What will the future of 9th District, Latonia Elementary be?

The Covington Schools Board of Education voted on Thursday to do two studies to assess the future of 9th District Elementary and Latonia Elementary, at the cost of $25,000 and $42,000, respectively.

The studies, which will be conducted by architectural firm SHP, will supplement the ongoing master planning of the district, which aims to provide an overall plan for the future of Covington Schools.

“Some of the community might think that we’re kind of kicking the can down the road, but this is how you make things correct first and be proactive, as opposed to – kind of -reactionary,” said Board Member Kareem Simpson.

The overall planning process has been going on for over a year and came about largely as a reaction to a 2023 proposal from district staff to consolidate some of the schools in the district, one that proved unpopular among the community.

The proposal presented to the board in 2023 called for the closure of 9th District Elementary and the redistricting of its students to curb costs amid declining student enrollment.

The district contracted with SHP to lead the planning process. Starting in early 2024, SHP began gathering information about the district through community focus groups and the establishment of a community advisory team, which met six times between April 2024 and January 2025.

The process explored the values and aspirations of community families (and their students) and also assessed the potential financial implications of various proposed changes.

Additionally, SHP assessed each building’s effectiveness as an instructional facility and assigned it a numerical score. Other assessments included projections on overall student enrollment, which are still predicted to decline.

Several insights emerged from the process: First, families advocated for a full-day preschool program across the district. Secondly, while some leaned towards closing the 9th District, about half of all individuals who took part in the process did not want any elementary schools to close.

Additionally, families generally expressed a desire to keep the district’s current neighborhood-based structure rather than convert to specialty academies focused on particular subjects, such as STEM or the arts.

As an alternative, there was a desire among district families for what was dubbed an “innovation hub” at the Holmes campus, where students could study in-demand jobs in technology and science that weren’t offered in conventional classrooms.

The board held a working session in February to examine what SHP had found through the process and consider options. That session came away with a handful of ways the district could reorganize.

SHP presented three new options – viewable below – based on feedback they’d received in February. Several options featured the closure and repurposing of the 9th District into a preschool program.

The first study approved Thursday would examine the cost to convert the 9th District to an early childhood center. The second would explore three options for Latonia Elementary: renovating the current building, adding onto it or replacing it outright. The recommendations for the studies came from Board Member Stephen Gastright, who works professionally as an architect.

Gastright said that initial SHP assessments had identified Latonia “as being the lowest quality of our elementaries,” and that by exploring the three different options, the district could see “both the minimum investment and the maximum investment, and then ideally, some options in between that we can evaluate.”

The other board members had questions.

Simpson wanted to know if another site in Latonia had been identified for the possible replacement. Gastright said that they would need work to identify what (and where) an ideal site would be and invited Simpson to take part in pre-design discussions.

Board Member Michelle Williams wanted to know where the kids would go if renovations at Latonia had to occur. Gastright said they would be looking at what would be more cost-effective: moving some of them into temporary shelters or sending them to 9th District temporarily.

Board Member Hannah Edelen wanted to know how they were going to pay for it.

“We took money out from our strategic plan fund, so we’ll have to fund this out of superintendent’s budget,” said Board President Tom Haggard later adding that “I wouldn’t recommend it if I didn’t think we had money for it.”

“I just want to make the public aware that we’re being good stewards of their dollars, and we have the funds available,” Edelen said.

Edelen also asked if the two studies might lead to overall changes in cost. Gastright said that SHP was open to finding ways to cut costs.

“I think if we find the ways to streamline, we will see the costs come down, maybe 1,000 or a couple thousand, but I also know SHP did make a contribution to our 200-year fund, so to speak, so I think they are being a good partner with us, and they’ll continue to work with us to look at costs,” Gastright said. He did not have an exact amount of cost savings at the meeting, however.

The vote to do the studies was unanimous.