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Sweetwater Union High School District to go all-electric

Students initiated the change to make campuses more environmentally friendly.

SAN DIEGO — Students in the Sweetwater Union School district ride to campus on buses that use liquid fuels. They’re taught in buildings powered by natural gas. 

Students are learning about saving the environment while surrounded by things destroying it. 

“We're being taught - hey climate change is bad - but yet we're contributing to the problem,” said Izayah Ringfield, a student at Chula Vista High School.

So student leaders at campuses across the district decided to take action. They came up with a plan to leave their schools more environmentally friendly than when they arrived. 

Those moves include converting their entire bus fleet from gas to electric, adding electric vehicle charging stations on campus, and getting the school board to agree that all new construction will be built without gas infrastructure. 

“I'm excited to see action,” Isayah said. “I'm excited to see electric buses, electric bus chargers, EV chargers at all of our schools. I think it's really cool.”

The district already has solar panels on 21 campuses and state and federal grants will help pay for the future upgrades. District leaders applaud the students for coming up with this plan and working with them to make it a reality. 

“Our role here in education is generating the next generation of leaders and what a better way to do that then demonstrate to them that their voice matters, their advocacy matters,” said Superintendent Dr. Moisés Aquirre.

The students had help from a local nonprofit called Climate Action Campaign, which says these changes will have a wide-reaching positive influence. 

“This can impact things like asthma rates, learning outcomes, absenteeism levels, so it's really important that we have schools that are healthy and sustainable,” said Serena Pelka, a Policy Advocate with the organization.

Climate Action Campaign will serve as a watchdog to make sure agreed-upon changes are actually implemented, but they know the students will also help hold the district accountable. 

“They're really what make me hopeful for the future,” Serena added.

And for students, this is just the start of their activism. Izayah says next on his agenda is voter registration.

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