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Seth Pitman addresses the Mercer County Board of Education at a hearing Thursday night. (February 28, 2013) |
HARRODSBURG — Mercer County Board of Education heard community opposition to its proposed school facilities plan during a hearing Thursday night.
Of seven people who spoke, all voiced opinions against the board’s plan to close the building that houses Mercer County Intermediate School, formerly the Harrodsburg High School, on East Lexington Street.
One of the speakers, Seth Pitman, a Mercer County Senior High School graduate and Harrodsburg resident as well as a member of various organizations in the city and county, criticized the board for focusing on short-term goals instead of seeing the long-term picture. Pitman drew up a petition to keep the Lexington Street school open and, within six days, said he had gotten about 100 signatures.
“One hundred people agreed with me that the board should approve the LPC (Local Planning Committee) recommendation for Mercer County Intermediate School to continue to operate and not to close it down,” Pitman said.
He stressed that while closing the former high school does not mean that it will be demolished, it also does not mean the building will be protected, despite its historical relevance.
Pitman stressed the convenience of the building for the students, placing them within walking distance of historical sites in the city and the potential for the football and track field that is on the property.
He said the former high school was found to be the most amiable for energy efficiency, in a study presented by the LPC earlier in the process.
The location of the building has been both a positive and a negative in terms of its pending closure. During previous board meetings, members discussed the possibility of someday having all Mercer County school properties together on one campus.
However, Pitman and others reminded the board about how the East Lexington Street property should be viewed as a “billboard” for the community.
“The best advertisement on earth” is the campus on East Lexington Street, Toni Brumbock Preston said. “That’s our billboard … That’s what makes Harrodsburg, Harrodsburg.”
She said the building is viewed by visitors from Lexington and beyond because of its location. Preston questioned whether visitors know where the rest of the school system’s buildings are, because they are farther away from any tourist locations.
Beautifying the historic building, she explained, would benefit the school district in great ways because it would encourage visitors to see the great potential.
“I’d polish those windows every day and make that place shine,” Preston said of the former Harrodsburg High School-turned Mercer County Intermediate School. Others spoke during the hearing, criticizing the board on potentially wasting one building that many argued could use minimal repairs in order to build a new wing on Mercer County Senior High School to accommodate ninth-grader, a project anticipated to cost more than $1 million. T.A. Greene, community member and business owner, alleged that the district is losing sight of the big picture of educating students in the name of efficiency.
Community members also questioned why it seems the building has been chosen to close by the board from the beginning, even before the Local Planning Committee was introduced and the official process began.
The board said in a meeting in early 2012 that the building was going to close but discovered there were legal methods to building closure, which resulted in bringing in the LPC and beginning the process.
“The board made up their mind long ago, come heck or high water, that they were going to close that school,” community member Mary Jo Lawson said.
Tim Eaton, who was hired as the hearing officer for the meetings, as required by the Kentucky Department of Education, will compile a report of the night’s meeting, which will then be turned over to the board.
If the board accepts the report, a final proposal on the facilities plan will be submitted to the Kentucky Department of Education. If rejected, concerns will be given to the LPC, the plan will be adjusted and given back to the board for another review, before potentially being passed to the state department.
The final proposal is scheduled to be presented at a Kentucky Department of Education meeting in April.
Of seven people who spoke, all voiced opinions against the board’s plan to close the building that houses Mercer County Intermediate School, formerly the Harrodsburg High School, on East Lexington Street.
One of the speakers, Seth Pitman, a Mercer County Senior High School graduate and Harrodsburg resident as well as a member of various organizations in the city and county, criticized the board for focusing on short-term goals instead of seeing the long-term picture. Pitman drew up a petition to keep the Lexington Street school open and, within six days, said he had gotten about 100 signatures.
“One hundred people agreed with me that the board should approve the LPC (Local Planning Committee) recommendation for Mercer County Intermediate School to continue to operate and not to close it down,” Pitman said.
He stressed that while closing the former high school does not mean that it will be demolished, it also does not mean the building will be protected, despite its historical relevance.
Pitman stressed the convenience of the building for the students, placing them within walking distance of historical sites in the city and the potential for the football and track field that is on the property.
He said the former high school was found to be the most amiable for energy efficiency, in a study presented by the LPC earlier in the process.
The location of the building has been both a positive and a negative in terms of its pending closure. During previous board meetings, members discussed the possibility of someday having all Mercer County school properties together on one campus.
However, Pitman and others reminded the board about how the East Lexington Street property should be viewed as a “billboard” for the community.
“The best advertisement on earth” is the campus on East Lexington Street, Toni Brumbock Preston said. “That’s our billboard … That’s what makes Harrodsburg, Harrodsburg.”
She said the building is viewed by visitors from Lexington and beyond because of its location. Preston questioned whether visitors know where the rest of the school system’s buildings are, because they are farther away from any tourist locations.
Beautifying the historic building, she explained, would benefit the school district in great ways because it would encourage visitors to see the great potential.
“I’d polish those windows every day and make that place shine,” Preston said of the former Harrodsburg High School-turned Mercer County Intermediate School. Others spoke during the hearing, criticizing the board on potentially wasting one building that many argued could use minimal repairs in order to build a new wing on Mercer County Senior High School to accommodate ninth-grader, a project anticipated to cost more than $1 million. T.A. Greene, community member and business owner, alleged that the district is losing sight of the big picture of educating students in the name of efficiency.
Community members also questioned why it seems the building has been chosen to close by the board from the beginning, even before the Local Planning Committee was introduced and the official process began.
The board said in a meeting in early 2012 that the building was going to close but discovered there were legal methods to building closure, which resulted in bringing in the LPC and beginning the process.
“The board made up their mind long ago, come heck or high water, that they were going to close that school,” community member Mary Jo Lawson said.
Tim Eaton, who was hired as the hearing officer for the meetings, as required by the Kentucky Department of Education, will compile a report of the night’s meeting, which will then be turned over to the board.
If the board accepts the report, a final proposal on the facilities plan will be submitted to the Kentucky Department of Education. If rejected, concerns will be given to the LPC, the plan will be adjusted and given back to the board for another review, before potentially being passed to the state department.
The final proposal is scheduled to be presented at a Kentucky Department of Education meeting in April.
