Presentation at Meeting with Legislators

Several weeks ago school superintendents and city administrators from Wright County hosted a meeting with area legislators, school board members and city council members.

The focus of this meeting was the inequity in school funding brought on by the way operating levies work, the opportunity gap that this brings on for students and the inequitable system of taxation for taxpayers that results. Click here to see the presentation I made on behalf of the schools in attendance.

December School Board Meeting

The Delano School Board regular meeting for this month is Monday, December 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the high school cafeteria. The annual discussion on taxes and budget will be held at 7:00 p.m., after which the board will adopt a resolution certifying taxes for 2012. Also on the agenda will be an update on cost cutting measures resulting from the failed levy. Click here to see the agenda.

Board Member takes High Stakes Test

Click here to see a school board member's view of testing, after he himself took a 10th grade math test.

Election Results

Yes 1291   No 1450

Great Schools Begin at the Ballot Box

Click here to check out Parents United for Public Schools latest update.

Tax Levies

In 2005 the school district refunded some bonds that were eligible for refinancing. What that means is that they could be refinanced at a lower interest rate and the term of the bonds could be shortened so that they could be fully paid off in February of 2011. That action resulted in a tax reduction of $527,403 (about $45 per $100,000 of tax value) or 9.74%, in the amount of taxes needed to pay principal and interest on the bonds and was reflected on the school portion of property tax bills for the current tax year, 2011.

This reduction weighed heavily in the school board's decision to set $990 per pupil as an amount that taxpayers might support for the operating levy that is on the ballot November 8. In addition, the $990 per pupil amount was what made sense in terms of funding the school district into the future.

At the September school board meeting the board adopted the preliminary tax levy for taxes payable in 2012. That action will decrease the school share of property taxes  by $264,183 or 5.41%.

The school district portion of property taxes will have decreased a total of $791,586 or 15.51% for tax years 2011 and 2012.

The school board is very sensitive to the tax impact of the proposed operating levy. The board is also sensitive to the fact that Delano School District is a low spending school district while maintaining high academic achievement. Maintaining current operations is the goal.

Remember to vote on November 8.

Recommended Reductions if Levy Fails

On November 8 Delano School District voters will be going to the polls at either Delano Middle School or Independence City Hall to vote on the school district operating levy. Recommendations were made when the board voted to put the operating levy on the ballot so voters would know the possible consequences should the levy fail. The recommendations try to keep cuts as far away from the classroom as possible and total over $800,000.

If the levy fails the following reductions have been recommended:

1. Bus only beyond the two mile legally required limit for grades 5-12. This would reduce two routes.
2. Reform staff development budget and new teacher mentor program.
3. Reduce supply budgets.
4. Reform school board to legally required minimum of six members (from seven).
5. Reduce activities budget.
6. Restructure extra duty web master positions (one per building).
7. Reduce 1.5 FTE custodians.          
8. Reduce 2.5 FTE media center paraprofessionals.                 
9. Reduce 5 FTE special education program paraprofessionals.
10. Reduce 1 FTE nurse.
11. Reduce 5.5 FTE classroom teachers.
12. Reductions made this year  include combining polling places, reducing superintendent's administrative assistant, and eliminating busing from St. Peter and Paul Academy in Loretto, which closed. 
13. Go on the ballot again in 2012 in order to avoid another round of reductions.

According to a report in the October 26, 2011 StarTribune of this week's job summit convened by Gov. Dayton, there are "hundreds of openings" for workers in all parts of the state if they are qualified and that there is a "skills gap" which contributes to the state's 7 percent unemployment rate.

Is this a time to disinvest in public education?

Remember to vote on November 8.

Voter Approved Operating Levies

Voter approved operating levies have become a vital component to the revenue stream for schools. Voter approved operating levies fund the general operations of the school district and do not go towards construction of buildings, purchase of land or the purchase of equipment, including computers. The current $426 per pupil levy was passed in 2002.

State aid has not kept up with costs for many years as shown in the following chart:

Year           Per Pupil Aid        Change
07-08              $5074               
08-09              $5124                  1%
09-10              $5124                   0
10-11              $5124                   0
11-12              $5174                  1%

The average yearly increase since 1991-91 = 1.3%
Consumer Price Index yearly average         =  3%

School districts all across the state are reliant on voter approved levies to fund the educational programs and operations of their school districts. The voters of the school district determine the level of educational programming desired, through the operating levy.

