Swampscott school utilities budget comes up short

SWAMPSCOTT-Utilities for the school department are expected to cost $324,000 more in the next fiscal year than was budgeted.According to data presented to the School Committee at its meeting Thursday evening, it is expected to cost $601,629 for heat and electric at the high school in fiscal year 2009 but the district only budgeted $324,000.Superintendent Matthew Malone said the district has to find a way to reign in utility costs.?Unless we find a way to control this,” he said. “We’re looking at cuts in human resources to operate the building.”The high school isn’t the only facility that was grossly under budgeted for the upcoming fiscal year when it comes to utility costs.The FY 09 budget includes $184,000 for heat and utilities for the middle school on Greenwood Avenue but it is expected to cost $276,000, according to data provided by Budget Director Edward Cronin.Cronin said he pulled three years of gas, oil and electric bills for all the schools, which he used to compile his data.?The scarier component is the new high school,” he said. “There was no track record.”Cronin said his estimated budget for utilities at the new high school is based on energy used since it opened in September. He said the electric usage at the high school on Essex Street is more than 300 percent of what was used when the high school was located in the Forest Avenue facility.Cronin pointed out there are things the district can do to save money including turning off lights computers, monitors, printers and other equipment every night in all its buildings.Malone said he is working the School Building Committee and contractors regarding the lights at the high school because when the lights are turned off every fourth one remains on. He said he has been shutting the lights off from the breaker boxes every night.Cronin said the lights in the gymnasium at the middle school on Forest Avenue are inefficient and must be left on all day because the lights take so long to power up. He said he is applying for a grant to replace those lights, which would cut energy consumption in the middle school dramatically.Cronin said the district budgeted $205,000 for heat and electric at the operational elementary schools but he expects it would actually cost $199,142 and he budgeted another $30,900 to mothball Machon Elementary School. The district also budgeted $35,000 to mothball the former middle school on Greenwood Avenue, but Cronin said it might be possible to drain the building so it would not have to be heated so the district anticipates a need for an additional budget amount of $324,677.?The $324,677 (deficit) we’re looking at is the worst case scenario,” he said. “If we control things a little better I hope we can save 25 percent.”