Crestview bd. hears lighting project info

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

CONVOY — The Crestview Local Board of Education said good-bye to three staff members, hired one new teacher, and heard a presentation for a possible replacement lighting project during its July meeting on Thursday.

The board accepted the resignations of Lindsay Breese as an elementary teacher and high school cheerleading coach after four years in the district; Ben Kaufman, high school intervention specialist and junior varsity and freshman football coach after three years in the district; and elementary paraprofessional Courtney Smart after a year in the district.

A one-year contract was approved for Jenifer Puthoff as an elementary teacher, while Jenna Wurst was also reassigned to the position of elementary intervention specialist for the upcoming school year.

The board also took action on a number of supplemental positions, approving Torie Hile as competition cheer coach, Ali Sawmiller as high school football cheer coach, Owen Pugh as girls’ varsity basketball assistant, and Matt Holden as a JV and freshman football coach.

Matt Perkins was also approved as a high school summer intervention/education teacher on an as-needed basis.

Ray Robinson of Energy Optimizers, USA was also at the meeting to provide information on a proposed project that would replace building lighting with LED lights, as well as sensors that would allow lights to be turned off when classrooms and other areas of the school are unoccupied.

The company would also make sure current HVAC equipment was operating efficiently and could install electric use meters at an additional cost of $12,000. Natural gas meters are also available at the same cost, but Robinson said, with natural gas costs very low right now, those meters might not be cost-effective.

In addition to replacing regular lights with LED bulbs, Energy Optimizers would de-lamp fluorescent fixtures and install LED tubes.

If the district decides to pursue the lighting project under a program created by House Bill 264, the district could borrow the money needed to pay for the project and pay the cost back over 15 years using energy and maintenance savings.

One big advantage for using that program, Robinson said, was that his company would have to guarantee any energy savings estimates it provided. Under the program, the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission would also review project costs and savings figures to make sure the savings estimates were accurate and project costs are reasonable.

Robinson said the project would earn more than $40,000 in energy rebates, while saving the district an estimated $41,044 a year in electricity costs and $8,300 annually in maintenance costs. Annual payback cost was estimated at $37,223 if money was borrowed at an interest rate of 3.25 percent, although Crestview Superintendent Mike Estes indicated the district could look at paying project costs upfront without borrowing.

The board will review the figures between now and its August board meeting and then decide in September whether to approve the project, Estes said.

In other action, the board:

• Accepted, with thanks, a donation of $2,025 from the Van Wert County Foundation for the district’s music programs.
• Authorized the following overnight trips: FFA officers and teacher Ericka Priest to Camp Palmer on July 30-31, and cheerleaders and coach Torie Hile to a cheer competition at the Ohio State Fair August 6-7.
• Approved the 2017 Comprehensive Consolidated Application for Federal Funds totaling $325,324.06.
• Approved lunch and athletic ticket prices, student workbook fees and revisions, and Latchkey program fees for the 2016-17 school year. Estes said lunch prices would stay the same as last year.
• Approved a contract for Internet service with the Northwest Ohio Area Computer Services Cooperative as presented.
• Approved the Fiscal Year 2017 service contract with the Western Buckeye Educational Service Center as presented.
• Authorized a stipend of $40 a day for paraprofessionals who attended a restraint training seminar on August 22.
• Approved a resolution to proceed with renewal of the district’s five-year permanent improvement levy due to expire in 2017.
• Went into executive session to discuss personnel matters, with no action taken following the session.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Crestview Local Board of Education will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, August 18, in the district boardroom.