The Christian County Board of Education met virtually Thursday night and approved the start date for the upcoming school year and learned how the district would allocate the $3.5 million it received from the CARES Act.
After the revised calendar was approved by board members, Superintendent Chris Bentzel said Thursday, August 27th will be the start day for students to return to school.
Superintendent Chris Bentzel informed board members the district received $3.5 million from the CARES Act. After a lengthy presentation, Bentzel said the spending objectives could be wrapped up into four areas.
He added they are using approximately $1.5 million toward the One-on-One initiative and $1 million into the Virtual Learning Academy.
Bentzel said they are working with the Kentucky Department of Education for an application to establish the CCPS Virtual Learning Academy as a separate school in the district. He added they are targeting three populations in the county, including 600 students who are home-schooled through different virtual learning academies.
As part of the One-on-One initiative, District Technology Coordinator Jason Wilson explained the Portable Classroom Project will include the purchase of 2,500 Chromebooks for every student from the 3rd through 12th grade. It also includes the purchase of 300 Lenola X13 Yoga devices for all 7th-12 grade teachers.
interim Chief Instructional Officer Jessica Addison says the purpose of the Portable Classroom Project is to close the digital divide in the district and to provide devices for all students, not just those who may be able to purchase them in their household.
Board members also unanimously approved a 15-hundred dollar a month lease agreement to move the Christian County Day Treatment Center from the old Christian County Middle School to the former Kem & Duguid Accounting office located at 502 West 2nd Street. Bentzel said the old middle school would be completely vacated and eventually torn down. He added the move would save the district around $100,000 a year due to utility and operational costs of the school.
After the board came out of closed session to discuss pending litigation, Bentzel said he hopes to return to in-person meetings in the board room on July 16th. He added they are making some COVID-19 upgrades in the room along with adding cameras and televisions because he would like to continue to transmit the meetings live for transparency and to engage the community.