Oceanside updates board on energy performance contract, solar installations and capital work; officials cite projected aid and eventual savings

District facilities staff told the Oceanside board that the district is near full implementation of an energy performance contract that includes solar panels on every campus and 11 energy conservation measures, and that final completion will trigger a contractor-guaranteed measurement-and-verification period.

"The district is near full completion with its implementation of the energy performance contract, which includes 11 energy conservation measures," the presenter said, listing LED lighting, solar panels, steam-trap upgrades, plug-load controls and boiler controls among the measures. Officials said the full implementation must be closed out with the state education department before the contractor's three-year measurement-and-verification (M&V) guarantee begins.

Board discussion noted two campuses are not yet fully connected to the solar grid and that the district will need at least a year of operational data to quantify annual utility savings. "We need at least a year's worth of data to know how much we had typically budgeted for, ultimately, into how much we're saving," a district representative said. Staff also cited past, site-specific savings as an indicator: an earlier solar installation produced an electrical savings the presenter estimated at about $500,000–$600,000.

The district said the EPC project is treated as a capital project by the New York State Education Department, which makes the district eligible for building aid when the project is closed out. "We reap the benefits as a self sustaining project of bringing additional building aid, which is approximately 40¢ of the dollar for us," a district official told the board.

Facilities updates delivered the board a brief status on capital projects: turf installed at School 3, completed tennis-court renovations at the high school, and interior work for a new auto shop and modernized woodshop as part of phase 5. The district also said it is reclaiming space at School 6 for five instructional spaces to support the early learning center, and that staff remain focused on safety and professional development for security personnel with outside partners including the Oceanside Fire Department, Northwell Health, Nassau County Police and the Department of Homeland Security.

No formal board action on the EPC was taken at the meeting; officials said completion and state closeout will trigger the project's M&V period and the subsequent accounting of guaranteed savings.