WRIL has learned that among agenda items for tonight’s (Tuesday January 15, 2019) Bell County School Board meeting set for 6:00pm, there will be a vote on the non-resident contract with Pineville. While the contracts with Harlan, Corbin, and Middlesboro Independent Schools are set for a vote to be approved, a second line item involving Pineville is listed in a separate vote.
The Pineville School Board submitted their contract in the November 2018 board meeting according to records.
If the Bell County School Board votes to continue the agreement as is, nothing changes. If the board votes not to approve the agreement then students living in Pineville attending Bell County and vice-versa would then be subject to attending different schools.
Non-resident contracts are those in essence that allow parents to choose where their children go to school in a given district if they live in an area with multiple schools, namely county and independent systems. Most local boards start a review of nonresident contracts during the month of December for the next school year.
If an agreement cannot be reached, either board may appeal to the education commissioner for settlement of the dispute. The commissioner then has thirty days to resolve the dispute. Either board may appeal the commissioner's decision to the Kentucky Board of Education. The commissioner and the Kentucky Board of Education then considers the factors affecting the districts, including but not limited to academic performance and the impact on programs, school facilities, transportation, and staffing of the districts. The Kentucky Board of Education will then have sixty days to approve or amend the decision of the commissioner.
We will be reaching out to both school systems for comment today.