The newly-formed district facilities planning committee is set to meet for the first time next week.

The committee, which is tasked with establishing priority facilities projects for the district, is set to meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, at the Central Office auditorium, 1600 W. Lexington Ave. Meetings are open to the public.

The comprised is comprised of a state-mandated number of parents, teachers, administrators, Central Office staff and community leaders. Superintendent Paul Christy is the 20th member of the board, but he is not a voting member.

The committee includes parents William Rawlings, Amanda Terry, Aleisha Allen and Larissa Townsend; teachers Holly Hicks, Nikki Dore, Mike Murray and Bob Howard; building administrators Daren Snell, Dustin Howard, Stacey Moore and Kara Davies; district facilities director Donald Stump; central office staff Christy Bush; community leaders Emily Heath Keely, Kerry Curtis and Brenda Sipes; board member Ashley Ritchie and local planning and zoning member Randy Whisman.

In previous meetings, school board members expressed interest in a new preschool to be on the priority list.

According Christy, the first two committee meetings will include trainings for the members. The following meetings will include discussion, information sharing and ultimately voting regarding priority projects in the district.

The committees recommendations will be presented to the Clark County Board of Education for approval. If approved, the plan will go to the Kentucky Department of Education for approval in August.

If the board of education does not approve the plan as recommended by the committee, the committee will reconvene and discuss changes.

Ultimately, the deciding factor lies with the facilities planning committee, though, Christy said.

“We’ve never had a situation where the board and committee could not come to an agreement, though,” he said.

Based on the facilities plan, the board makes decisions regarding construction projects. The board must fund priority-one projects fully and be in the process of those projects before starting priority-two projects.

Christy, the state mandates every district convene a facilities planning committee every four years.

The last facilities plan in Clark County was approved in 2016. It included completing the final phases of the George Rogers Clark High School campus as the only priority-one project.

Priority-two projects included completed renovations at Campbell Junior High School, major renovations at the Clark County Preschool in the former Hannah McClure Elementary building and renovations at Strode Station Elementary School, Phoenix Academy, Shearer Elementary School and Baker Intermediate School.