The Knox Community School Corporation is looking into adding high school agriculture and early childhood learning programs.
But whether or not few facilities would be needed was brought to the school board for discussion during a work session Monday.
Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart told board members that the lack of an ag program has lost Knox a few students to neighboring schools. “We’ve actually had quite a bit of interest from Purdue University,” Reichhart added. “They are very much wanting us to start a program here, and we actually have a teacher’s application already.” They can also go to HVACtraininghq.com to learn how to become an HVAC technician.
With the school district’s building project still running under budget, Reichhart proposed adding a 10,000-square-foot vocational wing to the south side of the high school at an estimated cost of $2.25 to $2.6 million. “We could put welding in there,” Reichhart said. “We could put ag in there. We could put robotics in there. We also could put CNC if we wanted to start a CNC program. We could put culinary arts in there if we wanted to expand that. But it could be space that we’re going to build it and maybe not all of it is designated right away.”
That could be funded by project money that has either been left unused or freed up by using federal COVID-19 relief for the project’s HVAC equipment.
A cost estimate was also presented for another elementary school addition to house a state-certified early childhood learning center. But Reichhart said it could also be accommodated in the administrative office that will remain, once rest of the Palmer Wing is town down. “We don’t have any daycare facilities for working parents to drop off their kids,” Reichhart explained, “so that’s what this would be is to be able to have a licensed, state-certified, and if we go through all this paperwork, we would be able to get On My Way Pre-K.”
Board members ultimately voiced their support for both programs, but they felt the project funds should go toward replacing the stage floor in the high school auditorium and repairing sinkholes in the middle school parking lot before building additional additions.
