Wickenburg DO: Superintendent's Corner

Here you will find important information Dr. Carlson wants to be sure to communicate to the Wickenburg community. Please check it often so that you are continually educated and aware of the issues facing our district.

Here you will find recent articles regarding important issues facing the Wickenburg Unified School District. To view past articles, please visit our archive.

Dr. Howard Carlson began his career in the state of Washington where he taught agriculture, science, and math courses at the middle school and high school levels. He earned his B.S. Degree from Washington State University and his Master’s degree from Heritage University. He completed his doctorate at Washington State University in 1997.

As an administrator, Dr. Carlson has served at the building and central office levels; first becoming a superintendent in 1997. He has served as an assistant superintendent and superintendent in the states of Washington, Minnesota, and now Arizona. Dr. Carlson co-authored a book for new superintendents titled, “So Now You’re the Superintendent,” which was selected by the American Association of School Administrators to be jointly published with Corwin Press.

Dr. Carlson has been recognized as a state and national “Teacher of the Year,” “Administrator of the Year,” and was recently named Wickenburg's “Man of the Year." In 2011, he accepted an appointment by Governor Jan Brewer to serve on the state’s E-Learning Task Force.

Dr. Carlson has four children, all of which are school age and attend WUSD schools. His wife is also a certified teacher, and she currently teaches art and music (including band) at Festival Foothills Elementary School.

Dr. Carlson welcomes your comments and concerns. You may e-mail him anytime or give him a call at (928) 668-5350.

Energy Management Project Update

During the summer of 2012, the Wickenburg Unified School District (WUSD) took advantage of over $300,000 in federal grant funding to make its facilities more energy efficient. The project impacted each of our district’s schools and office buildings through the installation of an energy management system (thermostat and lighting controls), energy-efficient lighting units, computer management systems, and high efficiency air conditioning units.

A grant from the Arizona School Facilities made this project possible. The grant helped defray project costs and decreased the interest rate paid for the financed portion of the project.

Recently our administration met to review the cost savings attributed to the project. We determined that in the first year our district saved over $55,000. We are using the savings to defray other expenses, and we are analyzing what changes might be made to save even more in year two. In addition to the savings, we utilized project funds to replace a number of air conditioning units, many of which were over 15+ years old and likely to fail within a few years.

As time progresses, we hope the project continues to yield savings for the district; we will also continue to look for ways to make our buildings and facilities more energy efficient. Despite the difficulty of implementing the program, we believe it is very important to find ways to save funds during these very challenging times.