Lawrence, Johnson school districts awarded LAVEC funding
By TONY FYFFE
BSN Editor
FRANKFORT – Two school districts in the Big Sandy region were awarded $19.28 million to fund renovation projects at Local Area Vocational Education Centers (LAVEC).
The Kentucky School Facilities Construction Commission Board approved $75 million in grant funding Sept. 1 for nine school districts.
The Lawrence County School District was awarded $9,280,350, while the Johnson County School District received $10 million.
The Lawrence County funding will be used for a new greenhouse, a new building for JROTC and carpentry classrooms and lab spaces, restrooms for outside access and renovations at Lawrence County High School for career and technical facilities only, according to a release.
The Johnson County School District will use its funds to construct a new career and technical education center that will be part of a new Johnson Central High School, Assistant Superintendent Noel Crum said.
“Johnson Central has been the gold standard for over a decade in offering the most pathways for students of any single school in the eastern half of Kentucky, including Lexington and Louisville,” Crum, who is also CTE coordinator for the district, said in a press release. “This grant will allow us to realize our dream of having the best facilities to complement and match the outstanding programs and opportunities we currently offer our students.”
The $10 million SFCC grant will be combined with the bonding available to the district to construct a new Johnson Central High School and CTE Center.
“This grant is the icing on the cake to combine with the strong support from our community and board of education, to take the necessary steps for realizing this dream,” said Johnson County Superintendent Thom Cochran.
Earning this grant now sets a rapid timeline as a completed building plan (BG-1) must be approved and bids must be in place by Sept. 1, 2022.
“The timing of this grant opportunity is perfect as there has never been a greater need for providing our students the best facilities in eastern Kentucky which will allow our superior CTE programs to continue growing and providing transitions to successful outcomes for our students,” said JCHS CTE Principal Monica Daniel. “We already offer the most opportunities of any school in the area, but our students also deserve new facilities like we see throughout neighboring counties here in our region.”
Most LAVEC programs are connected to or housed in area high schools. The school districts chosen for funding were among nearly three dozen qualified applicants. Applications were evaluated by the commission based upon age of current vocational education facility, financial need, county unemployment rate and LAVEC enrollment.
“This is a unique opportunity to upgrade and improve the quality of vocational education for hundreds of Kentuckians,” Chelsey Couch, executive director of the Kentucky School Construction Facilities Commission, said in a press release. “We have hundreds of millions worth of building and renovation requests in the queue. These General Fund dollars shortens that list and gets shovels in the ground by 2022,” said Chelsey Couch, executive director of the Kentucky School Construction Facilities Commission.
School districts submitted 32 applications with $229 million in requested financial assistance for their vocational centers, exceeding the $75 million in funding available through this program. The governor will be reviewing qualifying projects for potential inclusion in his upcoming recommended budget he will submit in January.