The Opportunity
Wynot Public Schools, located in northeast Nebraska, is a small but growing school district with a strong history of academics and sports. This helps contribute to the pride that the community has regarding their school. This is further evidenced by the investments that the community has made to their facilities in recent years, including a large addition to the building in 2016.
Prior to this project, the district was planning to modernize and update much of the existing building. This included expanding their pre-school program, a new science room, and many other improvements. Wynot Public Schools was challenged with how to make these needed improvements in a financially responsible manner. It looked as if Wynot would have to phase in these improvements over several years and may not be able to do as much as they hoped.
To solve the problem, Wynot Public Schools decided to partner with Navitas. After understanding the district’s goals and challenges, Navitas worked side-by-side with them to develop a solution that allowed the district to make significant improvements, right away—saving them time and money.
The Financial Solution
Wynot Public Schools was able to modernize much of their infrastructure (HVAC, electrical distribution, controls, etc.) and better utilize their building by taking advantage of the energy and other savings that would result from the project. Because Navitas was able to guarantee the savings, the district was able to use Nebraska legislation that allowed them to finance the improvements for 15 years. Building off the ability to use the legislation, Wynot Public Schools was able to obtain a 1% interest loan from the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy. Lowering the interest rate, extending the term of the financing, and using the savings from the project made it possible for the district to afford many more improvements than they originally thought.
The Technical Solution
Navitas was selected to work with Wynot to develop a scope of work that met the needs of the district as well as a plan to fund those improvements. We delivered this solution in a turn-key manner that allowed the district to focus on educating kids. This approach also allowed the district to implement another project in parallel to the energy project. While the energy project was happening, the district moved their administration space to allow for a new early childhood development space. Even though, this was not part of our project, Navitas helped the district manage the project, coordinate sub-contractors, and ensure that both projects were completed to the satisfaction of the district.
