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The Brief
The East Valley School District is installing solar panels on the roofs of East Valley Elementary and Moxee Elementary after receiving nearly $1.1 million in grants from the Washington Department of Commerce.
District officials say the project will help meet state clean buildings compliance requirements while generating long-term energy cost savings.
Work is expected to begin this summer with contractor Apollo Solutions Group, with completion targeted for this fall.
YAKIMA, Wash. — The East Valley School District is preparing to launch a clean energy project this summer that officials say could lower energy costs and redirect savings back into classrooms.
The district, located in Yakima County and serving more than 3,000 students, plans to install solar panels on the roofs of East Valley Elementary and Moxee Elementary. The project is funded through two grants from the Washington Department of Commerce totaling close to $1.1 million.
Shawn Myers, CTE and Alternative Learning Experience director for the East Valley School District, said the project serves two key purposes for the district.
“Our interest in it was twofold. So there’s a clean buildings legislation that was passed a few years ago that we need to be in compliance from an energy perspective. And generating our own power would help with that,” Myers said.
Beyond regulatory compliance, district leaders say the project carries significant financial potential. Myers said savings on energy bills could translate directly into more resources for students.
“Instead of paying energy bills and utilizing money from that aspect, we can save that and then put that back into resources to help kids,” Myers said.
Officials note the project will not include battery storage, unlike some neighboring districts that received similar grants. Despite that, the district says the project is moving through its final planning stages. Contractor Apollo Solutions Group is on track to begin work this summer while students are out of school.
“Right now the project is in kind of permitting, engineering, designing, contracting phase. That phase is coming quickly to an end. And we just had a meeting last week where contractor Apollo Solutions Group is on track to begin work this summer, when kids are out of school,” Myers said.
District officials also see the project as an opportunity to bring real-world learning into the classroom through the district’s Career and Technical Education program.
“Hope is to try to be able to combine the project with CTE, our career tech ed program, from as simple as how much energy we’re producing, what does that mean for cost savings, but also from a sustainability and environmental and energy efficiency perspective,” Myers said.
District leaders say most of the construction work is expected to take place over the summer, with the goal of having the project completed sometime this fall.
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