Stu Stoddard

• Director of Support Services Stu Stoddard presented the quarterly facilities update including an announcement of the completion of $9 million worth of projects and the districts seeking of $11 million to begin more projects.

While many school sites have expressed interest in similar grants in the past and may do so in the future, AUSD Director of Support Services Stu Stoddard said San Gabriel has been at the forefront in terms of putting a grant application together.

The district chose to manage its own waste and recyclables in an effort to be more environmentally responsible and to reduce costs, according to Stu Stoddard, director of facilities at Atascadero Unified School District.

"We got into recycling not only because it's the right thing to do but also because it's cost effective," Stoddard says."We've found that doing it ourselves, we have had significant luck in decreasing the amount of waste we send to Chicago Grade," the landfill in Atascadero."

The district recently began composting its green waste and will do the same with food wastes in the near future, hauling them to "one of our rural properties" for composting, says Stoddard.

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Every day, as part of his duties, Worm Master Gio observes nearly 200 of his fellow Teach School students as they dispose of their leftovers after lunch.He makes sure they put recyclables in the appropriate containers.Almost as soon as they arrive, the students begin lining up near the recycle station to dispose of their leftovers–paper bags, milk cartons, aluminum cans, plastic wrappers, and uneaten food.

The district chose to manage its own waste and recyclables in an effort to be more environmentally responsible and to reduce costs, according to Stu Stoddard, director of facilities at Atascadero Unified School District.

"We got into recycling not only because it's the right thing to do but also because it's cost effective," Stoddard says."We've found that doing it ourselves, we have had significant luck in decreasing the amount of waste we send to Chicago Grade," the landfill in Atascadero."

The district recently began composting its green waste and will do the same with food wastes in the near future, hauling them to "one of our rural properties" for composting, says Stoddard.

In that district, a recent modernization project and a new physical education complex put more demands on staff, said Facilities Director Stu Stoddard.

"We have reduced staffing in both maintenance and grounds to a bare minimum, and we have lived that way for a long, long time," Stoddard said.