Clinton County Board of Education held its regular monthly meeting Monday, April 18, with five of six members present, with routine items of business on the agenda.

The board, late in the meeting, also voted to add a short extension to Interim Superintendent Dr. Paula Little’s current contract as the process is underway by a local search committee to recommend–with the board to hire–a permanent superintendent of schools.

The board, on a motion by Gary Norris, voted unanimously to extend Dr. Little’s current contract through June 30. The board hopes to have a permanent replacement by July 1 of this year.

Little has been serving as interim superintendent since last fall, following the resignation of Tim Parsons, who had served in that position for less than two years before announcing his resignation.

Application for a permanent superintendent is now underway and names of individuals applying for the position are kept confidential.

The screening committee’s primary duties are to screen applicants and narrow down the field, to approximate three finalist, who will then be interviewed by the full school board, which will eventually hire a new full-time person for the job.

At last week’s session, which lasted just under a half-hour, the board first conducted the monthly staff/student recognition.

The board first recognized the Clinton County Middle School Academic Team. The team won both the district and regional competitions in the Quick Recall category and did very well at the state competition.

Team members include: Allison Latham, Jed Groce, Lee Tallent, Mason Musk, Ava Lovell, Kassie Shelton, Janessa Young, Alexis Groce, Colton Wilson, Kimaya Sears, Makinna Stockton, Tessa Moles, Addison Whittenburg, and Autumn Carr.

Dr. Little also noted that Allison Latham had finished second in the state competition, the highest ranking of a local student finishing in the state thus far.

The CCMS Academic Team is coached by Rebecca Crabtree.

The superintendent and board also recognized the “Building Assessment Coordinators.” Dr. Little said the coordinators at each building assess their facilities each year and make sure they are in proper condition.

Those staff recognized include Kathleen Gregory (AES); Allison Thrasher (CCMS); Luke Moons (CCHS); and Todd Messer (Foothills Academy).

The board also heard the monthly finance report from Finance Director Courtney Norris. The report included revenues from recent property tax collections and also SEEK funding.

Dr. Little then gave a brief monthly attendance report, which again was not a positive figure.

The superintendent said the figures were still averaging just over the 90.5 percent range, adding next year they needed to increase, noting the importance of higher attendance in the school district.

It was explained, however, that other school districts were also somewhat struggling with lower than usual attendance rates this school year.

The board then dealt with facility BG’s (Buildings and Grounds) documentation pertaining to the new CCHS gymnasium floor, including a brief presentation from a DECO architectural firm representative.

The representative told the board the BG documents pertained to specification outlines and updated cost estimates. The board had also previously been presented a design of the new gym floor.

On separate motions, the board unanimously approved BG-2, BG-3 and construction documents pertaining to the CCHS gym floor project.

They then approved a BG-4 on the Guaranteed Energy Savings Contract ,which had been entered into a few years ago with TRANE as a way to save energy costs in school buildings.

Dr. Little noted this BG was a “close out” of this particular contract for that project.

On a motion by Norris, the board approved a resolution is support of House Bill (HB) 678, which had been discussed at last week’s board work session.

That recently passed legislation by the state legislature allows school districts more flexibility in speeding up ongoing school facility construction projects.

The new legislation has been reviewed by board attorney Winter Huff, who noted that guidelines pertaining to construction projects would have to be followed, but the law would help expedite the process.

On a motion by board member Kevin Marcum, the board voted to approve a School Security Funds request from the state in the amount of $47,131. That item had also been discussed last week.

The funds were used to repair the intercom systems at both the high school and middle school, with Dr. Little attributing receiving the funds to Justin Mercer, Courtney Norris and Connie Riddle.

The board then voted to approve signing a deed to the Irwin Cemetery to its current caretakers.

The cemetery, located near the old Irwin School, once belonged to the school district, but had been purchased from the district and recorded in school board minutes. However, a deed–up to now–had not been recorded.

The board also voted to approve the opioid resolution/agreement that had previously been presented by attorneys representing several other school districts in a class action lawsuit.

The suit, which school districts have recently become involved in as well as counties, cities, etc. aim litigation at manufactures of products which contain the addictive product. They basically claim the opioid epidemic also affects school students.

In other business:

*Approved the annual Memorandum of Agreement for the Family Resource and Youth Services Center.

*Approved consent items including previous meeting minutes, subsequent disbursements, payment of bills, medical leaves and overnight trips.

The next school board work session will be Thursday, May 12, and next regular business meeting Monday, May 16. Both will begin at 5 p.m. at the Clinton College & Career Center on Hwy. 90 West and both will be open to the public.

School board discusses gym floor project in work session

The Clinton County School Board held its monthly work session last Thursday, April 14, with all members on hand.

The board reviewed items that were to be acted on at the regular session held this past Monday night with Interim Superintendent Dr. Paula Little. They also discussed a few of those items during the half-hour work session last week.

The primary discussion pertained to a new Clinton County High gymnasium floor that will be installed prior to the start of next year’s basketball season.

The improvement project at CCHS will include the new floor and bleacher seating in time for next years basketball season.

The board heard updates on the project from Derrick Phillips and Kyle Choate, the latter an Albany native, of DECO Architects out of Somerset.

A bid package is now being prepared on the project, according to Phillips. Choate also noted the floor itself would remain the property of the school district, which expressed interest in selling portions of the flooring as historic memorabilia.

Choate said the floor could be dismantled in a “manageable” way to be stored in pieces, such as 4×4 sheets.

Interim Superintendent Little also discussed HB (House Bill) 678, which was recently passed by the Kentucky Legislature.

Little said the pilot program, over a two year period, was aimed at cutting “red tape” when it came to school districts being approved for school facilities construction projects. She said the legislation would no longer require, through the pilot period, districts to get KDE (Kentucky Department of Education) approval for each BG (Buildings and Grounds) portion now required.

“I guess the legislature figured we needed to get things moving,” she said. She also added that board attorney Winter Huff has reviewed the new piece of legislation in HB 678.

Security fund requests were also briefly discussed, as the district apparently had such funds available from the state. Dr. Little credited Justin Mercer for his work on securing funding from that source to install a new intercom system at the high school, among other things.

Also on the agenda for Monday was a deed to the old Irwin Cemetery, which the school district once owned when Irwin School existed.

Apparently the deed had not been transferred from the district’s name to the next owner.

Other items on review at the work session and to be voted on Monday included finance, guaranteed energy savings contract, facilities resolution, certified evaluation plan, the recently discussed opioid resolution/agreement, annual Memorandum of Agreement with the Family Resource and Youth Services Center, and the superintendent contract.

(Details on Monday night’s regular school board business meeting can be found beginning on page 1 this week.)