March 7, 2012
Dear Town Meeting Members,
As some of you are aware, the Plymouth Public Schools – in conjunction with community members, parents, staff and administrators – has created a strategic plan to guide our efforts for the future of our school system. At the end of this letter, we have placed a brief overview of the plan in an effort to share with you the mission and goals of our school district. Additionally, this budget represents a focused effort to develop a budget with this plan in mind. We would like to emphasize that developing a progressive school system requires resources. In today’s challenging economic environment, allocating resources necessary to maintain services and build progressive programs is a significant challenge. As a direct result of these challenges, we have approached this budget differently than we have in the past. Last year we relied heavily on Federal stimulus subsidies to offset the shortfall in Massachusetts local aid for education (Chapter 70). Realizing that we needed to think differently about school funding, we have decided to aggressively implement other programs that had the potential to reduce our budget, while maintaining the same level of services. Although this was challenging, the opportunity has allowed us to make some significant changes in the way we do business in the school department. Below are a few of the changes we have implemented and reflected within this budget.
- Upgraded exterior lighting and controls at PSMS, PSHS, South ES, PCIS, West ES, Federal Furnace ES, Indian Brook ES, and Manomet ES to LED lighting and ROAM wireless web- based lighting controls (400,735 kW hrs annual savings)
- Converted boilers at Nathaniel Morton ES, Hedge ES, and Cold Spring ES to natural gas (savings due to price difference between NG and #2 oil)
- Replaced hot water heater at Cold Spring ES with high efficiency gas HW heater (savings 1500 therms NG)
- Replaced hot water heater at Manomet ES with high efficiency gas HW heater (savings 620 gals of propane)
- Replaced hot water heaters at PSHS with new (savings 11,500 kW hrs)
- Upgraded controls to allow for demand-controlled ventilation at PSMS gymnasium, library, computer room, auditorium, and cafeteria (savings 4643 gallons of oil and 57,391 kW hrs)
- Installed destratification fans in the gymnasium at PSMS (savings 3764 gallons #2 oil)
- Installed motion lighting controls throughout PSMS (savings 181,578 kW hrs)
- Installed emergency lighting circuit relay controls PSMS (savings 81,379 kW hrs)
- Linked energy management system to district-wide ENE system and upgraded operating capabilities at Central Office
- Replaced lighting at South Elementary School
- Upgraded lighting at Hedge and Cold Spring Schools
- Updated energy management controls at South High School
In addition to energy conservation measures throughout the district, we have negotiated a fixed cost for solar-generated electricity for the next 10 years with two 5-year renewal options. This agreement will allow the school department to reduce the electricity budget by over $600,000 annually.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for your continued support. There are many challenges in education and our relationship must continue to prosper in an effort to build an outstanding educational system for the students within the Town of Plymouth.
Sincerely,
Dennis Begley, Chair
Plymouth School Committee
Gary E. Maestas, Ed.D.,
Superintendent
Plymouth Public Schools
View the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Book.
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