NCS Local Planning Committee sends draft district facilities plan to board of education

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

(uPDATED with clarifications on board of education public hearing) Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021 — The Nelson County Schools’ Local Planning Committee gave its final approval Wednesday night of a District Facilities Plan that will eventually see the district’s middle school students moved to one of the district’s two high school campuses.

The committee, with the help of architect Stephen Ward of Studio Kremer of Louisville, re-examined the facilities plan after a review by the Kentucky Department of Education.

Most of the KDE’s comments on the draft facilities plan focused on the plan’s alignment with state regulations for facilities planning and evaluation. In the end, the tweaks the plan required did not increase the costs of any of the proposed projects.

Committee member Dustan McCoy made the motion to approve the revised facilities plan. During the discussion phase, committee member Josh Simpson warned that pulling the middle schoolers out of Boston School may prompt parents of out-of-district students to pull their kids out and send them elsewhere.

Committee chair Eric Shelburne noted that there aren’t many parents who like the draft facilities plan and again told the group he still preferred the existing facilities plan. When Shelburne called for a vote, he and two other committee members voted no, while the rest of the committee voted to approve the revised facilities plan.

The plan now goes to the Nelson County Board of Education for approval. Once the facilities plan is approved by the board of education, they are required to appoint a hearing officer and hold a public hearing. The hearing will be advertised publicly 14 days before it takes place.

SPECIAL BOARD MEETING. An announcement regarding a special-called board meeting to approve the district facilities plan is expected to be released by the end of the week.

PUBLIC COMMENT. Despite the fact the committee had voted, six individuals took the opportunity to express their dissent with the committee’s decision.

Several parents warned the committee that if the district facilities plan is adopted by the board of education, it will result in a stream of students leaving the district for other districts inside and outside the county, or resorting to homeschooling their children.

Bloomfield Mayor Chris Dudgeon said that he felt important questions about the community campus model were left unanswered, including if the change will mean a layoff of teachers and how middle school athletics will be affected.

Sara Bunch suggested the board focus on core content and improving test score results.

Susan Santa Cruz-Rogers praised committee chair Eric Shelburne for giving opponents’ voices a chance to be heard, and thanked the three members who voted against approving the facilities plan.

“Your ‘no’ votes were actually ‘yes’ votes for Nelson County,” she concluded.

NEXT UP. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Nelson County Board of Education is 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, at New Haven School.

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