Board approves LED lighting upgrade for Central High and Lakewood Middle to capture utility incentives

The Salina Public Schools Board of Education on Dec. 9 approved the purchase and installation of LED lighting at Central High School and Lakewood Middle School to secure utility rebate incentives.

During the action-agenda item the superintendent described the district’s LED retrofit program and said Evergy estimated the district had saved "close to 600,000 kilowatts," roughly the annual consumption of about 50 households. He explained Evergy's rebate incentive window had been reduced and urged the board to commit to projects at Central and Lakewood in order to maximize available incentives.

A board member moved to "approve the purchase and installation of LED lighting at Central High School and Lakewood Middle School through the ROI Energy" contractor. The transcript records multiple figures during the motion and immediate clarification: an initial figure of $500,138 was spoken as part of the motion, then $508,138 and $538,138 were referenced during the exchange. The motion was seconded and approved by a 6-0 vote; the public record at the meeting did not resolve which of the cited figures is the final executed contract amount.

Superintendent and staff described the procurement process: Evergy provides rebates and hires a third-party auditor to place monitors and verify savings; ROI acts as a general contractor for large-volume installations and the district plans to complete larger secondary-school projects first because of scale and resource limitations. The board noted remaining elementary-school retrofits remain on the district’s long-range facilities plan.

The board approved the purchase to secure rebates and reduce ongoing operating costs; district staff will finalize contract paperwork and confirm the final contract amount and funding source within capital-improvement budgets.

Next steps: staff to finalize contract with ROI Energy and confirm final contract figure for the public record.