Boone County Schools are back in session, though some students are returning to temporary classrooms amid construction projects.
Boone County High School and R.A. Jones Middle School are undergoing renovation projects this school year. Superintendent Matt Turner paid a visit to the Florence City Council Tuesday night to offer an update on the new academic year and ongoing construction at the two schools.
At Boone County High School, the auditorium is getting an overhaul. The problem is that the construction is happening in the middle of the high school, Turner said, so it can create “quite a few headaches” for administrators. Despite that, Turner said students are excited for the new theater.
“Even though it is a little challenging and a bit messy, it is worth it,” he said.
At Jones Middle, eight classrooms are being built onto the school. In the meantime, some students have been moved to temporary mobile classrooms, Turner said.
The superintendent said the new additions are being constructed to resolve a space issue at the school. He said the rooms will add a new wing to the school, extending it toward the baseball field. The new classrooms will be split equally between the first and second floors, and the new rooms will come with bathrooms to accommodate students coming to that area.
Turner said it will take a year to complete each floor, meaning the new classrooms won’t be available until the 2024-2025 school year. Once completed, Turner said it will offer room to breathe at a school that is at capacity.
“This will add some relief to the space issues we have there, because this school is full,” Turner said.
Florence Mayor Diane Whalen asked Turner how the district was faring with teachers and bus drivers, acknowledging that there has been a shortage of both across the country. Turner said there are more than 12 drivers “in the pipeline” for this school year and another 10 positions have yet to be filled.
In July, Boone County Schools hosted an open house for its transportation department in an effort to fill the 76 driving positions.
In terms of teachers, Turner said they were unable to fill 10 teaching positions across the district’s 26 schools. He said they are “still working to fill those” but for now, class sizes are a little larger than normal to make up for the lack of teachers.