HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – The Christian County Board of Education is utilizing their remaining contingency fund from the CCHS construction project to further invest in the school now that the school year has begun. At the Oct. 15 meeting, several expenses totaling just over $213,500 were approved for additional purchases from new furniture to batting cages.
Director of Finance Jessica Darnell first told the board that they still have $2.7 million in the contingency fund, saying that the construction project is, “still going on and still going well” as the district continues to pay the remaining scheduled bills to architects and the construction team.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jason Wilson requested approval to purchase up to $100,000 in additional furniture for the new high school. He said this request comes after assessing the needs of students and staff now that everyone is more settled into the space. He said, “We tried the best we could to make things work for as little as we could.”
According to Wilson and CCHS Executive Principal Ken Carver, the school needs additional tables, chairs, desks and possibly other furniture items to accommodate for class enrollment. He assured the board that these items are needed and will get good use. This is not the first request for additional furniture, with Carver expressing the need for more office equipment before the school year started.
The board approved the request, with purchases to be made through the existing furniture supplier, KDA Furniture.
| DOWNLOAD THE APP: Sign up for our free Christian County Now app
Change order approved by the board
One of the most notable investments the board approve via change order is an additional $30,000 to remedy clearance issues with bleachers in the CCHS gym. Wilson said that they could continue to function as is, but since they have funds available in the contingency, making changes to a section of the bleachers will ease traffic flow.
Board members also approved $28,000 for electrical improvements at the CCSH greenhouse and to change breakers in the kitchen. $13,000 will improve the asphalt in the triple jump and pole vault area at the stadium, with additional expenses at the stadium to regrow grass and repair soil that was disturbed during the construction process.
More graphics are also included in the change orders along with the construction of roofed batting cages and tunnels on the campus baseball and softball fields. $9,000 was also spent to replace ceiling tiles that were damaged during construction. All of these change order were unanimously approved by the board.
Additional expenses, bid process begins for bus garage and weapons detection system
Now that over 2,000 students are in the building, Wilson said they have also discovered a need to make changes to 11 doors in the building, which will cost $7,000. He explained that currently these are “swing doors” that do not lock, but they now realize these should have a latch and lock that can be installed by staff.
The board was also presented with possible future expenses, with Dr. Wilson requesting approval to advertise to bid out a few additional projects. This includes creating and installing graphics for the “Hall of Champions” at the high school as well as creating a feature wall in the common area with a shield logo and other graphics.
The school board is also seeking bids for additional weapons detection equipment that will prevent bottlenecking when students go through security as previously discussed. The bid process has also been initiated for a new bus garage that will be funded with state allocated dollars.
Once the bids have closed, options will be presented to the board for approval.
| RELATED STORY: New security scanner considered for CCHS alongside weapons detection system