Bond-funded school construction Tier-2 and multi-district recurring-services book sized for two Laurel K-12 districts both running active capital programs with the same architect of record.

Laurel County Public Schools (LCPS) approved a General Obligation revenue bond resolution in January 2026 covering auxiliary-gym additions at North Laurel High School and South Laurel High School. Ray J. Vaske and David Jackson at Sherman-Carter-Barnhart (SCB) are the lead architects, per the Sentinel-Echo.

Denise Griebel is the LCPS superintendent, per laurel.k12.ky.us.

East Bernstadt Independent Schools (EBIS) had a schematic design for its Addition and Renovation Project approved in 2025. Final approval from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is pending. Ray J. Vaske of SCB has presented the schematic.

EBIS carries a year-end balance of more than $2.4 million for fiscal year 2024-25. It is a K-8 single-school district with about 523 students. Ninth through twelfth graders move to LCPS under an inter-district agreement.

Vicki Jones is the EBIS superintendent, per ebernstadt.kyschools.us.

Sherman-Carter-Barnhart is architect of record on both active capital programs at the same time. Tier-2 sub-trades on SCB's Lexington prequalification roster see both pipelines through one relationship rather than two.

Combined facility count across the two districts is about 16 to 18 buildings. LCPS runs North Laurel High School, South Laurel High School, multiple middle schools, eight or more elementaries, a central office, and a bus garage. EBIS is one building. The recurring-services book aggregates across that base.

The two-district structure is unusual in Kentucky. EBIS buys a narrow K-8-shaped recurring-services bundle — food, transport, janitorial, IT, pest, mechanical-electrical-plumbing (MEP) service, nurse, and security. LCPS carries the full K-12 portfolio including athletic-facility maintenance and Career and Technical Education (CTE) shop service.

Workforce-pipeline tie-in to I-75 anchor employers matters here. Senture, Walmart DC #6097, Sazerac Rowland Acres, Saint Joseph London, Highlands Diversified Services, Aisin, ABC Group, and Hearthside are the natural LCPS CTE and dual-credit employer partners by geography and scale. The CTE facilitator sub-path lives at that intersection.

The Kentucky School Boards Association (KSBA) cooperative-bid portal at portal.ksba.org is the standardized purchasing surface for both districts. The KSBA AgencyIDs for LCPS and EBIS have not been confirmed.

We have not identified a competing architect on either capital program as of this writing. SCB holds both districts at the same time.

Acquisition path $300K-$900K total. Purchase price $250K-$750K for a Laurel-resident services firm with one district line, 8-20 W-2 employees, $1.5M-$3M annual revenue at 3-4× seller's discretionary earnings (SDE). SBA 7(a) at 75-85% of purchase price, 10-year amortization. Founder equity $75K-$225K (20-25%). Seller note 10-20% standby behind SBA. Working-capital revolver $75K-$200K against district-receivable collateral.

Startup path $200K-$700K total. Trucks, equipment, and tools $50K-$250K depending on sub-trade. Insurance, bonding cash collateral, license fees, prequal application $15K-$60K Year 1. Software, branding, KSBA registration, vendor onboarding $10K-$30K. Working-capital runway 9-18 months $125K-$360K.

Year-3 acquired book economics — two-district book at $2M-$4M revenue at 12-14% EBITDA = $240K-$560K. After SBA debt service ($45K-$95K) and reinvestment ($15K-$45K), owner take-home $180K-$350K (W-2 plus distributions, pre-tax).

Bond-construction Tier-2 tail — LCPS auxiliary gyms and EBIS Addition and Renovation produce 18-36 months of one-time work for the H1 path. Founder layers H2 recurring services underneath so the steady-state book survives bond-tail recency-cliff.

H3 ESCO path — $300K-$700K startup. Guaranteed-energy-savings performance contract revenue typically structured as 7-15 year performance-period sharing; surety posted through national reinsurer; LCPS facility-portfolio audit scope is the initial-pursuit window.

H4 CTE program facilitator + H5 special-education compliance specialist — $150K-$300K each; consulting-overlay margins; folds into the loan-packaging candidate capital-stack work through Perkins V or IEP-handoff grant-administration overlay.

