The Cullman County School Board has approved a contract to develop a plan for systemwide infrastructure upgrades that are designed to cut some of the operating costs at schools around the county. 

As part of the contract, Schneider Electric will develop a program for HVAC, lighting and other infrastructure upgrades across the county’s schools that would eventually pay for themselves in energy savings once they were in place.

The board previously discussed the contract with Schneider Electric Sales Team Leader Todd Smith during its November board meeting.

During that meeting, Smith said he couldn’t give an exact number on the costs or savings for the overhaul until the Schneider team begins to take a deeper look at the system’s facilities, but after walking through the system’s schools and seeing some of the work that could be done, he anticipates the projects would result in around $22 million in savings for the system over the next 20 years.

Right now, the county school system spends around $2.5 million on energy costs for the year, and the plan that Schneider develops would likely see those costs reduced by around $800,000 or $900,000 per year, and the company guarantees the cost savings for up to 20 years once the upgrades are in place, he said.

Some board members raised concerns about the some of the terms of the contract during last month’s meeting, including a potential $211,000 payment that the board could have to make to Schneider if the board decides not to go forward with the plan and the idea that the board may want to go through the project in phases rather than all at once. 

Cullman County Schools Superintendent Shane Barnette said board members were able to look over the contract during the past month to clarify that the system is only required to make the $211,000 payment if Schneider does create a viable plan that would cut operating costs while paying for itself and the board decides not to move forward with it. 

The contract was also amended to clarify that the project could be conducted in phases rather than all at once, he said.

After the contract was approved during Tuesday’s meeting, Smith said was looking forward to getting to work on finding the best ways for the system to upgrade and save money in the long run. 

“There’s a huge amount of potential here,” he said.

Schneider has worked with many school systems around the Developing a plan that overhauls some of the outdated infrastructure across the county means the system shouldn’t have to spend as much money on operating costs every year and would have more money to spend on other needs, Smith said. 

Along with the potential for big cost savings, school systems across the state that have already worked with Schneider have reported that teachers and students are more comfortable in their classrooms with the new heating and air systems and other technology upgrades, he said. 

“It truly should be a win-win situation for everybody,” he said.

Smith said Schneider will begin working on the plan in January and will spend the next several months collaborating with the board and system administrators to determine the best ways to move forward. He said he hopes to bring the final plan to the board for approval during the summer, and if approved, the work to improve the system’s infrastructure could begin soon after and would take around a year to complete.

In other business, the board:

Approved 2020-2021 Afterschool Programs and personnel (personnel paid by local school funds): Parkside- Jeff Greer ($16 per hour) (Correcting per hour from $15 to $16), West Point Elementary- Suzaun Shell ($20 per hour). 

Approved a request from Hanceville High School to pay Steven Almond and Brent Barnett $22 an hour for after school detention, paid by local school funds.

Approved a request from Holly Pond High School to pay Jeff Horton for the following, paid by local school funds- $75 for cleaning the gym on regular season nights, $100 for cleaning the gym for Thanksgiving Tournament nights, $20 per game to set up concessions before games, $30 per game to work the gate at basketball games.

Approved a request from Vinemont High School to pay the following for summer responsibilities and field work, paid by local school funds: Ed Webb- $1,000, Michael Williams- $1,000, Robert Erik Runge- $1,200, David Stokes- $1,200, Cody Harris- $1,200, Stephen Robinson- $1,500.

Approved a request from West Point Middle School to pay Shanda Garner $1,200 for athletic director duties for the 2020-2021 school year, paid by local school funds.

Approved the 2020-2021 Sick Leave Bank Committee (committee members will serve from Nov. 1 through Oct. 31, 2021): Certified- Muriel Kanaday and Teresa Pesto, classified- Tanya Knight and Jennifer Taylor.

Approved October 2020 financial statements.

Approved October 2020 bills and salaries in the amount of $9,359,390.54.

Approved a request to open a new savings account at Traditions Bank. 

Approved a request to open new checking accounts at Fairview Middle School, Good Hope Elementary School and West Point High School after accounts were compromised during the last fiscal year.