Superintendent reports middle school construction issues, seeks emergency funding and presses state on funding gap

Superintendent Brock told the Estill County Board of Education on Oct. 19 that he has submitted consolidated construction documentation to state officials to pursue emergency funding for persistent issues at the district middle school.

Brock said he and staff have gathered inspection items and supporting documents and sent them to the state to request assistance. “I have consolidated all the documents to try to get assistance for that, and I have sent them off to the state today,” Brock said. He said Ross Tarrant and representatives from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) toured the site and that an updated K-IF (K-IF) report is expected; staff expect to present final closeout documents at the November meeting.

Brock said the district recorded about 93 inspection issues that require attention, including warranty work and additional orders for exterior doors and hardware. He said meetings with contractor representatives (including Schiller and Rising Sun) are scheduled to clarify which items are warranty work and which fall outside current contracts. Brock said a Schiller representative is expected to meet with district staff the next morning.

Separately, Brock said he raised funding inequities with state officials during recent superintendent cohort meetings and a conversation with the governor. He said he asked officials to consider increasing the state seat-base allocation to help shrink the funding gap between property-wealthy districts and less-wealthy districts like Estill County and that he will meet with the lieutenant governor to continue the discussion. Brock characterized the funding gap as substantial; the transcript includes several numeric references that were unclear or garbled, so the board-level article reports that detailed per-pupil assessment figures were discussed but not specified in the meeting record.

Brock also said district academic supports are expanding: a walkthrough document to track academic progress will go live the following Monday, state assessment scores are embargoed until Oct. 30 for staff review and a public presentation is planned after that date. He thanked the board for approving an additional instructional coach and said principals and teachers have responded positively to coaching support. No formal board action was taken on funding or construction at this meeting; Brock said staff will report next steps as state responses and additional reports arrive.