By Jeff Noble

Editor

Both Robert Stewart and Ron Combs enjoyed their road trip to Frankfort on Monday. And with good reason. Stewart, who is Principal of Highland-Turner Elementary School; and Combs, who is Principal of LBJ Elementary School, made their respective schools a little richer thanks to spending the day at the State Capitol.

Both schools will get a grant of $22,500 apiece to fix up their playgrounds. They’ll fix them up this summer with “Crumb Rubber”, which is made from recycled scrap tires. The crumb rubber is used for mulch on the playgrounds, as well as fitness and walking tracks, landscaping, and for a reduction in soil degradation on athletic fields.

Highland-Turner and LBJ are among 50 schools statewide who received the grants from the state’s Waste Tire Trust Fund. The Kentucky Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet made the announcement Monday in Frankfort, with the money for the 50 schools - including the two Breathitt County schools - totaling $1.2 million.

H-T Principal Stewart told the Voice he had a great time during the Frankfort trip, and already knows what he wants to do with the money. “We’re wanting to put out a new playground. This money is strictly to be used for the rubber mulch on where the existing playground is now. We’re going to get new playground equipment, thanks to a campaign from the Highland-Turner PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization).” Stewart said that $5,500 has been raised so far for that purpose, which will go along with the new surface. “We’re hoping to have it in place when the first day of school starts next August. All of this couldn’t have been possible without getting this grant.”

Likewise, LBJ Principal Combs found the trip rewarding for his school. “We’ll purchase the crumb rubber to put around the playground. We’re hoping to start the work on it after school is out in May. We’ll be working on it during the Summer, once we get the bidding done and the material ordered. It should all be done by the start of the school year.” Combs likewise told the Voice the grant couldn’t come at a better time. “We’re fortunate that we’ll upgrade the playground at LBJ. We’re always concerned about safety, and all of this will not only make our school’s playground safer, but also more pleasing to look at.”

The Waste Tire Trust Fund was established by the 1998 General Assembly, and receives a one-dollar fee from each sale of a new tire in Kentucky. The fund manages 5 million scrap tires generated in our state each year, and also develops markets for recycled tire products. “This is a prime example of turning a problem into a solution,” Governor Ernie Fletcher’s Chief of Staff, Stan Cave, said at the ceremony in Frankfort on Monday. That ceremony was not only attended by Combs and Stewart, but also by Teresa J. Hill, who is Secretary of the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet.

Both Combs and Stewart met with State Representative Ted Edmonds of Jackson, who helped steer the funding for the two schools. They also thanked the Breathitt County School Board, as well as staff and volunteers of the two schools for their help in landing the grants.