The Kiwanis Club of Hopkinsville heard a presentation about the possible high school consolidation project from Christian County Public Schools officials Thursday.
Superintendent Chris Bentzel and Assistant Superintendent Josh Hunt both agreed that they wanted to make one thing abundantly clear—they are suggesting this consolidation because they wholeheartedly believe it is what is best for the students of Christian County for both their education and their futures. Bentzel says he 100 percent supports the idea, but nothing has been set in stone yet, be that location or names, and the proposal still must have school board approval.
Their hope is to bring personalized learning ‘academies’, in one building, to the students that would help them set a course of a career or college path, more focused on what the individual student wants to achieve. Thanks to a recent acquiring of a matching grant in the amount of $10 million, along with federal COVID relief funding and increased bonding capacity, the system is looking at approximately $100 million to go towards construction of one campus to house the high schools.
Hunt says there are a lot of misconceptions in the community about the project, and they’ll be having public forums on July 26 at Christian County Middle School at 6 p.m. and August 2 at 6 p.m. at Crofton Elementary to hopefully address those concerns.
As for a time frame, Bentzel says they expect the Kentucky Board of Education to approve the District Facility Plan at their August meeting, with the CCPS School Board to take place in either August or September—from there, if the plan is approved, construction could be complete as soon as 2024.
Bentzel once again reassured that there would be no new taxes to either fund the project nor to maintain the facility after it was built—he says their main focus is on student safety, advancement and quality education. If the board should choose to not consolidate the high schools, then Bentzel says it would be back to the drawing board, as the aging facilities still need to be addressed in some way.