BARDSTOWN, Ky. — It was fiery board of education meeting in Bardstown as dozens of parents, students, educators and alumni pushed back against a proposal to merge two high schools in the area.
The move would close the ten-year-old Thomas Nelson High School and merge it with Nelson County High School.
Speakers cited culture concerns, class sizes throughout the meeting.
"We cannot stand by and allow our students to be negatively affected by a completely unplanned, politically charged and back handed decision,” a parent said to school board members.
Kinzie Floyd, a sophomore at Thomas Nelson High School, said she would be forced to leave the district.
"If you're going to put all of this above my education and my opportunities – to succeed as a person as well as other students, I can’t be a part of that for my future. I can’t be a part of that ethically and emotionally,” she said.
Only one person spoke in support of the merger, citing low academic performance at both schools, financial waste and more.
“By making this decision to unify, whether that's now or in the future, you will by default be able to align district resources more efficiently and effectively into the classroom,” the speaker said.
A decision about the merger was not made following the meeting.
After the meeting, board members and a district spokesperson refused to talk to WHAS11 News.
Haley Victery is the principal at Cox's Creek Elementary School and was on the Local Planning Committee (LPC).
She told WHAS11 talks started two years ago when a committee voted for a community campus which meant a renovation for both high schools and the addition of middle schoolers within both schools.
Victery said the LPC voted 17-3 to approve the community campus, and the school board was supposed to vote on a bid for that proposal Tuesday night.
She said she is unsure how word spread of a potential merger between the high schools.
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