BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — The new Martin County Elementary School is moving from paper to pavement.

Site preparation for the project should be completed “by the end of March or first of April,” clearing the way for construction on a 148.5-acre tract adjacent to Martin County High School on Holly Bush.

Schools Superintendent Larry James said the Martin County Board of Education will open bids for the construction project Jan. 22. This milestone will put the county on track to begin construction of its first new elementary school in decades.

“We’re hoping bids come in good so we can just keep moving right along,” James said.

If all goes as planned, the school will open in about two years.

“It took three to build the high school,” James noted. “But this is not as big as the high school.”

The 52,561-square-foot facility will serve about 450 students, consolidating Inez and Warfield elementary schools into a single campus. Plans call for four preschool classrooms along with traditional classrooms for kindergarten through sixth grade.

The state committed $29.5 million of the estimated $30 million cost, leaving the local district responsible for $500,000.

When the new school opens, Martin County will operate two elementary schools: the new Holly Bush campus and Eden Elementary.

Declining enrollment, because much of Kentucky’s public school funding (including SEEK dollars) is tied to how many students a district serves, makes it harder to justify operating multiple underused facilities — a key reason for the consolidation of the two schools.

“Right now, Eden has good numbers,” James said. “It has around 400 kids. It would have to lose a lot of kids to fit into this new school.”

For Warfield students, the move represents more than consolidation. Their current school sits in a floodplain, a designation that limits the district’s ability to secure funding for major improvements.

“It’s a good opportunity to get the Warfield kids in a new building as well,” James said.

According to the superintendent, long-term infrastructure plans could further reshape how families move through the county. He said the state’s six-year road plan includes the long-awaited four-lane connection from Blacklog to Warfield.

“When that happens,” James said, “you will be in Warfield in five minutes.”