At their March 9 meeting, The Appoquinimink School District’s Board of Education approved to extend the 2009-2010 school year to make up for days lost due to the recent snowstorms that hit the area.
Superintendent Dr. Tony Marchio said the district has had a total of seven snow days, however they have asked Delaware Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery for two days to be forgiven due to state of emergency status.
Marchio said the last day of school will now be Friday, June 4 for high school students; Tuesday, June 8 for preschool and kindergarten students; and Wednesday, June 9 for grades first through Eighth. Teachers’ last day will be Thursday, June 10.
Energy Conservation
Dennis Scott, Chief Custodian at Everett Meredith Middle School, received the annual Energy Conservation Award for the third time.
Each year, Bob Hershey, buildings and facilities supervisor for the district, presents the award to the school that had the greatest decrease in energy usage over a one-year period.
Hershey said almost every school in the district saw a decrease in energy consumption from November 2008 to November 2009.
“There are a number of factors involved, but a lot of it is because of the personal attention and efforts of the custodians, staff and administration in these buildings,” he said.
Hershey said on average, commercial buildings use 10 kilowatts per square foot, and the majority of the district’s buildings use less than that.
He said MMS had a 10 percent decrease in kilowatt usage, but other schools like Brick Mill Elementary School and the Cedar Lane complex were close behind, both down by 9 percent.
Middletown High School Chief Custodian Brien Shilling was also commended for his consistent work in conserving energy.
“Over a six-year time period, they’ve actually knocked 1 million kilowatts out of use, which equates to about $140,000 we’d be paying this year if we were consuming that same amount of electricity as we did six years ago,” Hershey said.
He said the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems are controlled by his department, which also allows the district to manage their energy consumption.
“We can do as much as we can with the HVAC units, but once the technology goes, it’s [the chief custodians] who get the staff and administration involved,” Hershey said.
