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USD 470 Arkansas City Public Schools

Arkansas City, Kansas
Top Performer (2009)
20% Improvement (2009)

USD 470, the Arkansas City Public School District, serves almost 3,000 students and over 400 employees in six elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, an early learning center, and several support facilities. The district has earned ENERGY STAR Leaders recognition for improving its overall energy performance by 20 percent. USD 470 has also been recognized by EPA as a Leaders Top Performer for achieving a portfolio-wide average energy performance rating of 95. Nine of the districts school buildings have earned the ENERGY STAR for superior energy performance, preventing carbon emissions equal to planting more than 200 acres of trees.

The district began its partnership with Energy Education, Inc. in 2004. Through this relationship, it has saved more than $450,000 on utility bills and cut down energy costs by over 21 percent. Through this program, each person is expected to be a responsible energy consumer. Principals, staff, custodians, teachers, and students all learn to increase energy efficiency by turning it off, turning it down, and using it less.

The districts energy manager communicates with the schools and community through press releases, presentations to the Board of Education, energy report cards to schools, and frequent reminders to all staff. The energy manager and the director of maintenance work together to assure that everyone is using the best practices for energy efficiency and that buildings and equipment are operating as intended.