Solar panels coming to Houston Schools

The Houston School Board made the decision to move forward with the installation of two solar panels, at their August 4 meeting. Originally, the plan was to put one on the elementary building and one on the high school. When the elementary roof was deemed incapable of supporting the panels, a decision was made to put both panels at the high school. On inspection, it was determined the high school building could only have one. With the August 15 deadline looming near, a third option of placing one near the bus garage was presented to the board. The area was chosen because it was close to a major power source. The same area is used for parking for football games, which led to concerns from some of the board.

If only one set of panels was installed, the benefits ($12,000) would be halved. The school received a grant to cover 95% of the cost of installation and will only be responsible for $11,755; this amount will be realized within the first two years of operation.

Richard Erdmann voiced his opinion that the educational benefit and savings on the electric bill of $6,000 were more important than parking for football games. Steve Walters, facility and transportation director, stated that there was no other good option, “It’s the only place we can do it.”

Mark Swenson emphasized that everything that might be needed underground (such as sewer service) should be in place before the installation of the panels.

The panels will rise to 12 feet in the back and three feet in the front and will need to have a fence surrounding them. If the panels are placed on ground level, it will be more economical and will be more accessible for classes. The possibility of planting pollinators under the panels was suggested.

While the board approved proceeding with the installation of the panels on the high school roof and beside the bus garage, they asked to check into whether the one set of panels could be placed in the roof of the bus garage instead of the ground.

NFHS live stream renewal

The renewal contract for NFHS live stream was brought to the board. Last year the board had opted to pay for the live-streaming of all home games as well as activities such as concerts, graduation, etc. With an annual fee of $4,000, the board wanted more information on how many viewers used the service the past year.

High school principal Michael Mangan reminded the board that if individuals each had to pay for a $70 membership, the school would still need to find another streaming source and equipment such as cameras for activities. (The cameras are part of the agreement with NFHS.)

The board tabled the decision until they get more information on the usage.

School bus purchases

Earlier in the year, the board had decided to purchase a new Bluebird bus. Since then, the price has been raised by $6,700 to $101,000, and the school is still waiting for delivery of the bus. Recently, they have been offered two used buses with only 18,000 miles on one and 25,000 miles on the other for $150,200 with trade-in. The buses are undercoated for winter protection.

The board decided to go with the purchase of the two buses instead of the new bus and a van, providing they are able to cancel the new bus. This would actually put them ahead of schedule on bus purchases. There are enough vans at this time since an additional van was purchased during the pandemic.

Other business

In other business the board:

• Approved the required safe return to school plan following the same plan as the school was using at the end of the 2021-2022 school year;

• Set the truth in taxation meeting for December 1 at 6:30 p.m.;

• Approved the crisis plans and handbooks for the high school, elementary, Summit, and MNVA;

• Approved the long term facilities maintenance plan with a total annual 10-year splan expenditure of $326,553;

• Approved spending $10,427 for some new flooring at both the high school and elementary with more to be done later;

• Purchased a new floor scrubber ($10,511.99) for the elementary;

• Learned that a state required digital equity survey would be given to students at the start of the year;

• Approved an MOU to add student council advisors positions.

The next regular Houston School Board meeting will be September 1 at 6 p.m. in the high school media center and streamed online. The public is welcome to attend.