May 22 set as final day of classes in Laurel

April 15, 2008 09:05 am

— By Brad Hicks / Staff Writer
The final day of classes was set for the Laurel County schools at Monday’s regular meeting of the Laurel County Board of Education.
Seven instructional days were lost this year, five because of weather and two due to the girls and boys basketball tournaments. The board had approved at a previous meeting to allow schools the day off as South Laurel Middle School progressed in the state tournament.
Banked time will be used for the five days missed for bad weather, and the calendar has been extended to make up the two missed for basketball, since banked time could not be used for that purpose. The final day of school in the district is set for Thursday, May 22. Graduation ceremonies are set for Saturday, May 24.
Also at the meeting, it was announced that North Laurel High School and South Laurel High School were selected as two of only 12 high schools in Kentucky to receive the National Math Science Initiative Grant. This Advanced Placement grant will allow students scoring at least a three out of a possible five on AP tests to receive $100.
The goal of the grant is to increase enrollment numbers for AP courses offered by the high schools. With AP courses counting as college credit, high school students taking these classes could have one to two college semesters complete by the time they graduate high school.
The two schools will share approximately $1 million during the next five years for the program.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a motion giving board members Albert Binder, Lola Reed, Joe Schenkenfelder and Tommy Smith credit hours for attending a leadership training program at the National School Board Association’s annual conference.
• Approved eight change orders for the renovations taking place at South Laurel High School and South Laurel Middle School.
• Approved a motion allowing eligible students attending classes in the East Bernstadt School system to participate in any non-contact varsity sport offered in the Laurel County School system andnot in the East Bernstadt system. This would include track, cross country and tennis.