HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – “On time and under budget,” is the phrase Tom Bell, chair of the CCPS Board of Education, has often iterated in reference to construction at the consolidated high school. As August approaches, the board is continuing to make hefty purchases, including outsourcing some custodial needs, to ensure the building is ready for students.

Separate from their construction budget, the board members decided to invest $400,000 from the general fund to hire an external custodial service of 11 people for the new high school. They received one bid for service for the 10-month contract after giving four companies a walkthrough of the building, and the board voted to accept it.

This group of workers will come in five days a week after school hours and provide deep cleaning services that cannot be done when students are in the building. Custodians who work during school hours work directly for CCPS and focus more on “spot cleaning” and day to day tasks while this additional crew will be responsible for floor waxing, window cleaning and more tedious undertakings.

It was determined that the external service would be slightly cheaper than if CCPS hired the additional staff themselves.

| FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow Christian County Now on Facebook

School board chips away at contingency for additional furniture

With faculty and staff now settling into the space ahead of the first day of school on Aug. 19, a walkthrough of the campus by CCHS Executive Principal Ken Carver revealed the need for additional furniture totaling just over $207,000.

At the July 16 CCPS Board of Education meeting, a finance update shows that $2.7 million remains in their contingency fund for construction at CCHS and Stadium of Champions. An update from Assistant Superintendent Jason Wilson shows that only aesthetic projects remain on the interior of the school as additional logos and signage are installed and furniture is assembled.

“Now that we’ve gotten to the end, there are some additional needs that we have,” said Wilson about the purchase of new furniture. He and Carver told board members that some staff members require more storage by way of bookshelves, or lecterns. Also, there were spaces on the campus that were unassigned when furniture orders were initially placed, and they have additional needs for the music room.

Superintendent Chris Bentzel defended the investments, saying that they are making good use of the available contingency in order to have all new, cohesive furniture items since both high schools were previously stocked with very old items. He also anticipates that the board will soon have to invest in additional lockers for the football team since the team has grown so much.

Multiple change orders were also approved for CCHS in which the school system has to pay the difference based off of price changes for project elements. Four of these were “net zero” change orders where money is being moved around between different purchase order titles and does not require an additional expense. The board also approved the $40,000 purchase radio repeaters to boost radio operations at CCHS.

By the end of the meeting, the contingency fund had dwindled down from $2.7 million to $2.4 million after change orders and purchase orders were all unanimously approved.

| DOWNLOAD THE APP: Sign up for our free Christian County Now app