Within hours of the devastating tornadoes in western and south central Kentucky this past weekend, school personnel across the state did what came natural to them – taking care of others.

In areas hardest hit by the tornadoes, school employees opened schools as shelters, cooked meals and searched for their students. In areas far from the disaster, the Kentucky education community sprang into action organizing collection drives and setting up donation funds.

Several superintendents of impacted districts shared their experiences Tuesday during the Kentucky Department of Education’s Superintendents webcast.

Warren County Schools Superintendent Rob Clayton said that though he has been through extensive emergency management training, he was still shocked at the swift action of district employees.

“It was still a bit of a surprise that when the catastrophe struck, our schools were the focal point. We mobilized literally in minutes. And I say we, I didn’t even know it was happening because I was one of those that had no electricity,” he said.

It was a similar scene in Mayfield, said Mayfield Ind. Superintendent Joe Henderson. With much of the town of Mayfield destroyed Friday night, many people immediately thought of the school.

“We had 150 to 200 people here in our gymnasium the night it happened because they were walking the streets with nowhere to go,” he said. “And so we housed them here, but we had to relocate them to some areas with electricity and water after the first day.”

Dawson Springs Superintendent Leonard Whalen said within 30 minutes of the tornado hitting his town, the school became a triage center with many people, some seriously wounded, making their way to the building.

“And really from that point forward, Dawson Springs High School kind of become the epicenter of response for Dawson Springs,” he said.

As of Wednesday morning, the death toll from the tornadoes stood at 74 across 10 counties, with many people still missing. Clayton noted that three students were confirmed dead and a fourth was still missing as of Tuesday afternoon. In Dawson Springs, retired finance director and current school board member Jenny Bruce died in the storm (see more below). At least six school districts will remain closed until after Winter Break.

The superintendents expressed thanks for all of the support from the education community across the state.

With so many ways to help communities recover, and with the immediate needs changing on a daily basis, KSBA recommends the following resources to ensure your support is directed most effectively.

Go directly to the source for the most accurate and timely account of community needs. Here are links for district or superintendent Twitter pages. Also, follow KSBA’s feed for updates (all accessible even if you do not have a Twitter account).

Bowling Green, Caldwell County, Christian County, Dawson Springs Ind., Fulton County, Fulton Ind., Graves County, Hart County, Hickman County, Hopkins County, Logan County, Lyon County, Madison County, Mayfield Ind., Marshall County, McLean County, Muhlenberg County, Murray Ind., Ohio County, Taylor County, Warren County

Several of Kentucky’s educational cooperatives are coordinating with school districts to collect items and funds. Contact your region’s co-op(s) for more information. At least two co-ops are still conducting drives for specific items to be delivered later this week.

Southeast South-Central Educational Cooperative (SESC) is collecting items through Thursday, Dec. 16.

Kentucky Educational Development Corporation (KEDC) is collecting items at their Ashland location through Monday, Dec. 20.

Some of the impacted communities have shifted their focus from collection of items (due to needs met or capacity) to monetary contributions. Here are a few examples of secure ways to give.

The governor’s office has established the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund.

The Western Kentucky Educational Cooperative (WKEC) has launched a relief fund.

Warren County Public Schools has created a disaster relief fund.

A “Stuff the Bus” online fundraiser has been set up to support relief efforts in Bowling Green and southern Kentucky areas.

Beechwood Ind., in partnership with the City of Fort Mitchell, is raising funds to support families in Mayfield and the surrounding areas.

Dawson Springs Ind. board member Jenny Bruce was killed in the tornado that struck the Hopkins County town.

Bruce, 65, worked for Dawson Springs Ind. for more than 40 years, spending most of that time as the district’s finance director. After her retirement, Bruce wanted to continue her service and ran for the board in 2020.

“I graduated from this district and then went on to work in the district,” Bruce told the Messenger in December 2020 after she was elected. “I have lived here all of my life and plan on staying here, and I feel that our school district is a very important part of Dawson Springs.”

Bruce’s husband, James, died in March 2020. She is survived by her daughter, Brandy Wiser, and son, Greg Simons.

Citizens National Bank of Lebanon, Wiser’s employer, has started a fund in Bruce’s honor to help the Dawson Springs Community. Donations, including checks and gift cards, can be mailed to Citizens National Bank of Lebanon, at 149 W. Main St., Lebanon, KY 40033.

The Kentucky Board of Education has approved new rules on how districts can implement corporal punishment. Though the board made clear at its Dec. 1 meeting that it opposes using corporal punishment in schools, it noted that under Kentucky law it cannot ban the practice.

Another state law requires schools to use trauma-informed discipline, so Kentucky Department of Education staff determined that the regulation governing corporal punishment needed to be updated to comply with that law.