Remember to vote on November 8.

Response to Wally Johnson

Many Delano residents subscribe to either the Herald Journal or the Eagle, and as a result, may have read a letter to the editor from Mr. Wallace Johnson. I would encourage school district residents to continue to gather facts regarding the upcoming school levy vote on November 8.

Please visit the school district’s website at www.delano.k12.mn.mn.us to view operating levy information regarding financial considerations, a proposed list of cuts, and budget forecasts.

*Regarding Mr. Johnson’s point that the district is "oblivious" to the current economic situation - quite the contrary - as schools are subject to the same economic tides, with rising costs, fewer resources and, and yes, just like he mentioned, rising health insurance costs, not to mention food and fuel and energy costs - all costs directly related to operating school districts.

*In response to that economic reality, I wonder if Mr. Johnson is aware of the district's strategic and purposeful efforts to reduce such costs? Delano has controlled energy costs through efficiency revamps as well as collaborated with employee groups to reduce health care costs for our district while implementing wellness efforts to further reduce future costs. All the while, the district has made concerted efforts to reduce other costs through other means - even $2300 (which the letter references) makes a difference in this economy and for our situation, right?

*Mr. Johnson’s last sentence - "Delano is an excellent school with hard-working, excellent teachers producing high academic student achievements. Voting no to the levy at this time will not change that." - is perhaps the most inflammatory and unfortunately can really misinform readers. I can only agree with his first statement – we do indeed have a top-notch group of teachers, staff, and students alike. Asserting that money doesn't equate to quality education (at least to a certain degree) is like telling the car owner that you built her car with minimal expense.... a few key components may have been overlooked, it will probably run for a while, but don't be surprised when it leaves you stranded by the side of the road. Inadequately funded public education is not a smart investment in our local future.

*Fewer teachers and support staff, inadequately trained staff (due to staff development cuts), diminished educational opportunities, longer bus rides - and those are just the beginning in a longer list of student-centered cuts - do directly affect students - and thus, impact educational success.

Sarah Baker, Member

Delano School Board

Response to Wally Johnson's letter that appeared this week in local newspapers

“…the facts should always be provided with complete candor…” is how Wally Johnson continues his decade-old lobby against public education in his 10 October editorial.   I just wish Wally would invest some of this free time to get the facts right himself – they might change the way he thinks about the Delano Schools.

First the election is not forcing all voters to one location - -the City of Independence is also having an off-cycle election so the Independence voters are voting in Independence.  The smear that the school board is doing something that “smacks of being unethical” is based on Wally’s refusal to seek the facts, which are clearly published on the district’s website.  The voting location falsehood may lead to voters going to the wrong polling place, or not going at all.  That is wrong and inexcusable.

I don’t know what cash model Wally’s looking at, but in our school board meetings and on the district web-site it’s very plain that the budget we’ve adopted includes deficit spending THIS year, not 2013.  We’ve been sharing this fact non-stop and in complete candor in our public meetings this summer & fall too, which although attended by many voters hasn’t produced Wally in attendance yet.

Our models do want to maintain current staffing levels and class sizes – this is about the closest to accuracy Wally achieved.  And why not – at $8204 cost per kid we’re one of the lowest priced education levels in the state.  For years we have run our schools lean, built a modest fund balance, and have forgone many hires other schools have.  If Wally lived in Orono he’d be denouncing a $1531 operating levy per kid in an $11,227 cost-per-pupil district.  If Wally lived in Mound Westonka he’d be paying a $1480 operating levy producing an $11,535 cost-per-pupil.  By the way – the state average cost-per-pupil is $10,639, and the state average operating levy is $1055 per pupil - I’d like to think we’re doing a sensational job with the financial resources we have.

As a conservative I agree with Wally that there is more to education than money, but I don’t shirk from the facts, either, the key fact being that the State of Minnesota has under-funded K-12 education – the General Education aid was $5074 per kid in FY08, and five years later we’re at $5174, or about a 0.3% increase per year.    Even in a district run as lean as ours, this means we either cut staff or run at a deficit, and right now we’re looking at doing both.

During our open-house forums this year we solicited public feedback on a number of levy amounts, and in the end selected $990 because even though we still were deficit-spending, we’d be able to stave off cash-flow issues thru the next state budget biennium, by which time we hope the state will be adequately funding K-12 education again. 

