Regional School Unit (RSU) 1, serving the communities of Bath, Woolwich, Phippsburg and Arrowsic, has completed a comprehensive, district-wide, sustainability plan joining a small but growing number of school administrative units (SAUs) taking a significant step toward making sustainability and climate action part of their long-term planning and operations.
RSU 1’s plan builds on a strong track record of prioritizing sustainability, including the construction of the new Morse High School with ground-source heat pumps and a partnership with ReVision Energy to source electricity from a local solar farm. The plan establishes goals for reducing carbon emissions and waste across district operations while ensuring that RSU 1 students develop climate literacy and have opportunities to engage in solution-focused climate education.
The plan was developed over two years through the collaborative work of students, educators, administrators, and community members. The resulting roadmap balances ambitious long-term goals with achievable “quick wins,” creating opportunities for them to build momentum while working toward deeper, systemic change.
With the plan now complete, RSU 1 is moving into implementation. They will establish action teams, develop performance measures, and track progress toward its sustainability goals.
Micah Depper, a science teacher at Bath Middle School in RSU 1, co-chair of the RSU 1 Climate Resilience Working Group, and a Maine Milken Award-winning educator, helped lead the effort. His work demonstrates the powerful role educators can play in helping schools and communities envision—and build—a more sustainable future.
“RSU 1’s sustainability plan is an excellent example of what can happen when students, educators, administrators, and community members come together around a shared vision,” Maine Department of Education (DOE) Director of Maine Green Schools Program, Glenn Cummings said. “We hope other SAUs will look to RSU 1’s work as inspiration and consider how they, too, can develop a sustainability plan that reflects their community’s priorities and moves them from ideas to action.”
See RSU1’s Climate Action Plan (PDF) here. For more information about working with Maine DOE to develop a sustainability plan in your SAU, please contact Glenn Cummings, Maine DOE Green Schools Director at glenn.cummings@maine.gov
Maine DOE Newsroom 