June Advocate 2009

KENTUCKY SCHOOL

Trying trimestersOEA LOOKS AT LEADERSHIP

Summer Leadership Institute preview

COMMUNITY THE CATALYST FOR SCHOOL CHANGE

A publication of the Kentucky School Boards Association June 2009

June 2009 Kentucky School Advocate 3

DEPARTMENTSTake Note ....................................... 4

People Are Talking ......................... 6

Web Site of the Month ................ 17

KSBIT Corner .................................. 17

COMMENTARYExecutive Memo ............................ 5

Get Your Message Out ............... 22

FEATURESTRIPLE PLAYKentucky high schools are beginning to explore the national trend toward trimester scheduling instead of the usual two-semester setup. Proponents say trimesters allow for quicker student intervention, more electives and greater fl exibility … Page 8

TOP 10What makes a good preschool program in part means meeting 10 benchmarks set by the National Institute for Early Education Research, and Kentucky is doing its part to meet those standards … Page 10

BY DEMANDIt’s been pretty well established that there are big changes afoot in Union County Schools. But what’s not as well known is what paved the way for those steps. Th at groundwork may hold deeper lessons for school board members … Page 12

ANSWER THISAre there gaps in training among school board members, superintendents, principals and school council members? Th e inquiring researchers at the Offi ce of Education Accountability want to know. And they’ll be sending a survey to school board members this month … Page 15

LEAN NOT MEANTh is year’s KSBA Summer Leadership Institute is a two-day session instead of the usual three, helping districts cut expenses without cutting content. Th e summer session will kick off a yearlong focus on early childhood education and also will spotlight leadership development … Page 16

On the cover

INDEXKentucky School AdvocateVolume 15, Number 12

Whole child, Page 10Sparkling new schedules, Page 8

Ryan Coker, a fi fth-grader at Uniontown Elementary in Union County Schools, uses a spring scale to lift a book in a demonstration of the relationship between force and work, part of an introductory lesson to simple machines. Watching this experiment are Jagger Vargason, Brooke Yates, and Presley Henshaw. More than a spring scale was required to move the school district, however. See article, Page 12.

Cutting expense, not quality, Page 16

4 Kentucky School Advocate June 2009

KSBA Board of Directors

Offi cers Delmar Mahan, President Whitley CountyTom Blankenship, President elect Lincoln CountyEd Massey, Immediate Past President Boone County

Directors-at-large Linda Duncan, Jeff erson CountyTim England, Barren CountyRonnie Holmes, Graves County Dr. John Inman, Meade CountyAllen Kennedy, Hancock CountyDarryl Lynch, Christian CountyDurward Narramore, Jenkins IndependentEugene Peel, Jessamine CountyDr. Jackie Pope-Tarrence, Bowling Green Independent Ann Porter, Mason CountyWilliam White, Pulaski CountyCarl Wicklund, Kenton County

Regional ChairpersonsDr. Felix Akojie, Paducah IndependentJeanette Cawood, Pineville IndependentMike Combs, Campbell CountyLarry Dodson, Oldham CountyJeff Eaton, Allen CountyJane Haase, Owensboro IndependentLisa Hawley, Cloverport IndependentMarshall Jenkins, Morgan CountyWilliam Owens, Lee CountyFern Reed, Montgomery CountyJeff Stumbo, Floyd CountyChris Watts, Adair County

Kentucky School Boards Association260 Democrat Dr.Frankfort, KY 40601800-372-2962 www.ksba.org

Executive Director ........................... Bill ScottMember Support Director ..... Brad HughesAdvocate Editor ............. Madelynn ColdironPublications Coordinator ... Jennifer WohllebAccount Executive ....................... Mary Davis

Th e Kentucky School Advocate is published monthly by the Kentucky School Boards Association. Copies are mailed to KSBA mem-bers as part of their association membership.

TAKE NOTENew KSBA board memberA Christian County school board

member has taken his seat on the KSBA Board of Directors. Darryl Lynch will serve as a director-at-large, fi lling the unexpired term of Lincoln County board member Tom Blankenship, who ascend-ed to the president elect’s post earlier this year.