The bottom line is to keep Delano’s educational quality consistent we need local levy support.  True conservatives know that public education for all kids and families – regardless of learning disabilities, language abilities, etc. – is the foundation of our merit-based economic and democratic system.  It also means we hold our duly-elected school board members accountable, because as we have shown in Delano, we can run our schools very lean and produce some of the best academic results in the state.

To Wally’s last sentence, voting “no” to the levy will of course impact our schools – for months we’ve had $800K of cuts already identified on our district website if it doesn’t pass, and we’ll follow that up with more cuts the next school year, as the deficit will be untenable.    What a statement to make – we’ll cut 15 staff including paras and teachers, and kids won’t be affected?  Good grief.

Peter Brasket, Chair
Delano School Board

Education pays in higher earnings and lower unemployment rates

During the challenging financial times that are facing not only our nation, but the world, educational attainment is more important than ever. The following chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the relationship among educational attainment, earnings and unemployment. The importance of a good education is more evident now than ever as our students are competing in the market place of the global economy, not just nationally, for their future employment and overall well being.

Past generations did not face the same challenges that face our students today. 

History of Operating Levies

In 2001 Governor Ventura and the legislature intended to take funding of education off of  property taxes. This action reduced school levies in Minnesota from $1.9 billion to $924 million by taking away the general education levy for education that showed up on property tax bills. This levy was fair to taxpayers, in that it was fully equalized; meaning the tax burden on property with similar market value was uniform across the state. A problem developed when the state did not find other revenues to make up for the reduction in property tax revenue. This led schools to rely on voter approved operating levies to maintain operations.

Delano voters approved the existing $426 levy right after that in 2002, the same time that many schools reacted to the actions of the legislature in 2001. That is the primary reason approximately 130 schools are asking voters to approve new levies now, 10 years after the action of the legislature.

The $990 per pupil levy being voted on November 8 will be used to maintain current operations, not add new programs or reduce class sizes.

Levy Referendum Information

Good questions are raised regarding the Operating Levy Referendum that is on the ballot at the November 8 election and I will provide answers to some of these questions as they arise.

What is an operating levy?  This is a voter approved levy that provides funding beyond what the state aid formula provides. This funding is generated through property taxes and goes to support the General Fund. The General Fund provides for the day to day operations of the school district. The operating levy does not support capital expenditures such as building construction or the purchase of equipment or textbooks. The Food Service Fund, Community Service (education) Fund, and Debt Service Funds are separate funds not associated with the General Fund or the operating levy. The current voter approved operating levy of $426 per pupil was passed in 2002.
         
Over 90% of the school districts in the state are reliant on operating levies for the day to day    
operation of their school districts. Our cost per student is lower than any of our surrounding school   
districts and well below the state average. Without the operating levy we would need to reduce spending considerably, which would have direct impacts on class sizes, course offerings, pupil transportation, student activities and General Fund supported programs and personnel.

Why do we need it?
The district budgeted for a $785,000 deficit this year, which will be financed by reserves that can be used for this purpose. The first round of federal stimulus ended June 30. State aid was frozen the past two years. Enrollment increases are projected to be minimal and expenditures are projected at 1.32% during the next several years.

Added to this is the state's shifting of 40% of state aid into the next school year, causing the district to cash flow the shortfall. One goal of the school board is to maintain a fund balance sufficient to avoid interest expense associated with cash flow borrowing. The new operating levy will provide that.

China Visitors

This week we are hosting our visitors from our sister school in Tanguu, China. Fourteen students and six staff members are learning about Delano Schools and Minnesota. Click here for an interview I conducted with our guests. 

Do Schools Need Operating Levies?

Claims are being made that the legislature has provided sufficient funding to schools so that schools don’t need operating levies.

The state increased per pupil funding by what amounts to $60 per student each year in the biennium. In FY13 they put in a $52 per student literacy incentive that is calculated based on the number of students proficient in reading in the 3rd grade times the number of students in the building (estimated to come out to about $38,000 total for Delano).

Last spring our financial planning models that were developed by PMA Financial Network, Inc., the district’s investment advisors, did not account for this as the model was developed prior to the adjournment of the legislature. The increase amounts to about $137,000 each year plus about $38,000 more for the literacy incentive in the second year. This increase won’t have much of an impact on our situation as related to the levy. The $785,000 deficit that we have this year, which will be funded by reserves in order to maintain current level of programming, could be reduced by these dollars. The overall effect of the increase is that it extends by a few days how long the levy will last with costs of operation at $366,678 per week.

