The Boyle County School Board approved final plans for a new softball field and concession stands at its meeting on Thursday.

Design firm Clotfelter Samokar made a presentation of their final design. The softball field will be located just northeast of Boyle County High School, south of the existing baseball field.

The field will face southeast. It will have bleachers with about 350 seats and a press box behind home plate, and a locker room in the home dugout. A batting cage will be south of the field.

They will also build concession and restroom buildings for both the new softball field and the existing track/soccer field. One concession building will be between the softball and baseball fields.

The other concession building at the track/soccer field will be just northeast of the bleachers in front of an existing barn. Both buildings will have mens and womens restrooms with four stalls each.

The total estimated project cost is $3,484,000. The board unanimously voted to advertise for construction bids. They will review bids at their next meeting.

The board of education amended the school calendar for the 2021 to 2022 year. To make up for several snow days, the last day of school was changed from May 23 to May 25. High school graduation will be May 27.

The board heard a first reading of changes to non-resident admittance policies. The members heard a presentation about amendments to the Students Admissions and Attendance Policy 09.12, Students Reciprocal Agreements with Other School Districts 09.125 Policy, and Students Tuition 09.124 Policy.

Non-resident students are currently admitted through two policies. The Reciprocal Enrollment program has agreements with 13 surrounding counties to allow children in those districts to transfer to Boyle County Schools free of charge. The Tuition Program allows those in a non-reciprocal district to attend Boyle County Schools by paying an annual $2,400 tuition.

In March 2021, the state government passed House Bill 563, which involves non-resident policies for public schools. The board is working to adopt that law.

According to the Kentucky General Assembly website, the law will “Amend KRS 157.350 to allow inclusion of nonresident pupils in a district’s average daily attendance; amend KRS 158.120 to require a local board of education to adopt a nonresident student policy and forbid discrimination among nonresident students; require the Kentucky Department of Education to submit a report by August 1 concerning options to ensure a school district’s local effort funds follow a students to the district in which the student is enrolled; specify that no provisions are intended to override current rules and regulations adopted by the Kentucky High School Athletics Association, including transfers.”

The board discussed the policy during a working session on March 9. One of the changes would mean all applications for new non-resident students will be time stamped based on the submission date, and they will be enrolled on a first come, first served basis.

Any current Boyle County students, both residents and nonresidents, will be grandfathered. Another change is that grade levels would be capped, and non-residents would not be admitted past the cap.

Both the middle and high school would be capped at 250 per grade level. At Woodlawn Elementary, grades K-3 would be 92; and grades 4-5 would be 108. At Perryville Elementary, grades K-3 would be 46; and grades 4-5 would be 54. At Junction City Elementary, grades K-3 would be 69; and grades 4-5 would be 81.

The board is also considering charging tuition of possibly $500 per year for each non-resident student. The policy is still under consideration and could be changed.

“One ramification is students who are on board contracts don’t pay tuition, and they would have to pay tuition next year if we decided to charge tuition,” Superintendent Mike Lafavers said.

Another change presented is that transportation may be provided to residents outside Boyle County at the discretion of the superintendent. Transportation would be determined by space on a bus, route convenience, and safe dropoff locations.

The board will hear a second reading at its April 21 regular meeting, and if enacted, the new nonresident admittance policy will take effect April 22.

In other business, the board:
• Approved the purchase of one John Deere Utility Tractor for $43,673; one John Deere 520M Loader for $4,871.60; and one Frontier Hydraulic Rear Blade for $1,887.64. The purchases total $50,432.62.
• Approved a Custodial Services Agreement with Anderson Commercial Cleaning, LLC for the Boyle County High School for the Reminder of the 2021 to 2022 school year.
• Recently announced supplemental health services are available to students at all district schools. The district nurse practitioner is able to provide optional health services to students whose parents/guardians give written consent for these services.
If a child is assessed at school by the nurse practitioner, there is no cost to the family for the school health visit. Services may include acute care visits, like for strep testing, flu testing, ear infections, etc.; and/or well-child physical exams if they are overdue.
Parents can complete the Consent for Health Services and Patient Health History forms and return them to the school nurse or district nurse practitioner. Boyle County Schools recommends that all students have a primary care provider.