L.A. Unified adopts ambitious plan to cool down playgrounds — but is it fast enough?

Planting trees and grass, installing shade structures and misters and creating native plant gardens are among the steps Los Angeles Unified is taking to cool down schoolyards and make students more comfortable outside, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

The hundred-million-dollar plan is intended to make schools’ outdoor spaces more inviting and healthier while preventing students from becoming overheated when playing outside. The move is likely to have academic and social-emotional benefits, as well.

Some parents, especially in hotter, inland areas like the San Fernando Valley, have complained that the district isn’t moving fast enough, and they want the district to install temporary shade canopies in the meantime. The district is using a “greening index” to determine what schools get priority, according to the newspaper.

“Lack of shade is a systemwide issue that I am pushing to be remedied as quickly as possible, as the urgency has been heightened because of the impacts of climate change; my understanding is that the District’s facilities team is determining what is possible to immediately address this need within the constraints of State law/regulations,” school board President Kelly Gonez stated.