The Kenton County Board of Education voted to issue nearly $25.7 million in bonds on Monday to finance the construction of a new central office building along Madison Pike. The building will also serve as a virtual learning center and as an event and meeting space.
The building cleared a facility review from the Kenton County Planning Commission in January. The 8.7-acre parcel of land it sits upon is located at the intersection of Madison Pike and Tuscany View Drive in Covington, near the borders of Fort Wright and Taylor Mill.
The City of Covington also approved a jobs-creation development incentive for the facility in December. Statements from the city’s economic development staff indicate the city expects the district to bring in 75 jobs to Covington, with an average salary of about $85,000.
The building will serve primarily as the district’s central administrative office. It will also have a dedicated classroom for virtual learning as well as meeting space for events and training. The facility will have about 200 parking spaces.
The district’s administrative staff and school board currently operate out of office space at the Sanitation District 1 office in Fort Wright, a space they’ve used for nearly 20 years. It’s where they cast the vote to issue the bonds.
The financing for the project will come from a new kind of general obligation bond approved by the Kentucky General Assembly in April, which allows districts to issue bonds directly, rather than through a separate finance corporation. Kenton County Schools Superintendent Henry Webb stated on Monday that the new funding measure will likely save the district about $500,000 compared to older forms of school financing instruments. If the district is able to secure a 15-year payback period, rather than the more conventional 20-year payback period, that could save the district even more, Webb said. Interest rates for the bonds have yet to be determined.
Click here to access preliminary design documents furnished by Emboss, the district’s design contractor, as of January. LINK nky has made a records request for more up-to-date renderings.
This is a developing story, and LINK nky will report more on it as more information becomes available.