The Leon County Schools are saving significant sums by learning how to save energy. Last year it was 75-thousand dollars.
Through its volunteer-powered Sustainability Plan, the district has been learning from experts how to save energy in dozens of ways.
School Board Member Rosanne Wood, who’s been involved with the plan since it started three years ago, says environmental science is part of it as well.
“...and how we get our students to understand the environment better so that they take care of it. Because it’s their planet," she says. "They’re inheriting it. We want them to understand the science behind environmental science and to be aware of their part in taking care of the planet.”
Working with their curriculum department, Wood says, the Leon schools are instructing teachers on meeting the Florida standards.
“It’s especially important that students have hands-on projects, so that we have gardens in our schools and students learn how to recycle," Wood says. "We’re working on how to use vegetables from the garden right in the cafeteria and the food they eat.”
She says the school district is the fourth-largest energy user in the county. “We can really help the whole city and county be more energy efficient and, obviously, try to save money in our budget so it can go to the classrooms. And that’s one of our big objectives, to reduce district operating costs so that we can put more money into teachers’ salaries and classroom supplies and so forth.”
Meanwhile, the district is updating its equipment, kitchens and transportation for more efficiency.
