Missing 16 days of school could mean that students go to school up until June but the Rowan County Board of Education is trying to prevent that.
Spring break was originally scheduled for March 24 through March 28. With the missed days, the board voted to use three days, March 24, 25, and 26 to offset some of the missed instructional hours.
Students will still be off March 27 and 28 if no more school is missed. However, if more days are canceled due to weather, those dates will be used for instructional days.
Additionally, two days already have been reassigned from days off to instructional days. Students went to school on Presidents Day, Feb. 17, originally scheduled as a school holiday, and also will be in class on April 18.
These changes will allow the closing day of school to be on Friday, May 23. This adjustment applies to the number of days missed and may have to be reexamined if more days are lost.
The board also approved a contract extension with Crosspoint Church to use the facilities at Rowan County Senior High School for an additional six months.
“This is one of the only places where we can fit 1,000 people on a Sunday and we are so thankful and appreciate the use of the school,” said Pastor Daniel Lucas. “We are super blessed to meet there.”
Jon Lehr with Trane, the energy specialists hired to work with RCSHS, Rowan County Middle School and Tilden Hogge Elementary, reported that the district had saved $261,125 in energy costs between December 2010 and November 2013. Lehr also reported that the savings at Tilden Hogge were not as great as they had expected.
“We spent four hours in mid-January at the school looking at ways to optimize energy,” said Lehr. “We found that many of the classrooms were operating 24-7 and that the boiler system is the original one and it is trying to heat an entire building when it is only sufficient for a few rooms.”
Lehr added that they will bring back a solution for gas consumption at Tilden Hogge and an update of savings at the board’s March meeting.
The board also unanimously approved Allison Mathews as chair and Lucy Moore as an alternate for the evaluations appeals panel.
Kentucky Bank has served as the depository bank for the school district for several years and will continue to do so. Board Chair Bill Redwine abstained from voting as he is on the bank’s local advisory board.
The board’s next regular meeting will be Monday, March 17.
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