Most of California's public K-12 students go to school on campuses with virtually no shade

"The vast majority of urban, public grade schools in California are paved-over "nature deserts" sorely lacking in trees or shade - leaving most of the state's 5.8 million school-age children to bake in the sun during breaks from the classroom as rising global temperatures usher in more dangerous heat waves. That's the conclusion of a team of California researchers from UCLA, UC Davis and UC Berkeley who studied changes in the tree cover at 7,262 urban public schools across the Golden State"

"The situation appears to be just as worrisome today, the team said. The researchers also collaborated with the nonprofit Green Schoolyards America, which found in its own 2024 study that California's public K-12 schoolyards have a median tree cover of just 6.4%. And more than half of that canopy exists only as decoration at school entrances, in parking lots and along campus perimeters."

A dataset covering 7,262 urban public schools across California shows most schoolyards are heavily paved and lack tree shade. Eighty-five percent of schools lost about 1.8% of tree cover on average between 2018 and 2022. Median tree cover across public K-12 schoolyards is 6.4%, with more than half of canopy limited to entrances, parking lots and perimeters. Urban tree canopy maps from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the U.S. Forest Service informed the analysis. Campus greening and de-paving projects can increase shade and reduce heat exposure as heat waves intensify.

Read at Los Angeles Times