Stimulus money for energy managers in schools?

I don't think anyone would argue that efficient energy use is being a good steward of both the environment and hard-earned money.  I would think there'd be more discussion surrounding federal stimulus money being used to create positions for "energy managers" in Kentucky school systems.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported this last week.

Essentially, this is the breakdown of this "stimulus" project.

• 35 new full-time positions
• Serving over 130 districts
• Money used for these hires were obtained through the Kentucky School Board Association (whom we have been writing about quite a bit lately) and the Kentucky Department of Energy Development and Independence.

While there are many positives to having someone analyze your energy efficiency and making recommendations, there are also some questions that should be raised:

• How much are we paying these 35 new positions?  That's a lot of money going into creating new administrative positions that don't have a direct impact on kids learning (wait, that is what the schools are there for, right?).
• Why can't schools use consultants from energy providers they already have a relationship with to improve their energy efficiency?
• Is there really enough work for 35 people in full time positions.  I mean, once you make recommendations for schools, how many years can you continue to look at the same building?
• The big question is...How long will the federal stimulus money continue to fund these new positions before the state/school district is forced to take that cost on?  Kentucky is broke and creating new admin positions doesn't seem like a good place to start to fix the problem.

Is this a wise use of money?