The August meeting of the Knox County Board of Education was held at the Annex building (199 Daniel Boone Drive) on Monday evening, August 23, at 6:30 pm. The meeting was streamed live and is now available for on-demand viewing at kcps.media.
Architect Updates
Scott Noel provided the Board with updates on ongoing projects within the district. An advertisement for bids for the Flat Lick Waste Water Package Plant is now being published. The bid is to replace the existing steel plant with a new concrete plant. Bids will be opened on September 21 and presented for possible award during the September Board meeting. The Lynn Camp Greenhouse is one step closer to on-site work beginning. An advertisement for bids is being launched to replace the existing Aluminium Polycarbonate Greenhouse with a new Aluminum Glass Greenhouse on the existing foundation. Bids will be opened on September 21 and presented for possible award during the September Board meeting. Noel also shared with the Board that the local planning committee is set to meet on Thursday, September 2 to review a current finding on the plan. The meeting will take place at the Board Annex beginning at 5:30 pm.
Highlights of Action Items
Surplus items will be up for bid through September 2. The items include a Hunter 9K four post lift used at the CTC, Hunter computerized wheel alignment machine, 2007 Dodge Caravan Mileage 113849 Vin#1a4gj45r77b149881, and Genie Platform Lift Serial Number 536242. Interested parties may contact Mr. Brian Frederick at the district’s maintenance facility or via email at brian.frederick@knox.kyschools.us.
Several items relating to teaching and learning were approved by the Board. An emergency hire for a Spanish teacher at Knox Central High School was granted. Laurel County Adult Education amended its contract with Knox County to include an increase of $1,000 to each of the positions that are allocated to the district. Destiny and Follett Software renewals were approved for the district’s librarians to use to manage their collections and student borrowing.
The Board also heard about the district’s continuation of learning plan for COVID-19. Feedback was solicited from principals and students to develop the plan that was put together by the district to address learning when a student has been quarantined. Using either Google Classroom or in grades K-2 paper activities, students will have six hours of instruction per day. Monitoring will occur through the district’s home/hospital and attendance staff.
Prevention services through Green Dot, a program that teaches teens to spot for behaviors that may lead to student harm, were renewed at Knox Central and Lynn Camp. The goal of the program is to create social and cultural change by identifying those in need through Green Dot warning signs.
PartnerCorp at Knox Central High School will continue for an additional year. Their MOU between Knox County and Berea College was approved. PartnerCorp members work to increase student attendance and the rate of students pursuing training or higher education after graduation.
Using federal, state, and grant funds, two social worker positions and an itinerant elementary music teacher were created. Two extra preschool and two extra kindergarten teacher tutoring positions were created for after school.
Three of the district’s four-hour drivers will increase to six-hour days for bus routes for the Day Treatment program. Two four-hour bus monitors will be increased to six hours for the same purpose. An additional six-hour monitor will be created for the Day Treatment route.
Funding for a dance team coach at Knox County Middle was approved. The high school athletic extra service pay salary schedule was adjusted to allow more flexibility with hiring coaches in football and basketball and time for oversight by the athletic directors. It also adjusted pay for smaller team sports to ensure equal pay for coaches in those positions.
The substitute teacher salary was amended to pay teachers with Rank I experience $100 per day, Rank II (Masters) $90 per day, Rank III (Bachelor) $80 per day, and those with an associate degree or 64 or more hours $70 per day.
Knox County’s FRYSC coordinators had their contract extended for an additional year and a realignment of budget amounts for last year and the current year. In addition, a $100,000 GEER grant for the centers was approved. The grant was previously announced by the Office of the Governor to increase programming for kindergarten readiness for ages three to five years old.
Second Mile Behavioral Health was authorized to provide services to Knox County schools. Second Mile Behavioral Health therapists will provide intake and ongoing mental health counseling and/or mental health case management services for students in the school setting and consult and collaborate with school staff to provide supports for students.
A memorandum of agreement was authorized between Knox County and KCEOC for their head start program. The partnership allows head start staff to provide services to students at G.R. Hampton, Flat Lick, and Girdler Elementary.
The district’s partnership with Eligin Foundation will provide an opportunity for elementary students to receive dental services at no cost to the district.
The Board received information on HB 563, a school voucher program, that would funnel $125 million in state funds to private schools. The Council for Better Education, Frankfort Independent Schools, and Warren County Schools, along with three individual taxpayers filed an initial lawsuit in Franklin Circuit Court. Knox County will join numerous other districts across the state in being part of the lawsuit by providing financial assistance and any additional necessary steps to support the Council in its legal challenge.
The next meeting of the Knox County Board of Education is set for Monday, September 27, 6:30 pm, at the Board of Education Annex (199 Daniel Boone Drive, Barbourville). Official minutes of the August 23 meeting will be approved at that time. Individuals wishing to sign up for public comment in advance may contact governance@knox.kyschools.us for further information.
A copy of the agenda is available as a PDF download.
Video from the meeting follows: