Teacher Kathy Rathbun eats her lunch in the dark.

“I don’t mind,” she said. “It calms me.”

Rathbun’s dim lunch hour, lit only by a desk lamp and light from windows, is part of a larger push in the Lawrence school district to save energy and money.

Since 2003, the nickels and dimes saved by turning off lights and monitoring other energy-burning practices have saved the district more than $1.2 million, according to a new district report.

In the last three years, the district has spent nearly $4.5 million on utilities. But the tab would have been closer to $5.7 million if the district hadn’t implemented an energy savings plan, the report said.

The savings are equivalent to the district planting 6,927 acres of trees or taking 3,341 cars off the roads, said John Geist, the district’s energy manager.

Many school employees say they’ve grown accustomed to doing the small things that help save money.

Most hallways and rooms remain dark in the mornings until students arrive. Lights go out when students leave.

Computers that aren’t in use shut down automatically at 5:30 p.m. across the district, rather than 10:30 p.m. as they did in the past.

Before long breaks, custodians will pull the power cords on televisions, mini-refrigerators, water fountains and other appliances. Heating and air-conditioning systems are monitored closely. In some schools, the temperature may be kept a few degrees cooler in winter and a few degrees warmer during warmer months, Geist said.

Kelly Faulk, head custodian at Langston Hughes School, cleans the cafeteria after lunch with the overhead lights turned off. An energy savings program established by the district has helped reduce costs in schools. For Faulk and teachers at Langston Hughes, it's now routine to turn off all lights in rooms not being used by students.

Sprinkler systems are monitored closely so the water doesn’t flow unsupervised for hours more than necessary.

It may seem like penny-pinching, but it saves more than a few pennies.

The typical school computer costs 7 cents a day to run – a fact Geist takes seriously.

“When you multiply that times 4,000 computers districtwide, it adds up big time,” he said. “It’s a whole bunch of pennies that adds up.”

Kelly Faulk, head custodian at Langston Hughes School, said teachers and staff have grown so used to the conservation effort that it’s not unusual to see teachers working in the copy room with the lights off.

“I just kid with them and say they’re allowed to turn the lights on when they’re in there,” Faulk said.

Rathbun, a first-grade teacher at Langston Hughes, said her students have picked up the lessons and remember to switch off the lights at the school, 1101 George Williams Way.

“Getting them involved in it, I think, is key,” Rathbun said. “It becomes their responsibility, and they like that. In first grade, that’s a big deal for them to have that responsibility.”

Cordley School Principal Kim Bodensteiner said teachers aimed to cut energy use while juggling their work with children at the school, 1837 Vt.

“They’re doing their very best,” she said. “Once in a while, you certainly may come into the building and see a light on when someone is not in the room. But you see a lot more off than you would have three years ago.”