New JCPS elementary school opening delayed after failed building inspection

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Students and staff of a new JCPS elementary school will be moving to a temporary location while construction is completed.

According to a release from JCPS, the Wilkerson Elementary School building on Johnsontown Road failed to pass a Louisville Metro government building inspection on Tuesday.

The failed inspection means students and staff will have to be moved to another location as the building earns its Certificate of Occupancy.

The district said it is planning to reopen Watson Lane Elementary for students and staff to attend as a temporary home while construction on the new building is completed

“This is extremely disappointing,” Dr. Marty Pollio, superintendent of JCPS said in a release. “The contractor assured us that the building would be completed on time. I apologize to the Wilkerson families for this unacceptable pause in their excitement about moving into a new building.”

Watson Lane Elementary was previously closed at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, and students who attended the elementary school were expected to attend this school year.

Terri Scanlon lives nearby the new school construction site. She said she’s been watching the construction since it began in October 2020.

“The process, I mean they have been very fast on the teardown and the construction,” Scanlon said.

Scanlon also said she has two kids that attended the old Wilkerson Elementary. That school building was closed, with the new 82,532-square foot, $17 million school being built on a tract of land behind the old campus.

“That school’s been around for a long time,” Scanlon said. “And so it’s exciting to have a new school in our area. It was very sad for it to close. We have pictures of when it was still standing. And then we have taken pictures of the construction.”

“My kids loved Wilkerson,” Scanlon added. “They had an amazing teachers there all throughout. They are still in contact with some of those teachers.“

The district said it plans to finish construction and pass certification in a matter of weeks, not months.

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