Lynch is city plan-ner/code enforce-ment offi cer for the Hopkinsville-Christian County Planning Commis-sion and has been a school board member since 2005. Lynch gradu-ated from Christian County High School and holds an as-sociate in arts degree from Hopkinsville Community College.

His memberships include American Standards for Quality, Focus to the 21st Century Leadership, Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, Christian County Historical Society, Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels and Code Administrators of Kentucky. Lynch also serves on the board of the local Boys and Girls Club.

It’s a gift A familiar face in gift ed education

training sessions at KSBA annual con-ferences is ascending to an international

platform. Dr. Julia Roberts, director of the Center for Gift ed Studies at Western Kentucky University, has been elected to the World Council for Gift ed and Talented Children. Th e nonprofi t world-wide organization, headquartered at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada, provides advocacy and support for gift ed children.

Roberts also serves on the boards of the National Association for Gift ed Children and the Kentucky Association for Gift ed Children.

Two-district student group scoresA group of Warren County and

Bowling Green Independent middle and high school students has received national honors for its work addressing the problem of underage drinking.

Th e group, called GR8Rthan1 (Great-er Th an One), was brought together by the community’s Save Our Kids Coalition. It was named the National Prevention Program of the Year by the national PRIDE Youth Program, and its work helped the Save Our Kids Coali-tion earn the national Dose of Pre-vention Award from the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America.

Th e GR8Rthan1 group came up with a three-phase campaign that included printed material, a Web site (www.gr8r-than1.com) and videos aimed at show-ing that the majority of youth don’t use alcohol, thus encouraging students not to drink.

We are the champions Th e Marion County school board was recognized as a champion for aft er-school

programs by the Kentucky Out of School Alliance. Th e Policymaker Award recognized the board’s support of the district’s 21st Century Learning Center. Since federal fund-ing for the program expired aft er the 2008 school year, the board has continued to fully fund it, producing academic success in the schools in which it operates.

Also recognized as one of seven out-of-school champions in the annual awards program was the principal of Kenton County’s Ryland Heights Elementary School. Catharine Barwell received the Leadership Award for leading the school’s implementa-tion of innovative and creative programs to boost student success, and encouraging parents and community partners to become involved in student learning.

Th e Kentucky Out of School Alli-ance is a partnership between Ken-tucky Child Now! and the Kentucky Department of Education that works to ensure access to a high quality aft er-school programs.

Marion County school board members and their delegation at the Kentucky Out of School Alliance Hall of Fame Awards Luncheon. Ph

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Now


Kentucky is in the middle of one of the most intriguing and heated

conversations the education com-munity has seen in years.

Th at’s because our state’s new education standards and new testing system, mandated by the 2009 General Assembly, are being developed against the backdrop of a broader debate on the pros and cons of national education stan-dards.

A recent example of this national spotlight was a cover story in the April 15 edition of Time magazine. In an article entitled “How to Raise the Standard in America’s Schools,” Walter Isaacson states that America’s current K-12 education system “is burdened by an incoherent jumble of state and local curriculum standards, assessment tools, tests, texts and teaching materials.” He laments that this “wacky patchwork makes it diffi cult to assess which methods work best or how to hold teachers and schools accountable.”

Isaacson concludes that the absence of national standards not only makes it diffi cult to achieve a wider array of education reforms such as merit pay for good teachers, but, more importantly, it makes it much harder for the U.S. to succeed in the 21st century economy.

Th ose of you who attended NSBA’s annual con-ference in April heard U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s strong endorsement for more atten-tion to standards at the national level. One of the approaches he mentioned was the need for states to work together on a common set of standards that would be benchmarked against the world’s highest-performing nations and their schools.

Given the current attention on academic stan-dards in general and national standards in particu-lar, I strongly recommend a visit to NSBA’s Center for Public Education Web site (www.centerforpub-liceducation.org) for some background informa-tion on this timely subject. I found two articles in particular to be very useful in providing the basics on this topic – “A Primer on Academic Standards,” which takes the reader through a series of ques-tions and answers about the purpose and kinds of standards; and “Standards: A New National Con-versation,” which provides an unbiased look at the pros and cons of both state and national standards.

As the articles point out, when it comes to national standards there’s a lot to consider.

