Staff report
A Silver Grove school board majority voted in favor of two issues Monday night that moves the merger of the school district with Campbell County schools closer to fruition.
The board considered to merger issues in its meeting in the school gymnasium: (1) whether to initiate the merger process with Campbell County pursuant to KRS 160.041, and (2) whether to approve the tentative merger agreement tendered by the Campbell County Board of Education.
The Board voted 4-1 in favor of initiating the merger.
The question will now go to the Campbell County Board of Education at its next regular meeting pursuant to KRS 160.041. That meeting is on Monday at 6 p.m.
The Board also voted 3-2 in favor of approving the tentative merger agreement with one caveat: The Silver Grove Board of Education wants its qualified, certified personnel to be granted interviews for vacant positions in the Campbell County Common School District.
Member Melanie Pelle raised concern about the agreement, which requires that all Silver Grove Board Members relinquish their seats upon finalization of the merger.
Member Pelle said she believes that KRS 160.042(2) guarantees her a seat on the merged Board for the remainder of her term. She said that because she is granted this right by statute, the Board, by a majority vote, cannot remove her from her seat. She believes that only she can resign her position and stated she will not relinquish her seat on the Board.
Four new members of the Silver Grove School District were elected in November, promising to open communications with Campbell County schools for a possible merger.
The smallest school district in Kentucky — 210 students, pre-K through 12 — is located in one building in Silver Grove, population about 1150. So funding is a challenge, and state aid makes up less and less of the budget. Income in the district is low-to-moderate.
Their mascot is the big train named after what actually started the town in the early 1900s — a train station, which has since been remodeled into a drywall plant.
Despite great affinity for the small, nearly 200-year-old school, a merger with Campbell County School District seemed practical and logical.
