GLASGOW — At its Thursday meeting, the Barren County Schools Board of Education discussed issues with repairs to Red Cross Elementary School and a potential new drug testing policy at length.

Craig Thomas, principal architect of RBS Design, a subcontractor involved in the expansions being made to Red Cross, which include six new classrooms and a larger parking lot, said J C Industries, a subcontractor it ordered roof panels from, manufactured and sent panels incompatible with the existing panels that don’t need to be replaced.

“They’re not the roof panels that were specified,” he said. “They’re not the roof panels that we thought we were getting.”  

Though the rest of the building’s renovations are moving ahead on schedule, he’s not certain the roof will be finished by Aug. 11, when the 2016-17 school year starts for students. 

If that were to happen, the school could still hold classes in the building because the renovations would not present a “life safety issue,” Thomas said.  

“We’re struggling with our schedule a little bit but we’re just going to do everything we can to to get the roof here and get it installed,” he said.

According to Superintendent Bo Matthews, the roof panels currently on the building have two parallel striations while the ones that arrived have three, a disparity that could cause warping.  

The board decided to turn down J C’s offer to put the panels they sent in place and deduct $11,000 from the cost of renovating the roof and ask the company to replace the entire roof. 

In another matter, the board approved a measure to table a vote on whether to implement a Kentucky School Boards Association-recommended drug-testing policy for students and employees.

The policy, which Assistant Superintendent Mark Wallace said is being widely used throughout the state, would allow the district to test student athletes and students who drive.

Several board members took issue with the policy’s disallowance of performing drug tests on all students.

Board chair Charlotte Beals said it isn’t fair to only test athletes and drivers. “I hesitate because I don’t like the idea of just testing your student athletes or your drivers,” she said. “I think every student in this system should be subject to it. To me that’s the fairest way to do it.”

Council member Shelly Groce said the testing program is supposed to provide students a chance to resist peer pressure. “We’re not looking to say that we think we have a bunch of kids doing drugs,” she said. “That’s not the point. The point is to deter kids.”

The board wants more time to look over the policy and to approach it with caution, Matthews said. “We’re exploring the implications and the language that’s contained in that policy and procedure,” he said.

The board also went into two closed sessions, the first of which involved “proposed or pending litigation against or on behalf of the public agency,” according to the meeting agenda.

When asked about it, Matthews wouldn’t elaborate on what was discussed.

In the second closed session, the board discussed the yearly evaluation of the superintendent’s performance but didn’t make a decision, deciding instead to finish the evaluation at next month’s meeting.  

— Follow Daily News reporter Jackson French on Twitter @Jackson_French or visit bgdailynews.com.