Every four years, Logan County school leaders get to make their wish list for the district’s facilities. This is the year and they are looking for help from the community.

“We need representatives from each school – principals, teachers and parents – and the community,” said Mike Hurt, associate superintendent.

About 20 people will be on the committee which will begin the process of developing the new District Facilities Plan (DFP). Hurt said they want business and community leaders to be a part of the process.

“We’ll basically be creating a long-range wish list,” Hurt explained.

The process of creating a DFP begins with an evaluation of the district’s current buildings and schools by architects and engineers. That evaluation is presented to the committee which also looks at things like attendance trends and population growth in the cities and county.

The committee takes all this information and submits their recommendations to the school board, which then sends on the DFP to Frankfort for approval. Hurt said the DFP is important because it is what state leaders use to determine how much money a district needs and is allotted.

Much of what was listed on the previous DFP has been completed, including various basic repairs as well as the renovation of the Olmstead School gym. One item on the DFP that gained much attention but has not come to pass was the building of a new school.

“The new school was on there and will still be on there,” Hurt said. “It’s just on hold for now.”

Hurt said the state budget cuts and overall poor economy are the reasons progress on the new school, to be located on Hwy. 100 just outside of Russellville, has stopped.

Although the need for a new school still exists, Hurt said it is not as pressing a need as they thought it might be by now.

“We’re still increasing, but not as rapidly as some might have expected,” Hurt said. This could also be due to the economy.

In addition to the new school, the new DFP will also likely contain a request for a technology center to be located on the Logan County High School property and possibly an expansion at Olmstead. Leaders will discuss these and many other needs as they work on the DFP.

The committee will be made up of four parents, four administrators, four teachers, three community members, superintendent Marshall Kemp and Hurt.

Hurt said anyone interested in being a part of the committee should call him at the school board at 726-2436.

“We need people who have the good of the schools, the county and the community at heart,” Hurt said. “And they must be able to consider the good of the district.”

The committee will be formed soon and the first meeting will be in late November. There will be three meetings and three public hearings. The entire process should be done by March.