|

Nelson County school board to review construction project costs in August

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

IMG_0155

Tim Hockensmith, the district’s chief operating officer, discusses the construction projects the district is planning to undertake simultaneously — the expansion of the Early Learning Center and the an auditorium at Thomas Nelson High School.

Friday, July 3, 2015, 1 a.m. — The Nelson County Board of Education will soon receive detailed construction estimates of the costs of the two projects it wishes to start this year simultaneously — the expansion of the district’s Early Learning Center (ELC) on Cardinal Drive and construction of an auditorium at Thomas Nelson High School.

Tim Hockensmith, the district’s chief operating officer, told the board at its working session Thursday that he anticipates having construction estimates available in time for the August working session. For the board, the ability to build both projects at the same time depends largely on two factors — the estimated construction costs, and the district’s bonding capacity through which it borrows money.

If the estimated construction costs outstrip the district’s ability to borrow money, the board will need to make a decision on which project has priority, or possibly make changes to one or both projects to lower costs.

IMG_0164

Kim Brown reviews the district’s plans for improving college and career readiness during Thursday’s working session of the Nelson County board of education.

Earlier this year, Superintendent Anthony Orr said he believed both projects can be funded and completed simultaneously. Past and current board members have advocated for the construction of an auditorium at TNHS because its construction was something promised to parents when the school opened.

Hockensmith told the board he plans to invite the construction manager and architect to have representatives available at the August working session to discuss the projects.

PROJECT LEAD THE WAY. Kim Brown, the district’s director of secondary schools, updated the board on the district’s college and career readiness enhancements that include a new partnership with Project Lead The Way.

PLTW is the nation’s leading K-12 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum provider, with partner schools in all 50 states.

This partnership goes hand-in-hand with the district’s local partnerships with the Nelson County Area Technology Center (NCATC) to create an industrial maintenance program.

The new program will be created in cooperation with local industry, including Tower Automotive, and is in response to local industry needs for employees with industrial maintenance skills.

The industrial maintenance program will be located at the ATC building in the area that was formerly devoted to the carpentry program, Orr told the board. The changes won’t affect the wood manufacturing program

IMG_0185

Superintendent Anthony Orr discusses the Tell Kentucky survey results at Thursday night’s meeting of the Nelson County board of education.

The industrial maintenance program will fill a need among local industry, and also provide skills that offer good income opportunities, he said.

Orr said he anticipates the ATC will to hire a teacher early next year to get the program setup prior to the start of classes the Fall of 2016.

ADVANCE KENTUCKY. Brown also told the board of the district’s recent application for the AdvanceKentucky program. AdvanceKentucky is a statewide math and science initiative to bring more college-level coursework into Kentucky high schools, particularly among students traditionally underrepresented in advance placement-type courses.

Both high schools have applied to be part of AdvanceKentucky. The program provides significant support at various levels for teachers who wish to teach advance placement courses.

Brown said the program has a track record of helping students succeed; from 2008 to 2013, students enrolled in high schools partnered with AdvanceKentucky earned significantly higher scores on advanced placement exams compared to the national average for five consecutive years. Students from AdvanceKentucky schools also do better in college than their peers.

The district will be notified in April 2016 if it has been accepted into the program, Brown said.

TELL KENTUCKY. The TELL Kentucky survey of the district’s teachers indicate that more teachers believe the district is a good place to work.

The survey is conducted every two years and asks teachers to respond to questions about community support, teacher and school leadership, professional development, instructional practices and more.

The overall scores between 2013 and 2015 indicate more positive perceptions about the schools and their management by teachers, Orr said. Since 2013, there have been seven new school principals hired, and Orr said the data indicates “we have good people doing really good work,” he said. “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”

In other business, the board:

— heard the district is working to close the books on the fiscal year that ended Tuesday. Hockensmith said he should have a pre-audit annual financial report ready to present to the board at its meeting July 21.

— held first reading on several updated policies; and

— reviewed a number of updates to district procedures.

-30-

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Please follow and like us:

Comments are closed

Subscribe to get new posts in your email!