The fate of at least part of the old Caneyville school may have had its fate sealed by the strong storms at the end of May.

High winds ripped off part of the rubberized roofing on one section of the old building, and the Grayson County School Board discussed Thursday whether or not to demolish the old section.

No decision was made, but the board asked Super-intendent Teddy White to get bids on possible demolition, indicating that "is probably the direction we want to go."

White said a ballpark figure for the demolition would be "around $21,000, however insurance on the building will cut that cost somewhat." He said storms at the end of May "tore up about 5,000 square feet of one section of the old structure." The new addition was not damaged.

He said some of the floor tiles and adhesive holding blackboards to the walls had some asbestos in them, and that would have to be cleared on environmental grounds.

But White added that in conversations he had already had with experts in the field, the asbestos removal would not bring a huge increase in the cost of the demolition.

The board promised to reconsider the matter at its August meeting after the superintendent brought a more detailed report and proposal.

The board also delayed until August a decision on whether or not to pull one battery of testing (the CTBS test) from the 10th grade level.

High School Principal Mic Huffman said new rules under the federal No Child Left Behind Act required the sophomores to take an additional test involving seven open-response reading questions, and he recommended the CTBS tests for that grade should be stopped.

"It amounts to double-testing the 10th graders," he said, "and it gets to be more than the students can take in a single testing period."

Middle School Principal Bill Embry said he was having the same problems with 8th grade testing.

Both principals said that by the time students get through both batteries of tests, their batteries are running down, too. This, they said, is contributing to both school's lower ratings.

The board seemed to agree, but asked White and other administrators to do a complete review of all grades to see whether or not the problem was more widespread than just the 10th and 8th grades.

The board also asked for a report to the August meeting for a decision then.

Also expected at the August meeting is a new school board member to replace Clarkson's Marsha Sharp who resigned earlier this year.

White told the board interviews with three candidates would be held July 14, with a replacement expected on board before the August meeting.

In other action, the board:

Held an executive session to discuss land acquisition, but announced later that no decision had been made.

Made small changes to the school calendar to assure that all schools in the district have a school day of six hours and eleven minutes. The change would give the district a bank of five emergency days it could use without lengthening the school year.

Approved building a storage building at the middle chool that has a labor cost of $6,000. attached.