Creating Climate Ready Schools in Missoula County

The EPA’s Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change Grants program (Community Change Grants) is awarding approximately $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds in environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities through projects that reduce pollution, increase community climate resilience, and build community capacity to address environmental and climate justice challenges. These place-based investments will be focused on community-driven initiatives to be responsive to community and stakeholder input. They are designed to deliver on the transformative potential of the IRA for communities most adversely and disproportionately impacted by climate change, legacy pollution, and historical disinvestments.

CIS is part of a team led by Climate Resilience Consulting that was awarded a contract to provide technical assistance to Missoula Public Health and their partners, Missoula County Public Schools and Climate Smart Missoula. The project will explore how to build capacity of three schools – Frenchtown Intermediate School, Russell Elementary School, and Seeley-Swan High School – to serve as resilience hubs, retrofitting school buildings to adapt to wildfire smoke and extreme heat, and greening schoolyards incorporating environmental literacy opportunities for youth. As part of the project, CIS is leading outreach and engagement with underserved communities, including with local government agencies, school district representatives, community-based organizations, and community members. 

The application is focused on three goals: i) healthy learning environments (e.g., improving indoor air quality, air conditioning); ii) safe spaces for play and community gathering (i.e., using schools as resilience hubs); and iii) shared leadership (i.e., coordinating strategies across Missoula County school districts).