School District 58 is looking into the use of solar power at its schools.

At its Dec. 10 meeting in Princeton, the new board of trustees for SD58 heard a presentation from a member of the public regarding the benefits of solar energy and solar energy panels.

SD58 board chair Gordon Comeau said the presentation involved the idea of placing a solar panel on one of its schools to monitor how much solar energy is being brought in, in an effort to measure the feasibility and viability of that renewable energy source.

The school in this case would be Princeton Secondary School, SD58 superintendant Steve McNiven told the Herald.

The school district hasn’t decided whether to install a solar panel at PSS yet, but McNiven said he’s called on their  the solar energy idea further and provide some information to district staff.

McNiven said they need to examine what the costs are from a short-term, mid-term and long-term perspective and weigh those against the benefits of solar energy.

McNiven said there are grants to consider as funding options,  and there’s also an educational component to placing a solar panel on one of its schools.

“I’m open minded, but I’m just cautiously looking into it right now,” McNiven said.

One question the school district is trying to answer is whether placing a solar panel on PSS would simply be used to educate students on renewable energy or if it’s a feasible way to power its schools, McNiven told the Herald.

SD58 secretary-teasurer Kevin Black said there is no timeframe for the operations manager to deliver a report on the idea of using solar energy.