Fayette County Board of Education Meeting Summary -- April 22 and April 29

April 22, 2002 Board Meeting

The Local Planning (Facilities) Committee presented its recommended Facilities Plan to the Board of Education. Mrs. Tedder asked what could be done at Johnson and Russell Elementary Schools to address student achievement. Mrs. Tedder also asked if Russell was in poor enough condition to be replaced. Mr. Wilkinson had questions related to the priorities and recommendation to build a new school at Liberty Road rather than the Masterson Station area. Mr. Joice, Data Evaluation and Research, reported that the Linlee School building was in worse condition than Yates Elementary School. Mr. Wilkinson and Mrs. Lousignont suggested that there should be an annual update from the Overcrowding Solutions and the Local Planning (Facilities) Committees.

By a unanimous vote, the Board approved the proposed district Facility Plan for the 2002 and 2004 bienniums recommended by the Local Planning Committee. A description of approved projects is attached.

Under the Discussion (Action) Section of the April 22 Board Agenda, the Board approved a request from Winburn Middle School to fund a .4 foreign language staff member for the Winburn Accelerated Cluster. The funding will provide for foreign language at sixth grade and will allow continuation of appropriate services to Winburn Accelerated Cluster students.

Under the Discussion (No Action) Section of the April 22 Board Agenda, the Board discussed the following:

• Continuation of the smaller class size program at the same level as the 2000-2001 school year through the use of section seven general fund allocations and Title II federal funds
• Continuation of .35 PSA at each elementary school that does not qualify for a l.0 position through the use of section seven general fund allocations and Title II federal funds
• Funding of .3 of each high school academic dean through Title V federal fund.
• Funding of Title I social workers up to $800,000 from section seven general fund allocations with the amount determined by the amount required to be used to address Leestown Middle Schools' sanctions from "No Child Left Behind."

The Board approved, under the Consent Section of the agenda, a Resolution Regarding the Death of Laura Ann Lemieux, a student at Veterans Park Elementary School.

The Board also approved the following:

• Request from Arlington, Deep Springs, Northern and Russell Elementary schools to receive Literacy First Training/support during the 2002-2003 school year and authorize the Superintendent to continue a letter of agreement with the Professional Development Institute (PDI) for the training and support services.

  April 29, 2002 Special Called Meeting

Two items were on the agenda for the April 29, 2002 Special Called Board of Education Meeting: Tates Creek and Paul Laurence Dunbar High Schools Athletic Facilities and the Overcrowding Solutions Committee Requested Report.

Wayne Young presented base bids for the Tates Creek field, track, stadium and alternate meeting spaces behind the concession stand ($77,500) at a total cost of $2,408,650; and the base bid of $998,00 for the Paul Laurence Dunbar athletic field, including restrooms and meeting and storage spaces at a cost of $107,250.

Board Members Larry Conner and Kathy Lousignont indicated they were under the impression that the Tates Creek High School track was rubberized. Mr. Young responded that due to the tightness of the budget, a rubberized track was not included. Mr. Moore asked about covering the entire field at Tates Creek. Mrs. Lousignont requested dollar mounts on what it would cost to turf the field and also information on rubberized track information, if it was available.

Members of the Overcrowding Solutions Committee presented proposals and recommendations to relieve overcrowding in schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

The Recommended Elementary School Proposal would:

• Provide relief for overcrowded schools.
• Establish contiguous attendance boundaries for more students, including students in the downtown area. 
• Address the growth of Lexington for the next 10 years.
• Keep Russell Elementary open until the new Johnson/Russell Elementary is built.
• Keep Julia R. Ewan open until the new Liberty Road school is built.
• Keep Russell Cave Elementary open until 2005.
• Place an Early Start Center at Booker T. Washington Elementary School for students from Booker T. Washington, Cardinal Valley, Harrison, Johnson, Linlee, Meadowthorpe, Russell, Northern and Arlington.
• Replace six schools in poor condition with new facilities in better locations.
• Free up space in an elementary building for other use after a new school is built in the vicinity of Clays Mill and Man O' War.
• Create diversity as much as possible.

Challenges Presented By Elementary School Proposal

• Requires the building of seven new elementary schools within the next seven years, especially new elementary schools at Jacobson and Liberty, which are critical to solving future overcrowding Julius Marks Elementary School students will go to three different middle schools (Edythe J. Hayes, Tates Creek and Morton).
• Garden Springs is one of two elementary schools with non-contiguous attendance boundaries. Reason: There is not enough capacity outside New Circle Road. 
• Yates is one of two elementary schools with non-contiguous attendance boundaries. Reason: Yates Elementary attendance boundaries will serve the growth area East of I-75 until a new school can be built.
• Schools with a high percentage of students on the free and reduced lunch program, i.e. Johnson/Russell and Harrison Elementary Schools, may need additional district assistance.
• Four schools may need additional staff due to larger than desirable total number of students assigned to the schools coupled with a high percentage of students on the free or reduced lunch program. The schools are: Deep Springs; Cardinal Valley; Mary Todd and Tates Creek Elementary Schools.
• Due to the number of changes with new schools, proposed attendance area changes may have to be phased in over a period of several years.

