BY LANCE GAITHER

lance.gaither@bluegrassnewsmedia.com

During the Boyle County Board of Education meeting on Aug. 17, the board approved offering up to $600 in textbook assistance for students participating in Western Kentucky University’s Gatton Academy or Morehead University’s Craft Academy.

“It is an awesome opportunity for kids if they want to participate,” said superintendent Mark Wade. “With inflation the price of everything has gone up. We want to take care of our students. Even if they are going to Gatton or Craft Academy they are still our students. We can do that buy purchasing their textbooks. They typically go to those academies and then come back here to graduate. It is a pretty awesome experience.”

The board approved allowing all Boyle students free entry into all regular season sporting events for the 2023-24 school year. Three separate donors have agreed to fund the event passes for the fall, winter and spring seasons.

“We were motivated to push for students to get into athletic events for free as we have done in years past,” Wade said. “This is an awesome opportunity for our kids. It is phenomenal that students will be able to get into regular season events at no expense.”

During the first week of school superintendent Wade toured the county’s schools and said the start of the year has gone off without a hitch.

“It has been a fantastic start to school,” Wade said. “Traffic has been phenomenal, probably been one of the smoothest starts that we have had. We toured the schools and visited the new teachers. We appreciate the principals showing us around.”

According to the Teaching and Learning Report on focused Advanced Placement results:

• Pass rate for BCHS – 78.09% (that national average is 65%)

• Students took AP exams in 16 areas.

• 100% Pass Rate was achieved in Biology and Calculus BC.

• 50 more tests were taken from 2022

Enrollment for Boyle County is now at 2,812 (an increase of 19 from this time last year). School enrollment throughout the county is:

• Junction City Elementary: 379

• Perryville Elementary: 277

• Woodlawn Elementary: 614

• Boyle County Middle School: 644

• Boyle County High School: 888

• Alternative School: 10

• Kindergarten (across the district): 215

Board action items included:

• Approved Free Student Athletic Passes for the 2023-2024 School year.

• Approved paying for textbooks for Gatton or Craft Academy Students (up to $600) each year.

The next meeting will be a working session held on Sept. 14 in the library at Boyle County Middle School. The regular board meeting will be on Sept. 21 in the library at Woodlawn Elementary School.