CORBIN — By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor
The Knox County and Corbin school boards will meet this week to decide whether to appeal Education Commissioner Terry Holliday’s decision on the districts’ reciprocal agreements.
The Knox County Board of Education has called a special meeting for 6 p.m. Tuesday to discuss in closed, executive session the possibility of litigation over the decision. District spokesperson David Cole said any decision to appeal or file suit would be made in open, public session.
The Corbin Board of Education’s regular Thursday meeting includes discussion of the nonresident decision which, according to the agenda, “may require an executive session in that litigation may be threatening and/or pending.”
Corbin had appealed to Holliday over Knox County’s January decision to end the reciprocal agreement, which allowed students to attend either district.
In his decision released Wednesday, Holliday determined that only students in Knox County currently attending Corbin schools will be allowed to continue their schooling at Corbin for the 2010-11 year. The decision only affects the upcoming school year, and requires the districts enter into mediation before Sept. 1, 2010 over the 2011-2012 non-resident agreement.
Either Corbin or Knox County can further appeal the decision to the Kentucky Board of Education.
“While it is true that the Commissioner’s decision requires a little longer timetable than we envisioned, we think the measures being required are actually very doable and will allow us, in the end, to obtain what is beneficial to our school district,” wrote Knox Superintendent Walter T. Hulett in a letter to district staff. The letter concludes, “The Commissioner recognized our district’s clearly articulated vision and effective practices that will move us forward with the newly passed Senate Bill 1.”
Hulett wrote that Holliday “believes that Corbin is entitled to some relief over the coming years with their indebtedness and for planning purposes. However he equally believes that Knox County is entitled to say ‘we’re not going to enter into an agreement’ and that we have some similar issues and should have the opportunity to craft an agreement.”
Hulett’s letter states Corbin has 34 seniors from Knox County who will graduate this spring, reducing the number of eligible students from Knox County who can attend Corbin to 372.
Jim Lacefield, who has been a vocal leader of a group of Knox County parents fighting the decision, said the Parents for Public School Choice will still pursue a lawsuit against the districts and the state.
“Everybody’s pretty upset,” said Lacefield. “He (Holliday) never addressed the educational gap, and the children of Knox County deserve better than the ‘status quo.’”
Lacefield said he has a meeting with attorneys March 16 to determine the parents’ next move.
“For a lot of us, it’s bought us some time to deal with it through the judicial system, but there’s also a lot of children who are left out,” he said. “The children who are enrolled in Corbin that live in the Knox district, they’ll be some that may have siblings that will be school age next year and there’s not grandfathering in for that year.”
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