“It’s going to be close.”
School Superintendent Jason Faulkner told board members Monday that a lot of work is still needed on the new middle school before it will be ready for the upcoming school year.
“It’s going to be the 11th hour to get this thing open,” Faulkner said. The monthly school board meeting was moved from its regular time so it was considered a special called meeting.
The district will have a temporary certificate of occupancy and will soon begin installing furniture as final work is completed, Faulkner said. All the floors have been waxed.
“There is still a lot of touch-up work to do, a lot of touch-up work,” he said. “We are not even discussing the start of the school year right now. That is going to be the finish line. I don’t want to have that conversation just yet, but it’s going to be close.”
The first day of school for students is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 12.
Also during the meeting, Faulkner recognized recipients of this month’s ASCEND awards. Sarah Burton, Adair County Primary Center principal; Robyn Mantooth, JAG teacher; and Kim Huckaby, ISS teacher, were the recipients of the award, which recognized nurturing positive attitudes.
The school board took action on several items during the meeting, including approving the addition of a home hospital teacher position.
Faulkner said service needs have increased since Spectrum Academy has added to its number of students and because of the increase in home school students. He asked the board to approve the position, and they will work out details before the upcoming school year. He foresees the person in the position spending a couple of days a week at Spectrum then the remainder of the week on campus.
The board approved changes to policy based on recommendations from the Kentucky School Board Association, which addresses changes in state and federal regulations.
Buildings and grounds supervisor Anthony Darnell was given permission to surplus three buses. He hopes to have a live auction instead of an online auction and wants to add some trucks to the sale. The truck request did not make it on the agenda and could not be addressed because the meeting was a special called meeting.
The standard summer work is well underway with walls being painted and grounds being mowed, Darnell said. New blacktopping is expected in early July, he added.
Student school board member Trina Nguyen was recognized and presented a gift during the meeting, which was her final board meeting representing the district’s student population.
All board members were present for the meeting. They are Troy Grider, Destiny Greer, Terry Harvey, who serves as chairman, Teresa Absher and Dana King.
By Sharon Burton
snburton@adairvoice.com
