‘No child is expendable.’ Fayette plans new alternative middle school for fall

A new program that Fayette Superintendent Manny Caulk wants to design as ”the best in the nation” is expected to open this fall in Lexington for middle school students whose conduct prevents them from being in a regular setting.

That means middle school students will be removed from the Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Excellence on Liberty Road and moved to a new location in a current property owned by the district that has not been finally determined, Caulk said at a Monday school board planning meeting . Thirty middle school students are currently at the school in a separate wing but in the same building as high school students.

“Right now at MLK they are doing a great job and we are always looking at how we can do better,” Caulk said. “The needs of the middle schooler are so distinct and pronounced that we want to make sure that we have the right level of supports and services for those students.”

“No child is expendable,” said Caulk.

District spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said that as of Tuesday, there were 233 students in grades 6 through 12. Thirty of them were in middle school.

High school students in the program would remain in the Liberty Road facility once the middle school students are moved, Caulk said.

“As we look to better meet the unique needs of our middle school students currently being served at MLK, we will also visit other school districts to see what programs ... they have developed,” Caulk said.

The district has a new initiative in which it is reimagining middle schools. Caulk said that requires that “we learn from the best models and evidence-based practices available in order to create a program that provides an optimal learning environment for the students here in Fayette County. “

He said with partnerships with community groups and organizations, he wants to make the new alternative program “the best in the nation... in addressing the needs of the adolescent child,” adding that the district is working to make all programs and schools the best in the country.

According to the district website, Martin Luther King Jr. Academy for Excellence provides an alternative program for middle and high school students with a structured environment that is conducive to improving behavior and attendance and help them experience academic success.

That program’s duration for each student ranges from three to 18 months, the website said.

Another new program tentatively set to open in the fall in Fayette County Public Schools is an all-female science, technology, engineering and math academy for girls in kindergarten through eighth grade.