By Taylor Boyd
While the slate of summer classes is being finalized, the session to begin on June 7 and end on July 1.
Schools Superintendent Dean Gilbert said students would attend classes Monday through Thursday each week.
“Elementary times will be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the high school times will be 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Grades kindergarten through sixth will be at each elementary school. Rising eighth and ninth graders will be at Patrick County High School,” he said.
Because attendance is based on referrals from the schools, principals will contact parents about summer school classes, Gilbert said, and added the division will provide breakfast and lunch and transportation to and from school each day for all students.
Gilbert said classes will try to accommodate up to 10 students.
“It’s kind of fluid. Ten to 12 per grade at each elementary school, and then there’s going to be more at the high school. We’re trying to keep it at 10, that way we can keep the spacing that we have to keep,” he said.
Currently, there are no plans for a second summer session.
“Unfortunately, we have to have some time to get things worked on, like some upkeep like waxing floors and things of that nature. We have to have time to do that, and if we have that many kids in a building, it’s kind of hard to do that summer maintenance,” he said.
The early start date in August also means holding a summer school session is in July “would be hard to do from a time standpoint, because a lot of people travel the week of July 4 for vacation, and then, if you look at July 11, you have two or three weeks before our teachers come back to work for the next year,” Gilbert said.
In other matters, the school board:
*Awarded a certificate to Whitley Manns, a senior at Patrick County High School, who received a $25,000 from the Horatio Alger National Scholarship. Principal Trey Cox said only 106 kids in the entire United States receive it.
“We are blessed that Whitley Manns is one of those 106 kids. The magnitude of that is absolutely awesome for her to achieve that. The scholarship program has been around for quite a while, and it goes through all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico,” he said.
Cox said Manns had an opportunity to attend the National Scholars Conference in Washington D.C. “She said that the application process was a tough and long process, but we are blessed to have a kid like Whitley here at Patrick County. We are immensely proud of the things she’s done while she’s been here,” he said.
*Tabled a discussion of Shared Leave until the next meeting.
*Approved the Carl Perkins Plan.
*Approved the recommendation for health, vision, and dental insurance.
*Approved consent calendar.
*Approved policy updates.
*Approved the personnel reports as amended.