It’s interesting to note that legislators are talking about how these increases should deter schools from needing to pass levies when $50 of the $60 per student was passed with the intention to help schools pay interest charges for cash flow borrowing brought on by the legislature shifting 40% of what they owe schools this year into the next year to help the state balance the budget.

Click here to see a response from the Commissioner of Education, Brenda Cassellius that appeared in TwinCities.com Pioneer Press.

Chamber of Commerce Presentation

Click here to see the presentation regarding the operating levy that will be on the ballot on November 8.

Levy Referendum Meetings

I will continue to host informational meetings regarding the November 8 levy referendum in the high school cafeteria at 7:00 p.m. on the following dates: Tuesday, September 20; Tuesday, September 27; and Thursday, September 29.

You will learn answers to questions such as "why is the levy doubling?" The fallacy behind claims that schools have enough money to maintain current operations. The consequences of the recommended $800,000 in reductions if the levy fails.

Mr. Spanier's Class

Today I visited Mr. Spanier's  8th grade Gateway to Technology class. This class is part of our Project Lead the Way curriculum that emphasizes Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The purpose of this unit is to investigate a technological artifact and find out its history and impact on civilization and how it may be used differently today. Click here to see an interview with Mr. Spanier and students investigating the telephone.

Informational meeting re levy referendum

I will be hosting the first of several informational meetings about the upcoming operating levy referendum on Thursday, September 15 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the high school cafeteria. Click here for further information about the ballot issue.

Delano Receives Energy Star Rating

We were notified today that we have achieved the the Environment Protection Association's ENERGY STAR rating. The ENERGY STAR program was introduced by EPA in 1992 as a voluntary market-based partnership to reduce green house gas emissions through energy efficiency. Products and buildings that earn this rating are recognized in preventing greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy-efficiency specifications set by the federal government. You will see the ENERGY STAR decal around the buildings.

Our staff needs to be recognized for their efforts in helping to reduce energy usage in all our buildings. Since December 2010 we have avoided more than $12,000 in energy costs by changing how we use energy.

August School Board Meeting

The August school board meeting is Monday, August 22 at 7:00 p.m. at Delano City Hall. You can access the agenda here.

Email Server is Down

The school district's email server was severely damaged in Monday's storm and remains out of service. Please communicate with us by telephone, blog, or means other than email. Thank you for your patience.

Summer Enrollments

During the summer I get inquiries every week from people who are relocating to the area as well as from non-residents who are interested in enrolling their students in Delano Public Schools. These people report to me that they have researched our school via our website and/or talked with others who tell them that "Delano Public School District is where you want to be" or similar positive statement.

Delano Public Schools is the primary attraction for people moving to this area and we receive great students and parents as a result. Thank you for being here and thank you to all who make these referrals.

Energy Cost Savings

We have received the second quarter report on our efforts to reduce energy consumption and costs through the Schools for Energy Efficiency program that we started in January 2011. The district avoided $6,729 in costs for March, April and May 2011, as compared to the same period the previous year.

This fall we will continue to ramp up efforts through further education of staff and students.

Spanish Students Visit Delano

John Fitzer, one of our Spanish teachers, is hosting 10 students from Spain for five weeks. This is the 20th year he has hosted students. He has them busy sightseeing around the Twin Cities area, brushing up on their English, and learning about the culture of America. The students are staying with host families from Delano and I would like to thank them for opening their homes to these great students. I interviewed  Anna Sanz and Zavier Barcala and you can see the video here.

Annual Trapshoot

Delano Partners in Education will be hosting its Seventh Annual Trapshoot on Saturday, September 10 beginning at 1:00p at Park Gun Club. Make plans now to attend this fun event. Click here for more information.

State Government Shutdown News

The Ramsey County District Chief Judge has ruled that school funding will continue through a potential shutdown of state government. This means that state aid will continue to flow and school districts will not need to rely on reserves or borrowing to keep functioning if there is a shutdown.

Board Votes to Increase Operating Levy

At the regular June School Board Meeting, the board passed a resolution to revoke the existing operating levy of $426 per pupil and replace that with a new levy of $990 per pupil and to call a special election for November 8, 2011 . This would be applicable for ten years effective for taxes payable in 2012.

The estimated tax impact is $63 per $100,000 of taxable value over taxes that were paid in 2010.

Post questions on the blog or Facebook and I will respond. 

