Welcome to the Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee's virtual home! Please visit our website often for information about upcoming meetings and events, news, resources, and how to get involved.
The purpose of the ESAC is to engage AISD students, staff, parents, and community members in advancing environmental education and sustainable operations that enhance learning and support resilient, healthy, and equitable school communities.
The purview of the ESAC may include, but is not limited to, education, operations, and community engagement in the following resource areas:
- Energy conservation and renewable energy
- Water conservation and quality
- Sustainable transportation and outdoor air quality
- Climate change mitigation and resilience
- Indoor air quality in schools and facilities
- Environmentally and ethically responsible purchasing
- Waste minimization, recycling, reuse, and composting
- Sustainable food systems and outdoor learning
- Environmental & social justice
The Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee subcommittees are organized in support of the Sustainability Framework at AISD. ESAC members are required to join at least one subcommittee.
Current Members & Open Positions
Members do not need to be experts in sustainability, but should have an interest in advancing environmental education and sustainable operations at Austin ISD. To apply for membership, please first check the open positions to make sure there is an open position that you can apply for. Then fill out the standard membership application that is provided in the District Advisory Bodies section, checking ALL the boxes that apply to you. Note that on this form, “business representative” includes nonprofit representatives.
Positions include AISD student; AISD parent or guardian; AISD classroom teacher; AISD non-classroom employee; business, nonprofit, or community representative; and local government representative. If there are no open positions, please contact us to learn how you can be involved in other ways! There are lots of ways you can be involved in sustainability at AISD!
Please reach out with questions, and to learn about other ways to get involved.
The Environmental Stewardship Envisioning Committee (a precursor to the current ESAC) began as a grassroots effort in the fall of 2008 with the start of the Environmental Envisioning Committee. The committee was formed under the leadership of the Executive Director of the Office of Facilities and the former Academic Supervisor for Science, with support from other district personnel, students, parents, and community members. The initial 30+ committee members created a vision to "establish and utilize a systemic approach to inspire students to become stewards of the environment, resulting in improved student learning and academic achievement."
The Environmental Stewardship Envisioning Committee was restructured as a formal district advisory body, the current Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee (ESAC), at the start of the 2012-13 school year.
The group was instrumental in the development of the district's Environmental Sustainability Policy (District Policy CL [Local]) that was adopted in 2011 and the creation of a sustainability and environmental stewardship staff position in 2014.
The Austin ISD Sustainability Plan identifies goals, and strategies and timelines to achieve those goals, in eight key action areas: air quality, energy, food, nature, procurement, transportation, waste, and water. ESAC members work in subcommittees to tackle each of these key action areas. There is also a subcommittee that works on improving equity & community engagement in each of the key action areas. The ESAC subcommittees are:
- Food & Nature
- Energy & Water
- Transportation & Air Quality
- Waste & Procurement
- Equity & Community Engagement
For each action area, the subcommittees are identifying goals and strategies across three sustainability pillars:
- Teaching & Learning – How are we equipping our teachers to be sustainability role models and preparing our students to be the next generation of sustainability leaders?
- Infrastructure & Operations – How are we maximizing the efficiency and sustainability of our facilities, vehicle fleet, and operational systems?
- Community & Culture – How are we building a culture of sustainability at Austin ISD that reflects the environmental, social, and economic values of the community we serve?
ESAC members are required to join and participate in at least one subcommittee. Members may choose to join any subcommittee that is accepting new members based on their areas of interest. Subcommittees meet at their own discretion. For more information about subcommittees and the latest meeting schedule, email darien.clary@austinisd.org or lucia.sewingcole@austinisd.org.
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