By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
Carter County Public Schools will hold their first public meeting to discuss the possibility of a new building for a consolidated high school at 5:30 p.m. on January 13, at Olive Hill Elementary. A second meeting will be held at Prichard Elementary, on February 7. This was one of the revelations related to the possible consolidation to come from the board’s special meeting last Wednesday.
The board also moved to retain architectural firm Ross Tarant Architects to handle planning for any new facilities.
While these early public meetings and any drawings from the architect will be “just informational,” Superintendent Dr. Paul Green explained, he felt the school district will “need an experienced architectural firm.”
Ross Tarant, Green said, are one of the premiere firms for school design in the state. That’s experience that should be helpful to the district, Green said, especially, “with this project, and the political nature” of the debate.
In other action Green noted that local schools had collected a number of items for families in western Kentucky suffering in the aftermath of devastating tornadoes, and the district expected to send a couple of bus load of items. However, he said, given the lack of adequate storage space, volunteers in the area are now asking for gift card and items like cell phone chargers. Instead of storing and distributing items like coats, clothing, and food, he said, gift cards allow families to directly purchase the specific items they need – which sometimes aren’t included among donated items.
The board also heard the audit report, with the district awarded a “clean audit” by their auditor. Even with a new federal line, because of the federal funds distributed to local boards through the state, the auditor noted that, “everything was done properly.”
Board member Lisa Ramey-Easterling expressed her appreciation to finance director Andy Lyons for the clean audit.
“We appreciate we don’t have to worry about finances,” as long as he is handling them, she told Lyons.
In other action the board moved to approve a number of action items by consent. These included leave of absence requests, use of district property requests, school-wide fundraiser requests, accepting bids for surplus property, an amendment to the salary table, and a school bus purchasing plan.
The board also moved to appoint Deborah “Debbie” Brown as the new board member from District 5. They voted unanimously to appoint Brown.
Following the special meeting, Green shared information relating to Carter County’s enrollment numbers with media. Since 2011, high school enrollment in the county has fallen from 1463 to 1232 in 2021. In that same ten-year period total enrollment, for all students across the board, has fallen from a high of 4840 to a current total enrollment of 3924 – a drop of nearly 1,000 students.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com