VERSAILLES — At Tuesday night’s board meeting, Versailles Board of Education members discussed the new parking lot with Facilities Director Ken Moorman. He said it would be east of the high school and was still in the planning stages.

Moorman plans on using, “8 inches of gravel and 4 inches of asphalt to get a solid parking lot.”

He presented the board with an idea of what to do when the remaining dirt from the project. Moorman said the hill behind the weight room would be a good place for the dirt.

“I just wonder if it’s worth our time and money to level that out with the dirt we are moving to make a playing field.”

Originally, that hill was supposed to be used as such, but Moorman said that in its current state it is unusable.

“It is nothing but a rock pile.”

He said using the dirt to fix the playing field will save money in the end because instead of hauling the dirt out, Versailles will reuse it.

“If we are going to fix that, now would be the time to do it.”

Moorman also spoke about quotes he received for playground matting. The first quote was $203,000 and the second was $182,000.

“It’s expensive but we will have a maintenance free playground.”

He said it would cover 9,300 square feet of the playground area and 3,400 square feet of the swing area. He thought that the softer rubber was a better option for the playground matting than the tiles with the feet on the bottom.

“We’re thinking more in place type matting is better for us.”

Moorman said he was in the process of getting a third bid, and that he was going to look at some of the finished playgrounds from the companies.

Superintendent Aaron Moran plans to have a forum on a Saturday, sometime in April, for the community to discuss school safety measures.

“The big question that needs to be talked about is guns in school.”

Moran said they need to do more to repel threats than to just have the ability to lock down during them. He talked about the use of Tasers and pepper spray as options in place of guns, but if they did decide to arm teachers with guns, they need to have more formal training.

“A CCW (carrying a concealed weapon) is not enough training.”

In other business, the district is looking for a new athletics director. Moran said that candidates have applied from all over the state, as well as outside of it.

As Monday was the last day for candidates to apply, he shared what they were looking for in Versailles’ next athletics director.

“We are looking for a person dedicated to supporting our students and programs.”

He said that the students, faculty, coaches and parents are very supportive in ensuring success in all areas of education.

“The athletic director needs to be a strong contributor to the school team.”

The next board meeting willbe held at 7 p.m. April 17.