Christian County Public Schools was awarded a $10 million state grant Wednesday that will go toward the construction of a consolidated high school that the local school board approved last month by a 3-to-2 vote.
“This move to a consolidated high school in Christian County has not been without intense research and discovery,” Superintendent Chris Bentzel said in a news release. “Now that our board has affirmed the consolidated high school mission for Christian County Public Schools, this grant will enable us to provide the most vital aspects of high school education; a great liberal arts curriculum while offering our students multiple career tracks to their needs and desires.”
The state School Facilities Construction Commission awarded the grant from a pool of $75 million that state legislators set aside this year for vocational education centers. The Christian County grant was one of nine awarded.
The local school system applied because the new high school — slated for completion by the start of the 2024-25 school year — will consolidate the Gateway Academy to Innovation and Technology with Hopkinsville and Christian County high schools.
Local school officials estimated the consolidated high school will cost $115 million.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
