Kutztown Area School Board Approves $5.23M HVAC Deal 8-0

The Kutztown Area School District board voted 8-0 on Sept. 21 to hire McClure Company for a heating and cooling overhaul at Kutztown Elementary School at a "Total Project Cost of $5,231,547," according to meeting minutes the district posted this week on its 2026-27 minutes page. The work runs under a Guaranteed Energy Savings Agreement, a contract in which the installer promises in writing that guaranteed savings, mainly lower energy and operating costs, will cover the cost of the upgrades.

We flagged the vote in our preview of the Sept. 21 meeting.

The vote

The minutes record the motion under the heading "Kutztown Elementary School HVAC." Reba Hoffman moved and Jeremiah Light seconded "to approve McClure Company to perform Guaranteed Energy Savings Agreements (GESA) for HVAC and and other related updates, per the attached, at a Total Project Cost of $5,231,547." The doubled "and" appears in both the Sept. 21 agenda and the minutes. The agenda's index listed the same item as "KES HVAC Upgrades GESA Project."

The board decided by roll call, meaning each member's vote was called and recorded by name: "Yes 8 No 0 Absent 1 (Ziegler) Motion carried." Daniel Wismer, Reba Hoffman, Matthew Biniek, Jeremiah Light, Erin Engel, Caecilia Holt, Michael Sailsbery and President Jason Koch were present. Laurel Ziegler was absent.

The Sept. 21 vote finished a two-step approval. On Aug. 17, with three members absent, the board voted 6-0 to approve a "Notice to Proceed with McClure Company for preconstruction activities" on the project, "including equipment procurement," and said the "final project scope, timing, and additional details" would come back for approval on or after Sept. 21, according to the Aug. 17 minutes. The facilities committee took a "McClure Project Update" on Sept. 14.

What a GESA is

Pennsylvania's Guaranteed Energy Savings Act lets a "governmental unit," a term the law says includes a school district, hire a qualified provider to recommend and install "energy conservation measures" such as heating, ventilating and air conditioning replacements. The contract must include "a written guarantee that savings will meet or exceed the cost" of the measures, and it may spread payments over as long as 20 years. Before the award, the provider must supply a report, "available for public inspection," that estimates installation, maintenance, repair and debt-service costs and the amount by which energy or operating costs will fall.

What the minutes do not say

The minutes give the total project cost and nothing else about the money. They do not record the financing term, the annual payment, an interest rate, or the dollar amount of savings McClure guaranteed. The agreement itself is referenced only as "per the attached," and the attachment is not part of the posted minutes or agenda. The minutes also do not record a construction schedule or a completion date.

One parent raised timing. The minutes say Ben Hoffman, a high school art teacher "speaking as a parent not an employee," called the project "a concern due to distractions, timing, impact or move students, and keeping students focused," and asked whether "some of the punch list items" could move to the summer months. The minutes record no response from the board or administration.

The school district's share is the largest piece of most property tax bills in the county; see our guide to how a Berks County property tax bill is built.

Other business

Every other roll call that night was 8-0 with Ziegler absent, except the approval of the Aug. 17 minutes, which passed 7-0 with Michael Sailsbery abstaining; the minutes give no reason, though he was absent Aug. 17. The board:

• Authorized Treasurer Beth Ann Siteman to sign a contract "provided by Provident Energy with the lowest bidder" to lock in electricity rates for the Greenwich Elementary building starting July 1, 2027. The minutes name no supplier and no price.
• Approved a student transportation contract with the Chester County Intermediate Unit for 2026-27, "per the attached." No figure is recorded.
• Approved a special-education settlement agreement with one student. The minutes identify the student only by a number and give no amount.
• Approved an agreement with Conrad Siegel for Affordable Care Act reporting "at no rate change from prior year."
• Ratified $1,109,923.51 in general fund bills and approved another $739,013.89.
• Accepted the retirement of Bernard Boyle, an eighth grade science teacher at the middle school, effective Jan. 21, 2027, along with other hires, coaching stipends and seven policies for first reading.

President Koch said an executive session, a closed-door meeting of the board, was held before the public meeting "for the purpose of personnel, and legal matters." The meeting adjourned at 8:04 p.m.

What is next

The board met again Oct. 19. That agenda carried no McClure or GESA item, and its minutes are not yet posted. Per the district's meeting-dates page and the Oct. 19 agenda, committees meet Monday, Nov. 9, at 6 and 7 p.m. in the high school library; the monthly board meeting is Monday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. at a special location, the BCTC East Campus, 3307 Friedensburg Road, Oley; and the reorganization meeting is Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. at the high school.

The cost and savings estimates behind the deal are not secret by law. Section 3753(e) of the statute requires the provider's pre-award report, with its cost and savings estimates, to be "available for public inspection," and Section 3754(d) caps improvements "not causally connected to an energy conservation measure" at 15 percent of the contract's total value, allowing them only when required by law or justified by an economic analysis. The district has not posted the report; we have not yet requested it.

Other Berks school boards are weighing energy projects of their own; see our preview of Oley Valley's $1.8 million in Solar for Schools grant requests. For the borough government, see our Kutztown council Oct. 20 preview.