Energy plan rewards frugal schools, bills hogs

There's a budget survey on this site http://www.boe.k12.hi.us/

You would think the DOE would know about this before they calculated these charges!! Just another sign that they are all messed up! What do you all think???????

>>But Vice Principal Hartwell Lee Loy Jr. attributed the energy spike to Kapolei High's stadium, which he said opened in August 2006 and was not factored into the campus' electrical average recorded for the school years 2003 through 2006.

Klutz wrote:

This is my school. Principal emailed the faculty to tell us to save electricity and informed us of the sanctions. I asked if he was aware that my 8-classroom building's AC is on M-F even during vacations. He said he'll check on it. Well, it still runs during vacations. That's one week in October, 3 weeks in the Winter, 2 weeks in the Spring, 6 weeks of summer and all those holidays and staff development days of wasted electricity!

My child is in a school that just recently installed air conditioners The AC's are on all the time and set to 75 degrees. AC's are probably the single most contributor to high energy consumption and should be set to 80 degrees, not 75.

Also, 75 degrees for a child is too cold. Kids have to wear jackets and sweaters to class!

A lot must have changed to have to use air conditioners. I was born and raised in Hawaii and attended public schools, but I don't recall ever having an a/c available. I'm over here in Alabama now. And you got to have a/c here or you'll just burn up. Anyway, think of the kids, but when it comes to electricity, yeah, use common sense. Cut back where you can. Using electricity when no one is around doesn't make any sense. Especially on vacations and Holidays.

The board should consist of a group of parents from the public, volunteers, who rotate their service, say every two weeks. There would be a master list of anybody who's interested, and the list is open ended, anyone can sign up, and all the people on the list get the meeting minutes by mail and they can attend/observe all board meetings, so they're up to date at all times, so when they do their turn on the board, they'll be current. The money from salaries not paid can go to the schools, or be invested in the stock market, with dividends going to school needs. I can almost guarantee that there will be PLENTY of parent volunteers on the BOE. Count me as one.

This is a flawed plan simply from the standpoint that the school doesn't always have control over the events on sites nor do they have a way of recoup those costs. For example, my daughter's HS has the stadium lights on well into the evening to support the local community's use of the track vice the actual school teams. They also host other schools that don't have stadiums of their own. What about the continuing education classes on site that are held on the weekends?