Clinton County Board of Education met twice over a five day period last week and early this week for a special and regular meeting.
The board held a special called meeting last Thursday, July 17, with a short agenda, first receiving a Clinton County High School project update from DECO architects.
The only other item of business was a work session conducted by Superintendent Wayne Ackerman pertaining to finance, facilities, operations, curriculum and assessment.
No action was taken during the special meeting last week.
The school board then held its regular monthly meeting on Monday, July 21, with all board members present and a host of items of business to be acted on.
The meeting lasted approximately an hour and 10 minutes and included another construction update from architects, engineers and others on the high school project, which included a schematic design of the new facility that is expected to be completed by the fall semester of 2028.
The representatives presented the lay-out of the two-story building, parking areas, and  discussion on the new building’s heating and cooling system.
Discussion and questions from board members involved whether to use the boiler/tower system for heating and cooling or geothermal, with officials basically agreeing a geothermal system would be more cost efficient.
It was noted during the discussion that the design phase and all work is only about 15 percent into its final draft and architects are working with engineers, school officials and Codell Construction, the construction managers on the project, throughout the process.
Since parking and getting traffic in and out of the school is always an important issue, a design is being worked on to help route student and visitor/drop-off and pick-up parking away from the bus entrance.
It was also noted they would be working with the Department of Transportation to hopefully get turning lanes installed to help with the traffic and have parking available for sporting events, graduations, etc.
Following the approximate 50 minute presentation on the construction and design update, the board, on motions by Vik Soma, voted unanimously to approve both the CCHS Schematic Design and a BG-1 for the Clinton County High School project.
The high school construction project is moving rather swiftly compared to most facility projects, and the BG-1 approved Monday, per KDE guidelines to adhere to the district’s facility plan, also had to include all priority phases in that plan.
Following the meeting on Monday, Board Chairwoman Leslie Stockton issued the following statement:
“The Clinton County Board of Education received updates this evening from DECO Architects, CMTA Engineering, AGE Engineering, and Codell Construction and approved the Schematic Design for the new Clinton County High School Project.
“The board voted unanimously to approve the BG-1 for the new high school. The BG-1 is a document required by the Kentucky Department of Education and reflects plans for the new Clinton County High School, future renovations to the Career and Technical Education (CTE) wing, and a possible new Area Technology Center (ATC) that would be adjacent to the new high school in the future.
“This marks an exciting step forward in the process as the district now moves into the design development of the future CCHS campus.”
The board also heard the monthly finance report from Finance Director Courtney Norris, who reported the district had ended the month of June with a $8.8 million fund balance — which included all accounts.
The finance director also noted the district had closed out the end-of-the year budget as of June 30, and is now in a new fiscal year for 2025-26.
Several other more routine and many annual items of business were voted on during Monday’s meeting, including:
* Approved BG-4s for the Clinton County Maintenance and Central Storage project and CCHS school roof repair.
* Approved the annual District Funding Assurances.
* Approved the 2025-26 District Safety Plan.
* Approved the annual Clinton County Online Learning Academy Handbook and approval of Code of Pupil Conduct.
Director of Pupil Personnel Dr. Julie York explained some changes in both of the aforementioned, including dual credit courses in the online learning handbook and traceable communications guidelines — changes made by the state legislature in regard to staff and student communications — in the Code of Pupil Conduct.
* Approved a recently implemented school related trip form involving forms that have to be filled out by staff and the annual certified evaluation plan, the latter which calls for tenured teachers to be evaluated every five years rather than the current three years.
* Voted to advertise for bids for cutting hay on school property.
* Approved the change of number of days for positions for the Bitty Bulldog Daycare from 186 to 210 days per year.
* Approved two classified instructional assistant positions for Bitty Bulldog Daycare at $13.13 per hour, eight hours per day.
* Following a presentation by Director of Special Education Ashley Ipock, the board voted to employ an instructional assistant for a special needs student at the Early Childhood Center.
* Voted to establish a classified position for assistant boys soccer coach position with a stipend of $1,000 per year.
* Approved student Responsible Use Policy (RUP) that pertains to students using chromebooks to have parental permission for anything related to school work.
* Approved an MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) with Lake Cumberland Community Action Agency, Inc. and Head Start Programs, and mental health services agreement with Community Based Interventions, Rise Mental Health and Wellness, and Adanta.
The final item of business was the approval of consent items, which included approval of minutes, subsequent disbursements, payment of bills, leave of absence and Clinton County Middle School  school-wide fundraisers.
No public comments were made during the July meeting.
The next regular meeting of the Clinton County Board of Education is scheduled for Monday, August 18, at 5 p.m.