Students attending Warren County Public Schools will start school Aug. 10 following approval from the district’s Board of Education during a meeting Tuesday night. 

Under the change, the number of school days will drop from 175 to 174. Kentucky requires at least 170 days, Superintendent Rob Clayton said during the meeting, adding that many districts in the state have fewer than 175 school days. 

One advantage of the change, Clayton said, is that teachers and support staff will have more time to work together for student success. 

“This will provide an opportunity within the school year for those staff members to come together and continue to work at best practices, curriculum, instruction and assessment,” he said. 

The change also means students will finish their school year a day earlier on May 23, which is contingent on inclement weather school closures. Additionally, teachers will have an extra planning day on Sept. 23. 

As for the current school year, athletic complex projects are progressing, according to chief facilities officer Mike Wilson. During the meeting, architects working on athletic complex projects at Warren Central High School and Warren East High School shared progress updates. 

Wilson said work on Warren Central’s athletic complex is wrapping up as workers put finishing touches on the school’s baseball and softball field. The next phase of construction will focus on the school’s kitchen, cafeteria and other parts of the building. However, the full scope of the project hasn’t be decided. 

Board members also reviewed aerial images of work on Warren East’s field house and multipurpose building taken by a drone. Images showed a standing frame of the school’s field house with most walls up and with trusses ready to support a roof. The multipurpose building is in similar shape. 

A list of change orders increasing costs for the Warren East project concerned some board members, who said the orders seemed excessive and asked for explanation. Various cost increases total $90,568.20, but there were also change orders that decreased costs and totaled $34,201.89 saved. Wilson said change orders can vary monthly and that as projects go on there’s more potential for them to change. 

When it comes to the district’s current facility needs, priorities may need to be shifted. Because of another board action, officials will ask the Kentucky Department of Education to reconvene the Local Planning Committee. The committee was previously tasked with prioritizing district facility needs for state funding purposes in a district facilities plan. 

The old plan placed a sixth grade transition move into the district’s middle school as priority number one. However, that’s been shelved by the district due to cost concerns surrounding renovations for middle schools. The new plan is to lower that priority in the plan and replace it with a new elementary school in the Warren Central High School area. 

Clayton said that move is motivated by projected population growth, but couldn’t say how many kids it could hold yet. Although the sixth grade move isn’t out of the question down the road, Clayton said it’s “not likely to happen in the foreseeable future.” 

In other board business, the board approved a resolution opposing House Bill 620. The resolution describes the bill as a proposal for a voucher system for special needs students that would allow state funding to travel with students. 

“The Warren County Board of Education formally opposes HB 620 and charter school legislation that would allow any entity other than the local board of education to have chartering authority,” the resolution reads, adding “it is neither in the best interest of the district nor in the best interest of Warren County students.” 

After adjourning the meeting, board members went into closed session citing discussions of acquisition or selling real estate, pending litigation and hearings “which might lead to the appointment, discipline or dismissal of an individual employee, member or student.” District officials said no further action would be taken. 

— Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter at twitter.com/aaron_muddbgdn or visit bgdailynews.com.