Clinton County Board of Education held its regular business meeting Monday evening, April 18 with four of five members present, which followed an earlier “work session” board meeting last Thursday, April 14. (A report of that Thursday work session follows this report of Monday night’s regular board meeting)

The board first recognized both the Albany Elementary School and Clinton County Elementary School Academic teams for their very successful season. Both won district competitions and did extremely well in regional competition. Both individual and group participants scored high at both levels.

The board then heard a presentation from Kevin Cheek and Alison Cummings with Sherman Barter Bernhart Architects regarding the school facility plan. Recently officials from that architectural firm toured three of the schools and conducted and presented a draft evaluation for the middle school, high school and Area Technology Center.

The firm is assisting the local school facility planning committee in developing a long-range goal of renovations needed to both maintain the facilities and develop them into buildings that fit the district’s academic offerings.

Cummings highlighted the areas in the draft for each of the three schools, rating the overall conditions and renovation needs on a one to five scale, with a one being the best scenario and a five being the worst, as far as what is needed to renovate and upgrade each facility to meet Kentucky Department of Education standards.

The middle school, which was constructed in 1993, received an overall rating of three, with CCHS and the tech center receiving a four, meaning those facilities are in need of the most renovation work.

The high school, which was an elementary school when originally constructed in 1963 added the gymnasium and an additional classroom wing in 1971. Superintendent Charlotte Bernard noted that maintenance, especially on the plumbing, had to take place every day.

The Area Technology Center was constructed four years later, in 1967, and the architects noted that with buildings of that age, there would also be problems associated with some aspects of the buildings simply due to age.

The plan is being formulated to help the local school district determine what is needed most in the years ahead according to priority of need and being able to plan renovations, or in some cases, additions, that may be needed.

No cost estimates were added in the draft presentation, as Cheek noted it was too early to begin estimating costs because things may change over the course of the long-range plan.

The architects did a walk-through evaluation at each of the three schools and said all the principals and staff at each facility were very helpful.

The draft report will be reviewed by the local school facilities planning committee before any further actions are taken on any buildings or grounds issues.

The board also voted to approve a family medical leave of absence for Glenda E. Thrasher through June 30 and voted to pay between meeting disbursements, paying claims and bills.

Finance Director Mike Reeves than gave a brief monthly finance report, noting the general fund balance was in good condition, and although no final totals are in as far as state funding for the district in the coming years, the budget is being worked on and the district should know more in the next few weeks. The tentative 2016-17 budget will be presented to the board for consideration next month.

Board chair Paula Key then gave a brief personnel report, which included the hiring of Nick Irwin as girls’ golf coach at CCHS and Kelli Thomas as substitute teacher for the Early Childhood Center and Albany Elementary School.

The board then approved a field trip for the Clinton County High School baseball team to travel to Panama City, Florida during next year’s Spring Break, April 1-8, and under the attendance report, it was noted attendance for the seventh month was 92.8, down about a percent from the previous year. The school with the highest attendance was AES while the high school had the most improved for the month.

Superintendent Bernard then gave a brief report, noting the schools were preparing for the annual testing, and that she was working with finance director Reeves on the budget, saying things didn’t look as negative for the budget as it did a few months ago.

The superintendent also noted the district was working on the Certified Evaluation Plan and that a committee was to have met Tuesday and discuss the Non-Traditional School, or Cyber Snow days, that had its first run locally this past school year. She said students, parents and staff alike seemed to think the non-traditional days were a positive for the district and Clinton County may add more such days to next year’s school calendar.

The school board will have a special called work session on Monday, May 9 at 4:30 p.m. and its next regular business meeting on Monday, May 16 at 5 p.m., both at the Central Office board room and both open to the general public.

School board

covers various topics at work session last week

The Clinton County Board of Education held its monthly work session and meeting last Thursday afternoon, prior to its regular business meeting held Monday night of this week. All board members were present last Thursday, with a few items being covered, both by vote and or the work session conducted by Superintendent Charlotte Bernard.

The board first heard a presentation by James Walker, Spanish teacher at Clinton County High School, regarding the STAMP test.

That test is in relation to students taking foreign language courses and, if they pass the test, they may be able to bypass certain such courses in college, saving time and money. The tests are recognized at both the University of Kentucky and Western Kentucky University.

Following Walker’s presentation, the board approved two overnight trips, one for FBLA student organization members to attend state competition in Louisville April 18-20 and another for SKILLS USA student organization members to attend state competition, also in Louisville, April 13-16.

Other than approving the meeting agenda prior to adjourning, the overnight trips were the only items voted on other than the work session topics that were discussed.

One topic discussed by the superintendent was Project Graduation, and the possibility that the program could change somewhat this year, depending on last week’s action by the Project Graduation committee.

Apparently attendance at that organization’s meetings have been down drastically over the years, especially with the 2016 group and also, some feared that with fewer volunteers, they may not be able to come up with enough activities to entertain graduating seniors for a full night at the high school, where the event has always been held following graduation ceremonies.

Supt. Bernard said the organization had been considering busing the students to an all-night arcade type location in Glasgow where several events, such as bowling, arcade games, etc. are continuous at one set price, including food and drinks.

After discussion on the Project Graduation issue, Finance Director Mike Reeves discussed work being done on the 2016-17 year budget, noting that as of last week, it appeared the state legislature would not be cutting funding in education as first thought, but also adding they would not be adding any revenues either.

With the recent proposed cuts, this was somewhat good news for districts all across the state, however, with no state budget increases, the cost of other things associated with post-secondary education will likely increase, such as salaries for educators who have gained higher classifications and general operating expenses.

Supt. Bernard also announced that it appeared ACT scores among the junior class taking that test may be the “highest ever” the district has had. The ACT is used to evaluate high schools. Scores increased in every subject area and without the total number of scores in, the local average was 19.75 on the testing as of last week.

Bernard also noted a goal of the district was “dual credit,” and suggested she and board members visit other school districts to see what they are doing to offer enough courses in high school to earn college credits throughout their high school career. She said she would like to see a road map created from grades eight through 12 to offer enough college related courses where a student could have a two-year Associate Degree by the time they graduate high school.

Also discussed was the condition of the school’s annex building between Mountain View Park and the middle school. She requested board members take a look at the building to see the poor condition and possibly come up with an alternative. She said the district did own other property where another annex may be constructed.

One other issue discussed was an apparent proposal from owner’s of the Speck property, which adjoins school property next to the Central Office location, to sell it to the school district. The property contains a house and six acres.

The price tag, some members felt, was a little excessive and Bernard noted that if the district continued to build up their bonding capacity, they could take care of the structures they already have and again noted the district already owns other property.

After a brief discussion, the board decided not to consider the offer.