KCSD facilities committee weighs $6.3M roofing cost ahead of solar grant discussion

District facilities staff told the Keystone Central SD facilities committee on May 26 that a preliminary package to prepare several school roofs for solar would cost roughly $6,300,000 for five candidate schools and that structural and warranty alignment would be required before installers would place panels.

"The 5 schools was about 6,300,000 to do new roofs," said Sam Hoy, the district’s facilities supervisor, summarizing contractor pricing for Mill Elementary, Renova Elementary, Central Mountain Middle School, Bucktail High School and Central Mountain High School. Staff said roof work is often a prerequisite because contractors and solar financiers want the roof and solar warranties to align.

Members discussed options and tradeoffs: several noted solar installations are frequently structured as power‑purchase agreements (PPA) that reduce monthly electric costs but leave maintenance responsibility with the solar vendor; others warned maintenance arrangements can complicate future roof work because panels must be shut down to access roof areas. Chair Chris said he preferred to hold off on heavy spending until the budget and superintendent search are resolved.

Committee member Elizabeth recommended placing a short solar overview on the June work session so the full board can discuss project options and whether to pursue available grants. The committee agreed to refer an informational overview to the work session; no funding commitment or formal project approval was made at the meeting.

Staff said they will prepare cost comparisons, roof warranty information and examples of packaged PPA proposals for the work session so the board can decide whether to pursue grant funding or other approaches in the coming months.