Knox School Board Gets Update on High School’s Former Pit Area

 

Knox High School’s pit area may be gone, but it continues to be a topic of discussion during school board meetings. Principal Dr. Elizabeth Ratliff told board members last month that the area where the pit used to be has gotten some new furniture. “The nice part is the kids love it,” she said. “So we’re seeing anywhere from 25 to 30 kids sitting in there every day. By being able to spread out the chairs, they’re really enjoying it, taking good care of it. So that’s been a very positive addition, also.”

But board member Kirk Bennett asked whether adding the furniture would reduce the safety benefit realized by filling in the pit. Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart explained that the furniture doesn’t take up the entire space that the pit used to occupy. “Plus, if you go in and look at the furniture, kids can walk through the furniture,” he said. “So if you had to evacuate those stairwells and stuff, what used to be less than six, seven foot, you can now walk through that area.”

Ratliff added that the new arrangement solves the issue of wheelchairs falling in the pit. “That is something that we’ve had,” she explained. “They would go near it, and a wheelchair, if you’re not careful, it would actually tip into the pit, and so, that’s a big difference.”

Meanwhile, board member Wendy McIntire said she was disappointed with the new tile that’s been installed in the former pit area. “It looks like – I don’t know – like a modge-podge,” she said. “I mean, I get that you probably can’t match it because the other tile has been there for years, but the cafeteria’s got the gray and then you’ve got the brown and then you’ve got the gray in that circle area. To me, I was just disappointed in how it looks. When we spend that much money in filling in that area and doing that, I just thought that it could’ve blended a little bit better or something.” Ratliff assured board members that the school isn’t finished decorating the area yet.

Board member Mary Lynn Ritchie said that most of the complaints about filling in the pit have come from older community members, and she’s glad that current students seem to like it.