Frankfort church opens doors to displaced high schoolers, teachers after fire

Frankfort church opens doors to displaced high schoolers and teachers after fire

By: Evelyn Schultz

FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX News) — Close to 300 Frankfort High School students are expected to return to their building this coming Monday after a fire and extensive water damage forced them to hold classes inside a local church for weeks.

After a fire broke out inside a classroom on Aug. 30, Franklin Independent Schools Superintendent Sherri Satterly said the damage was widespread.

Frankfort High School students displaced after classroom fire

"The smoke damage and the water damage from the sprinkler system and the fire hoses was pretty extensive. It's about 70% of the building," Satterly told LEX News in an interview Sep. 2.

With the school unusable, First United Methodist Church, located in downtown Frankfort, opened its doors to students and staff. Associate Minister Leanne Hadley said they did not hesitate.

"If y'all need anything, we're here. And they took us up on it," Hadley said.

The church is located in downtown Frankfort. Hadley said being responsive to the surrounding community is central to the church's mission.

"We're in the downtown of Frankfort, and we want to be responsive to the people in the downtown, to anywhere," Hadley said. "What surprised me is I thought we were loaning space. But really we were building relationships."

The transition took help from across the community. The Frankfort Plant Board upgraded the church's network infrastructure to ensure teachers and staff had adequate internet access. The church also underwent and passed a kitchen inspection, allowing food service staff to continue feeding students on-site.

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Students noticed the effort.

"At first I thought we was going to like eat at home, but then they brought lunch here, so I'm really glad they did that," said sophomore Kaycen Weaver.

"I'm glad for the people that work at this church, they let us come here and still be able to learn," said freshman Jalonee Cleveland.

Hadley said the community's response reflects something deeper about Frankfort she also experienced during the 2025 flooding.

"When we had the flood, I could not believe how quickly people got places together to collect clothing and to do food. And this is just another example of that, yeah, if you need community, this is a place where you'll receive it," she said.

Evelyn Schultz is committed to covering the stories that matter to you. If you have an idea, please reach out to Evelyn at evelyn.schultz@wlex.tv