The Fennimore School District was recently honored as a Top 25 Energy Star School.  Representatives from 25 Wisconsin school districts were recognized on Nov. 1 at the Sentry Complex in Stevens Point for their efforts to reduce energy.  The event was sponsored by Trane in cooperation with the Wisconsin Association for School Boards.

The districts were commended by Wisconsin Deputy Secretary Chris Schoenherr “for their efforts and the examples for our students.” Fennimore’s District Administrator Jamie Nutter and School Board Member Margaret Sprague represented the Fennimore Community School District.

Two years ago the district organized an energy management team of school board members, staff members, students, representatives from Focus on Energy,  and community members, Scott Napp and Steve Barry, who have careers as energy consultants. The goal of the committee was to reduce energy consumption by changing habits. Through that process the district discussed and evaluated practices. The group communicated its goals and recommendations to the school community as a whole. These practices resulted in an 18 percent decrease in electricity over the past two years as compared to school years prior. The district also replaced the boiler and controls at the high school and saved 11 percent on overall natural gas use compared to the average use from the past 10 years. Although the focus was on energy conservation, the changes have resulted in thousands of dollars in savings for the district annually.