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Registration open for 2024 Summer Leadership Institute

KSBA’s 2024 Summer Leadership Institute is July 19-20 at the Sloan Convention Center in Bowling Green. Registration is now open!

Attendees will experience two days of engaging keynote sessions, a variety of clinic sessions, a trade show and plenty of networking opportunities. A full conference schedule with session descriptions and registration instructions is available to view/download here.

Register by July 3 for early bird pricing of $260 and access to special conference rate hotel accommodations.

Several session topics offered at this year's institute will differ from previous years due to changes in board training requirements made during the 2024 legislative session. House Bill 449 eliminates annual requirements in the topics of finance and superintendent evaluation for board members with more than two consecutive years of service. That will give experienced members greater flexibility in selecting elective topics to satisfy their state-mandated training hours. 

Access easy online registration by clicking the button below.

Additional event information can be found on KSBA’s Summer Leadership page.

Two conference in one! KSBA's Summer Leadership Institute each year is also home to the annual summer conference for the Kentucky Organization of Superintendents' Administrative Assistants (KOSAA). Visit the KOSAA website for more information on the KOSAA summer conference.

#KSBAsummer24 will feature keynote from new education commissioner, session on Open Records/Open Meetings acts

KSBA welcomes incoming Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher as the Friday evening Opening Session keynote speaker. Fletcher is set to begin his tenure on July 1 after being confirmed by the Senate in April. 

Effective July 15, House Bill 449 adds one hour of required Open Meetings Act/Open Records Act training “within the first twelve (12) months of initial service and at least once every four (4) years thereafter,” essentially one hour every term in office. To help board members get a head start, KSBA is devoting a session to the topic on Saturday morning of the institute. Staff will review key provisions of Kentucky’s open meetings and open records laws, best practices to help board members avoid common pitfalls and proper processes for responding to an increasing number of open records requests.

KBE hears board member training report

KSBA’s Director of Board Team Development Debra Webb presented the annual training report for local school board members to the Kentucky Board of Education at its June 6 meeting.

In 2023, local board members completed 11,724 hours of training, which included 3,735 hours above the minimum state-mandated training requirements. A total of 753 members completed hours above the minimum requirements.

There were 30 members who were not recent appointments who did not meet their 2023 training requirements, however 18 of those members made up those hours after the deadline.

Webb also explained how local board member training will be changing.

“Some of the new laws that have passed and that will go into effect beginning July 15 kind of changed the way KSBA will be looking at training,” she said.

House Bill 449 (2024) eliminates annual state-mandated requirements in the topics of Finance and Superintendent Evaluation for board members with more than two consecutive years of service. The bill also adds one hour of required Open Meetings Act/Open Records Act training “within the first twelve (12) months of initial service and at least once every four (4) years thereafter,” essentially one hour every term in office.

Webb explained that instead of tracking training by year, it will now have to be tracked by where board members are in their service.

“These changes are making a big impact,” she said. “We’re making significant investment in our training portal to change the programming. We have to think about how we track training a little bit differently.”

One benefit of the new law is that the elimination of the topic requirements will allow KSBA to expand training opportunities to new topics such as technology, conflict resolution, leadership, social media threats to our children, team building and hands on workshops, Webb said.

“We are super excited for both KSBA and, most especially, for our members. Professional development is so important and we take it very seriously at KSBA and are we very fortunate to be able to offer that to our members,” she said. 

Pictured above: KSBA Director of Board Team Development Debra Webb (left) presents summary of 2023 state-mandated training for school board members at the June 6 meeting of the Kentucky Board of Education. Photo: KDE livestream

New coalition launches in opposition to Voucher Amendment

Kentuckians will decide this November at the ballot box whether the Kentucky General Assembly has the authority to direct public funds to private schools, potentially suspending seven sections of the Kentucky Constitution. Opponents of Amendment 2 (which is often referred to as House Bill 2 or the “Voucher Amendment”) are taking action to inform voters ahead of the 2024 General Elections. One such advocacy group is already making headlines.

