By Abigail Roberts
Is the Lincoln County Board of Education planning to close Highland Elementary?
That is the discussion taking place on social media locally this week after School Board Member Phillip Coots took to Facebook confirming it is something the school district is considering.
Coots said while there has been no public discussion of the matter, on April 20 Superintendent Bruce Smith sent an email to all five board members with information about vacancies at Highland and Waynesburg stating now would be a good time to have the discussion about closing Highland Elementary.
Coots said his response to the email was that it needs to be put on the meeting agenda.
“Two days later, another email was sent to the board members by the superintendent providing a list of other issues and reasons why closing Highland is a good idea,” Coots said on Facebook. “Even after my request to make this a public discussion, it felt as though this email was an attempt to ‘help’ the board members lean towards closing the school. Again, the open records policy came to my mind, but as far as I am aware, none of the board members responded to that email. Well, none of them responded to ‘all’.”
This week, Coots said he has received emails and phone calls from multiple people.
“So yes, this is a real conversation right now. It’s a conversation that is not a conversation, but it is real” he said. “It is my understanding, based on conversations, emails, and phone calls that I have received from multiple people, that the staff at Highland has been informed of this. There are a lot of questions going around about it, and I don’t blame anyone for asking the questions.”
Coots said closing the school makes sense financially as it costs nearly $1.5 million per year to keep Highland Elementary open, but whether it is the right move for the community, staff and children is a discussion he believes should take place in public.
It’s an emotional topic for the community, Coots said, but he encourages the public to remain respectful.
“Passion is good. Please be respectful. I have been told that previous board members and superintendents have been cussed at, spit on, and have received death threats throughout conversations like this. That isn’t necessary, and I pray that we can all have these conversations in a civilized manner,” he said.
According to Communications Coordinator Brad Smith the agenda for the May 7 school board meeting has not been formally set as of Tuesday this week.
Superintendent Bruce Smith said that it could be discussed during that working meeting.
“Should the board decide to move forward at any point, there is a formal process that must be followed that includes a vote by the local school board and approval by the Kentucky Department of Education before a public school can be closed,” Smith said.
Coots provided the following information for those who would like to contact school board members about the topic:
Next Board meeting: Thursday, May 7 at 5:30 pm at Central Office
Superintendent Bruce Smith. Bruce.Smith@lincoln.kyschools.us
Board Chair: Christine Killen. Christine.killen@lincoln.kyschools.us
Board Vice Chair: Tyler McGuffey. Tyler.mcguffey@lincoln.kyschools.us
Board Member: Jenn Broadbent. Jennifer.broadbent@lincoln.kyschools.us
Board Member: Gloria Sneed. Gloria.Sneed@lincoln.kyschools.us
Board Member: Phillip Coots. Phillip.Coots@lincoln.kyschools.us
