Thursday, November 11, 2010

Saving energy generates needed cash for schools - Education - MiamiHerald.com

SCHOOLS

Saving energy generates needed cash for schools

Miami-Dade schools had energy-saving targets and a cash incentive to exceed their goals.

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BY ALEXANDRA FEUERMAN

DADENEWS@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Turning off the lights and closing classroom doors paid off in a big way for some Miami-Dade schools.

Last year, more than 260 schools took part in a district-wide campaign to conserve energy. All together, the schools saved about $6 million and 46 million kilowatt hours.

Now, 500,000 of those dollars are making their way back to the schools that saved the most.

The biggest winner was Coconut Palm K-8 Center in Homestead, which earned $43,895.

``It's far more than we thought we'd be getting,'' principal Linda Amica-Roberts said.

Her school will use the money to fund eco-friendly projects like a community garden.

Their secret to saving energy?

``The district gave us a plan and we followed the plan,'' Amica-Roberts said.

Coconut Palm teachers remembered to unplug computers and appliances during holiday breaks. And students were encouraged to turn off the lights and the computer screens when they left their classroom.

Coconut Palm saved 629,000 kilowatt hours over the course of the school year -- enough to power more than five dozen homes for 10 months.

Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho launched the energy-saving program at the beginning of the 2009-10 school year. Each school was given a target for how much energy they should save. The schools that went above and beyond their goals were allowed to spend three-quarters of the money they saved the school district.

School district Sustainability Officer Ana Rijo-Conde said the effort helped schools to become more aware of their consumption habits.

It also gave teachers, students and staff members a strong incentive to go green.

At Winston Park K-8 Center in West Kendall, Principal Carlos Diaz plans to spend his school's $8,456 in winnings on textbooks and technology.

``It provides me with some breathing room,'' Diaz said of the windfall that will help in a tight budget year.

Jose Marti Middle in Hialeah conserved 95,000 kilowatt hours of energy by installing devices to turn power off at specific times.

``Also, doors, which were once left open, remained closed,'' Principal Jose Enriquez said.

The payoff: $6,627.

``The fact that we knew we were going to make some extra money helped motivate us,'' Enriquez said.

Like other schools, Jose Marti Middle will use the funds to help boost student achievement. Enriquez said it will help pay teachers to tutor students who can't afford tutoring.

Melrose Elementary School, near Allapattah, netted $3,453.

Principal Sergio Muñoz plans to put the money toward classroom supplies and attendance incentives for students.

Carvalho said he was pleased with the program.

``Let these amounts stand as an incentive to all principals in all schools,'' Carvalho said. ``If you want dollars reinvested back in your schools, turn off the lights when they're not being used. Conserve.''

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  • Nightstalker4848 11/08/2010 12:47 AM
    Happy to see that some conservation is going on... Simple ways to save some money and use it for the things we need in these bad economic times..



    Schools need to make a concious effort in making sure lights, doors, and computers are turned off or closed when they are not in use. We are extremely wasteful and need to change this mindset...
  • Hopefully the School Kids will see the benefit of Energy Conservation as a life long habit and carry it into Adulthood as a life long habit. This is a good start.
  • Imagine the health (and great moods) if kids ate a lunch composed mostly from the food they've grown. Generally, there's room for big gardens on school grounds (or nearby empty land). More importantly, the kids would learn a skill that could be valuable as the 2nd depression continues. (The first depression lasted 16 years; we can expect this one to go on a long time.)
  • Why aren't the school use to generate more cash , for example for family parties, weeding, business meetings etc.
  • Actually they do rent out facilities for certain things, But family parties and weddings would have to be alcohol free... Because they do not allow that on school grounds... Mainly the rent out facilities for tournments in the gyms, churches and a couple other venues...
  • If the system would convert from traditional textbooks to Ipads or some other computerized textbook system, like I suggested 2 years ago, it would save about $30million, and 10 million trees a year. Duhhhh.
  • SO it takes the excuse of "green award " and a "cash Bribe" - for the individual schools to do what they should have been doing all along - turn off the lights/fans, close the doors, turn off the computers, close the windows and turn up the thermostats at night??.

    So people are bragging about how much mis/malfeasance they wasted the tax payer dollars on for the past, how irresponsible they have been? - what 10 years?

    And they are teaching kids they get money for doing what they should already do.

    So much for the schools teaching personal responsibility for the sake of personal satisfaction & well-being.
  • I think this is a good start for saving our planet, and it's true, as these kids learn to do this at a young age then they will hopefully bring this into adulthood. Although I don't think the solution would be to use Ipads yet, as commented earlier. I hope they keep up the good work and spread this habit throughout all the schools and also universities.
  • Nightstalker4848 11/08/2010 05:19 PM
    I've always wondered why the school system doesn't try to be more self sufficient.. Some of our educational centers have culinary programs. We could have small restaurants to do real world stuff. We have full automotive centers that as an employee you can go and have your car looked at by students for small fee.. We could utilize some of that to tack on a small fee and start charging for some of the work. Yes it's using student labor but they are learning in the process and the school gets money so that they can both upgrade the facility later on and the school system gets a cut. There are also dental programs for where students clean teeth... They also have programs to repair appliances... Elementaries could grow plants and vegetables to sell with a portion going to the school. We have no money, so I guess it would be time that we start making some.... Think outside the box... :)


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