Revised Middle School Preliminary Recommendation would:

• Eliminate overcrowding at all middle schools except one - Jessie Clark Middle School. 
• Have attendance boundary lines drawn to incorporate the new Edythe J. Hayes Middle School.
• Strongly align the middle schools with the high schools to create a truer feeder system.
• Accommodate the projected growth of the city for the next 10 years.
• Create contiguous attendance boundaries for all middle schools.
• Create diversity as much as possible.

Challenges Presented By Revised Middle School Preliminary Recommendation:

• The Committee acknowledges the challenge of improving diversity at Jessie Clark Middle School and is committed to exploring additional options to make this a more diverse school.
• The Revised Middle School Preliminary Recommendation has Jessie Clark overcapacity. Additional changes will be considered after the public meetings scheduled for April and May 2002.

Revised High School Preliminary Recommendation would:

• Relieve overcrowding with minimal changes except where necessary.
• Strongly align high schools with middle schools to create a truer feeder system.
• Accommodate the projected growth of the city for the next 5 - 10 years.
• Expand the Bryan Station High School boundaries to include the Georgetown Road and Leestown corridor outside New Circle Road.
• Keep the Math, Science and Technology center at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School.
• Create diversity as much as possible. 

Challenges Presented by Revised High School Preliminary Recommendation:

• All five high schools are still very large and this Revised Preliminary Recommendation may not accommodate the projected growth beyond 6 - 8 years. Specifically, Bryan Station High School may become significantly overcrowded approximately 8 years from now.

Following the presentation of the Proposal and Preliminary Recommendations, Board members discussed the following issues and questions:

Mrs. Tedder indicated that she was not in favor of the merger of Mary Todd and Russell Cave Elementary Schools and asked if there was any way to avoid this merger.

Mr. Moore asked if the Committee had considered the possible impact of private school students returning to the district if a new school is built. He also asked how many neighborhoods were involved in "leap frogging." (Students that past one or more schools to get to their assigned schools.) Mr. Moore wanted information on the current length of transportation time for elementary students versus what is being proposed for elementary. He indicated that the Committee should think hard on certain subdivisions where neighborhoods are being split.

Mr. Conner discussed the possibility of enlarging Meadowthorpe in the future with the next renovation of the school. Mrs. Tedder said she was in favor of keeping Russell Cave Elementary and asked if the Committee had explored a renovation of Russell Cave after looking at numbers for a K-8 school.

Other issued discussed and questions asked during the Special Called Board Meeting included:

• What would be the sewer cost for Athen and other factors?
• What would it look like if we kept Russell Cave open (and found additional dollars)? 
• If we could do what we really wanted. What would Russell/Johnson/Bluegrass Aspendale look like?
• How will programs that are working well at Russell Elementary be handled with merger and how will the SBDM and curriculum be handled if Russell and Johnson are merged?
• With Bryan Station up for new construction, as a new high school, is it in the best location?
• Where should the 6th high school be located?
• In 2003 - 2004 when magnets are gone - how will this impact school numbers?
• Information on the savings on maintenance should be available.
• Board needs information on assistance that may be needed for high SES schools.
• Can you describe how growth model takes into consideration different size lots and prices of homes?
• What is the number of students within one mile but not attending that school? What was the committee's logic?
• How many "neighborhoods" will be split? (4)
• As the committee considered closing/merging, was research discussed related to student achievement?
• Was any thought given to looking at diverting attendance boundaries for Winburn and putting more students at Russell Cave rather than Mary Todd?
• Can maps be placed at the libraries?
• If we could find more funds more quickly, what would we do downtown?
• LTMS numbers - have we been able to maintain the balance of attendance area and magnet students? What has it done to this school and also Bryan Station?
• What do we do with students until new schools are built? (phasing).
• What are we doing for people "leapfrogging" until the plan is implemented?
• How will the phasing out of magnet students affect enrollment numbers?
• What would be the reduction in maintenance dollars if new schools were built? ($280,000 versus $80,000 for new building).
• How will the Board support schools with low SES? (Mr. Conner suggested that this be coordinated with the Equity Council in reference to allocating support to schools based on need.)
• What about start times?

The Public was informed that Public Meetings have been established to provide opportunities to give responses to the Elementary School Proposal and the Revised Middle and High School Preliminary Recommendations. Five meetings will be held on April 30 at Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, Henry Clay High School, Tates Creek High School, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and Bryan Station High Schools. Meetings on May 7 will be held at Tates Creek Middle School, Beaumont Middle and Crawford Middle. May 11 meetings are scheduled for Southern Middle and the Central Office Building.

Agenda Outline for this meeting (April 22) | Board Home

Last update: 6/9/2005 8:48:16 AM