The Greene County School Board met twice on Wednesday night.
The first meeting opened with a public hearing on the proposed property tax levy for the 2026 fiscal year. There was one person that asked questions, but no other comments were made. Superintendent Brett Abbotts said that the last four years the overall property tax levy for the school district has been decreasing, but that for the next fiscal year, it is proposed to have a slight increase. He said the increase is due to having to pay more for property insurance costs.
Abbotts noted that ENC Insurance had stated that because the formula had changed with property insurance, it is now one percent of the total assessed valuation of each building in the district is what that has to be insured for. The proposed property tax levy is $14.18 per $1,000 of property valuation compared to the current fiscal year tax levy of $14.11. Following the hearing, the Board then approved to set the public hearing for the 2026 fiscal year budget for April 16th at 4:30pm.
Following adjournment, the next meeting started with the ratification of the negotiated agreement between the School Board and the Greene County Education Association for the 2025-26 school year. There were no changes from the previous agreement and that GCEA had ratified its side prior to the Board ratifying their side. The vote was 3-0 with Board member Connie Boyd abstaining and Bonnie Silbaugh was absent from the meeting.
Finally, the Board reviewed the initial design plans and cost analysis from Modus Engineering, OPN Architects and Story Construction for the installation of the solar panel project. The high school had a base bid and an alternate with a battery storage, with all solar panels located on the ground. The base bid was estimated at $2.6 million with a yearly energy savings of $61,000 and an estimated 20 or more year payback. The alternate was $1.85 million, with a yearly energy savings of $30,000 and the yearly demand savings of $80,000 and that had an estimated ten or more year payback. It was mentioned that the demand savings would be during higher than normal energy usage. Modus Engineering was asked to find out if the solar panels could be placed on the roof and do an analysis for that.
The middle school was pitched as a hybrid of ground and roof panels with a cost of $1.3 million with a $25,000 yearly energy savings and a 20 or more year payback. The estimate with the battery storage was $1.7 million, with a $25,000 yearly energy savings and another $50,000 in demand savings, with an estimated ten or more year payback. Finally, the elementary school had only roof panels with a cost of $900,000, with an $18,000 yearly savings on a 20 or more year payback. The estimate with a battery storage was $1.4 million, with an $18,000 energy savings and a $30,000 demand savings, on a ten or more year payback.
The Board decided to move forward with the proposed timeline with issuing finalized bid documents for sub-bidders expected on April 2nd, and a potential awarding and selection of alternates by May 14th. Construction could start as early as mid to late August with the elementary first.