The Fayette County Board of

Education finally gave the go-ahead Monday night for implementation of

a systemwide energy management plan, though there are doubts the savings

will be enough to accurately measure the success or failure of the program.

Mike Satterfield, facilities

services director for the district, told the board that the proposal was

mostly unchanged from previous versions, except instead of "suggesting"

that individual schools embrace the guidelines to cut energy costs, the

policy would be considered mandatory procedure in all schools.

"The feeling was that

we had a little too much leeway for the principals to enforce the policy

as they see fit," said Satterfield.

Discretion remains, however,

when it comes to classroom "appliances" like mini-fridges, microwaves

or coffeepots. "We'll leave those decisions up to the individual

schools," Satterfield said.

Board member Lee Wright wanted

to know what the "baseline" would be for comparing energy cost

savings down the road.

Satterfield agreed that was

a tough call, since the district has in recent months made significant

improvements to cut down on utility waste. "We've made tremendous

improvements, replacing 10,000 light bulbs with more efficient ones,"

he said.

Other upgrades have been made

to heating and air systems, and about a third of the district's buildings

are on computerized systems that can be controlled remotely, including

from home.

Board member Janet Smola wanted

to know if there was a timeline for determine if the policy was saving

money. "I realize that we're not dedicating personnel to this,

and that facility services has agreed to take it on," she said.

Superintendent John DeCotis

said the board could reconsider the policy in about a year, which seemed

the only fair timeframe even though it comes more than four months into

the fiscal year.

"Depending on the results,

it would be good to consider putting someone in charge if the results

showed we need it," DeCotis said. "Or we may consider going

with an outside management firm."

The policy will go into effect

immediately and encourages common sense approaches to saving power, like

turning off lights when not in use.

Also Monday, the board awarded

a contract in the amount of $420,872 for science lab casework at Whitewater

High School to Georgia School Equipment. Smola voted against the proposal,

taking issue with the way the purchase price was negotiated with the lowest

bidder.

Purchasing agent Fred Phillips

reported that the bids all came in well over the $400,000 budgeted as

part of Whitewater's construction funding. But instead of rebidding

the entire job, school system science coordinator Sharon Boyer worked

with Georgia School Equipment to eliminate unnecessary components.

Smola argued that all of the

bidders should have had the opportunity to resubmit proposals. The board

voted to approve the purchase anyway at the urging of DeCotis, who said

time was a concern.

The Whitewater High facility

will open next summer.