Advantages of national stan-dards include the potential to concentrate more resources on developing high-quality bench-marks and assessments, and greater accountability across states by assuring that individual states won’t mask their students’ weaknesses by diluting the rigor of home-grown assessments.

Perhaps the best argument for national standards is that in a country as vast, mobile and inter-

nationally competitive as the U.S., it’s absolutely imperative that we have a system that defi nes and assesses a high-quality education for all students regardless of where they live.

On the other hand, arguments against na-tional standards include the potential reduction of meaningful infl uence by local parents, school offi cials, and communities (including their locally elected school boards) about what is important for the children in their community to know and be able to do. At a time when fewer Americans have a direct connection to public education, critics argue that this could lead to even less local owner-ship and support for public schools.

Perhaps the most promising approach to this challenge is a middle ground that brings groups of states together to voluntarily develop and support a common core of standards around a particular subject area.

One of the NSBA articles cites several advan-tages to this approach, among them reducing the costs to individual states (compared with developing their own standards), attracting more expertise to the process, and providing for better comparisons across states.

Regardless of your personal feeling about what approach Kentucky should take in developing new education standards, it’s critical that the discus-sion include a wide range of stakeholders, includ-ing local board members. You can be assured that your association will be watching and weighing in on this conversation.

In preparation for this discussion I’d like to hear your thoughts about this important topic, so please e-mail ([email protected]) or call me at 1-800-372-2962.

EXECUTIVE MEMO

The standards discussion: let the conversation begin

Bill ScottKSBA Executive Director


PEOPLE ARE TALKING

Quotes on education from Kentucky and elsewhere

“It continues to be unbelievable. We did exactly what we were

supposed to do. I hate that they come back a year later and make such a deci-sion. Th ey control the purse strings. Sometimes it’s hard to fi ght city hall.”

Bullitt County Schools Super-intendent Keith Davis on his frustration over the Department of Education’s decision to reject the district’s “minutes added” calendar option

at the end of the school year, forcing the district to have classes into June. From the Shepherdsville Pioneer News.

“One thing remains a constant, no one person or group of

persons will always be perfect. So we are here at the fi rst opportunity to clarify this and continue on with the process of formal authorization for contract negotiations, according to the Kentucky Open Meetings Law. With this special-called meeting, we are here to make it right by simply putting the steps back into the correct order so that we can proceed with an off er and a contract.” Campbellsville Indepen-dent board Chairwoman Angie Johnson on the board’s decision to re-vote, this time in open session, its decision to hire a new superintendent. From the

Campbellsville Central Kentucky News-Journal.

“If everyone invites 10, 15, 20 guests, we could potentially

fi nd ourselves in a situation where some graduates have that many guests, while some may end up with zero family members in attendance. Th e much-talked about idea of limit-ing the number of guests for each graduate was an idea we felt would work best to ensure that every gradu-ate would have an ample number of family members present, while also allowing us to provide a safe environ-ment for all who are in attendance.” Webster County High School Princi-pal Tim Roy in an e-mail asking for parental cooperation aft er the school

dropped plans to limit the number of seniors’ guests at this year’s graduation. From the Providence Journal Enter-prise.

“We want to send out the mes-sage that we are concerned

about the safety of our students.” Franklin-Simpson High School Prin-cipal Patrick Vejr on the requirement that students pass a Breathalyzer test prior to being admitted to the school’s off -campus prom, a choice Vejr said was overwhelmingly voted for by the students themselves. From the Franklin Favorite.

“There are lots of advantages to this type of scheduling.

Th e students will have more choices in electives and if they need to repeat a class they can do it in the same year. Th e biggest downfall is the chore of laying out the schedule. Th ere will need to be more profes-sional develop-ment and more textbooks.” Estill County High School Principal Blain Click on the pros and cons of moving from a block schedule to a trimester plan as part of his plan to boost academics. From the Irvine Citizen Voice & Times.

“You can write a story anywhere. If

you have a piece of paper and a pencil and an idea in your head, you can be a writer.” Author Pamela Duncan Edwards encourag-ing Chandlers Elementary (Logan County) students to write and sharing how she once started producing a

book on a scrap of paper during an airplane fl ight. From the Rus-sellville News Democrat & Leader.

