GLASGOW — South Green Elementary will have preschool classes for the first time when school resumes in the fall.

Glasgow Board of Education members voted unanimously Monday night to hire a preschool teacher for South Green after interim superintendent Charlie Campbell gave a report to the board on plans to utilize existing space there to set up a preschool classroom.

“We spent a great deal of time looking at ways to change South Green Elementary around with Mr. Bill Philbeck (SGE principal), Tommy Gumm (of Alliance Corp.) and the architect,” he said.

The lowest estimate for new construction would have cost the school district between $150,000 to $200,000, according to Campbell. One idea was to bump out two classrooms toward the front right of the building near the existing library, but then planners realized there was a simpler solution. By taking one existing kindergarten class and using it for preschool, the project could be done for relatively small expense.

“The long story short, when we got everyone on the same page, we realized we could use a current classroom ... for very little cost,” he said. “I wish we could have done this four or five years ago.”

According to Philbeck, the room currently used for kindergarten was initially designed years ago by Kentucky Department of Education guidelines to handle preschool-age children. One of the stipulations for the younger students was that the classroom have its own bathroom, which this space does.

The district will have some expenditures when preparing for the new students. They will have to invest in specialized playground equipment for the preschoolers.

Adding extra space at South Green for preschool was one of the top items on the district’s facilities plan following the renovation or building of a new high school.

The new preschool program at the school will accommodate a maximum of 40 half-day students. Twenty will attend morning sessions and the remaining 20 will have afternoon classes.

Highland Elementary already has a preschool program that can take up to 80 students. As of December, Highland had 75 preschool students enrolled in their program. The school has two preschool classrooms and the preschoolers attend three-hour, half-day sessions Monday through Thursday.

Vivian Hudson, gifted and talented program, and Vicki Smith, Genelle Jones and Jenniffer Fudge, district preschool staff, also presented an update of the district’s preschool program to board members to include the standards, benchmarks and alignments with core content.

Board members choose questions for super candidates

School board members also met in closed session at 5 p.m. Monday during a special-called meeting to formulate interview questions for the three to five superintendent finalists the screening committee members will present to the board on March 18.

“This board has been awfully good about putting the time and effort in,” said Phil Eason, senior educational consultant for Leadership Strategies Group, who is guiding board members through the superintendent selection process.

In a statement released Tuesday morning by e-mail, Eason outlined the process utilized by board members.  

“The members of the Glasgow Board of Education met on March 8 to develop behavioral event questions. These questions will be used to interview the individuals who are recommended by the superintendent screening committee,” he wrote. “The development of the questions was aided by using the position criteria that were developed by the board.”

The board developed the position criteria by reviewing the input generated from surveys made available to employees, parents and community members, according to Eason.

“Behavioral event questions are designed to enhance the ability of board members during the interview process to determine which applicant is the best fit to lead the Glasgow Independent School District,” he wrote. “Members of the board of education have given much time and effort to the important process of selecting the individual who is the right fit to the lead the Glasgow Schools”

The screening committee will meet on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Glasgow Board of Education central office to review and discuss the 15 applicants for the position of superintendent.