June School Board Meeting

The regular school board meeting for June is Monday, June 27 at Delano City Hall at 7:00 p.m.

Included on the agenda is a resolution to increase the operating levy. Click here to see the agenda and linked information on each item.

All QComp Results

Test score data has now been received for all grades and the results are as follows:

District Goal: The district goal was to have 86.6% of students earn an achievement level of meets or exceeds the standard on the reading portion of the Minnesota Comprehensive Achievement Test (MCA). The goal was attained with 87.16% meeting or exceeding the standard.

Elementary Goal: The elementary goal was to have 87.19% of the students meeting or exceeding the standard on the reading test. The goal was attained with 93.35% meeting or exceeding the standard.

Middle School Goal: The middle school goal was to increase from 83.77% to 85.77% of the students meeting or exceeding the standard on the reading test. We fell a little short of the goal but improved to 83.9%.

High School: As stated in an earlier post, the high school attained their goal to increase from 85.7% in 2010 to 87.7% in 2011 with 90.9% meeting or exceeding the goal.

There are many people to congratulate for achieving some of the highest test scores ever including teachers, principals, paras, other staff members, the students themselves and also parents who are supportive of their students. Thank you for your efforts to help us keep the focus on "Educational Excellence is our Foremost Goal."

DHS Meets QComp Goal

Delano High School had a QComp achievement goal to increase achievement levels of all students in grade 10 on the reading portion of the MCA II from 85.7% meeting or exceeding the standard to 87.7%. Test results show that 90.9% met or exceeded the standard. This is a great accomplishment for our students and staff. Congratulations.

Schools for Energy Efficiency

This week we received the first quarter report on our efforts to reduce energy consumption and costs. The district avoided $5,521 in costs for December 2010, January 2011 and February 2011 as compared to the same period the previous year.

Marty Kittok and Scott Yanke, our building operators,  need to be recognized for their efforts in working with the program. Other staff members contribute as well in being conscious about powering down lights and electrical devices. Thanks everyone for your efforts!

Deputy Burton, School Resource Officer

Today I interviewed Deputy Burton, our School Resource Officer.

Click here to see the video.

Application for School Board Position

The School Board has set the deadline for application for the un-expired term on the board for 12:00 noon on Friday, April 29, 2011. Click here for the application.

Blake Bobick, Chinese Language Online Learner

I interviewed Blake Bobick, a Delano High School junior, who is taking Chinese Language online. Before the interview I told Blake that there are people who don't think taking a World Language online works. His response was "How old are they?" This is a telling statement regarding today's students learning style.

Click here to see the video.

School Board Member Resigns

School Board Member Tim Douglas has submitted his resignation. A job relocation is taking him to Iowa. Tim has served on the board since 2006 and served as treasurer. Tim brought a great deal of knowledge to the district from his background in accounting and employment as Chief Financial Officer at Midwest Asphalt.

The board will be advertising for applicants and interviewing interested candidates sometime in the next several weeks.

Informational Meetings

The school board has held several informational meetings regarding the financial status of the school district and the operating levy in particular. Click here to see the documents associated with these meetings.

The next meeting is Thursday, April 14, 7:00 p.m. at Delano City Hall. It will be televised live on Delano Cable Channel 12.

The voters of the school district determine the level of educational programming desired, through the operating levy. I urge your attendance at these meetings so that you know what is at stake for the school children and the taxpayers of the school district.

Interview with Shane Baughman

Mr. Baughman is a DHS social studies teacher who is working on his superintendent licensure, which requires an internship that he has been doing with me. Click here to watch the video.

Boys State

Travis Collins and Ben Burns, DHS seniors who attended Boys State last year, assisted us in orienting boys to apply for Boys State this summer. Click here to see the video.

Tom Mathieu Interview

Today I interviewed Tom Mathieu, Energy Efficiency Coordinator. Several months ago the district entered into an agreement with Hallberg Engineering and their Schools for Energy Efficiency program that is designed to change our behavior with respect to how we use energy - electrical, gas and water/sewer. This is a no-cost program for the school district as Hallberg gets paid from the energy savings that occur.

Click here to view the video and thanks for watching.

School Funding Informational Meetings

The school board has scheduled two informational meetings to review and discuss the status of the voter approved operating levy on Tuesday, March 15 and Thursday, March 24 at 7:00 p.m. in the middle school auditorium.

The school board is seeking input on how to proceed in the future regarding school funding and the operating levy in particular. We invite your presence and your input.

