The Christian County School Board approved leaving the property tax rate the same as last year at Thursday’s meeting and heard an update about COVID-19 in the school system.
Superintendent Chris Bentzel says that although the state would have had them automatically accept a four percent increase in revenue–because of the failure to pass the Nickel Tax–it was his recommendation to not take that, due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on the community.
It was passed unanimously to leave the tax rate at 42.8 cents per $100 of assessed value on real and personal property. The board approved a $93.5 million working budget for the 2020-2021 school year, with Director of Finance Jessica Darnell saying it’s an increase of about $3 million due to CARES Act funding.
The board heard an update on current COVID-19 cases in the district—the number of active cases in the district sits at 24 as of Thursday and 188 individuals have been quarantined. Of the active cases, three are staff members and the remainder are students.
Superintendent Chris Bentzel says he feels the situation has been mitigated, as they have postponed the Hopkinsville High versus Christian County High football game set for Friday has been postponed and the HHS Lady Tigers soccer team and cheerleading squad activities have been suspended until further notice.
He says they will continue to monitor COVID-19 cases in individual schools going forward to determine if a school would go into a total virtual learning model.
Bentzel says all affected students and staff are doing well health wise, and they’re expecting them to return to school in the near future once they are recovered and out of quarantine.