HOPE – The regular March Hope Public Schools Board of Education meeting will be a two-venue event prior to Spring Break to be conducted in the Blevins Suite at Hempstead Hall on the University of Arkansas-Hope campus at 5:30 p.m. on March 14.

The board will “flip the switch” on the district’s multi-million-dollar solar power array at the solar panel farm across from Clinton Primary School at 600 Lakeshore Drive at 4 p.m. on March 14.

The event will be hosted by Entegrity Partners of Fayetteville and the public is invited to the ceremony and to the formal school board meeting that follows at Hempstead Hall. The board will meet early this month to accommodate Spring Break, which is set for March 21-25, when district offices will be closed and classes will not be conducted until Monday, March 28.

All campuses in the HPS will conduct Parent-Teacher conferences on Thursday, March 17 but will be closed March 18 and no classes conducted prior to the start of Spring Break.

The Hope district is the first public school district in southwest Arkansas to build its own solar array. The $3 million-plus program is supported through Entegrity participation, cost savings in operations and an issue of second-lien district bonds.