The Office of Environmental Management and Services hosted the quarterly meeting of the Environmental Advisory Council on Monday, May 6, at South Philadelphia High School. The focus of this field trip was the District’s “swing space” plan – and South High plays an important role in the District’s ability to maintain in-person learning when a…
The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Resilient Communities Stormwater Initiative (RSCI), and the School District of Philadelphia joined forces to advocate for GSI installations in the following Southwest Philadelphia schoolyards: Benjamin B. Comegys Elementary School S. Weir Mitchell School Avery D. Harrington School TNC and RCSI work lies at the “intersection between climate, social, and environmental justice with a…
The Environmental Advisory Council went on a field trip to learn more about the District’s management of environmental conditions in our buildings. The council’s quarterly meeting was held Monday evening, Feb. 5, at the C.W. Henry on Carpenter Lane in the city’s Mount Airy neighborhood. The main school building was originally constructed beginning in 1906,…
The Office of Environmental Management & Services recently provided its annual accounting to the University of Pennsylvania of how this past year’s installment of its 10-year, $100 million grant was used to help support healthier learning spaces across the District through the management of environmental conditions, particularly lead and asbestos. The report noted that nearly…
The School District has reached an important milestone in its asbestos management program: as of July, all District schools have undergone the extensive asbestos inspections required under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) in this three-year cycle. AHERA includes two types of inspections – 3-year inspections, which are done at 294 facilities throughout the…
The Office of Environmental Management & Services is taking on a project to proactively remove asbestos pipe wrap from several District school gymnasiums this summer. Gymnasiums are high-activity areas where the temptation to loft a ball to the rafters is ever-present. Removing the undamaged asbestos pipe wrap overhead and replacing it with fiberglass and PVC…
The School District of Philadelphia is working to integrate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives within the District’s successful sustainability program, GreenFutures. ESG is a set of criteria that are utilized to assess an organization’s business practices and performance based on sustainability initiatives. School districts tend to have a large carbon footprint and are big…
The School District of Philadelphia has appointed environmental professional Victoria Flemming as Interim Executive Director of the Office of Environmental Management & Services, a new position that will add oversight and expertise to the District’s ongoing efforts to assess and improve conditions in its buildings. Flemming brings 20 years of environmental and regulatory expertise in…
For the last year, GreenFutures, the District’s sustainability program, has been working closely with teams from Capital, Curriculum and Instruction, Fairmount Water Works (FWW), and Interpret Green to develop a schoolyard sensor project called the Sense.Able Schoolyards Initiative. GreenFutures recently received funding through an FWW Grant from Spark Therapeutics to develop an integrated teaching and…
The Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) is beginning its third year of meetings to help keep community advocates and stakeholders informed about the District’s plans and progress on environmental work. The Council meets with the Office of Environmental Management & Services quarterly. It engages with representatives from across the city – parents, community members, union representatives,…