Full-day K worth Jessamine taxpayers' dollars

Comment by Shark88: Friday, September 3

Ms. Dragomir, you can donate from your own personal funds to help the schools out. It is a free co...read more...

Fiscal court buys Nicholasville Cafe building

Comment by Shark88: Friday, September 3

So the state is forcing the county to build a justice center? When does that have to be built?...read more...

Defending First Amendment rights different from endorsing message

Comment by tweldon: Thursday, September 2

For weeks I have grown so accustomed to writing acerbic retorts to Leland Conway’s columns with wh...read more...

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District Health Services Coordinator Patricia Glass presented the Jessamine County Board of Education with the results from random drug testing at the schools for the 2009-2010 school year during its work session Monday.

High-school drivers and student-athletes are subject to random drug testing; middle-school student-athletes are also subject to the testing. When a test does not come back clean, it is classified as non-negative, and a review takes place.

A middle-school test came back with a non-negative result for the first time in the district this year, but further investigation found the substance was a medication for the student’s ADHD.

“When it came back from the lab, it was confirmed that it was [ADHD medication], and so there was no penalty for that child,” Glass said.

While the number of high-school students tested in the 2009-2010 school year dropped — Athletic Director Ken Cox said the decline from 307 to 187 was an oversight on his part — percentage of non-negative test results declined significantly from 2008-2009, from 7 percent to 3 percent for drivers and from 10 percent to 2 percent for athletes. The numbers had been lower the previous school year in 2007-2008, with 4 percent of high-school drivers and 5 percent of high-school athletes receiving non-negative results out of 321 tested.

Glass told the board most non-negative results that result in suspensions upon review are students who have used marijuana. Board Chairman Karl Smith pointed out that the non-negative figures do not indicate the outcome of reviews and asked to see a report that includes how many test results showed what he called “the bad stuff.”

“I could care less about the ADHD meds,” Smith said. “I care about the cocaine and marijuana. That’s the number I want to see.”

Glass said she would provide the board with a more specific report.

Central office parking

The board authorized Darrell Douglas of architect firm Sherman Carter Barnhart to proceed with soliciting bids to add 20 parking spaces to the lot at the Royse Administration Building. Funding for the project would come out of the district’s maintenance budget and would cost roughly $30,000, depending on the bids received.

Board members said the opening of the new Jessamine Early Learning Village next to the Royse Administration Building and Jessamine Career and Technology Center will likely “tax” the parking situation.

Board member JoAnn Rohrback questioned why the district had to hire an architect for the paving project. Superintendent Lu Young said the district is required to hire a design professional for projects of more than $20,000, but she was not sure if the district is required to retain the professional to oversee the project.

“This is the way we’ve always done it in the district, and I thought that was what was required,” Young said. “I’m pretty sure it’s not just for the design part of it but for the actual project itself.”

While the board did not reach a consensus to approve the project and it was not an agenda item, the members did agree to allow Sherman Carter Barnhart to put the project out to bid and come back later for approval.

Douglas also told the board that the project to change a secondary entrance to East Jessamine Middle School into an entrance-only lane for eastbound buses and maintenance vehicles should be completed by the start of the school year.

In other business, the board:

• approved final authorization for the completion of the new East Jessamine Middle School, with a total construction cost of $26,855,756.68.

• approved final authorization for the completion of the connector road between East Middle and East High, with a total construction cost of $364,257.16.

• approved an academic-dean position at East Jessamine High School to assist targeted at-risk students after the school had reduced its guidance-counselor positions from three to two.

• approved the final expenditure in a three-year instrument-purchase plan for district bands and orchestras that cost the board $127,289 — 36 percent less than the $186,750 originally allocated.

• approved the “release and settlement agreement” involving a special-education student following a closed session to discuss litigation.

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