Rockcastle County Board Of Education

Rockcastle County Board Of Education, doing business as Rockcastle County School District, is a U.S. public school district based in Mt. Vernon, Kentucky, that receives federal grant funding as a prime recipient (25% of recent awards) and sub-recipient (75% of recent awards) in the areas of career and technical education, rural broadband and telemedicine, school security, and student support services. The district does not hold federal contracts and does not compete on procurements; its federal footprint consists entirely of project grants and sub-grant awards from education and rural-development agencies.

The district's prime grant portfolio centers on three awards. In February 2024, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education awarded a $2,238,250 Project Grant for career and technical education modernization under CFDA 84.051, supporting curriculum innovation, dual enrollment, apprenticeship expansion, and workforce-aligned training that ran through January 2025. A $939,588 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service in January 2022 funded distance learning and telemedicine service deployment across rural Rockcastle County, running through January 2024. Most recently, in August 2025, the Rural Utilities Service awarded a Distance Learning Grant running through August 2027, with award amount not specified in the source.

The district's customer base across top funding agencies reflects rural education and development priorities. The Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education accounts for four awards (75% coverage of the top-customer set). The Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service accounts for two awards. The Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration, the Department of Education's Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, and the Corporation for National and Community Service Office of Grants Management account for one award each. Five distinct federal agencies have funded the district.

As a sub-recipient, the district has received six grant sub-awards since July 2024. Partners For Rural Impact, Inc. has placed two sub-grants with the district: one in July 2024 to build volunteer program capacity in schools and one in February 2026 to offer tutoring services. The Cabinet for Health Services Kentucky placed a September 2024 sub-grant focused on pediatric mental health care access expansion. Three identical sub-grants arrived in October 2024 supporting physical security enhancements—surveillance cameras, access control, and panic alert systems—across Rockcastle County Schools. Combined obligated dollars across all awards total $16.9 million. One award faces ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months.