Fayette County Public Schools’ board has just approved the purchase for 47 acres in the Hamburg area to build new schools. Where in Hamburg? What grade levels?
With the amount of families growing in the Hamburg area, there is a demand for more schools. The Fayette County Public Schools recognizes that need and has purchased 47 acres between 2185 and 2345 Polo Club Boulevard.
Each acre will cost $275,000 and will become the new home to a middle and elementary school. The purchase will not be final until the district completes several steps and receives final approval from the Kentucky Department of Education.
“Land is hard to come by here in Fayette County, and our staff has worked diligently to identify suitable property for these new schools in a developing area like this one,” said Superintendent Manny Caulk. “We’re excited to partner with families, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, and local business leaders to design a school that will take our students into the 22nd century.”
The land is currently owned by the Madden family through their Polo Club 1 LLC and Ausbrook Polo LLC businesses. The true price for each acre would come out to $14.24 million, but the Madden family is donating $1.34 million to FCPS, which brings the new total cost to $12.9 million.
FCPS is prioritizing the middle school to be built first, which if everything goes to plan and they are able to close on the property by fall 2020, construction can begin as early as fall 2021. The last middle school to be developed in this area was with Edythe J. Hayes Middle School, which opened in the fall of 2004.
During the past decade, Fayette County Public Schools have grown from roughly 500 students to 700 per year and now serves more than 43,000. Four schools have been opened in the last four years and three are in the Hamburg area (Brenda Cowan Elementary in fall of 2019, Frederick Douglass High School in fall of 2017, and Garrett Morgan Elementary School in fall of 2016).
“The board’s action Monday puts the district in a position to complete all of the new construction priorities in our 2017 facilities plan,” said Chief Operating Officer Myron Thompson. “Finishing those allows us to turn our attention to the rest of the plan, which includes major renovations of 16 facilities, a new vision for the district’s technical centers, and wholesale renovations at Henry Clay, Lafayette, and Paul Laurence Dunbar high schools and three middle schools.”
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This article also appears on page 9 of the May 2020 print edition of Hamburg Journal.
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