Schools To Switch To LED Lights

PRAIRIE GROVE—The School Board at its December meeting approved an LED lighting upgrade that will save the district more than $65,000 per year in energy costs.

Excel Energy Group Inc. was approved to install LED lighting throughout the district where it is not already used. Excel representative Colton Churchill said solid fixtures in good shape will be kept, but some will be replaced or made to look like new. He said “some cosmetic upgrades” will be made.

Excel will use Beardsley unless the school wants to choose a different contractor.

Buildings to get the upgrade include the alternative learning center, bus shop, elementary/intermediate school, high school, main and 5/6 middle school, old competition gym, old elementary school and auxiliary gym. Exterior lighting also will be upgraded.

Churchill said Excel takes care of everything from start to finish, and disposal of old fixtures and materials is included unless the school wishes to do something else. He said installation will likely take about 15 to 17 days and could happen as early as February.

Churchill presented preliminary costs of $359,584, offset by an estimated SWEPCO incentive rebate of $75,482. Projected energy cost savings came in at $57,696 a year with a total projected savings of $65,157 per year.

In discussion prior to approval, Superintendent Allen Williams recommended a seven-year loan

to “offer a little cushion” on the payoff. Churchill suggested the loan payoff could be completed as early as 4.8 years with the savings on energy costs.

LED lights provide a “crisper and brighter” light, according to Churchill, and the school may choose the lumen level, which controls the light color. He said 4,000 lumens is “about as high as you’d want to go” to avoid a blue hue.

Board members also approved another type of installation to improve the campus for students. The board voted 6-1 to allow a Hammock Hotel for the high school. Mason Walker, EAST project contractor, along with Alex Henry, EAST project manager, and Heath Whitley, EAST facilitator, presented the idea.

Henry said the proposal grew out of work done by the High School EAST program on the Keaton Coyle Memorial Disc Golf course.

“I wasn’t expecting [it] to lead to multiple projects,” Henry said. A student-produced video showcasing the disc golf course and a slide show to illustrate the Hammock Hotel, both produced by EAST students, were shown at the meeting.

Ron Bond, high school principal, said the school cafeteria is so crowded at lunch time that students are trying to find other places to go. Some like to go and read and others just want to get away.

“Some want to go somewhere and hide,” Bond said.

Board member Whitney Bryant voted against the Hammock Hotel, saying she understood the need for safe places for students to go during lunch but didn’t think they needed to “get horizontal.”

The hammocks will only be for one student and will be located in a good location for students and supervision, Bond told board members.

Walker said the Hammock Hotel will use refurbished telephone poles, eye bolts, and donated equipment and labor, with any other costs to be covered by grants. A central pole will be circled by six poles to offer slots for 11 hammocks. Tarps will be positioned for shade instead of a more permanent roof, which Walker said will make it easier to remove the project if needed in the future.

Walker also proposed an additional EAST project named Tiger Trail. He showed a variety of options for routes, surfaces, and types of stations along the way, with all options located around the high school or the school property to the east. No action was taken on this idea.

(The EAST Initiative “is a project-based, service-learning oriented program that provides students with highend technology available in the most progressive fields in the world.” EAST stands for environmental and spatial technology. More information is available at eastinitiative.org.)

In other business, the board passed a resolution to enter into a contract with Frederick’s One Stop for gas purchases. Williams said this was needed to maintain transparency about Prairie Grove Schools’ business practices after Prairie Grove school teacher Mandy Bartholomew and her spouse purchased the business. The resolution stated three justifications: Frederick’s offers an account that is billed monthly, its gas prices are competitive, and the agreement was in place prior to the Bartholomews purchasing the business.

Demolition of the old Administration building was approved, and David Kellogg, assistant superintendent of facilities, reported that Scott Gragg is ready to start as early as Friday, Dec. 22, if a retainer is delivered by then. Under the agreement, the work will be completed for an amount not to exceed $15,000.

At the meeting, Ann Dunham, school district treasurer and long-time school employee, said she’ll be there to get a brick from the old building.

The board adjourned to executive session but did not take any action afterward.