Roosevelt school district gets rebate from LIPA

The Roosevelt school district received a $102,410 rebate check Thursday from LIPA for installing energy-saving fixtures and appliances in its newly renovated high school, which reopened in September after a $66.9 million upgrade.

"When we went over the reconstruction of the building, we made sure to use green technology," said Alfred Taylor, vice president of the Roosevelt Board of Education.

Taylor said the rebate funds will be rolled into the school district's budget. Roosevelt ranks as Nassau County's second-poorest school district, with a taxable wealth that is less than 60 percent of the state's average, according to Albany's latest calculations.

The recent high school renovation capped the largest reconstruction project ever undertaken in a single Long Island school district. Roosevelt, like other districts that are relatively poor, is heavily dependent on state financial aid to pay for both school reconstruction and day-to-day operations. Albany is financing 98 percent of Roosevelt's approved reconstruction costs under special legislation.

Taylor said the reconstruction included many energy-efficient initiatives -- from the lights in the classroom to the water fountains in the hallways. He said the district is looking at other options, such as using solar panels to run the high school's scoreboard.

The rebuilt school has a 27,700-square-foot expansion that includes 16 science and computer labs, a mirrored dance studio and job-training centers for prospective chefs and nurses.

ll classrooms are equipped with electronic interactive whiteboards. Teachers can draw diagrams on them with a touch of a finger or press display-screen icons that produce instantaneous text, photos or music. The school's new heating and cooling system also is energy efficient.

District Superintendent Deborah Wortham said the use of energy efficient systems in the school sends "a great message to the students" about being environmentally conscious.