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Travis to serve on superintendent search committeeFree Access


Marshall County School Board Members Pictured: Back Row, Darla Doss, Ledonia Williamson, and Amy Waggoner. Front Row: Mary Beth Riggs, Vice Chair; and Randy Travis, Chairman.

By Loyd Ford/The Lake News

Marshall County School Chairman Randy Travis appointed himself to the Superintendent Screening Committee during the School Board’s meeting Monday evening in Draffenville. The first joint meeting of the Superintendent Screening Committee and the Marshall County Board of Education has been set for May 11 at 4 p.m. at the Marshall County Board of Education office in Draffenville.

Chairman Travis explained he could appoint one person to the screening committee and he was appointing himself to the position.

In other personnel matters Superintendent Trent Lovett announced the results of negotiations between the Board of Education and the Marshall County Education Association. Teachers will be receiving a two percent raise and retired teachers will also receive a $15 per month increase from the school district.

Lovett also reviewed work requests by the MCEA that were not approved as a part of the agreement.

Patricia Greer gave the Board an overview of the services provided by Terrace Metrics. The firm provides a social emotional trauma system that provides for suicide prevention training and meets health and wellness standards state by the state department of education. They also do assessments for emotional surveys.

Greer said the curriculum offered by the firm gives students copying skills. She said the training allows students to cope with what they may face at home.

Jeff stokes gave an overview of the school district’s facilities and updated the Board on Kentucky Department of Education rules on upgrades for school buildings.

Stokes prefaced his comments by telling the Board that all of the District’s buildings are in excellent condition and that it could be 15 to 20 years before they needed major renovations. However, there are four elementary schools in the district that do not have enrollments of 300 or more students, the number required before the Kentucky Department of Education will allow money to be spent on those buildings for major renovations.

The four schools that do not have 300 students are Jonathan Elementary, Calvert City Elementary, Sharpe Elementary and South Elementary. Stokes said some of them were close to the 300 minimum enrollment and that those numbers could change in 15 or 20 years.

Despite the strain the pandemic has placed on the school district student attendance in person and at home is 96.7 percent. Patricia Greer later told the School Board the number of students in the district choosing to participate online was now at 20 percent of the total enrollment.

Marshall County High School Principal Robin McCoy and Brian Harper Principal of the Marshall County Training Center opened a discussion about what McCoy described as an instructional journey. They and several teachers gave a review of emerging classes at both facilities. Students from Chad Darnall’s media arts class presented a video about new classes including a class on drone operation.

There were also brief presentations on medical classes at the vocational school that led to certification in phlebotomy and EKG. There are also electrical classes at the school that soon will have components in solar panels.

At the high school that are also new offerings that will provide training in web page development, pre-law and law enforcement.

MCHS ag teachers Alan Smith and Jourdan Griffith detailed the wide opportunities for students not just in traditional farming but in an ever-expanding agribusiness community. They also pointed out how FFA gave students growth opportunities in public speaking and also gave them a sense of place. They pointed to the green house at the school as a sign of the future. That there will be more opportunities for people to raise their own food using hydroponics.

In a long list of action items, the board approved the purchase of five school buses at a total cost of just over $549,700. $103,084 of that amount will come from a state fund that re-imburses school districts for costly diesel-powered buses.

The board also approved the final payments for the new hitting facility at MCHS and the school vestibule project that upgraded entrances at all the county’s elementary schools.

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