‘Please do not close our school.’ Future uncertain for FCPS school where kids work with horses

In emotional pleas, the program director, students and parents at a horse-centered non-traditional school called The Stables are asking Fayette County Public Schools not to close its doors just because the district is having budget problems.

The district’s Right Size, Bright Future advisory committee is hearing people’s views on whether the school board should end the district’s contract with Central Kentucky Riding for Hope, which houses The Stables program at the Kentucky Horse Park.

The school board will make the ultimate decision about the contract, which is a little more than $100,000.

“Canceling the contract will close and kill The Stables program,” Program Director Kevin Faris told the committee Thursday night.

CKRH provides the land, classrooms, barn, arena and horses to support The Stables. But more importantly, they provide Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship instructors to work with the students, Faris said.

This therapeutic focus shapes everything the students do when working with the horses, from grooming them to riding them, he said. They not only learn how to care for the horses, but they also are learning what goes into barn management of a unique facility like CKRH.

There are 39 students — 44 expected by January.

“If community partnerships and meeting the needs of a modern specialized learning environment is important to the district, then The Stables program should be spotlighted for meeting and exceeding the goals the district would like to achieve,” said Andrea Wilson Graf, a CKRH Stables instructor at the meeting Thursday night.

Canceling the contract with CKRH would end a successful 13-year community partnership with a local nonprofit that has been enriching the community by improving the quality of life and the health of children and adults with special physical, cognitive, emotional and social needs through therapeutic activities with the horse, Faris said.

“I am honestly confused how we got here now,” Faris said. “This seems like a drastic move made in a short period of time.“

In response to the concerns, FCPS District Chief of Staff Tracy Bruno told the Herald-Leader Friday, “Decisions such as closing a school or program are reserved for the Fayette County Public Schools Board of Education. Fayette County Public Schools will continue to focus on providing the necessary services and support for our students.”

Kelly Magnuson, the parent of a student at The Stables, as well as a practicing federal discrimination attorney, wrote school board members to urge the district not to close The Stables program “as part of the ongoing budget considerations.“

“The Stables cannot be replicated inside of FCPS’ agricultural school or any other program. This is not a farm program or even an equine technical program. Closure would put FCPS disabled students at extreme risk,” she said in a letter she shared with the Herald-Leader.

Some parents are also upset at a proposal under review to place both the George Washington Carver STEM Academy for Boys and the Rise STEM Academy for Girls at a new, $58.4 million building at Versailles and Mason Headley roads that was initially going to house only the girls’ academy.

The district initiative, known as Project Right Size, involves a close examination of facilities with an eye toward finances. The district has faced significant budget problems in the past year, including a since-resolved projected budget shortfall and a dwindling contingency, or rainy day, fund.

Student Jai’Vion Johnson told school board members in a letter, “I have gone to multiple schools throughout my life, and I can confidently say NONE of them have made me want to go to the school and be a part of the school like the Stables has. I want to go to MY school. I want to learn at MY school. I feel safe at MY school. I need MY school. People like me need a place that is safe, accepting, and a place that they can call home. That place IS THE STABLES. Please let students like me continue to succeed, both academically and emotionally, at The Stables. “

Faris said Locust Trace Agricultural Center, while a valuable and great program, does not provide the same services.

Faris said while both schools have animals, specifically horses, a large majority of The Stables students and families come not just because of interest in equine, but because they need a small, supportive community in order to reach their full potential, and they were not receiving that at their current public school.

The majority of the students need special accommodations or have emotional problems that would be more difficult to provide support for at their main schools, or they are coming from private or home school and do not feel comfortable in a large school environment, he said.

Faris said the school’s accomplishments include:

• 100% of seniors graduate.

• Over 50% of students have experienced some type of mental health hospitalization before attending The Stables, but only 18% once they enroll.

• Students have paid internships at Spycoast Farms, and two 2025 graduates received scholarships to Midway and Kentucky State University.

• Students transition out of truancy.

“The Stables really and truly changed my life for the better. I do not know what I would have done or where I would be without it,” student Mariah Jones said. “I speak for everyone in my Stables family, please do not close our school. We not only love it, but we need it.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 9:08 PM.