News
It has been the problem that has plagued school districts for years and continues to be the largest thorn in the sides of educators everywhere: Teachers are underpaid and deserve more money. That is definitely nothing new, but the other side of that argument has also been around for a while. How can we pay teachers more when there’s no money in the school budget? It’s a fair question that doesn’t always have a straightforward answer. Now, however, one school district has come up with a creative way to address the problem using solar panels.
Batesville School District’s bright idea
Welcome to Batesville Arkansas, a small town with a 7-school district and a whole lot of ingenuity. About 5 years ago the district started looking into ways to cut costs, specifically on their energy bills. They started by installing energy-efficient light bulbs and improving the insulation in their schools to keep the heat in. And while those steps helped out a little, their next decision is where the money really started rolling in.
The district installed solar panels, 1,400 of them to be exact, in an unused field outside of Batesville High School. Those panels provide most of the electricity powering the district’s seven schools and save them thousands of dollars every month.
“We’re able to lower our monthly bill from around $17,000 a month to around $4,000.”
Megan Renihan of the Batesville School District.
The school district worked with the local energy company to set the solar panels up and now not only do those panels power up the school, but the leftover energy is being sold back to the energy company for a hefty sum. Hefty enough to give teachers in the district a $15,000/year raise.
Yes, you read that last sentence correctly, and, no, your brain didn’t add an extra zero by mistake. Teachers in Batesville, Arkansas began earning an extra $15,000 a year thanks to those solar panels, which affected their paycheck and entire work life.
Solar panels changed everything for teachers
Batesville had been a poor-paying district in one of the lowest-paying states in America. The schools there were a revolving door of teachers teaching for a few years and leaving for greener pastures. Now it’s the highest paying school district in Northern Arkansas and one of the highest-paying districts in the state. Batesville has suddenly become a go-to destination for teachers in the area which has helped them attract and, more importantly, retain educators which has helped transform the schools themselves.
The schools in the district have become so eco-friendly that they are now designing a renewable-energy curriculum that ties in with the green initiative throughout the district so the students can learn about how it works and hopefully help spread the word about the advantages of solar and other forms of energy.
One would think news like this would spread like wildfire across the globe and motivate other districts make similar changes. Cutting energy costs AND have enough left over to make teachers happy? It sounds like a win-win. Sadly, a deep dive on the internet reveals no other districts working on it or even thinking about it. Part of the reason may be the cost of installing all those solar panels, or finding a place to put them. Either way, teachers that don’t work in Batesville, Arkansas can only hope that maybe their school district will one day come up with a similar brilliant idea to add a little green to their energy and their bank account.
