LEXINGTON, Ky. — It's a case of schools helping schools across the central to the eastern part of Kentucky.
At the Robertson County School District, the school board and the nearly 700 K-12 students share a building and the land stretching for miles behind the school. Sanford Holbrook is the superintendent and a Magoffin county native who has been with the district for nearly a decade.
“Probably fits my personality best, because I’m a people person,” he said. “You know, my school system has offices. I’m connected to the building. Here I am. I mean, I walk down the hall. I probably know 95% of my students by their first name.”
He said a hands-on approach is how he keeps up with his school and students’ needs, like school buses and transportation. He has even stepped in to help drive.
Holbrook also volunteers at school and community support events around the commonwealth, and specifically at Floyd County school’s surplus bus auctions, using the lifelong auctioneer skills he keeps under his belt.
“I’ve been an auctioneer since I was 8 years old,” he said. “My mom threw me on stage, and it was just a natural talent I had, and I got my license when I was 18. I’ve always kept them as a kind of a small job. I do it now and then. I do a lot more beneficial work, like my time to help schools or people that might be down on their luck.”
That’s where he discovered and fostered a new partnership with Floyd County School leaders. Among the list of buses at his most recent auction was a 2009 special needs bus that included a wheelchair lift, space for two chairs and double the size of theirs.
At the moment, the bus is not in use, but Holbrook said he wanted to be proactive in case it is. After he offered to purchase the bus, the Floyd county superintendent gifted it.
Holbrook said neighboring educators often lend a hand or, in this case, a bus whenever they can.
“So I thought maybe that’s a chance for us to upgrade the special place bus and hopefully at a reasonable price for 15 years,” he said. “I mean, we try to do that throughout the state. We help each other because we know how important public education is to the students in the bluegrass.”
Robertson County School is the smallest county school in Kentucky, but Holbrook says they make up for it in the size of their companionship with fellow educators and more in and around the community.