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Create comfortable classrooms, improve campus security and boost athletic environments: these are common desires for today’s educators. But how can cash-strapped school districts ever hope to fund these priorities when faced with long-overdue deferred maintenance projects? Is it possible to accomplish it all?
That’s exactly what Marshall County Schools in Alabama did when it partnered with Schneider Electric on an innovative solution that addressed long-needed facility improvements while significantly upgrading the learning environment, addressing security and boosting district athletics.
A holistic approach to capital planning and infrastructure improvements allowed the district to meet all its goals and uncover new funding streams. In fact, this project will reduce annual utility costs by 27% . . . that’s a savings of more than $500,000 a year. These savings are being reinvested to fund wishlist items that are making transformational changes across the district
1. Safety and Security. School safety is always a priority, but for many school districts, the existing systems are well behind the times. And new standards for safety and security rapidly evolve. Safety and security can be broken into four main areas: nighttime safety, emergency situations, building security and surveillance. K-12 schools typically need to address one or more of these key areas.
See how Marshall County Schools dramatically improved its safety and security.
2. Athletic environments. More school districts are looking for ways to add even greater value to their communities and state-of-the-art athletic facilities often fit the bill. Athletic programs are highly prized by students and often serve as a rallying point for communities, making these facilities highly visible representations of the school district to the public at large. While each school is different, the pools, gyms, stadiums and the accompanying locker rooms, maintenance buildings and concession stands may comprise a district’s athletic portfolio that are in need of upgrading.
See how Marshall County Schools achieved its long-held dream of building the district’s first football stadium — without raising taxes.
3. Classroom comfort. Studies show the more comfortable students are, the better they perform. But as buildings age, the infrastructure that keeps classrooms comfortable often begins to fail and become outdated. Unfortunately, too many schools are unable to keep up due to constrained budgets. Concerns generally fall into these areas: providing consistent temperatures, eliminating maintenance-related disruptions, reducing classroom noise and making classrooms brighter.
See how Marshall County Schools used new technologies to capture energy savings and dramatically increase classroom comfort.
To learn more about how Schneider Electric is helping schools achieve their vision, visit www.schneider-electric.us/enable. With our expertise and your vision, we make K-12 dreams a reality.
