BRADENTON — Southeast High senior Sarah Shealy wants to help ease Manatee County schools’ budget woes.
Inspired by a contest at The University of Florida, she went to her agriculture teacher Mike Buckley and pitched her idea: an energy conservation contest among schools.
Simple gestures such as flipping off switches while leaving an empty room or turning off computers after school can help the district save on its utility bills. As incentive, she even included a cash prize for winning schools.
“Give us a shot ... and we can help you guys a little,” she said to principal Mike Horne.
Buckley, Horne and district administrators are listening.
The savings could be significant. The district is already trying cost-cutting measures aimed at energy conservation, such as installing thermostats in schools and adjusting the lighting schedule for schools’ parking lots.
But district officials say new ideas for slashing expenses are welcome.
Manatee schools spent $12 million on its energy bill alone last school year, said Patrick Gallagher, the district’s energy and recycling specialist. Administrators budgeted the same for this year.
An elementary school spends an average of $10,000 to $12,000 a month on energy, a middle school $15,000 to $24,000 and a high school $30,000 to $45,000, Gallagher said.
If a school could cut 5 percent of its energy bill, that could translate into thousands of dollars in savings, Sarah figures.
Bigger savings could come by reducing energy use during peak periods of the school day.
Power companies charge more for electricity during high demand times, Gallagher said.
For Manatee schools, it’s between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. when cafeterias are preparing for lunch and air-conditioning is going full blast, he said.
Turning off appliances that aren’t in use during that time and shutting down most of the lights in the hallways when students are at lunch or in class will help cut energy costs, especially if these measures are replicated across 50 schools, Gallagher said.
“We could be talking thousands of dollars per school,” he said.
Perhaps half of that savings can go back into the school, Sarah proposes.
That is an idea that principals around the district would buy into, Horne said.
Most schools are dealing with cuts to their cash flow for supplies, he said. So any extra cash is welcomed.
“The money will go where it’s needed,” Horne said. “It’s good for me, good for our community and our nation, and the world as we look at conserving energy and going green.”
Best of all, starting the competition wouldn’t cost anything, Buckley said.
Sarah came up with the idea after reading about the energy conservation contest called Battle of the Halls between UF dormitories.
She hopes the competition, which would be held for 60 days and be divided into elementary, middle and high school divisions, also will help instill healthy habits.
“I’ve been raised to turn things off when I was little,” she said. “We all need to be aware of the cost.”
District officials are still working on the details of the competition. The matter is scheduled to be considered by the school board March 23.
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