Kevin Hinkle gaveled the February 17 meeting of the Knox County Board of Education to order on Thursday night. He was selected as chairman of the Board in January and will serve through January 2023.
The first report presented was from Superintendent Jeremy Ledford, who briefs the members on actions he has taken towards the superintendent leadership standards. This month, Superintendent Ledford shared how he is using influential leadership to grow the district. “Right now, there are bills that are aimed at helping our students and public education,” he shared with members as the standard addresses the superintendent’s involvement with proposed legislation that will affect our student’s education. He gave an overview of meetings with local and state leaders, and a rundown of several Senate Bills that are being discussed in Frankfort.
The second report of the evening came from Scott Noel, architect for Summit Engineering. Noel brought good news to the Board as the final buildings and grounds plans for Lynn Camp HVAC, roof, and turf, Knox County Middle HVAC, and Knox Central turf were being submitted to the Kentucky Department of Education. He provided an update on those projects including a sample of the roofing material that is being proposed for Lynn Camp Middle/High. Once approved by KDE, those projects will be advertised for bid.
The board voted to approve two governance items on the agenda relating to how the district obtains and stores criminal history records that are part of the district’s background check process through the Kentucky State Police.
Several finance related items were on the agenda relating to the 2022-2023 upcoming school year.
The Board accepted a proposal from Roberts Insurance and Zurich for student accident insurance, the bidding of audit services for the current fiscal year, and authorized the district to negotiate banking services with Forcht Bank.
Superintendent Ledford presented the Board with the first look at each school’s tentative staffing allocations and funds for instructional materials for the upcoming year. “This is tentative only and will be revised once principals review and we look at enrollment data from 18-19 and this year,” explained Ledford.
In preparation for the upcoming year, the Board authorized the Superintendent and Chairman to execute a revised memorandum of understanding with Barbourville Independent Schools for students taking classes at Knox County Career and Technology Center. The item was approved as presented, setting a $650 per course fee for each student attending based on the state’s SEEK funding amount. Next year will be Knox County’s second year of local control of the CTC and the first year of a 25% reduction in funding from the state for operations.
Knox County’s Family Resource and Youth Service Centers are preparing for the upcoming two years. Each coordinator submitted their center’s continuation grant for approval by the Board for years 2022-2024. The grants will now be sent to the state for approval of services and funding.
Board Attorney Tim Crawford presented members with information on a National Prescription Opioid Class Action Lawsuit. The Knox County Board was invited to be a part of the National Prescription Opioid Class Action lawsuit along with numerous other Kentucky school districts. The Board agreed to participate and approved a resolution and a contingency fee retainer contract to allow the attorneys who have filed that class action lawsuit to represent KCPS.
An executive session was held and no action was taken.
Official minutes of the February 17 meeting will be available upon approval at the March 24 meeting. The March 24 meeting will be held at the Board of Education Annex at 6:30 pm.