On a 120 degree day there’s exactly one thing all students in the San Fernando Valley and other high temperature areas seek: the cool relief of shade. But this hot commodity is in limited supply and for a surprising reason.
Many public school campuses have encountered six-figure cost estimates when seeking to install shade sails, due to California state building requirements. But thanks to a new law the cost of installing sails is expected to plummet and bring the temperature of California school playgrounds down with it.
SB 515, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week, was authored by state Senator Henry Stern, D-Calabasas, whose district takes in a wide swath of the Valley and reaches to Ventura County.
The bill limits the cost of accessibility requirements on shade projects to 20% of the cost of the project, making it possible for schools to install shade sails with no unexpected costs. Previously, affixing a shade sail to the side of a school building would have triggered a requirement to bring the entire building in line with the latest rules for creating pathways of travel for people with disabilities, which typically come with a big price tag.
On hot days, asphalt surfaces can reach temperature of up to 145 degrees, while the presence of shade structures can lower ambient air temperature by 15 degrees.
“I have two-year-old who has to walk on 140 degree asphalt and, at the time I was writing this bill, my wife was pregnant, and we’re living in Van Nuys,” said Stern. “So this is self-interested in the sense that this is intolerable and a direct health crisis in my own house, and it is a crisis for millions of other people too.”
The issue disproportionately impacts low-income students living in densely populated, urban areas. Its passage was met with celebration by the Los Angeles Unified School District, which sponsored SB 515 and played a key role in getting it to the finish line in Sacramento.
“I am grateful to Governor…
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