After Judge Rosie Sample swore in the two new members of the Attala County School Board — Sheila Rone and Wilson Jackson — the board got down to business.An agreement to move forward with an energy efficiency effort within the district will likely have several positive effects on the district.According to Ryan Burage, a representative of Entegrity Energy Partners, his firm will replace 2,538 light fixtures and half of the HVAC units in the district, with the rest being “tuned up.” This effort will likely rid most school buildings of noisy, inefficient and unattractive window HVAC units. There will be additional HVAC upgrades made district-wide, as well as some window replacements for energy efficiency, and toilet and sink replacements for water conservation.Though the district will use about $250,000 from the 3 mil note it took out earlier and finance another $1.46 million to complete the projects, Entegrity guarantees that the savings the district will see from the improvements will at least cover the costs.“If you don’t see the savings, we have to write you a check for the difference,” he told the board.Burage said he expects the district to see about $600,000 in positive cash flow over the next 20 years, money that could be reinvested in education within the district. Entegrity also provides a green energy curriculum to participating districts to help students “learn to save and be good stewards of resources.”The district approved the agreement pending legal review, as well as putting the financing out to bid.In other business, the board approved revising the district COVID-19 return-to-work policy to reflect the latest guidance from the CDC. District employees who have been quarantined due to close contact can return to work after seven days if they have a negative test result on the seventh day. Without the test, employees must remain out for 10 days. All employees should be symptom-free for at least 72 hours prior to their return.At the close of the open meeting, the board entered into executive session to discuss the annual evaluation of Superintendent Kyle Hammond.
