The Christian County School Board approved an agreement with Davis Demographics to conduct a district population forecast, and approved establishing a district daycare at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary.
Director of Pupil Personnel Melanie Barrett made the recommendation to go with Davis Demographics, saying the district has worked with them before. She says she knows there has been a lot of speculation in the community, but service would provide them with data concerning where students live versus where they are enrolled, how the pandemic and other factors affected student population and more, allowing them to make informed decisions in the future.
It was approved unanimously by the board—Barrett says next they will draw up the contract and then begin the forecasting work, and from there hopefully present information sometime in April.
Following much discussion, the board approved the establishment of Inspire Early Learning Academy—a 120 student capacity childcare program at Martin Luther King Elementary for children of CCPS staff and local industry employees. It would have 15 students per class for ages two to five years old, and local industries would contribute $80,000 to the start up costs.
Assistant Superintendent Jessica Addison says the area has a ‘childcare desert’, and this would greatly benefit parents looking for childcare options while also boosting early literacy.
The hope is the learning academy would become self-sufficient—it would have an estimated tuition of $150 per week per student. It was approved on a 3-to-1 vote, with board member Lindsey Clark the lone ‘no’ vote.
Also approved was the BG-1, with Finance Director Jessica Darnall saying the total cost of construction for the project—which includes updates and heightening security for the Inspire Early Learning Academy—would be approximately $17,500.
In other action, the board approved the job descriptions for a Coordinator, Assistant Coordinator and 22 instructors for the childcare facility, with Clark voting no on those items.