The first phase of the West Mifflin Area School District’s $10 million guaranteed energy savings project is nearly complete.
About a year ago, the board approved a bond issue to pay for the energy savings project, however the savings garnered from the energy savings is to offset that cost.
Richard Phelps of ABM Building Solutions told the school board at an Oct. 24 meeting that phase one is about 90 percent complete and all that is left to do is install automated controls in the district’s buildings.
Once installed, the school buildings’ systems such as heating and ventilation as well as lighting will be controlled automatically.
All of the other improvements in phase one of the project, including converting light fixtures to LED, water conservation efforts, captive entrances and security camera upgrade have been completed.
“The district is receiving $87,000 back in rebates as the result of improvements,” Mr. Phelps told the board. The rebates are coming from the utility companies, Mr. Phelps said.
The district is on phase two of the project which is about 30 percent complete and involves installing door alarm systems, improvements to the public address systems in the schools and heating ventilation and air conditioning upgrades.
Board member Erin O’Leary-White said it has been a “pleasure” working with ABM. “Everything has gone so smoothly,” she said.
In other business, the board approved the creation of one full-time special education teacher position at Homeveille Elementary and also created five para-educator positions for the current school year.
“We need to have additional help as far as meeting the needs of the students,” said Acting Superintendent Mark Hoover.
He said the district has about 670 special needs students in the district, which is around 22 percent of the student population.
The board approved the retirement of longtime business manager Dennis Cmar. Mr. Cmar is set to retire Dec. 31.
First Published: October 29, 2019, 11:30 a.m.