The Winslow School District is reaping the rewards of converting to solar. During a meeting of the school board last week, Superintendent Lance Heister and the board reviewed the savings realized over the past year and a half.
The figures presented showed that over the past 17 months the district paid a total of $271,561 to Arizona Public Service Co. and $246,583 for the use of solar for a total cost of $518,144. Using figures from previous year shows that the cost without the solar array would have been $649,585, meaning the project has already produced a savings of $131,441 for the district.
“We are very pleased with this. With the budget cuts that we’ve been dealing with from the state, I don’t know what we would have been forced to do if we hadn’t had this savings. It would’ve meant cuts in staff and other areas that we didn’t want to make,” explained Heister.
He noted that the district is actually benefitting from two projects. The first was to change out inefficient lighting fixtures, add more insulation and reduce the size of the boilers that were using too much energy. “That alone saved us $247,000 in the first year,” he said.
As far as the savings from the second project, the solar array, that is also expected to increase once the financing for the project is paid off, something that is now anticipated to take less time than projected. “We planned to pay off the financing for the solar panels in 25 years, but it looks like we may be able to do that in about 12 years,” noted Heister.
The district is also locked into a low kilowatt hour rate with APS as part of this project, so even as rates rise over the coming years, the rate that the district is paying will remain low.
When asked if there had been any problems with installing or maintaining the solar panels, Heister noted that there have been some minor ones. “We have some pretty good softball players who have managed to hit the array with the ball, damaging maybe seven or eight cells. But when there are 1,000 cells in the array, that’s not significant. Getting service here has been a bit of an issue, but not a big one,” he explained.
Although limited finances will curb implementing additional cost saving measures in the near future, once funds become available the district’s next step in savings will be to change all lighting to LED, and to reduce water usage by installing waterless urinals and low flow toilets. District officials would also look at switching out water meters since the current ones are bigger than needed and provide a greater water flow than the district requires.
Heister looks at the projects as benefitting not only the district, but others as well. “We’re not only saving money for the district but also helping out the environment,” he said.
In other business, the board:
* Adopted the proposed 2015-16 expenditure budget following a public hearing with no comment from the public.
* Approved the hiring of Jessica Pipkins as health technician at Jefferson Elementary School; Jesse Setalla, special education aide, Bonnie Brennan School; Michael Zowada, math and science teacher, Winslow High School; Briana Conatser, freshman volleyball coach; Elisha Johns-Aberle, junior varsity volleyball coach; Stacey Berg and Jordan Payne, junior varsity football coaches; Katrina Martinez, assistant Spirit Line coach, WHS; and Loren Begay, Debbie Bremser, Jeannette Holt, Lois Jaime, Daniel Kakou, Loretta Montano, Dorothy Simousek, Wendy Sindel, Sarah Smithson, Janice Stewart, Susan St. Germaine and Penny West, returning substitute teachers.
* Approved the transfer of Janis Bosley from special education aide at Bonnie Brennan School to Winslow Junior High School; Jocelyn Passanando, from emergency substitute teacher for the district to special education aide at Bonnie Brennan School; Lynne Peters, from substitute teacher at the district to second grade teacher at Jefferson School; and Dana Wilcox, from special education aide at WJHS to Jefferson School.
* Approved the resignation of Toni Montano as warehouse and custodial supervisor.
* Accepted a donation of $25 to Bonnie Brennan School from Target Corporation; and a $98 donation to Bonnie Brennan School from Arizona Restaurant Systems, Inc. for
Sonic Night.
* Approved the early release calendars for the 2015-16 school year.
