178 Schools Make the Grade; 95 Also Earn Evergreen Status
WATERFORD, MI – April 20, 2014 – Oakland County schools are going green in greater numbers! One hundred seventy-eight Oakland County schools have earned the Michigan ‘Green School’ designation. To celebrate, representatives of Oakland County’s Green Schools will gather at Oakland Schools, 2111 Pontiac Lake Road in Waterford on Tuesday, April 28 at 9:00 AM to receive an official Michigan Green School flag and a certificate signed by L. Brooks Patterson, Oakland County Executive and Dr. Vickie L. Markavitch, Superintendent of Oakland Schools.
This year’s top winners will be announced at the event. Thirty-two schools will be recognized for five years of participation.
To be designated a Michigan Green School, K-12 schools must successfully undertake a minimum of 10 out of 20 activities prescribed by state law and submit an application. Please note that 100 of the schools will receive the special designation of Evergreen Schools by successfully earning points for extra activities. Forty-five schools will receive the Emerald status, and 38 schools will receive their Green Schools designation (with 32 new schools joining the program!). The schools that participated are from 26 Oakland County districts, including three Oakland Schools Technical Campuses and 30 nonpublic schools across the county.
This program began as a grassroots initiative in Livingston County in 2005. This effort resulted in Governor Jennifer Granholm signing Public Act 146 into law in May 2006. For more information on the Michigan Green Schools program coordinated by Oakland Schools, visit the Oakland Schools website at
http://www.oakland.k12.mi.us/Departments/CapitalBuildingProjectsandFacilityOperation/
Questions? Please contact Debby Dunn, Oakland Schools, at 248.209.2416.