Estill County board approves site selection, requests state inspection for new middle school

IRVINE, Ky. — The Estill County Board of Education voted unanimously April 1 to request that the chief state school officer order an inspection of the proposed site for a new middle school and to seek Kentucky Board of Education approval for the site after its local cost analysis exceeded the 10% threshold requiring state review.

Board records show the motions, each approved 5-0, were made under the Kentucky regulation cited at the meeting as 702 KAR 4:050. Mr. Cornett, a district staff member, said the request to the state is a formal step in a larger site-selection process: "Just the part of the process ... Dr. Fletcher or his designee will order that an inspection takes place of the proposed site and the board just has to have that on record to be approved."

The board identified the selected parcel as the old practice field directly behind the high school and the ATC; Cornett said the construction will require cutting into the mountainside. Board members said the selected site keeps middle- and high-school students on one contiguous campus and reduces crossings of the county's main highway.

At the same meeting the board certified that it had reviewed all reasonable sites within the approvable area and listed specific sites it deemed unacceptable. The minutes record that the parcel between 2220 and 2700 Winchester Road in Irvine was rejected because it is adjacent to a landfill and would separate middle-school students from the high school campus, making transportation to accelerated high-school classes and ATC programs more difficult.

Motions and votes recorded in the meeting minutes: a motion by Sheila Samples, seconded by Sharon Whitaker, approved the request for state inspection (5-0); a motion by Tammy Hardy, seconded by Sheila Samples, approved forwarding the site to the Kentucky Board of Education for approval because the site-cost analysis exceeded the 10% threshold (5-0); and a motion by Sheila Samples, seconded by Tammy Hardy, certified that the board would not pursue other reviewed sites (5-0).

The board did not discuss financing specifics for construction at length during the session; Cornett and other staff emphasized that many potential sites were either landlocked or cost-prohibitive. The requested state inspection and the Kentucky Board of Education's subsequent action are required next steps before the district may proceed with acquisition or construction on the selected site.

The board adjourned after completing the site approvals and other agenda items.