Woodlawn To Survey District's Equipment

RISON - Superintendent Dr. Kevin Hancock informed the Woodlawn School Board during its regular monthly meeting Monday night that Energy Systems Group (ESG) will conduct of "feasibility study" of the district's equipment to get a better idea of what improvements could be made in the future. According to the company's website, ESG works to "identify, engineer, design, build, operate, and maintain energy efficiency, sustainability, resiliency, and infrastructure improvements that pay for themselves." Hancock said ESG will be evaluating the district's heating and air conditioning systems, the water treatment plant as well as the other electronic equipment,vehicles, etc. on campus. He said the findings from the study will help the district in planning for the future. "You get a good bird's eye view of where you stand with a lot of things (about planning for the future)," Hancock said. Woodlawn is currently having much of its energy use offset by an array of 1,280 solar panels installed by Delta Solar at Calmer. Douglas Hutchings of Delta Solar said the array would offset about 80 percent of the power being used by the school district, saving Woodlawn an estimated $1.5 million in energy costs over the life of the system. The school district began using the solar array on Jan. 12, 2023. While the solar array has contributed to reducing Woodlawn’s energy bill, Hancock said the ESG study will reveal more ways to decrease those costs. Other Business In other business in what was an overall short agenda for the Woodlawn School Board: • For the second consecutive month, the board heard two expulsion cases. Hancock said one of the expulsion recommendations was modified to a suspension and probation while the other was modified to a nineweek expulsion and probation. • The board approved a bid of more than $7,000 to Lakeview Alarms of Heber Springs to make repairs to the fire alarm syst...