District reports ESSER projects complete; final $2.9M reimbursement expected

District staff and contractor representatives told the construction committee that ESSER 2 and ESSER 3 infrastructure projects assigned to Snyder Electric are complete and that the district will receive its final federal reimbursement payment of just over $2.9 million.

"We actually received... an email from Albert... from NCDPI that we received our last installment will come in tomorrow a little over 2.9 so we are done we've spent the entire 14,000,000 and our last reimbursement will come in tomorrow from NCDPI and the federal government," a district staff speaker said. The speaker said the full reimbursement will return the $2,000,000 taken from reserves back to the Capital Outlay account.

Snyder Electric’s site superintendent, Lonnie, said final permits for window work were obtained and the switchgear installation completed over the Christmas break passed final inspection; Snyder staff said they are preparing closing documents for ESSER 3. Principal Brooks and other staff thanked Snyder for work done during the break to ensure systems were running before school resumed.

District staff said an internal facility study reported electricity costs of about $4.8 million for July 2023–June 2024; earlier figures cited electric costs near $4.1 million. Committee members and Snyder representatives said that reducing utility costs is a high priority as the district moves into capital planning.

Next steps: staff will confirm the reimbursement deposit and report the updated Capital Outlay balance; construction staff said paving and other capital projects will be reviewed in upcoming 2026–27 planning conversations. The transcript does not record an explicit vote on these finance items.