Administrators at Richmond’s Model Laboratory School and Eastern Kentucky University continue to push for a designation to make Model the state’s lab school. EKU Board of Regents members got an update this week.
Model Superintendent John Williamson says there’s no longer a student waiting list at the private school. He says expanding the service area to include neighboring communities like Fayette County may be considered. “For parents who are paying private school tuition in Lexington and driving across town, it’s just as easy to get to Model. I mean two traffic lights beats all the traffic lights in Lexington,” Williamson said.
Come 2020, Kentucky lawmakers will again be asked to consider making Richmond Model the Commonwealth’s lab school. It is currently the only education laboratory facility in the state. Williamson says with such a designation, state funding could come to support building a new school on the EKU campus. “Part of it is that we would be able to leverage school facilities construction dollars that would help with the funding of a facility or targeted dollars just to replace Model. We don’t know how it would work yet, but that’s what we would go for,” explained Williamson.
EKU Vice President David McFaddin says Model could be a lab setting to investigate assessment, or curriculum design, or even services in K through 12. He says it could become a robust partnership with the legislature, executive branch, Kentucky Department of Education, and public and private schools.?
Weku's Stu Johnson spoke with John Williamson following the Board of Regents meeting:
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