Connor Pollock, a senior this year, said that on Power Down Fridays, the hallways are "dark as a cave - it's wonderful. . . . I think it's great that we can save the school money."
As districts grapple with multimillion-dollar budget deficits for next year, West Chester and others that have been making energy savings for the last few years are now reaping the benefits. And their timing couldn't be better.
Pressed to wring savings out of every corner of their operations, many districts are quietly making changes to energy practices that can save six figures or more each year. And it's one of the few areas where reductions won't impact the classroom.
"It's giving us money - a lot of money - that we don't have to spend on energy, so it can go into education," said Scott Kennedy, director of operations in the Central Bucks School District, which expects to have about $1 million in energy savings this year.
The Council Rock School District has saved more than $9 million in fewer than five years by cutting energy consumption by 49 percent, said Thomas W. Schneider, the Bucks County district's supervisor of operations.
It has computerized its operations so that many systems can be automatically turned off. Supervisors, using laptops from home or the office, can control lighting, heating, and air-conditioning. Auditoriums and cafeterias, for example, don't get much air flow until just before a crowd arrives. Parking lot lights are turned on and off remotely.
Student and faculty "green teams" at schools keep consciousness high, said district science coordinator Renee Devlin. Children at some schools get teachers' permission to put green tape over light switches to keep them off for a time, she said, and put stickers on other switches reminding people to flick them off.
