If all goes to plan, the Trigg County Schools cafeteria could be in line for a major cosmetic face lift in the coming months.
During Thursday night’s Board of Education meeting, Food Service Director Lisa Marsh got unanimous approval to launch a request for proposal on an entirely new tables-and-chairs system that she said would generate three key improvements to the district’s most important gathering space:
— A refreshed look, complete with school logos and colors, would brighten the space.
— And the seats, already attached to the tables, would allow for 40 more occupants while easing the chore of sweeping and mopping the floors each day.
Costing more than $120,000 before the RFP, Marsh noted that former Food Service Director Paula Dickerson left the fiscal status of the department in good shape. Under Fund 51, Marsh also confirmed that state statute doesn’t allow for food service departments to keep excess capital, and it instead must be converted into expenditures.
Therefore, this move won’t come at the cost of the school’s general fund, and she said next year she hopes to address a revamp of serving lines.
In other school news:
— Zach Thomas, first-year principal for the Caldwell County Regional Career Center, stopped in to make connections with the school’s board. Serving Trigg, Lyon, Caldwell, Crittenden and Dawson Springs, the high school career hub boasts 13 pathways in program areas: nursing, allied health, carpentry, information technology, welding, plumbing, automotive and electrical. He said the vo-tech facility serves around 450 kids per day, with Trigg County’s 64 this year serving as the largest group during the feeder periods.
— Board member Charlene Sheehan called Thursday’s co-curricular building reveal and ribbon cutting “a long time in the making,” citing a wait of nearly a decade before this fruition. She noted that rental monies for team facilities, coupled with safety concerns for students off campus, became too much to bear. The old CeeBee store, she added, was an early option in those initial discussions.
Superintendent Bill Thorpe also reflected on the new building, stating its construction has now opened up other crowded areas on the campus to other programming.
He also pushed forward a community idea stemming from the thoughts of John Fuller and Athletic Director Doug Gloyd — an idea that could bring delight to the senior citizens of Trigg County.
That time, Thorpe guessed, might be between 11 AM and 1 PM, when students are mostly at lunch or gym.
— Chief Finance Officer Holly Greene notated that has received its $1.9 million from the EPA for electric busses, and that for November 2023, more than 46% of Trigg County’s property taxes were collected early.
— And speaking of busses, board members unanimously approved for Director of Transportation Erin Eagleson to spend more than $325,000 of ESSER funds for a pair of brand-new Thomas special needs busses, a pair of radio systems and a retro-fit of an AC unit for an existing special needs bus. Eagleson said the district has three special needs routes each day, and the plan is to move two existing special needs busses to preschool routes.
— After short discussion, board members reaffirmed the need for twice-a-month meetings, citing manageable agendas and an appropriate pulse on the district as key reasons to remain as is. Spring Break, Fall Break, July, November and December are all stretches of time when cancellations seem prudent.
