BURNSIDE - When students and staff return to Southeast Webster-Grand for the first day of classes Aug. 18, they will walk into brighter, more energy efficient buildings.

This summer, SW-G has made nearly $150,000 in improvements to its three buildings, located in Burnside, Boxholm and Dayton, Superintendent Mike Jorgensen said. The projects first began with the installation of new, more energy efficient lighting in the Dayton and Boxholm schools about two years ago.

"Once everything is finished, we will have completed around $300,000 in improvements between the three buildings," said Jorgensen.

Upgrades in the Dayton Elementary building completed since the end of May include remodeled restrooms complete with new stalls and fixtures and new hand-washing stations, new hand dryers and drinking fountains located in the hallway outside the restrooms.

"The hand dryers will be great," said Custodian Kevin Copper. "We won't go through nearly as many paper towels."

"The remodeled restrooms were one of our most significant projects," Jorgensen said.

Other improvements to the Dayton building have been the updating of the school's main entry way from glass to a brick frame, and the replacement of two old boilers with one new boiler last winter. Prior to the replacement of the boiler, each wing of the school was heated by its own individual boiler, Copper said.

"The brick will help to reduce heat loss," said Jorgensen. "And we saw a huge savings after replacing the boiler last year."

At the high school in Burnside, the district will save money and energy with new motion sensor lights that have been installed in the restrooms, gymnasium and locker rooms.

"The new lights will also be an energy savings," said Jorgensen.

The high school is also in the process of covering glass bricks around windows for better heating in the winter, a project that was also completed last year at the district's Boxholm site.

Jorgensen said the majority of the overall $300,000 in improvements have been paid for with dollars received from the local option sales tax in Boone and Webster counties.

A new set of wheels will also be added to SW-G's fleet of school buses this year, Copper said. The new fuel efficient bus was purchased with a $30,450 grant received in February through the Iowa Bus Emissions Education Program.

"We're going green," said Jorgensen.

Contact Emilie Nelson at (515)573-2141 or enelson@messengernews.net