Milton School Committee Accepts PV Solar Panel Project

At the Milton School Committee meeting on Wednesday, April 27, the board members made a final decision on the PV Solar Project, which has long been under discussion and planning.

Matthew J. Gillis, the School Business Administrator, has been heading this major project. Gillis brought Bill Ritchie, Director of Consolidated Facilities, and volunteers Richard Malmstrom, Joseph Murphy, John Kibbee and Robert Patterson to present the project to the School Committee.

The Solar Project’s goal is to set up solar panels on the rooftops of Milton’s schools and public buildings. “The energy output of these panels would, over time, counteract any costs to install them,” Gillis explained in his presentation. "The estimation is that once installed, the panels would save $94,000 per year."

There are drawbacks to the panels. The panels add five to six pounds per square foot of weight onto the rooftops, and some of the rooftops that are planned to have panels installed, are in need of repair. Installing the panels would make repairing and maintaining the rooftops even more difficult.

Leroy Walker, the newly elected School Committee member, was the first to raise questions about the solar panel project interfering with the ongoing rooftop repairs: “Why complicate these projects? Is there any way to do the repairs before installations?”

The idea to get around this is twofold; one, to make major repairs to the rooftops before installation; and two, to have engineers evaluate and approve the installation so that less repairs need to be made after installation.

A second proposal for the Solar Panel project was in the construction of an offsite solar panel grid. This would remove the problems of installing panels on the rooftops. The other advantage to this is that the energy output will be greater, and the savings would be $250,000 per year.

However, the offsite project has its disadvantages; the project may take longer to complete, and there have been less successful offsite solar panel projects completed. Therefore, the risks of delays or cancellations are greater.

The third proposal made by Gillis and his team was to go ahead with both projects. If one project is stalled or delayed, the benefits of one project will cover for the setbacks of the other. Both projects combined would meet both the energy needs of Milton, as well as generate enough energy and savings to fund other projects in the future.

After much debate of the pros and cons of all three proposals, the motion was voted on unanimously five to zero in favor for both the rooftop and the offsite solar panel projects.

Earlier in the meeting, nominations were made for the election of the new Chair and Vice Chair positions. Glen Pavlicek was nominated to be Chair, and Denis Keohane was nominated for Vice Chair. Both received unanimous votes for their new positions.

Superintendent Mary Gormley gave a report on the upcoming special events of Milton. The Milton Public School’s Teacher of the Year Award Ceremony is currently accepting nominations. Teachers are nominated by peers, parents, and community members based on performance and the teacher’s influence.

As part of Teacher Appreciation week, fifth grade teacher Erin Power won a trip to Springfield, IL.

There’s also an undergoing screening process for the selection of a new Milton High School Principal. “So far, there have been 67 applications, and the applicants are being reviewed,” Gormley said.

Gormley also mentioned that on Friday, May 20, the Fuller Village in Milton is having a reception for its silent auction of student work and artwork from the residents.

There’s also a reminder for teachers and parents that MCAS testing is starting soon.

The last upcoming event that Gornley announced was the Massachusetts Safe Routes to School Day, which will be held on Wednesday, May 4^th. “It’s possible that Governor Deval Patrick will be attending the event as well, but this has not been officially confirmed yet,” Gormley said.

The last voting decision that was made was a motion brought up by Kristan Bagley-Jones, regarding School Choice. At the School Committee’s last meeting they reviewed School Choice, and as Bagley-Jones stated, “it’s something we may want to review again, but for the current year it’s proven difficult.” A unanimous vote was made in favor of rejecting School Choice, with the possibility of review in future years.