Miranda H. Lewis
Carter County Times
It may have been the final agenda item to be discussed on Monday evening, but the big news at the Carter County School Board meeting was the approval of a site and architectural firm for the new consolidated high school.
While they still haven’t said where the property is located, Superintendent Dr. Paul Green did discuss approval of the property purchase for the site of the future Carter County High School, pending the approval of the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE).
“As of last week, everything was submitted for the property that we previously had the intent of purchase contract with,” said Green.
“We did get a follow up email today that there are a couple of clarification pieces that need to be revised, basically language and other specifics they were looking for,” he continued. “We’ve already gotten some of that back and the title company said they’re fixing the rest of it.”
“I hope to have that approval by the end of the week,” he said optimistically.
Green recommended that the board approve the property purchase so they could move forward after receiving the pending approval of the KDE.
A motion was made by Rachel Fankell and seconded by Miranda Tussey to approve the purchase of the property. The motion carried unanimously.
Prior to Monday evening’s special session, the board had narrowed proposals for the new Carter County High School and Career Tech Center, as well as all of the amenities, down to two architecture firms.
Formal proposals were presented by both firms to the board for their consideration during an executive session.
Ultimately, the board voted 4-1 to select RossTarrant Architects, a firm based out of Lexington and known for “enhancing education through great design” to spearhead the consolidation of East and West Carter High Schools.
Green has previously noted the importance of obtaining “an experienced architectural firm”.
“RossTarrant is one of the premiere firms for school design in the state,” he said.
But while that news was saved until the end, the meeting opened with a presentation of awards.
Campbellsville University began the Excellence in Teaching Award Program in 1987 with the purpose of recognizing quality teaching and learning in schools throughout the Commonwealth. The program provides statewide recognition to three outstanding individuals per district (preK/elementary, middle school, high school) for their leadership and dedication to the teaching profession. The Carter County Board of Education recognized Amy Burton, Kayla Logan and Amy Walker Monday at the Carter County Career and Technical Center as recipients of the 2023 Excellence in Teaching Award.
Chief academic officer Jennifer Fraley recognized ten “exceptionally dedicated and skilled teachers” as nominees for the 2023 Teacher of the Year Award; Taylor Dixon, Janie Messer, Jeffrey Huffman, Gary Coffman, Nathan Shelton, Lisa Adams, Tyler Walker, Breianna Shaffer, Kimberly Kelsey and Dylan McDavid.
“They have been identified as experts in their field and they are lifelong learners and teacher leaders,” said Fraley of the nominees.
Board chair Lisa Ramey-Easterling agreed.
“Ten nominees at all levels is amazing,” she said after the presentation of certificates.
Moving forward, Fraley said that the Kentucky Summit Assessment window has been finalized as she delivered an instructional update.
“Our window starts May 2 and ends May 19. Today started our last iReady diagnostic window. Most of our grades 3, 4, and 5 are testing this week and next week,” she said.
“We are pushing K-2 more toward the end of the year, so it’s more of an accurate representation of their progress over the year,” she continued.
Fraley said that the reading grants the schools received will be used to implement “high quality” programs like Amplify CKLA and Math Nation, full implementation of these programs will take place over the summer and will be tailored to the needs of students.
In other action, Director of Facilities Ronnie Cooley discussed bids received for electric vehicle charging stations.
“We received eight bids, and they ranged very wide,” he said. “A lot of that is based on what it provides too, some have much greater software and more capabilities.”
“We have $406,000.00 in grant money for this project, there’s really only one bid that has the charge that we need for the buses to work properly that came in under the amount,” he added.
“We are under a little time constraint, in order to receive this money, we have to submit paperwork to the EPA by April 28,” he said.
He said the buses that Carter County received typically have 120-mile batteries, but they were upgraded to 150 miles for no charge. He reiterated to the board that this type of battery will require a fast charge.
A typical 60kW battery lasts four to six hours, which will allow drivers to charge between morning and evening routes, he noted.
“This is very new to the area,” said Cooley. “When it comes to bussing it’s even more new as it’s just now starting.”
Board member Chris Perry asked, “Are we still looking at the different charging locations?”
Cooley answered, “Yes, that bid was for both bus garages, Carter City, Tygart Creek, Heritage and central storage.”
“How many charging stations will that be?” asked Perry.
“One at all of those locations, which will do two buses at a time with the exception of the bus garages where there will be four and we’ll be able to charge eight at a time,” said Cooley.
Perry made the motion to accept Cooley’s bid for universal EV chargers, seconded by Fankell. The motion passed unanimously.
Moving forward, the board approved amendments to the 2022-2023 school calendar, designating May 22 as the last day for students.
Additionally, the board moved to accept May 19 as East Carter’s graduation date followed by West Carter’s graduation on May 20.
Contact the writer at miranda@cartercountytimes.com
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