McKenzie School is ready and raring to go for the 2010-2011 school year, with few of the difficulties with its new additions/renovations some other schools in the county have encountered.

“We’ve had very few problems,” said Randy Williams, principal of the school.

“One of the few issues we’ve had was with the thermostats on the new A/C units – and that’s because they are just about too complicated to work. Otherwise, everything has gone really well for us.”

Speaking of those thermostats, Williams said the school would continue to be good stewards of the system’s funds by keeping the temperature set at 74 to 75 degrees.

“I am encouraging all our teachers to keep their blinds closed and their doors closed to help keep things more comfortable in the classroom and keep utility costs down,” Williams said. “We are also stressing cutting lights off in rooms when they are not being used and to cut computers off. You’d be surprised how much money measures like this can save you.”

Williams also has taken further steps to save on utility costs by cutting off the A/C in the school building during the weekends.

“We know every dollar counts right now, and one way you can save the system money is through utility expenses,” Williams said. “We were in line to get new energy-efficient windows, but the funds didn’t end up coming through, so we are making do the best we can,” the principal stressed.

Williams did point out new construction and additions in school buildings require a certain number of lights to stay on at all times, which is the case in McKenzie School’s new library/media center.

“In fact, one of the reasons our utility bills are lower than on other campuses in the county is the fact we are an older school,” Williams said. “New construction pretty much automatically means higher utility costs.”

When school starts August 5, McKenzie should welcome a total of 360 students in grades K-4 through 12, and two new teachers: Melissa Myers, secondary math teacher and Brandy Moseley, secondary science teacher.