Clark plan calls for two new schools

Four older elementaries would be closed

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports:
A planning committee charged with reviewing schools in Clark County has recommended that a new high school and elementary school be built and that the district close four other smaller, aging elementary schools as part of a plan to be presented to the school board Thursday.

Doug Christopher, vice-chair of the Facilities Planning Committee says the changes are designed to be equitable to Clark County students. He says some elementary students attend a school with as few as 110 students, while other schools have as many as 600 students.

Architects have estimated it will cost the district about $60 million to implement the plan, including building the new high school. The price tag will require raising property taxes by 5 cents from 39.7 cents per $100 of assessed value to 44.7 cents, Christopher said.
And some parents don't want the small schools to close.

"Closing small schools, raising taxes -- I don't think there is anybody in the county that likes us right now," Christopher said. "But we looked at this from an equality standpoint and what's best for the students."

The plan, which has been in the works since November, centers around a new high school.
There are 1,650 students attending George Rogers Clark High School, which was designed to hold only 1,500, Christopher said.

He said the new building would hold 1,800 high school students and would feature an area for vocational classes and a freshmen academy, or a separate wing designed to separate freshmen as they transition into high school.

If the school board approves the committee's plan Thursday, the new high school could be up and running as early as 2010, Christopher said.

He said the old high school building would then be turned into a large middle school and the county's two middle schools -- Conkwright and Clark -- will be converted into elementary schools.

Five of Clark's eight elementaries -- Central, Fannie Bush, Hannah McClure, Providence and Pilot View -- were built in the 1950s and don't have central air conditioning.

Under the plan, Fannie Bush, Providence and Pilot View will close, as will Trapp Elementary. Hannah McClure will be turned into a preschool.

That would leave only five elementary schools: the two former middle schools, Shearer, Strode Station and Central. But the Central building is aging and plans call for a new facility to be built and the current structure to be torn down.

More from the Winchester Sun. "Facilities plan passes despite parents' protests"