.

© Maria Durana, San Francisco Recreation and Park Department

© Maria Durana, San Francisco Recreation and Park Department

© Green Schoolyards America

© Green Schoolyards America

© Yasaman SOHRABI, GOLESTAN EDUCATION

© Yasaman SOHRABI, GOLESTAN EDUCATION


Policies that Promote Long-term Schoolyard Greening and Outdoor Learning Efforts

The environmental literacy, living schoolyard, school garden, and sustainability fields have been growing in the United States for the last thirty years. There is now a substantial body of work and research that supports these fields. Many governmental and institutional policies have been adopted at the local, state, and national levels to make outdoor learning more accessible. These policies can help create a greener future for the next generation and our planet. The documents below gather examples of policies around the country designed to support the use and development of outdoor spaces on PK–12 school grounds and public lands.

As we have watched schools and districts take learning outside during the pandemic we have noticed that institutions with pre-existing policies and programs that support outdoor learning are able to move most quickly to reopen outdoors. The examples in this section are some of the policies that have helped to advance environmental literacy, living schoolyards, and sustainability principles around the country, and embed them in institutional frameworks so that they will endure for years to come.

If you know of additional examples we have missed, please email us to let us know.

© Green Schoolyards America

© Green Schoolyards America

Policy Exemplars that Advance Living Schoolyards, Environmental Literacy,
and Sustainability

This resource includes a collection of policies that have been adopted across the country over the last twenty years that support the use and development of outdoor spaces on PK–12 school grounds and public lands.

© Paige Green, Green Schoolyards America

© Paige Green, Green Schoolyards America

Government Programs and Funding for
Outdoor Learning and Schoolyard Greening

This resource lists examples of federal and state government grants that have helped to build outdoor learning programs and green infrastructure for living schoolyards over the last 15 years. Some examples on this list are still active funding sources and others are examples of grant programs that have been effective and could be replicated elsewhere.

 
 

Policies for Reopening Schools During COVID-19

Solid information, consistent advice, and adequate funding were some of the many challenges school districts faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each state government and local health agency had been publishing (and continues to publish) its own policy guidance, and there is wide variation in their recommendations, and in the amount of funding they can offer school districts to help them reopen and remain open.

The two resources below share the results of our research to find policies and funding sources that encourage outdoor learning as a strategy to reduce virus transmission when schools reopen, primarily from the first year of the pandemic. The first resource is a collection of official reopening guidance documents from around the country that include outdoor learning. The second resource discusses the federal economic stimulus bills which may be able to help school districts pay for moving school classes and programs outside. Note the the dates on each resource. Many of these districts and institutions have had new guidance as the pandemic progressed.

© Green Schoolyards AMerica

© Green Schoolyards AMerica

Policy Guidance for School Reopening
This article includes a collection of COVID-19 related official, public guidance documents that address reopening policy for PK–12 schools, issued by national, state, and local institutions around the country.

© Laura Newman

© Laura Newman

Federal Funding to Provide COVID-19 Relief
This article discusses the two major economic stimulus bills that were passed in 2020 by the federal government, and highlights sections of the current bill that school districts may be able to use to fund outdoor learning.

 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES

© PAIGE GREENE, EDUCATION OUTSIDE

Community Engagement Strategies
This multi-part resource highlights how to facilitate community engagement when advocating for outdoor learning. It provides suggestions and frameworks that help districts co-create outdoor learning plans with all community members and stakeholders in mind.

© Sharon Danks

Living Schoolyard Activity Guide US Edition
Community members can participate in enriching, maintaining, and using school grounds. The chapter on community engagement (see pages 195-203) highlights examples of how school grounds can be used by the communtiy.

© Sharon Danks

International School Grounds Month Activity Guide
Schoolyards are unique public places— both during the school day and after. In the chapter on community engagement (see pages 159-169), you can learn about ways to foster a sense of community from other school communities around the world.


Credits

The resources and strategies in this chapter of the National Outdoor Learning Library were developed by the National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative’s Policy Working Group (WG#9). This working group was led by Kirk Anne Taylor, MPA, Ten Strands and Kyle Macdonald, Green Schoolyards America. It included a diverse group of policy experts, school superintendents, and non-profit leaders from around the country. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all of the organizations and individuals who are collaborating to make this Initiative possible.


National Outdoor Learning Library

The National Outdoor Learning Library is an expansive set of resources for schools and districts created by the National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative, which was founded in 2020 by Green Schoolyards America, The Lawrence Hall of Science, San Mateo County Office of Education, and Ten Strands. With the help of current partners, Green Schoolyards America is continuing to expand the library’s collection to support equitable access to outdoor learning and living schoolyards beyond the pandemic.