Houston Public Schools approve solar panel addition

Questions were raised concerning the loss of parking stalls as a result of the solar panels, and a suggestion was made to potentially place the panels on the roof of the Bus Barn as opposed to the front yard. This suggestion was soon tossed aside, however, as the Bus Barn is nowhere near stable enough to hold solar panels on its roof.

The yard “is about the only place we can go. … It’s the best place available,” said Transportation Facilities Director Steve Walters.

The proposal vote was time sensitive, as the submission deadline is Aug. 15. If approved, the state would cover 95% of the cost to install the solar panels. A motion to approve carries and was unanimous.

Livestream service

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the board signed a contract with NFHS Livestream, incurring a $4,000 cost, and in exchange, the school district was provided all the tools and equipment necessary to stream all home games, concerts, award days, graduations and more for free, thus allowing local residents to tune in from a distance.

Activities and Communications Director Mikayla (Simmons) Everson brought it to the board's attention that this contract is up for renewal and asked if the board wanted to continue with the service. A question was raised regarding how many viewers the livestreams actually reach. Discussion was tabled in hopes of getting this question answered before the next board meeting. The board tentatively decided if viewership averages over 58, the board will pay the $4,000 to continue the service for free.

If the board was to not renew the contact, access to local livestreaming would cost $70 per family, and the school would also be required to return any video recording equipment they had on loan from the streaming service.