SYRACUSE – Energy-efficiency projects have saved Wawasee schools $302,453 in the past two years, school board members heard Tuesday.
Just more than half of that was between March 2011 and February 2012, Mike Lindsey, with Performance Services Inc., told the board. Of the total, $77,900 was shaved off the electric bill and $78,710 from gas, he said.
Wawasee started looking at ways to save energy four years ago and contracted with Performance Services for guidance. Cost-cutting measures included swapping out light bulbs and older boilers and ventilators for more efficient models, and encouraging more energy-mindful behavior among staff.
Energy consumption was reduced by 20 to 34 percent at each of the schools in the corporation, and they may be on track to qualify for Energy Star certification by next year, Lindsey added.
Ongoing programs with Performance Services cost Wawasee $50,000 a year, said Schools Superintendent Dr. Tom Edington, though he anticipates yearly savings to soon hit $200,000.
With funding from the state being flat for the past few years, he also remarked that the real benefit to such savings is the ability to retain teachers.
“The only way we can keep our staff and do with our kids what we need to do in order to have those test scores, we need to raise some money,” Edington told the board. “Hopefully, if we keep doing that year after year, we’ll have more than (an Energy Star) plaque, we’ll have some teachers.”
The board approved a 2013 budget of $46.9 million during a special meeting July 31, with a tax levy total of $9.8 million. This is down from the 2012 budget request of $50.7 million, though the 2011-2012 season was a big year for building renovations.
The board also agreed during the July 31 meeting not to move ahead with installing geothermal wells at Wawasee Middle School, since the expected 10-year payback did not compare favorably to current energy prices.
Wawasee will hold on to information from the $10,000 test well and may reconsider a geothermal heating and cooling system if natural gas prices go up, Edington said Tuesday.
Also Tuesday, the board accepted grants and donations totaling $71,131, including $48,031 from the K21 Health Foundation for fitness room equipment.
Another $22,600 came from the Dekko Foundation to fund a middle school life coach, and $500 was given anonymously to buy a tablet computer for the third grade at Milford School.