“This should not be seen in any way as an endorsement of corporal punishment from the department or the board,” said Matthew Courtney, KDE policy adviser. “This is the next step in what has been a 30-year mission to end corporal punishment in Kentucky.”

Under the new regulation, each local school board must adopt a policy that either prohibits or allows use of corporal punishment. As of now, 156 districts prohibit the use of corporal punishment in their district policies. Four have permissive policies and 11 have no policy. KSBA’s recommended model policy prohibits the use of corporal punishment.

Districts that allow corporal punishments must:

Education Commissioner Jason Glass and KBE Chairwoman Lu Young said they would work with the legislature to repeal the statue allowing corporal punishment.

“I’m on record as saying I consider this a barbaric practice,” Glass said. “I’m embarrassed that it exists anywhere in the state of Kentucky.”

The nomination deadline for KSBA’s 2022 Kentucky School Board Member of the Year Award has extended until Friday, Dec. 31. KSBA encourages board members, superintendents and district staff to submit nominations for the association’s highest individual honor. The award recognizes exemplary service of school board members who have contributed to the advancement of public education in areas such as advocacy, leadership and student achievement.

The winner will be honored at KSBA’s 2022 Annual Conference and will receive, among other things, free registration to KSBA trainings for an entire year!

January is School Board Recognition Month, making it the perfect time to express gratitude to the locally elected men and women charged with governance of your district. KSBA has created a wide variety of easy-to-use resources and templates from which district central office staff may borrow.

Access KSBA’s School Board Recognition Month toolkit, packed with downloadable social media graphics, document templates, certificates and a long list of suggested activities. When sharing your School Board Recognition Month Activities on social media next month, use the hashtag #LoveKySchoolBoards. KSBA will share/retweet our favorites all month long!

All annual state-mandated training hours must be completed by Dec. 31. If you are unsure if you have completed your required training for the calendar year, please sign in to KSBA’s new portal features that allow you to track your hours online.

Visit our Member Portal Resources page if you have forgotten your login credentials or wish to review helpful tips.

If you are still in need of training hours, you may request a limited number of self-study training options no later than Dec. 20 (allowing KSBA staff enough time to get them to you before the end of the year). The self-study order form and instructions can be found on the self-study page of KSBA’s website.

Please be mindful that KSBA offices are closed Dec. 22-24 and and Dec. 30-31. If you wish to speak to someone directly about your board training hours, please call 800-372-2962.

Boards team may now reserve hotel rooms for KSBA’s 2022 Annual Conference (Feb. 25-27 in Louisville). Participating hotels in close proximity to the convention center offer reduced nightly rates for conference attendees. Space is limited and the rate is only for a limited time, so make reservations as soon as possible.

Attendee registration for the 2022 Annual Conference will open in January. More information will be distributed to districts in the weeks ahead. Check KSBA’s Annual Conference page for updates.

Student performances throughout KSBA’s Annual Conference provide districts a unique opportunity to showcase talents in front of hundreds of our Commonwealth’s board members, administrators and public education advocates. View/download a 2022 student involvement form. In order to be considered, submissions must be received by Jan. 14.

KSBA will once again display beautiful student banner artwork depicting the conference theme. We invite each district to submit a student-designed banner for display in conference materials and in the banner gallery area. View/download banner instructions and specifications. After the success of last year’s event, we once again request all banners be submitted digitally. The artwork will be used in conference communications, displayed around the convention center, included in a commemorative booklet for attendees and much more. The deadline for banner artwork is Feb. 1.

Questions about this conference or any of KSBA's training events may be directed to KSBA Director of Board Team Development Laura Cole at 800-372-2962 ext. 1122.

KSBA’s board of directors gathered for its regular quarterly business meeting on Dec. 3 during KSBA’s Winter Symposium in Louisville.

Always a highlight of the December meeting, KSBA selected this year’s class of First Degree Scholarship recipients. In addition to the four traditional college scholarships awarded to high school seniors, the association announced that 70 high school students will be awarded CTE scholarships towards the pursuit of industry certifications.

Board members also reviewed and approved KSBA’s 2022 legislative priorities, which are now available online and featured in the December issue of the Kentucky School Advocate. The board discussed the recent meeting of the Local School Board Member Advisory Council, recapped the 2021 regional meetings and were updated on the association’s 2021-22 strategic plan progress.

The Kentucky General Assembly will convene on Jan. 4 with one big task – craft a new state budget. A surplus of money has many hoping that public education may get a boost, but there are many other considerations fighting for a share of the pie. Learn more about the upcoming session and view KSBA's Legislative Priorities in the December Kentucky School Advocate.

Also in the December Advocate:

This edition of KSBA Aware is made possible in part