It’s going to take some time, but the Trigg County Vocational School will someday soon undergo a considerable renovation.
During its regularly scheduled September 9 meeting, the Trigg County Board of Education unanimously approved some motions bringing the renovation into clear focus:
*accepting a $10 million grant award from the Kentucky General Assembly under “Local Area Vocational Center” legislation
*and naming Sherman Carter Barnhart, already working on current designs and projects, the architect for the improved vocational school
Matt Ladd, director of operations for Trigg County Schools, said the tentative plan would be to release initial print plans around April 4, 2022 — just before spring break — to allow time for an empty walkthrough of the vocational building, and then accept bids for the next month.
Andrew Owens, current project manager, and Sherman Carter Barnhart representative said once bids were accepted by the board, renovations could begin theoretically by next summer, with full completion expected just before the start of the 2023-24 school year.
With 18 vocational pathways to maintain and hopes of reuniting all vocational programs under one roof, Faye Stevens — Trigg County’s district instructional supervisor — said the main mantra must be to capture the essence of tomorrow’s jobs.
Stevens added that a needs assessment will be underway near Christmas, and a teacher “wish list” is already being created, in order to properly quartermaster efficiencies and deficiencies.
Furthermore, there’s an expectation that the new renovations will wrap around current work being done to the building — rather than stripping out and starting over again.
One of the tougher questions being asked at this early stage: where to put Trigg Tots — the school’s early childcare program offered to school employees and student parents — once renovations begin?
Ladd said the query has to be answered sooner rather than later.
It was very casually discussed, but board member Theresa Allen tossed out the idea that the Board building could become Trigg Tots for 18 months — in order to keep kids safe and still close to campus.
Two things that could also be coming soon for board members: a vocational school workshop, as well as a few in-person visits to other district vocational schools — in hopes of better understanding the needs required to make an updated and state-of-the-art facility.
The school board next meets on September 23.