Protect Our Schools KY kicked off its campaign on May 23 in Hazard, hosting the first of several regional launch events across the state.

“To be clear, it would allow for public money to be funneled to unaccountable, private schools by way of vouchers,” Perry County Superintendent Kent Campbell said at the event. “Amendment 2, or the Voucher Amendment as I like to call it, paves the way for our state to begin writing blank checks to private schools using dollars that should go to public schools and their students.”

Similar events have since been held in Owensboro, Bowling Green, Lexington and Louisville, with others scheduled this month in Ashland and Cold Spring. Each event features remarks from local educators and public education stakeholders.

According to the group’s website, “Protect Our Schools KY is a coalition of public education advocates and allied organizations committed to defeating a harmful constitutional amendment on the November 2024 General Election ballot that would allow for public funds to be allocated outside the system of common schools.”

“We’re feeding children, we’re connecting them with community resources, we’re providing healthcare,” said Fayette County school board chair Tyler Murphy at the June 11 Lexington kickoff event, as reported by WKYT Lexington. “With less resources to do that work, then all of that work is jeopardized.”



The leadership committee for Protect Our Schools KY includes the Council for Better Education (CBE), Kentucky Parent Teacher Association (KYPTA), the Kentucky Student Voice Team (KSVT) and the Kentucky Education Association (KEA), among others. Throughout June and July, the coalition will be seeking community partners for grassroots campaigning leading up to Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5. 

Pictured above: Warren County Superintendent Rob Clayton speaks at the Bowling Green kickoff event for Protect Our Schools KY on June 4. Photo: Warren County Schools

July Learn & Earn to discuss processes, requirements for construction projects

The July Learn & Earn webinar will be held from noon - 1 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday, July 10 and will discuss understanding the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) processes for school construction projects. The webinar, presented by Derek Phillips and Jessica Phillips of Deco Architects, Inc., will share the KDE processes and requirements for a school construction project, start to finish, including the timeline of significant construction milestones. Participants will learn how KDE assigns tiers and how BG forms affect that timeline. Prepare to walk away with a better understanding of KDE construction requirements and how to make your next project run smoothly.

Register for the July Learn & Earn webinar

Registration and payment is required for all Learn and Earn webinars at a cost of $75 per attendee. Each webinar counts for one hour of state-mandated school board training credit.

Legislative Oversight and Investigations Committee to discuss state report on instructional materials

The Legislative Oversight and Investigations Committee (LOIC) convenes today at 1 p.m. (ET). The agenda includes a review of a report by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) on “K-12 Curriculum Development And Instructional Materials Selection.”

View a meeting agenda.

Last November, the LOIC requested KDE provide key information ahead of the committee’s June meeting. The requests center largely around activity of the State Textbook Commission which has not convened since 2015 due to insufficient funding.

The LOIC meeting will stream live on the KY LRC Committee Meetings YouTube page.

KSBAEF seeking applications for board of directors

The KSBA Educational Foundation is now seeking interested candidates for appointment to its board of directors for service beginning late July 2024. These two-year appointments (made by KSBA’s president) are for vacancies following current/recent members’ completion of terms.

Click here to access the online application. Completed applications will place qualified candidates into consideration for the scheduled vacancies. The deadline for applications is Sunday, July 7. Questions may be directed to foundation@ksba.org.

The mission of the KSBA Educational Foundation is to advance the strategic position of school boards through the funding of association support, services and professional training. Best known for its First Degree Scholarship and CTE Student Grant programs to benefit Kentucky high school students, the foundation works through partnerships with Kentucky’s public school districts, friends of education and other organizations to fulfill its priorities of research, school safety programming, student support services, technology and training opportunities for school board teams.

Foundation board of director responsibilities include approval of foundation-funded service contracts, approval of foundation expenditures, monitoring of foundation fundraising, oversight of the foundation’s college and CTE scholarship programs for Kentucky high school students, and more. Regular meetings are held quarterly, typically by Zoom for the convenience of our board members.

