First Selectman says Sharon Center School solar project canceled because electrical panel is too small; resident donates portable generator

First Selectman Casey Flanagan told the Sharon Board of Education on Sept. 16 that a planned solar-panel installation at Sharon Center School was canceled because the building's electrical panel was not large enough to support the system.

Board members reviewed written communications that included a neighbor's email about outside lighting, an email from David Levinson noting he had donated a small portable solar generator to Sharon Center School for educational purposes, and two parent letters asking that children moving to New York be allowed to finish the school year at Sharon Center without tuition. David Levinson later spoke during a public-comment period specifically about the solar-panel project.

The board did not record a motion related to the solar project; the minutes attribute the cancellation to limitations of the school's electrical panel. The written communications file also recorded the generator donation; the minutes do not specify technical details about the canceled installation or whether an upgrade to the panel will be pursued.

Earlier in the meeting the minutes show a public-comment entry recorded as "none." The minutes later record David Levinson's public comment; this reflects two separate public-comment entries rather than a contradiction in the record.

No formal next steps on the solar project appear in the minutes. Administration or the First Selectman's office would need to assess electrical upgrades, permits and financing if the district chooses to revisit a rooftop or ground-mounted system.