After ceremoniously swearing in new student representatives, The Christian County School Board discussed consolidated high school construction updates, approved bus driver hiring incentives, approved the resignation of their fellow district two board member and much more at Thursday’s meeting.
Before the meeting was called to order Christian County High School senior Jesslyn Sharkey and Hopkinsville High School senior Kylie Batts were sworn in as student representatives on the board after being voted for by their peers.
Once they were sworn in the pair sat alongside the rest of the board, and to start the meeting received a presentation from Tim Geegan of Alliance Corporation regarding a construction update for the consolidation Christian County High School.
At the worksite Geegan says they are constructing from South to North and says they couldn’t have asked for a better site and work is moving along according to schedule.
Geegan says their foundation is laying well, they were able to fill a sink hole and next week they will have their plumber and electrician on site.
In regards to transportation the board discussed and unanimously voted to approve a bus driver incentive program. Superintendent Chris Bentzel shared that they need more substitute bus drivers for the district.
Bentzel says at the start of the school year they had a sufficient number of drivers, but because of health-related issues and transportation needs for fieldtrips and athletics a shortage occurred. Bentzel describes the incentive as a refer a friend program.
Any district employees can refer a friend to be a bus driver and after that friend goes through training and works as a bus driver for a full year then both the employee and the bus driver will receive $750.
To further recruit more bus drivers the district is also hosting a hiring event on October 28 at the Stadium of Champions parking lot starting at 9 a.m. called the Bus Driver “Road-eo” to show people what the job entails and to round up more drivers.
Concerning safety, the Board approved to move forward with purchasing a weapons detection system for Christian County Middle School. The board discussed between two bids for detection systems and approved the purchase for a system costing around $460,000.
Concluding their discussion and approval items, the board voted to approve the resignation of district two board member Tiffany Mumford-Brame, and also approved for the advertisement of the vacancy.
During individual board member comments, all members shared their appreciation for Mumford-Brame’s service. District four representative, Rebecca Pepper says she appreciates the support she has received from Mumford-Brame and knows even though she isn’t on the board she will continue to be an advocate for students.
The vacancy will be advertised for two weeks and those interested can complete an application and submit a letter of intent to the Board of Education, confirming they meet all requirements.