Nancy Stellrecht Interview

Today I interviewed Nancy Stellrecht, who leads our online learning opportunities. Click here for the video.

School Board Meeting February 28

The school board heard a report from Energy Services Group (ESG) regarding the Energy Savings Performance Contract the board entered into in September 2006. This program funded $4.1M in energy improvements, deferred maintenance and operational enhancements.

At the end of the first full year of operations (year ended December 31, 2010) the savings associated with this program amounted to $241,000, exceeding the savings guaranteed by ESG by $15,000. The savings will pay back the capital investment, interest on the Alternative Facility Bonds and Capital Lease Bonds that were issued as well as technical services provided by ESG. In addition to the savings realized in the first year of operation, there were savings during the construction period in the amount of $264,000. The project is expected to save over $4.1M over the 15-Year term of the agreeement.

While the savings won't necessarily put more money into the budget for other things we will be saving on electricity, gas, and water useage and reducing the district's carbon footprint while improving indoor air quality and comfort of the buildings.

The board also held discussion on the proposal to establish one polling place for school elections that are not held on the same day as a statewide election. This proposal will be on the agenda at the March 21 school board meeting that will be held in the Middle School Media Center beginnning at 7:00 p.m.. The text of the proposal can be found here.

School Funding

One of my sources at the State Capitol tells me that legislators receive "volumes of emails from supporters of a new Vikings stadium but next to nothing from those that support our public schools."

Delano Public Schools is not immune to the cuts that could happen by the legislature in resolving the $6.2B deficit.

Legislators need to hear from their constituents regarding the importance of school funding.

Click here for contact information on legislators that represent Delano Public Schools.

School Board Meeting on February 28

The February 28 regular school board meeting is at Delano City Hall beginning at 7:00 p.m. First on the agenda will be a presentation by first grade students demonstrating their newly acquired reading skills in connection with "I Love to Read Month." That will be followed by a report by Energy Services Group on the cost savings associated with the first full year of the energy savings upgrades.

There will be a discussion on a proposal to establish one polling place as a cost savings measure for school district elections not held on the same day as a statewide election, which is expected to occur on November 1, 2011. This would make Delano Middle School the only polling place for those elections and would eliminate the polling places at Loretto and Independence. There are about 864 registered voters at Loretto and 1111 at Independence. The cost savings the first year would be about $2,296. There would also be quite a savings in manpower to set up just one polling place. This will not be voted on by the board on February 28, just discussed.

Board meetings are live on Delano Cable Channel 12 and streamed later over the school district website.

Click here to see the agenda.

Interview with Shallyn Tordeur

Today's interview features Shallyn Tordeur  our Schools-Within-A-School (SWAS) leader, a very valuable program at Delano High School, led by a great teacher.

Interview with Traci Lawman

This is the first in a series of interviews with school employees. Today I am talking to Traci Lawman, Communications Coordinator.

School Board Meeting

Click here to view video of the January 24, 2011 school board meeting. We had some great reports from the Wright County Court Services and our own School Resource Officer Craig Burton.

2011-12 Calendar Set

The school board has set the calendar for 2011-12

Energy Efficiencies at Delano Public Schools

Delano Public Schools kicked off the next round of energy savings programs this week. In partnership with  Schools for Energy Efficiency (SEE) www.seeprograms.com, we are putting in place strategies that we expect will reduce energy use by a minimum of 10%.

The agreement with Hallberg Engineering, the distributor for SEE, is a cost sharing agreement, which means there is no cost to the school district to put the energy savings strategies in place. Hallberg is paid from the cost savings that are incurred. Most of the strategies relate to changing behavior in terms of how we use and conserve energy.

Our expectations are to save the District at least $84,000 during the five year agreement with Hallberg.

I call this the "next round of energy savings program" because we have finished the mechanical upgrades that were part of the program we had with Energy Services Group. We have now completed the first year with all the mechanical upgrades in place and will have a report soon on the cost savings generated the first year. The expectation is that we will have achieved in excess of $100,000 in savings. Some of these savings go to pay for the actions that were taken to upgrade many of the mechanical systems over the past several years.

School Board 2011

Front left to right: Erica Frake, Sarah Baker, Lisa Seguin, and Amy Johnson (Vice Chair)
Back left to right: Tim Douglas (Treasurer), Peter Brasket (Chair) and Carolyn Milano (Clerk)