• Laurel County Public Schools (LCPS); Superintendent Denise Griebel

  K-12 district

  Active in market

  January 2026 General Obligation revenue bond for auxiliary gyms at North Laurel HS and South Laurel HS. Roughly 16 to 18 facilities. Full K-12 portfolio.
• East Bernstadt Independent Schools (EBIS); Superintendent Vicki Jones

  K-8 single-school district

  Active in market

  Addition and Renovation Project schematic design approved 2025 pending KDE. More than $2.4 million in year-end balance for fiscal year 2024-25. About 523 students. Inter-district 9-12 handoff to LCPS.
• Sherman-Carter-Barnhart (SCB; Lexington office)

  K-12 architect of record

  Out-of-county

  Lead architects Ray J. Vaske and David Jackson. Architect on both LCPS auxiliary-gym work and EBIS Addition and Renovation. The Tier-2 sub-trade prequalification gate.
• Kentucky School Boards Association (KSBA) cooperative-bid portal

  Standardized purchasing surface

  Out-of-county

  portal.ksba.org. Most recurring scopes rebid annually with three-year option years.
• Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) Office of Career and Technical Education

  State education regulator

  Out-of-county

  education.ky.gov. KDE final-approval gate for the EBIS Addition and Renovation. Perkins V grant administration for the CTE facilitator sub-path.
• Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings, and Construction (KY DHBC)

  Trade-license regulator

  Out-of-county

  KRS 198B (HVAC), KRS 227A (electrical), and KRS 318 (plumbing). Master licenses attach to individuals, not entities.
• CFSB, KHIC, Forcht Bank, Peoples Bank of Kentucky, and First Federal Savings and Loan of Laurel County

  Laurel-resident financing sources

  Institution

  SBA 7(a) capacity for $300,000 to $900,000 acquisitions.

Founder picks one of five sub-paths off two variables — which prequal or credential the founder already holds, and whether the play is a one-time bond-construction tail or a recurring-services book. H1 — Bond-funded construction Tier-2 sub-trade (mechanical / electrical / casework / flooring / AV) at $400K-$900K acquisition or $300K-$700K startup with SCB prequal + trade master license where applicable. H2 — Multi-district recurring services (food / transport / janitorial / IT / pest / MEP service / athletic-facility maintenance) at $300K-$900K acquisition or $200K-$600K startup with KSBA portal proficiency + insurance + bond.

H3 — ESCO retrofit under KRS 65.940 at $300K-$700K startup with ESCO registration + performance-guarantee surety. H4 — CTE program facilitator (Perkins V; cross-district) at $150K-$300K with career background. H5 — Special-education compliance specialist (cross-district IEP handoff at 8th-9th grade) at $150K-$300K with KY special-education administrator credential preferred.

Cohort fit — existing operator buying a multi-district recurring-services book at $300K-$900K (boomer-owner exit path for a Laurel-resident food, transport, janitorial, IT, pest, or MEP-service firm holding one or two LCPS or EBIS lines; buyer adds the other district inside 12-24 months under one relationship and one prequal). Trades operator running a Tier-2 specialty on the SCB Lexington roster (mechanical, electrical, casework, flooring, or AV-integration sub-trade with a KY master on staff and SCB prequal in hand). CTE administrator-as-founder for the Perkins V facilitator path (returning Laurel-resident career-and-technical educator with KDE Office of CTE contacts who stands up apprenticeship and dual-credit pipelines between LCPS and the named anchor employers). Special-education administrator pairing with a parent-advocate (the EBIS-to-LCPS 9th-grade IEP-handoff happens annually for every EBIS 8th grader on an IEP).

Procurement sits on the KSBA cooperative-bid portal, not on City of London municipal procurement. The City of London mayor's office is in an active public-record period — Mayor Randall Weddle was impeached September 5, 2025, reinstated September 29, 2025, and indicted on four felony counts March 31, 2026, per Kentucky Lantern and WKYU. The Kentucky State Auditor has an open investigation. These are public-record proceedings, not adjudicated convictions. The standardized KSBA bid surface insulates this candidate from city-level workflow variability.

• — The LCPS and EBIS KSBA AgencyIDs and the current portal.ksba.org vendor-registration status by category. As of May 2026 we have not confirmed.
• — The Sherman-Carter-Barnhart Lexington Tier-2 sub-trade prequalification process and current open-trade roster. As of May 2026 we have not confirmed against scb-architects.com.
• — The LCPS Director of Pupil Personnel and Finance Director named seats and the EBIS Business Manager. As of May 2026 we have not confirmed.
• — The KDE final-approval timeline on the EBIS Addition and Renovation schematic. As of May 2026 we have not confirmed against education.ky.gov.
• — Construction sequencing on the LCPS auxiliary-gym bond. The notice-to-proceed timing drives the bond-tier entry window.
• — The current LCPS and EBIS recurring-services vendor roster for acquisition-target identification. Source through Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts prior-period audit findings and district open-records requests.

Tonight, this week, this month — in that order. Each step produces a yes/no or a number, not a deeper understanding.