Woodford Co. Public Schools goes back to class Thursday

WOODFORD COUNTY, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — Students across Woodford County are gearing up for the start of the school year, with Woodford County Public Schools (WCPS) set to begin classes Thursday, along with multiple counties all week. As the excitement builds, ABC 36 talked with WCPS Superintendent Danny Adkins to find out what’s new this year.

“We’re excited to have everybody back, looking forward to another great year here in Woodford County Public Schools,” said Superintendent Adkins.

Adkins highlighted the anticipation surrounding the new school building, which is scheduled to open in December.

“This is the last semester in our old high school, our new high school will be ready which is right across the street,” said Supt. Adkins.

The new facility, located next to the middle school, promises significant improvements and enhancements for the district.

“It’s more of a state-of-the-art building. The classrooms are so much more flexible for 21st-century education,” he said, “40,000 square foot larger… It also has an auditorium that we never had at the high school,” said Supt. Adkins.

This year, WCPS is navigating the aftermath of a nationwide teacher and bus driver shortage that has affected numerous districts in recent years. However, Adkins reports that the district is in a strong position heading into the new school year.

“It’s looking really good. I think we still have a few, maybe some special education vacancies we have to fill. But for the most part, I just checked with the personnel director, and we’re in pretty good shape. Some of the harder things that we were looking at finding were some Spanish teachers, and we’ve been able to fill those positions here in the last week. So we’re all excited about that. Bus drivers, we’ve done really well with our bus drivers,” said Supt. Adkins.

A notable change for Woodford County Middle School includes the implementation of a new phone policy. Starting this year, students will not be permitted to have their phones in class.

“I’m really not sure exactly what it’s going to look like, in talking to some of the other districts, though I think it’s a love or hate relationship with parents. You know, of course, the students are not going to be happy with it, but parents, they either see the advantage or they are concerned with the safety possibilities of that,” said Supt. Adkins.

Additionally, WCPS is introducing a new parental leave policy for staff members. This policy provides employees with 25 days of paid time off every two years for absences such as maternity leave.