The largest item included in the district facilities plan, which outlines major construction and renovation projects in the next four years, was the proposed new elementary school on Union Mill Road, which is estimated to cost $13 million. Superintendent Lu Young said the board would see design plans for the building at its Feb. 14 work session.
While the board has authority to prioritize the projects in the plan, which include renovations at seven other schools, Hamann said there were some areas he would recommend are addressed first after the new elementary school.
“When an architect did a survey of our buildings, the recommendation was that Warner and Nicholasville receive major renovations, so those two projects are ... at the top of the pecking order, I’d say, in terms of things we’d like to get done,” Hamann said. “Those are our two oldest schools.”
Hamann said the combined work at Warner and Nicholasville elementary schools would carry a price tag very close to the $13 million of the new school.
The plan also includes renovation work at Rosenwald-Dunbar Elementary, West Jessamine Middle, West Jessamine High, East Jessamine High and The Providence School’s new location at the old Jessamine Early Learning Village building in Wilmore.
The plan was submitted to state officials in Frankfort for review before it was presented to the board. Hamann said one of the recommendations was to look at projected high-school enrollment numbers and consider addressing growth needs at that level in future four-year facilities plans.
“In subsequent plans, which is somewhere beyond this four-year span, we may want to start looking at our high-school growth; that may be an issue at that point,” Hamann said.
The school district will hold a public hearing of the district facilities plan after notifying the state department of education and advertising the meeting. Hamann, whom the board approved as a hearing officer for the meeting, said Tuesday the hearing would likely occur near the middle or end of February.
In other business:
• The board rejected four bids for the purchase of a vacant lot at 506 W. Broadway St. in Nicholasville. The 1.25-acre property was appraised last year at $90,000, but the highest of the four bids received was $25,000. The school district plans to broaden advertising the sale of the property in hopes of receiving a bid of at least the appraised value.
• The board approved an agreement to have an off-duty Nicholasville police officer at regular board meetings at a rate of $25 an hour. Young said board members had expressed concern about safety at meetings following a December incident in Panama City, Fla., where a gunman opened fire during a school-board meeting.
• The board approved a revision in the achievement-gap-coach extra-duty positions at each school. The revision broadened the description to include classified staff as candidates as well as certified teachers and administrators.
• The board approved a request from architect firm Sherman-Carter-Barnhart to have S&ME, Inc., perform a geotechnical exploration at the site of the new elementary school as a precaution after a cave was discovered near the site during the construction of East Jessamine Middle School.
