ADAM LAWSON
Staff Writer
The Lincoln County Board of Education voted not to adapt a private company’s energy proposal Tuesday, citing a lengthy contract, unreasonable baselines and unsure results as reasons against partnering with Texas-based Cenergistic, Inc.
The decision was unanimous at a school board committee meeting. The deal is expected to officially die following a vote at next week’s monthly board meeting.
A sales representative for Cenergistic first pitched his company at a June committee hearing, boasting of at least $300,000 in potential annual savings toward the district’s $3 million energy bill. The company pledged a full-time energy savings manager, as well, and $6,650 in yearly EnergyCAP software charges.
But the deal also would’ve required the school board to pay half of savings realized from initial baseline energy costs and would’ve locked the county into a five-year agreement. When the topic was addressed at a July meeting, board members asked Cenergistic to come back with a short-term contract, preferably a year-to-year commitment.
But the contract presented to the board on Tuesday would’ve included substantial early exit fees and wouldn’t alter the original energy baseline for five years.
“I had said, from their initial presentation, that I would vote against them no matter what,” board member Ed Hatley said. “I had a problem if we had a substantial savings the first year, then they don’t change the baseline for five years. You’re still paying for the amount they saved you over the course of five years. Every year you pay the same amount back to them. It could be that the eventual payback to them was more than what they saved you.”
Board member Todd Wulfhorst referenced a previous energy agreement in defending his vote. That deal, he said, cost the district more than it saved because equipment was turned off and eventually broke down.
“It’s the proverbial ‘it sounds too good to be true,’” Wulfhorst said. “It sounds great. I would love to see those types of savings. It’s sort of a challenge to turn that down. But you can’t enter into anything where you’re worse off than when you did it.”
Driver’s ed currently in park
It’s been more than two months since the fiscal year began and the state’s General Assembly has yet to agree on a budget.
Original state Senate proposals called for significant cuts to teacher assistants and the elimination altogether of driver’s education programs at public high schools. And while negotiations seem to point to restoring both, solutions in the meantime won’t be all that great for Lincoln County students.
Students can pay privately for driver’s education classes but won’t be able to take the normal, $50 class NC Driving School provides until a solution is agreed upon in Raleigh, school board members said.
“We’ve stopped all classes,” Hatley confirmed.
If the Senate reverts to its original plan to scrap driver’s education and eventually cut teaching assistants by 8,500 statewide, it could cause all sorts of headaches for administrators trying to coordinate transportation.
Moving driver’s education programs to the community colleges would increase costs for students. If more children opt to wait until they turn 18 to try for their license, school bus drivers figure to be more important.
But many teacher assistants serve dual employment roles that require them to drive buses. A slash in TA’s could lead to resignations from the driving jobs and, board members fear, a snafu in the entire transportation process.
“Who is going to drive the kids to school?” Hatley said. “They’re the ones who get them home.”
Hatley said the board has not yet formulated a solution to the potential program.
Schedule challenges
School began Aug. 26 for Lincoln County students. The late-season start means the fall semester won’t conclude until Jan. 15, putting student and teachers in a bind to prepare quickly for the exams that come almost immediately after winter break.
It’s not a new dilemma for the school system. State regulations have dictated when it can begin and end since 2004. House Bill 9 would’ve given districts flexibility to start a week early, but the legislation was referred to a House committee and hasn’t had any new action since January.
Currently, schools aren’t allowed to open earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and can’t end later than the Friday closest to June 11. It’s a requirement that pits educators against the tourism industry, which enjoys the boon a later start provides to the state’s coastal region.
Board member Cathy Davis said she would like to see an end to these regulations and has taken family vacations out of state in protest. But a change to the system, she acknowledged, won’t come easily.
“It’s going to take an uprising of everybody in the state to make that happen,” Davis said. “From what I understand, it’s the tourism department that is taking us hostage, the people who have ownership or interest in rental property, hotels, motels and things of that nature.”
Davis believes an earlier start would allow the district to finish its fall semester before winter break, in the process benefiting county students. She added that the tourism industry’s fear of starting early is probably misguided anyway.
“I think whenever they’re out of school, whether it be a long summer or a week here or there, I think people are going to go on vacation when their kids are out of school,” Davis said.
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