Applications for service on the foundation’s board of directors are open to anyone, however preference is given to applicants with connections and/or involvement with Kentucky public schools. While school board service is not a requirement to serve on the Foundation board of directors, current and former school board members are encouraged to apply.

Learn more about the KSBA Education Foundation and its board of directors at KSBAEF.org. 

COSSBA to host advocacy conference in D.C.

The Consortium of State School Boards Associations (COSSBA), of which KSBA is a founding member, will hold its 2024 Federal Advocacy Conference Sept. 8-10 in Washington, D.C. The event will feature appearances by members of Congress, a bipartisan congressional staff panel, state breakout groups and a variety of sessions on topics including educational policy challenges, demographics, emerging technology and more. 

COSSBA offers an early bird registration rate of $625 until July 15. Discounted hotel accommodations can be reserved until Aug. 18. For more information and online registration, visit COSSBA.org.

COSSBA is a nonpartisan, national alliance of 25 member states dedicated to sharing resources and information to support, promote and strengthen state school boards associations.

Policy update sent to districts

KSBA policy staff sent the Annual Policy/Procedure Update materials to all subscribers on May 24. If you have any questions about the policy update, you may reach out to your district's policy consultant at 800-372-2962.

Employee, Coaches' and Substitute Teacher handbook drafts, with changes from the policy update, were sent to subscribers on June 7.

KET airs panel discussion on amendment to allow public funds for private schools

On Monday’s edition of Kentucky Tonight on KET, host Renee Shaw and a panel of guests discussed Amendment 2 (also known as the “Voucher Amendment” or HB 2) that will appear on ballots this November. The amendment, if passed, would suspend seven sections of Kentucky’s constitution and allow the legislature to direct public funds to private schools. The panel included Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy; Chad Meredith, attorney; Joel Wolford, vice president of the Kentucky Education Association; and Jim Waters, president of Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions.

Click here to view a recording of this week’s Kentucky Tonight. 

KSBA asks districts to submit 2024 school board election filing data

Superintendents and their administrative assistants should have received an email on the morning of June 12 asking them to provide KSBA with information regarding new and incumbent candidates up for school board election this fall.

KSBA tracks local school board election filings and election outcomes to plan accordingly for state-mandated training and onboarding resources for new school board members, and to stay abreast of election trends. The election filing deadline for this year was June 4.

Central office staff are the most reliable and timely source for providing KSBA this information. We ask superintendents or their administrative assistants to please take a couple minutes to fill out the short online form linked in the original email.

If your district did not successfully receive the email linking to the online form, please contact KSBA at Brenna.Kelly@ksba.org or 800-372-2962, ext. 1203 at your earliest convenience. 

Webinars for board members in their first terms

School board members currently anywhere within their first term of service are invited to participate in the New Board Member Express (NBME) webinar series. Below is the webinar lineup through the end of July, designed for those early in their board tenures. Each webinar title is linked to online registration, or you can visit the NBME page for full session descriptions and registration access. Webinars are each worth 1.00 hour of state-mandated school board training credit at a cost of $75 per session (due at registration).

Legal orientation I (LGI 100)

June 20 | 9:30 – 10:30 am (ET)

The board’s policy making role (POL 100)

June 25 | 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. (ET)

Roles and responsibilities of effective boards and board members (BMD 101)

July 2 | 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Introduction to school board meetings for new board members (SBM 100)

July 8 | Noon – 1 p.m. (ET)

Introduction to superintendent evaluation for new board members (SEV 111)

July 18 | 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.

Congratulations! You made the team (BMD 100)

July 23 | 1 – 2 p.m. (ET)

KSBA in the News

Because of the unique roles school boards play in matters of policy and education trends, KSBA is often called on by media outlets to weigh in on important school-related issues and provide background. See below for recent instances in which KSBA was featured or cited. (Note: Some news links may be subject to paywalls for non-subscribers.)

(June 11) Student cell phone use most often a district-wide decision in Kentucky schools – WEKU Radio