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Hardin County Schools is reaching out to students, parents, faculty, and staff about a possible plan to shift Central Hardin High School freshman to a satellite campus for the 2024-2025 school year in order to accommodate renovation work.

In a video posted by HCS, Superintendent Teresa Morgan said the district wanted to reach out to parties involved to inform them the satellite campus option was being considered. Morgan said moving the students out of the building means work can be completed quicker.

“This is going to allow us to do construction in a much faster pace instead of having to move students from one wing to the other,” Morgan said. “This will allow our construction folks to get in there and get the job done to where we can move our students back as soon as possible.”

The district is considering moving kids to either the former Lincoln Trail Elementary School building or the former East Hardin Middle School building. Central Hardin Principal Tim Isaacs said parents should know that quality of education will not be impacted by any geographical change.

“The only thing that will change for their kids is the location,” Isaacs said. “Every opportunity that all of my kids have right now, those kids will continue to have. They’ll still be part of the student body at Central Hardin High School, they’ll simply be taking some classes in a different place.”

HCS Operations Chief John Stith said removing about 400 students from the building will help address the reduced classroom space available, and will cause fewer disruptions for students in the building while construction takes place.

“The part of the building that comes out towards U.S. 62, Leitchfield Road, the 90s/mid-90s portion of the building if you’ve been around Hardin County a while, that’s the section where we’re keeping it like we did the big gym, and we need to get the kids out of there so that we can get contractors in there to do the renovation.”

HCS is asking parents of East Hardin Middle School and West Hardin Middle School eighth graders to provide their feedback on the proposed plan. A feedback form and more information is available at www.hardin.kyschools.us.

Kentucky State Police Post Three is asking for the public’s assistance locating a missing person.

Kayla Decker is a 35-year-old white female who stands 5 feet five inches tall, weighs 130 pounds, and has blonde hair with hazel eyes. Photos of Decker can be found on the Bowling Green Warren County Missing Persons Facebook page.

Decker was last seen on December 18, 2022, in the Bee Spring community, about 17 miles south of Leitchfield and about 44 miles southwest of Elizabethtown.

Decker’s disappearance is being investigated by Kentucky State Police detectives. Anybody with information on Kayla Decker is asked to contact KSP Post Three at 270-782-2010.

Hodgenville Police Chief James Richardson wants students to be responsible and parents to be aware when it comes to the dangers of THC products.

“The biggest thing that we have found that parents have no idea about is most parents think that when you purchase a product at a local gas station it’s safe, it’s good, it’s regulated, and that is absolutely not the case,” Richardson said.

The Hodgenville Police Department last week investigated an incident at LaRue County High School in which a female student had an adverse reaction to a THC gummy she had purchased from a male student. Richardson said students often don’t know what they are getting into when they try a THC product.

“The biggest issue we have is we did a little bit of research on these gummies, and there are 20 milligrams of Delta-9 THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in each gummy,” Richardson said. “According to the research that we did, that;s about anywhere between a quarter to a half of a marijuana joint’s worth of THC in one gummy.”

Richardson compares the THC gummies to similarly-unregulated vape cartridges, which have also caused issues in schools. The chief says it falls to parents to protect their kids if regulators will not step up.

“Legislation’s going to have to close that loophole, but until they do and they get some kind of regulation we want parents to know exactly what it is their kids are ingesting, and that’s the mission right now,” Richardson said. “Delta-9 THC, Delta-8 THC, whatever it is, if it can get your kids high it’s probably not good for them.”

Richardson says the HPD, along with other law enforcement agencies, will continue to prosecute anybody that supplies children with impairing substances. The investigation into last week’s incident led to the arrest of Daniel Roberts II, who the HPD says provided the gummy to the student who then sold it.

“Even under the Farm Bill, anybody under the age of I think 21 can’t have those substances anyway, for sure nobody under the age of 18, so that person was charged with unlawful transaction with a minor, and we are pursuing charges of trafficking on the juvenile that actually sold at the school,” Richardson said.

The chief also has a message for students that put other students at risk.

“If you are a student, and you are a drug dealer, we’re going to prosecute you, too,” Richardson said.

Parents with questions can contact the HPD at 270-491-5357.