Christopher McIntyre started his career in banking. A numbers guy who was behind the scenes.
“I’m really an accountant, so communication was a challenge for me,” as McIntyre recalls his early years with the Warren County Public Schools district.
Fast forward 20 years, and a weakness has turned into a strength for McIntyre, the CFO/COO of a growing Kentucky school district that includes the city of Bowling Green and is home to Western Kentucky University.
Warren County is also where McIntyre grew up, attended college and raised a family. When he walks through the schools’ hallways or meets with friends and neighbors, he understands and relishes the impact his position has on the county.
“I know the success of our community is contingent on the success of our schools,” says McIntyre.
McIntyre leads a school district many would say is punching above its weight class. Warren County Public Schools has 18,750 students, the fourth largest in the state, and is growing at a rate of roughly 450 students a year anchored in a city, Bowling Green, projected to expand by 90,000 residents over the next 25 years.
The Warren County district has 32 campuses, including 15 elementary schools, four middle schools, four high schools and five alternative schools spread across 550 square miles.
In a K-12 atmosphere where many districts are struggling to complete projects, Warren County is thriving. The district is regularly opening new schools and expanding current ones. Ongoing projects include building storm shelters in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and converting grass athletic fields to turf.
In a state that isn’t always associated with green building initiatives, McIntyre remains one of the strongest endorsers. The proof is in the bottom line.
“Our district has pushed the envelope for years,” he says. “A lot of people say, ‘You all really want to do the green initiatives?’ Going green is a good choice as long as the cost benefits are there, and we’ve utilized upwards of $5 million annually in energy savings on energy costs. That’s why we went green.”
The $5 million in annual savings is critical to the district, as it allows them to reinvest directly into compensation packages for employees. The reinvestment strengthens the district’s ability to remain competitive in the market helping to retain, recruit and attract top talent to serve students and the community.
As the years have gone by, McIntyre has grown incredibly comfortable telling folks both across the district and the country why they keep setting new standards for energy savings.
A couple of years into his career in the district, McIntyre was promoted to director of finance in a position that later expanded to include the duties of chief facilities officer. As his duties expanded and the district evolved, McIntyre was asked to take on oversight of new construction, a role he happily accepted with a few conditions.
“I said I’d love to do it, but I want to do it the right way the first time, because I’ve seen us do general contracting and the lowest bid was the only bid, and we went back and had to reinvest a lot of money over time,” he says. “So, I got the right people on board, from architects to engineers to a construction management team that pushed me.”
During his time with Warren County, the district doubled down as a leader in energy savings. It embraced geothermal energy more than 40 years ago and has utilized technologies such as insulated concrete form walls that saves the district money on construction costs. In 2009, the district opened the first zero-energy school in the country. He also hired the first school district energy manager in the state.
One of the district’s best partners is CMTA, a Louisville-based engineering and design company that helps with construction projects and in 2017 entered a 20-year partnership with the district on a $30 million energy savings performance contract that covers energy upgrades at nearly 30 district buildings.
Providing an insight to his competitive nature, McIntyre likes to tell the story of how he learned about energy savings contracts from a friend who managed another state district, and how that friend used a performance contract to raise his district’s energy efficiency. McIntyre eventually embraced the concept and soon took Warren County to the top of the state’s energy efficiency list.
“I met Christopher in 2017 when we introduced our approach to performance contracting to his team,” says Chad Riggs, partner, Energy Solutions, with CMTA. “Christopher quickly recognized the value that it could bring to his students, staff and the taxpayers of Warren County, and he pushed me to maximize the scope of the facility improvements. We worked closely through the development and construction of two phases of guaranteed energy savings contracts. As the single point of contact for the project, Christopher didn’t hesitate to reach out to address any concerns when something wasn’t going to plan.”
Part of the challenge to complete upgrades in K-12 districts is lack of available funds and residents in districts being unwilling to fund new schools or energy upgrades with their tax dollars.
In Kentucky, school upgrades are funded through “nickels,” or a local tax rate increase that is levied by school districts to fund projects. From the available funds, McIntyre and his team determine what projects they can proceed with.
“The way the rules are written, to apply you have to have a certain amount of growth for three or five years to get eligible for those nickels,” he says. “So our board has taken advantage of that and then our board has really been progressive over the years.”
McIntyre goes beyond the regular measures to keep board members and other members of the public up to date on the district’s plans. He regularly hosts facility tours and office hours every other weekend if anyone wants to learn more about what is happening.
“If I’m working, the board members can come in here, and have a conversation with me,” he says. “We can do facility tours, and we’re having other conversations that are of interest to them, so you’re getting to know and build that relationship with board members, which is vital.”
McIntyre also shows a willingness to reach out to board members in their comfort zones. Earlier in his time as a leader, he would often visit a coffee shop to talk with a board chairman.
“I knew it was important to him every six months, me stopping by and just saying ‘hi,’” McIntyre says. “And if anyone has any questions or concerns or just wants to throw darts at me for 30 to 45 minutes — it’s important to understand what makes your board members tick and learn what’s important to them, so you don’t accidentally step on a landmine.”
Warren County Public Schools has a good story to tell — successful enough that many other districts across the country want to hear how they’ve done it.
The district is proud of its accomplishments, enough that McIntyre has emerged as a popular presenter across the country at events ranging from K-12 forums and trade shows (see sidebar). You could say McIntyre has now overcome his communication challenges.
“Every time he shares his story, I continue to be impressed by his creative or innovative approach to the latest facility he is building,” Riggs says. “In meeting Christopher, you quickly realize that he has high expectations for companies that he is working with. He wants to provide the best possible facilities for all his students while being fiscally responsible. He is always thinking long term, looking at the bigger picture, and trying to make the best decisions that he can with the support of his team.”
The presentations provide McIntyre with an opportunity to show that his district — and the people he grew up with and is proud to represent — have built something special in Warren County.
“How our district is seen within the state as far as the knowledge base and expertise we’ve had over the years, that’s important to us,” he says.
Dave Lubach is executive editor for the facility market. He has 10 years of experience writing about facility management issues.
