Laurel County school board addresses 2023 commencement
Mar. 29—Moving graduation exercises to the Corbin Arena several years ago resolved the overcrowding in the school gymnasiums, despite friends and family having to drive a little further.
But that plan has hit a snag this year, as The Arena is booked during the time that the Laurel County graduation has been held in prior years.
Concerns and rumors that commencement exercises would return to the school gymnasiums generated a conversation among board members and school officials on Monday night.
Superintendent Dr. Doug Bennett said Friday, May 26 is the last day of school, with graduation being held the following day. Historically, the two high school programs are held at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., with rotating schedules on which school goes first each year.
But this year, Corbin High School has booked the Arena for a 1 p.m. graduation ceremony — thus placing the Laurel district in a dilemma on time and place for their commencement programs.
Board members suggested several options, including holding the ceremony the weekend before or even considering a late afternoon ceremony. Bennett said he would check on the availability of The Arena for the evening, adding that the school district hesitated to book The Arena too far in advance.
"We don't know how many snow days we'll have or how many other times we may be out of school," he said. "But we can check on the times and see what is available for the same day (Saturday, May 27)."
Hosting graduation at the high schools became an issue due to so many people attending the ceremony and having the overflow watch a live broadcast from the auditorium/library of the two local high schools. Many people were turned away to prevent overcrowding in those facilities as well as violating the Fire Marshal rules for the amount of people inside the gyms.
The issuance of tickets for graduates became a policy during the 2020 graduation and has been successful thus far. Those tickets are given to immediate family.
Another possibility for commencement exercises would be to host the event on the school's football fields. In that setting, there would be no problem accommodating everyone who wished to attend graduation. However, the outside venue depends on the weather and also requires extra practice for the procession in both places.
Bennett also pointed out that having graduation before the end of school would create problems with grades — for example, some students may walk the graduation line but may not pass their finals, thus creating another problem.
"There's all kinds of different scenarios. But if The Arena is booked, The Arena is booked and there's nothing we can do about it," he said.
Bennett added that having a facility in Laurel County large enough to accommodate the crowd was several years in the future and could resolve the problem then, but is not available at this time.
Board member Ed Jones said setting up the chairs, stage and band for the ceremony also required pre-planning as well as having practices.
Even with graduation being held at The Arena, school officials have to plan on the traffic flow. Historically the commencement exercises were set at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. but changed it last year to 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to allow for traffic flow.
"There's only one way in and one way out, so that hour allowed for the traffic to flow better," he said.
A late afternoon ceremony is another possibility, however, which Bennett said could be a consideration. He said he would contact Arena officials for availability of that evening and would present that to the board at the next meeting, which is set for Monday, April 10.
Board member Tony Krahenbuhl opened the discussion of a pay raise for staff of the school district, with Bennett responding that more would be known on the issue in May when the draft budget is done. Krahenbuhl said he just wanted "to get ahead of the game" on pay raises with the ultimate goal to ensure that Laurel County draws "the best" and keeps them.
Bennett explained that beginning staff usually start out at a lower rate but after remaining on staff for a few years, received a good pay increase. That, he said, is one way the district retains employees. School employees received large raises last year — classified personnel got a 9% raise while certified staff got a 5% increase. Bennett added that education officials have estimated a large increase in property assessments this year which would inevitably decrease the SEEK funds school districts expect to receive and therefore their general funds. A large pay increase not supported by the property taxes would result in less money going into the general fund and thus lowering the district's contingency fund from its current 8% to 5%. The state requires school districts to maintain a 2% contingency fund, which is used for emergency situations.
"There's also a decline in the output of teachers from universities," he said.
Board member Brice Hicks questioned whether there are any programs that college students could participate in to bring them to the schools and retain them as employees after graduation. Bennett said other than student teaching, he was not aware of any such programs — but would look to see what might be available. The conversation closed with Bennett saying more would be known regarding the school's finances around May.
Other actions taken were:
—Accept bid from Cincinnati Flooring Company to replace the floor of South Laurel High School gymnasium. That floor has lasted since the school was built in 1970. Bennett said the bid from Cincinnati Flooring was "significantly less" than other bids and would include a new sub-floor, new gym floor that was sanded and finished.
—Approved agreement with ASAP for Fiscal Year 2024.
—Approved agreement between school district and ASAP Harm Reduction Grant for FY 24.
—Accepted Houchens Insurance Group to provide quotes for insurance coverage for workman's comp, liability, fleet, property and umbrella insurance.
—Re-creation of Special Needs Assistant at Bush Elementary and Secretary II position for district.
