By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Carter County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Fraley said that Carter County Schools are dedicated to doing what is best for all of its students. The rocky start of the 2026 school year, with challenges in the form of both sickness and extremely inclement weather, hasn’t dimmed their determination to make this year a great year for students, but it has required judicious use of the allotted snow days and NTI days, she said.
“It’s a question of making the best decisions possible,” Fraley said.
“This is usually a window where we get in some really good instruction time,” Fraley explained. “But since they haven’t been with us, it is a little worrisome.”
Although there seems to be a warming trend on the horizon, there is still concern about roads that are still icy and an additional potential snowfall before the temperatures begin to rise, Fraley said.
“We are going to keep an eye on it, but we really need to get our kids back in the building to make sure they are doing okay,” she said. “As soon as we can safely do that.”
The commitment to making the best decision also applies to the new consolidated high school in Carter County, which will begin the next phase of construction in March of 2026. Dr. Fraley said that the initial phase, which began before she took over as superintendent in the latter part of 2025, was land purchase and site preparation. The next step in the phased construction will involve the school board taking bids on the construction of the Career and Technical Center portion of the new school. The new school, when completed, will consolidate students from East and West Carter High Schools, bringing enhanced opportunities to the school system.
Despite suggestions to the contrary, Dr. Fraley said that the school wasn’t in any danger of losing funding that had been initially sent down for the new school.
“That’s because we have really regrouped, and by going ahead with a phased approach we are going to go ahead with at least the Career and Tech Center, the cafeteria, and the office complex,” Fraley said. “There will also be a few of the classrooms, and we are going to build back to a firewall. That is what we have the funds to do right now.”
Fraley said that the term firewall is part of the safety features of the new school. There will be storm shelters to keep the students safe in emergencies, and the firewall is a wall designed to impede the spread of a fire beyond a certain section.
“Those (firewalls) are just natural breaks in a building process,” Fraley said. “So, it just makes sense to stop at that point with this phase. Then we can continue from that point.”
“That will go to bid in March,” Dr. Fraley said. “And by going to bid in March, that ensures that we will be able to award a bid, get started on construction, and we can spend those funds out that have an expiration date. So, we are not going to lose any funds.”
The loss of those date-dependent funds was a concern voiced by some community members.
Fraley also said that the current Kentucky Legislative Session might even yield additional funds.
“We are waiting to see about that,” Fraley said. “But it is still early in that session.”
“We hope we get some support from the legislature, but we are doing everything we can with the funds we have.”
Possible avenues of funding, she said, could include additional funding through things like bonding, the legislature, or good stewardship of existing funds.
Dr. Fraley said that one issue that proved challenging was that the development of the site for the new school proved more costly than initially projected.
“There were a lot of funds spent on that site that could have been used toward the building itself,” Fraley said.
When finished it will be a beautiful site that is located in the geographical center of the county, she said, but it has proved challenging.
Regardless of the challenges, Dr. Fraley said that Carter County Schools will keep moving forward with the project. Currently there is no fixed completion date for the entire school, but Fraley said that students from both East and West Carter High Schools will be able to take advantage of the state of the art Career and Technical Center by the 2028-29 school year.
“And there could be more developments before the Career and Technical Center is complete that allows us to continue with the school build,” Fraley said. “Then it might be possible to continue on with another phase of the construction. But right now, we are focusing on opening the Career and Technical Center by 2028-29.”
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
