In this issue:
- KBE grants charter training waivers
- Charter appeal hearing set
- Bill to begin overhaul of CTE advances
- Students ask lawmakers for nickel matching funds
- Legislative Education Advocacy Day (LEAD)
- Five things to look for at KSBA's Annual Conference
- February Advocate available online
- Nominations being accepted for KSBA PEAK Award
- KSBA in the News
- Poll question
- Upcoming dates, deadlines and events
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KBE grants charter authorizer training waivers
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More than half of Kentucky’s local school boards now have their state-mandated charter authorizer training requirements waived.
The Kentucky Board of Education at its Feb. 4 meeting granted charter authorizer training waivers to 16 local school boards that had submitted waiver requests. Eight of the 16 requests for waivers had been turned down by the previous KBE in December.
In addition to granting the 16 waivers, the newly constituted KBE, on the recommendation of Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Brown, said the remaining 156 superintendents can request a waiver on behalf of a board by sending Brown a letter.
“Our policy determination is that we should grant this release,” Brown told the KBE committee. “There’s a very low likelihood that the majority of these districts would receive charter school applications anytime soon.”
As of Thursday, 84 districts had submitted such a letter, meaning that 100 districts, 58 percent, have now received charter training waivers.
The waivers are in effect until June 30, 2021 or until the board receives a charter application, whichever comes first. If a board receives a charter application, it must receive the charter training within 10 days of the application.
Brown noted that it is feasible for the Kentucky School Boards Association to provide the training within 10 days, as it did for Newport Independent Schools when the district received an application this past November.
“KSBA has done a really good job of integrating charter school training into other training that is required for school board members,” he said. “So, board members will still be receiving some charter training throughout the year because it is embedded now in finance training, within governance trainings and other trainings.”
KSBA Executive Director
Kerri Schelling thanked the KBE for taking the burden off locally elected school board members.
“On behalf of our members, thank you for listening to the concerns of our locally elected school board members and for making a decision that restores their ability to choose the most appropriate professional development for their districts’ needs,” she said.
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Charter appeal hearing set
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The Kentucky Board of Education will hold a charter school application appeal hearing on Feb. 25. River Cities Academy submitted an application to Newport Independent in November seeking to open a charter school that would pull students from six districts in northern Kentucky.
Newport Independent’s board of education
turned down the application and the River Cities representatives appealed the decision to the KBE.
The board anticipates that the appeal hearing will last about two hours.
The academy’s application was vetted by a panel of 32 Kentucky educators before the Newport Ind. board voted unanimously to deny the application.
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Bill to begin overhaul of CTE advances
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A bill that would start the process of overhauling the state’s system of career and technical education (CTE) will be heard by the full Senate.
Senate Bill 156, filed by Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, creates a task force that would oversee the creation of single career and technical education system. Currently, career and technical education is divided between the Kentucky Department of Education, which runs 53 area technology centers, and local school districts which operate 42 centers.
Members of the task force would include legislators, the Kentucky Department of Education, locally operated CTE center representatives, the Kentucky School Boards Association, the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents and others.
The bill, which cleared the Senate Education Committee Thursday, tasks the group with developing a plan to transition Kentucky to a single CTE system by 2024.
More legislative actions will appear in Friday’s KSBA Legislative Update.
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Students ask lawmakers for nickel matching funds
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Legislators aren't usually handed mold samples in Frankfort, but that’s what Hancock County students passed around to members of a House budget committee.
The Hancock County students, Lauren Kellems, Ashlyn Madden and Danielle Ford, (pictured above) who
led an effort pass a recallable nickel tax to replace their deteriorating middle school asked the committee on Wednesday to include state matching funds in the biennial budget now being crafted.
At least eight Kentucky school boards have passed nickel taxes in 2018 and 2019 and would benefit from state matching funds, called equalization, in the new state budget.
As part of a social studies lesson, the Hancock County students collected mold samples, learned about school facility financing and then presented their findings to the school board which unanimously passed the tax.
Despite enacting the nickel tax without community opposition, the district still cannot build the new school on its own, Ford told the committee.
“If you’d be so gracious as to bond us $10 million dollars, we could build our new middle school starting this summer,” she said. “If we keep waiting and bandaging the school that we have right now, we’ll have to have emergency funds for a new school.”
The district is seeking about $142,000 a year in matching funds but even with that amount it would be about $10 million short of the bonding capacity needed to build the $23 million school, Superintendent Kyle Estes told the committee.
Powell County, Johnson County, Beechwood Independent, Bellevue Independent, Fairview Independent, Augusta Independent and Mason County have also passed nickels since Jan. 1, 2018, when state equalization expired.
“These districts along with several others understand you’ve got to have more if you’re going to keep up with facilities and provide adequate opportunities for the students of today and the students of tomorrow,” Estes said.
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Five things to look for at KSBA
’
s 84th Annual Conference (Feb. 21-23)
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With KSBA’s 2020 Annual Conference just one week away, there is much to be excited about. Here are five things to look for at this year’s annual gathering.
1.)
Check out our new look! KSBA will unveil its much-anticipated rebrand: logo, colors, mission statement and tagline. From beginning to end, this year’s conference will celebrate the launch.
2.)
KET’s Renee Shaw hosts a panel with former Senate President David Williams and former Senate Majority Leader David Karem. During Saturday’s Lunch/Plenary Session, attendees will hear from two the former legislators who were instrumental in shaping KERA (Kentucky Education Reform Act) in 1990.
3.)
Less emphasis on charter training. With at least 100 districts having already submitted charter authorizer training waiver requests, many attendees will have more flexibility in the sessions they choose.
4.)
Visit our largest trade show ever! More than 70 exhibitors, sponsors and affiliates will be on hand to network with conference attendees. Engage with these education industry leaders!
5.)
Banners and student performers will be everywhere. Our favorite annual conference traditions include the beautiful student-designed banners and student performances. This year’s conference will be loaded with both, reminding board members and administrators of the No. 1 reason they do what they do.
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Russellville Independent is using two book vending machines as motivation for students to earn Accelerated Reader points and, in turn, earn more books.
Read more about the vending machines and how they are part of a larger literacy effort in the February issue of the Kentucky School Advocate.
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KSBA accepting nominations for PEAK Award
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Nominations are now being accepted for KSBA’s Spring 2020 PEAK (Public Education Achieves in Kentucky) Award.
KSBA established the award in 1997 to bring greater attention to noteworthy efforts by public schools aimed at enhancing the learning skills of students.
We invite districts who have not won a PEAK Award in the past five years to nominate a program. Innovative programs and proven results are generally received well by judges.
An article about the winning program will appear in the May issue of the Kentucky School Advocate. Representatives from KSBA will travel to the winning district for an award presentation and the winning district will be invited to present a session at KSBA's 2021 Annual Conference in Louisville.
Some of the previous winning programs have involved early childhood education or dropout prevention, while others have focused on enhancing music education or college and career readiness, just to name a few. Articles on some of the previous winners are at
ksba.org/peak.aspx
.
The deadline is Wednesday, Feb. 19. Visit
our website
for more information, including award criteria and nomination information.
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KSBA is often called on by media outlets to discuss important school-related issues. Here are some of the stories to which your association contributed in recent weeks.
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Upcoming dates, deadlines and events
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This edition of
KSBA Aware is made possible in part
by the following KSBA Affiliate Members.
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Kentucky School Boards Association | 502-695-4630 | www.ksba.org
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