St. Marys School District seeing lower energy costs

Thursday, February 16, 2012

ST. MARYS - Energy costs are down for the St. Marys Area School District since it updated its lighting and heating systems.
Superintendent Ann Kearney told the school board Monday that this is the third year since implementation of the plan installed by Johnson Controls.
The total cost of electricity dropped from $260,341 for the 2008-09 school year to $216,750 in 2010-11.
The cost at the high school dropped from $116,323.74 during the 2008-09 school year to $98,751.67 in 2010-11.
In the middle school, the electric cost dropped from $70,858.50 in 2008-09 to $53,930.73 for 2010-11.
Costs at the South St. Marys Street elementary school fell from $44,877.55 in 2008-09 to $40,637.92 in 2010-11.
At Fox Township elementary, electricity costs are down from $14,386.86 in 2008-09 to $12,804.46 in 2010-11 and, at Bennetts Valley, from $13,894.70 in 2008-09 to $10,625.39 in 2010-11.
Kearney pointed out that although usage has been dropping, that the amount of technology being used in the school requiring electricity has increased, which shows how effective the district's energy savings policy has been.
Kearney also attributed savings to teachers and students working to help save energy by turning off lights and computers, etc.
Natural gas usage is also down, dropping from $338,710 in 2008-09 to $231,970 in 2010-11.
Kearney said work done by Johnson over the past year should result in further decreases.
Water usage costs have increased from $13,046 in 2008-09 to $15,995 in 2010-11.
Kearney also said that in addition to considering utility costs when it comes to planning for the budget for the next school year, the district has to look at enrollment.
Enrollment numbers are important in determining how many teachers, books, special education services and other things will be needed.
Enrollment has been decreasing in the district.
Kearney said there are 209 students going from middle school to high school, 208 seventh-grade students and 150 fifth-grade students.
The next largest class is the fourth-grade class with 182 students.
Seventeen students have enrolled so far for kindergarten at Fox Township, 22 at Bennetts Valley Elementary and 89 at South St. Marys Street Elementary School.
The district has terminated contracts with St. Marys Tax Service for collections of local services taxes in Jay, Fox and Benezette townships, retroactive to Jan. 1, and approved an agreement with the Central Tax Bureau to collect those taxes.
It also approved the termination of a contract with St. Mary Tax Service for collection of the occupation assessment and per capita taxes beginning June 30.
A request from the St. Marys Soccer Association to use the soccer practice fields and the fields by the outdoor classroom for soccer practice on the high school and middle school campus Sundays from April 16-June 10 was approved.
The soccer association needed to find a new field for their players to use due to a company buying the property in the airport industrial park that had been used as soccer fields.
The board approved using May 25 as a snow make-up day for the Jan. 13 snow day.
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Reported by JoAnn Seltzer, staff writer. E-mail:jseltzer@thecourierexpress.com.