By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
On a night packed with presentations, the Wynford Student Lighthouse team set the tone for a meeting based on improvement.
The elementary students in attendance informed the board how they have been putting into practice the seven habits of highly successful people, and constantly asking themselves “How can I be a better leader?”
The students recounted their attempts at being visible leaders through daily engagement with students and faculty. They have a program of welcoming substitute teachers to the school by providing a packet of snacks and bottled water. They demonstrated this to the board by providing each member with a bottle of water.
This intro provided the perfect segue to the bulk of the meeting, which was dominated by two more detailed presentations. Following up on the tone of leadership and accountability established by the elementary kids, high school principal Chris Solis addressed the board about how the district plans to shed its “Watch” status. This designation was incurred due to some subpar performances in the last round of state standardized testing.
Wynford is one of the many districts across the state having a difficult time coming to grips with the ever changing landscape of state standardized testing. Numerous variations of test have been implemented in recent years and this is proving difficult for schools to find a groove. Wynford came up a bit short in the categories of economically disadvantaged students, and students with an IEP (individualized education plan).
Solis was quick to clarify that these are not excuses, rather they represent the facts at hand. And the chief fact at hand was that the district did not score well enough. He outlined an extensive plan of researching which curriculum need extra focus and action teams to make sure that focus is achieved. The comprehensive continuous improvement plan focuses on interventions, support, instructional strategies, and feedback from students.
“How do we get out of this?” Solis offered rhetorically, with the above listed as a solution.
The district received an overall rating of D,F, and has this school year plus two more to achieve a “C” rating, to be removed from the watch list.
Quite literally dealing with illumination, Ron Thomas from H.E.A.T. Total Facility Solutions outlined a plan to make the Wynford school buildings much more energy efficient. Through House Bill 264, the State is offering local school districts very cheap loans to upgrade their facilities and energy consumption. Thomas’s company analyzes and provides solutions to how these districts can save on energy costs. One of the most basic is switching to LED lighting. By making this switch, schools can save $10 per light fixture per year. In a normal light fixture, there are 4 halogen bulbs. Most often, these fixtures can be serviced by two LED bulbs. This bumps the savings to $20 per fixture per year. When you throw in the $10 rebate that is currently being offered by the state for each fixture that is changed over, savings merely in light bulbs can rack up quite quickly.
LED bulbs can offer a savings of $81 per year in gym lights, and $150 per in outdoor lights. Having done a study, Thomas stated that the district’s rebate alone would be $60,000. This does not even address what the school would save by upgrading the boilers and implementing remote temperature control systems. These systems allow maintenance personnel to closely manage when and how the building heats and cools itself.
Thomas cited work done at the Jefferson School District, where his company lowered energy costs from $2.50 per square foot to $1.50 per square foot.
Wynford would need to borrow $683,000 to do the necessary energy renovations, a sum they can finance over up to a 15-year period. Over that same 15-year period, the energy savings as estimated by H.E.A.T. would amount to $1.5 million.
Due to the lengthy nature of some of the discussions that had already occurred, and due to the fact that new superintendent Fred Fox has only been on the job for five weeks, treasurer Leesa Smith opted to postpone the five year forecast report until the March board meeting.