Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Kentucky District Delays Start of School Following Construction Delays

  • By Matt Jones
  • 07/18/23

The Hopkins County Board of Education in Madisonville, Ky., recently announced that it will push back the start date of the 2023–24 academic year based on construction delays at a new elementary school, according to local news. The district’s first day of school will move from August 9 to August 15 to accommodate construction at a replacement facility for Hanson Elementary School.

According to board members, the project was originally scheduled for completion in 2022 and has faced delays throughout the process. The school partnered with A & K Construction, who district officials say aren’t delivering what they promised, according to local news.

“You’ve put us in a position that we’re going to have to make an adjustment,” said Board Chairman Shannon Embry to A & K President Bill Boyd at a recent school board meeting.

“I am praying and hoping that you are a man true to your word,” said Superintendent Amy Smith to Boyd at the same meeting. “[I’m praying] that that date of completion will not be moved and we can look at our community and welcome our babies into their schools on August 15.”

Smith also said that Boyd has promised that the school’s interior will be completed by July 27 and other site work—like bus and car lanes—by August 7.

Smith also clarified that the purpose of moving the date was not to give the construction company additional leeway, but to give school staff the time to set up their classrooms properly before students arrive.

”We have based our decisions on the deadlines they’ve given us,” Smith said. “We are not the ones that are completing the construction. We rely on them—the experts—to be able to be able to do that and to give us a date and live by that.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Harvard Announces Replacement Facility for Native American Program

    Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., recently announced that construction will begin this spring on a new home for its Native American Program, according to university news. The 6,500-square-foot, all-electric building will stand three stories and serve as the central hub for the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP).

  • University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Launches New Emergency Communications System

    The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) recently deployed a new emergency notification and incident management system for its campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with 911Cellular to launch Safe@UTC, a smartphone app allowing university officials to communicate and respond during emergency situations.

  • Stanford Completes Construction on Graduate School of Education Facility

    Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., recently announced the end of construction on a new home for its Graduate School of Education, according to a news release. The university partnered with McCarthy Building Companies on the 160,000-square-foot project, which involved two major renovations and one new construction effort.

  • University of Arizona Approves New Residence Hall

    The Arizona Board of Regents recently approved plans for a new residence hall at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., according to a news release. The new facility is scheduled to open in fall 2028 and have the capacity for more than 1,200 students, enforcing a new university expectation that all first-year students live on campus.