Board wants special meeting to vote on facilities plan; Seay alleges it can’t do so

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021 — The Nelson County Schools Board of Education has scheduled a special-called meeting for 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, at Cox’ s Creek Elementary School.

The special meeting is to review and approve the District Facility Plan (DFP) approved Wednesday evening by the district’s Local Planning Committee (LPC).

The board agenda also includes setting a date for a public hearing and selecting a hearing officer.

The hearing is a required step after the board of education approves a DFP. A hearing officer presides over the hearing, and his report is forwarded to the Kentucky Department of Education along with the approved district facilities plan.

Bloomfield attorney Jack Seay has objected to the board’s special-called meeting for Friday, claiming that it violates the Kentucky School Facilities Planning Manual. According to Seay’s letter, he said that manual requires the board of education to review the district facility plan at a “scheduled” board meeting.

“If you ignore this provision and proceed, you will be acting outside the rules by which you must be bound,” Seay wrote.

In his letter, Seay also calls on the board to make sure board member Damon Jackey recuses himself from voting on the district facility plan due to a conflict of interest. Jackey is employed by the Kentucky Department of Education, which Seay says creates the conflict of interest.

Seay asked the board to delay taking action on the draft district facilities plan until the board’s next regular scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 14th.

If the board meets Friday evening at 6 p.m., the agenda includes:

I. Call To Order
II. Review Draft DFP
III. Set Public Hearing
IV. Select Hearing Officer for Public Hearing
V. Adjourn

Check the Nelson County Gazette for updates on this story.

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