CPS celebrates one year of commitment to green schools

Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) is celebrating one year of its commitment to green school construction, including the opening of Pleasant Ridge Montessori School, the first LEED certified public school in Ohio.

One year ago, the Cincinnati Board of Education passed a resolution calling for all future new construction and renovation to be designed to U.S. Green Building Council LEED Silver standards and encouraging the development of community partnerships to support the effort.

"Our biggest partnership is with the community members who work with us to design our new buildings like the Pleasant Ridge School Planning Team that are increasingly more interested in incorporating sustainable design in our new buildings," says Michael Burson, director of facilities planning and construction for CPS.

With the completion of phase three of the $1 billion Facilities Master Plan under current planning, Cincinnati will have the largest concentration of green and healthy schools of any urban school district in the nation.

"Cincinnati Public Schools should not only take pride at the fact that 22 of our 50 buildings will be LEED Silver certified when we are completed, but CPS helped encourage the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission to go 'green' for all the remaining schools to be replaced in the State of Ohio after September 2007," Burson says.

Burson says that the new, greener, healthier buildings could even improve parents' view of CPS, making the district more attractive for current and prospective students.

"We have to be honest and say that CPS continuing to improve its academic performance as it has for the past few years will be the primary determinate to our success in the community," he says.  "We do believe, however, that parents appreciate that our new buildings provide safe, beautiful, functional, efficient, and innovative learning environments to support great teaching and learning."

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Sources: Michael Burson, director of facilities planning & construction, Cincinnati Public Schools; Ginny Frazier, executive director, ALLY
Taft Information Technology High School renderings courtesy of Cincinnati Public Schools