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Inside the Cabinet Meeting
A Newsletter from Dr. Jim Largent - Issue 1 - December 2019
WELCOME!
Welcome to the first edition of Inside the Cabinet Meeting! I plan to send this out 3-4 times per year and plan to focus on topics that are generally discussed in cabinet meetings in schools. Please share this with colleagues, your administrative team, board members, and any others you think this might benefit. If they will subscribe to the newsletter, it will come directly to them each time a new edition is sent out.
I hope you will find this helpful and engaging. As always I would love to hear your comments. Feel free to contact me in any of the ways listed in the newsletter. I promise that I will not sell your contact information to anyone. I am only doing this as a service to you and to keep you in touch with Largent Consulting. If you do not wish to receive this information, you can always unsubscribe. Enjoy the first edition and let me know what you think!
Jim
Voter apathy is terrible in Texas and we have the largest number of non-voters per capita in the United States. Educators also have a historically poor record of showing up at the polls. In November of 2018, that number improved significantly, due to the efforts of several organizations like Texans for Public Education, Texas Association of Community Schools, and others. Even with that improvement, The Texas Tribune recently reported that in a poll, 67% of Texans knew nothing about the Speaker Bonnen/Empower Texans debacle. This should concern us all and proves that we have a long way to go.
It is imperative that school leaders educate their staff on the importance of learning about candidates and issues and voting in every election. As school leaders, we can’t tell our staff who to vote for, but we can certainly make them aware of where they can learn about candidates and do things to encourage every staff member to vote. Allow employees to leave campus during conference periods, lunch, or other breaks in the day to go vote. Remind staff during morning announcements, weekly memos, etc. and encourage your campus leaders to do the same. There are many ideas out there to promote voting and to set a great example for our students. I would urge you to “up your game” when it comes to voter education and engagement!
Let me present you with a scenario; Let’s assume that you are driving a 1973 Ford truck. You have had this truck for a long time, and it is starting to require maintenance work every single month. It gets terrible gas mileage, the exhaust is smoking, the tires need replacing, and you are spending more and more each month to keep it on the road.
What if I came to you and said that for the same dollars you are spending on that old truck, I could show you how to buy a brand new 2020 Ford F-150? This truck will get 20 miles to the gallon, have that new leather smell, and will last you many years. And, what if I showed you how to pay for that new vehicle without paying more than you are currently paying for your 1973 model? I bet you would be interested…
In a school setting, many of you are driving the equivalent of that 1973 Ford with your lighting and HVAC systems. I still see a lot of 4-bulb ballast lighting when I go into schools, and I can’t tell you how many HVAC units I see that are 20+ years old. These systems, while fine many years ago, are now the equivalent of that old Ford. Your maintenance crews are constantly replacing ballasts and bulbs, and your HVAC systems are leaking, compressors are constantly going out, and you are spending a tremendous amount of time and money repairing these old units.
With the advent of LED lighting, you can cut your electrical costs significantly, and a product that will last 20+ years will usually pay for itself in electrical savings in 5-7 years! While not as quick of a payback, new, higher SEER HVAC units are much more efficient and require much less maintenance.
Another thing to consider; if you have recently passed a bond, and are replacing lighting and HVAC in existing facilities as part of your project, having a dedicated provider take this on can save you money, provide a better job, and can be more timely. Architects are generally more interested in the new building, and components like lighting and HVAC sometimes become an after-thought.
I was the superintendent in 3 school districts from 1A to 5A in size. In each of those districts, I was able to save our taxpayers significant dollars while bringing new equipment to our facilities and creating a better learning environment for our students and staff. As superintendent, we interviewed many companies who did this type of service and in the end, we selected E3 as our provider. They underpromised and over-delivered on what they would do, they delivered a great project to us quickly, and we realized even more savings than they promised.
If you are interested in having someone from E3 come out and give you an idea of the type of project that could benefit your school, contact me by clicking on the E3 logo below. For no-cost, we will have someone come out to your school, evaluate the systems you have in place, and show you how to enhance your facilities and maximize your M&O dollars!
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Dr. Jim Largent
Largent Consulting LLC
Founder/CEO
PO Box 1024
Granbury TX. 76048
682-350-2714
Facebook: facebook.com/largentconsultingllc
Twitter: @DrJimLargent