UPDATED: Knox Schools officials call decision to merge West Knox, Lynn camp a ‘fresh start’

They will still be in two separate buildings but, beginning next year, they will be one school with one name and one single principal. Members of the Knox Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday  night to merge West Knox Elementary with Lynn Camp Middle/High School into a school to be known as "Lynn Camp School."

At 3:30 pm. Wednesday Knox school officials will hold an informational meeting with teachers, parents and other interested   parties regarding the merger. The meeting will be held in the Lynn Camp High School auditorium.

Board officials say the change was made to help bolster academic performance, and denied that it was done to get the school out of negative consequences stemming from two consecutive years of failing to meet No Child Left Behind progress goals.

"That was a by-product of this and not the reason for it," said Knox Schools superintendent Walter T. Hulett.

Hulett said he first started looking at options when he attended an April 13 hearing before the Kentucky Board of Education over the Corbin/Knox reciprocal agreement.

During that meeting, Kentucky School Board member Joe Brothers referred to Lynn Camp as a "train wreck."
He noted that in order to garner possible state funds from the KDE "Race To The Top" program, the district had four options to change  the situation at the school.

Under the first option, the district would have to name and new principal for the school and could fire or transfer up to one-half of the current staff members to other schools.

The second option would be for the board to contract with an outside educational management group to make decisions at the school. "That  means the board or nobody in the community would have any say in what happens.

The third option, he noted, would be to close the school and move all students to other facilities.

Under the fourth option, the school district would draft a plan for turning the school around including altering school leadership and other moves.

"What we have done is take that model and developed our own," he said, adding that he is confident that KDE will approve the measure. "They helped us develop it."

Hulett said that under the current reconfiguration, current West Knox principal Amy Bays would be named as head principal at the new merged schools, and will travel back and forth from one school to the other. The current plans also calls for Bays to be assisted by two assistant principals.

“This is a fresh start,” Hulett said.