The Christian County School Board could vote as early as next week on moving forward with the site selection of a consolidated high school.
The agenda for the Thursday, August 19 Christian County Board of Education meeting includes the discussion of approving the option of purchasing property for the new school. Assistant Superintendent Josh Hunt told the News Edge the board must approve the site, then the Kentucky Department of Education will evaluate the property before signing off for potential purchase.
The school’s project application form to be sent to the Kentucky Department of Education requests approval of a 289,000 square foot facility for 2,500 students at a cost of $114.5 million. That includes a land acquisition cost of $6 million, $4.8 million in architectural and engineering fees, and a $4.8 million contingency fund for overruns and plan changes.
Hunt said around 90 acres of property would be needed for the new school. The agenda said the property under consideration is ‘Site H’ from the school’s proposal. The BG-1 form only mentions Fort Campbell Boulevard as the site for the new school. Hunt said specific site information would be given at Thursday’s meeting.
Approval of the building and grounds form known as a BG-1 is on the agenda and estimates completion of the new school in time for the 2024-25 school year.
The school district has held three public forums to solicit comments from the public about the consolidation of Christian County and Hopkinsville High and the Gateway Academy. If approved, it would be the first major restructuring of the school district since 1959 when Crofton, Lacy, Pembroke, Sinking Fork, and South Christian formed Christian County High School. Attucks High School closed in 1967, with students choosing to attend either Hopkinsville or Christian County.
Consolidating Hopkinsville and Christian County would likely make it one of the three largest high schools in the state for student enrollment and the largest west of Louisville.
