School board members again critiqued the power bill for the Oktibbeha County School District in Monday night”s board meeting, the first in their new building.
All board members and the board attorney were present for the meeting, along with building- and program-level administrators. The board”s new meeting room is a modern conference room on the second floor of the downtown Starkville facility.
The board went quickly through most items of fairly routine business before stopping to examine and discuss the amount they are spending on energy and their energy-savings contract with Johnson Controls. They discussed this issue at the July meeting and at other times as well.
Board member Melvin Harris again led the questioning, although he was joined by Charles Avant and Herman Bush. Close to two years ago, the board contracted with Johnson Controls to make significant retrofits and replacements for energy efficiency.
The board took out a loan to pay for the upgrades, and Johnson Controls guaranteed savings on the investment. The district has been promised that the energy savings will be more than enough to cover the principal and interest on the loan.
The board has questioned their savings on several occasions, and Johnson Controls has sent representatives to the district to examine the buildings, their climate control settings and various aspects of the energy equation.
Monday, Harris asked Superintendent James Covington if the district was doing all it can to comply with energy -saving steps.
“I”m sure we”re not realizing all the savings we can. We can tighten some belts,” Covington said, although he said they always attempt to follow exactly the energy savings plan.
Bush said the district needs to make sure it is doing everything possible to be energy efficient, then report this to Johnson Controls, with the expectation they do all they promised to do, as well.
“When Johnson Controls makes a report, it”s always that a thermostat is set wrong or something like that,” board member Curtis Snell commented.
Dorothy Harris, district accounts payable clerk who also keeps the boards minutes, said the district is seeing an actual savings in energy consumption compared to previous years. The increased cost of energy is masking some of the savings the district hoped to see.
The board handled other fairly routine business matters as it prepared for the start of school on Monday. The opening convocation was Monday, and teachers had professional development on Wednesday and Thursday.
The board will meet again at 6 p.m. in the central office to approve the 2011-2012 budget.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.