“We haven’t progressed beyond philosophical discussions, to be honest. It’s not anything I particularly want to do — I love Paducah schools,

and it’s sort of with a heavy heart that you even sit at the table — but I’m also mindful of the population changes and other challenges we face.” Paducah Inde-pendent board Chairwoman Danette Humphrey on the ongoing, informal talks of merging with the McCracken County school system.

“If there’s anything that’s going to happen you’ve got to start years ahead of time to look at the pluses and minuses and try to build the ground-

work. It’s the future that we’re talking about. Th e question is how can we best serve the whole community, and that’s what the conversation is truly about.” McCracken County board Chairman Neil Archer on the same subject.

From the Paducah Sun.

Planning ahead


Improving gifted and talented

programsPOINT ...“We have to change because

we’ve found test scores indicate our current program doesn’t meet our students’ needs. We’re not going to put gift ed students and cluster groups in classrooms with low-achieving students, because the disparity would be too great for teach-ers.” Christian County Superintendent Brady Link on a proposal to replace the district’s once-a-week “pull out” program to provide special instruction for gift ed and talented students with a “cluster grouping” program involving other students.

COUNTERPOINT...

“If they have the facts to support this program, then we have to

make it a success. A goldfi sh will only grow as big as its environment will allow and we have to let kids grow to their full potential.” Jonathan Risner, father of a Christian County student, in support of stronger gift ed-talented programs in the district.

From the Hopkinsville Kentucky New Era.

“Maybe a decade and a half ago we’d be less apt to take

quick action. We take every situa-tion seriously. We’d like to think that it’s getting better. Anytime you give something attention it has a tendency to improve.” Bardstown Independent Superintendent Brent Holsclaw on school safety improvements in the 10 years since the Columbine High School shootings. From the Bardstown Ken-tucky Standard.

“It’s a long process. It would be really long for a human.” East

Carter Middle School student Sarah Bailey on her science and social studies classes’ combination lesson in which dissected frogs were mummifi ed and buried following the practices of the an-cient Egyptians. From the Ashland Daily Independent.

“I feel we have an ethical and moral obligation to educate

and teach the days we are contracted to do so. We will make up just fi ne, pro-

vided there are no more storms.” Dawson Springs Independent Superintendent Alexis Seymore on why her district did not seek disaster days from the state, despite missing

12 days due to inclement weather. From the Madisonville Messenger.

“Unless (Gov. Steve Beshear) gets the legislative leaders

together and they have a plan to some-how raise revenue, I don’t see how we cannot cut everybody some.” Rep. Carl Rollins (D-Midway), chairman of the House Education Committee, on the diffi culty state leaders face in protecting K-12 funding for next fi scal year in light of a potential $1 billion state revenue shortfall. From the Louisville Courier-Journal.

“It’s everywhere - in alleyways, on garage doors. We grew up

around it and don’t want other kids to have to do that.” Bellevue Independent sophomore Katelyn Schaub on the work

she and classmate April Th ompson did to push for removal of graffi ti around the community as part of their entry in the Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship competition at the University of Cincinnati. From the Fort Mitchell Kentucky Enquirer.

“I’m tired of having to tell

people they don’t have a job. It has been a very tough year.” Gar-rard County Superin-tendent Ray Woolsey on one of the reasons he decided to retire. From the Danville Advocate-Messenger.

“If we felt we had reasonable cause to think someone had

something in their possession that was dangerous to others or themselves, then we would make a decision based on the information we had while using common sense.” Murray Independent Superintendent Bob Rogers on his doubts that a pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling on an Arizona school’s use of student strip searches to look for drugs would change practices in his dis-trict. From the Murray Ledger & Times

“A little boy came up to me once and said, ‘You’re so pretty.’

Th en he said, ‘Can I have some more French fries?’” Henderson County Schools’ substitute cafeteria worker Dorothy Phillips on the lighter side of preparing hundreds of meals a day for appreciative customers, some more than others. From the Henderson Gleaner.

“Aft er all, we’re two schools in the same district. I’ve always won-

dered why both schools didn’t have the same schedule. I love the competitive nature we have on our athletic fi elds, but when it’s our future we’re looking at, I want to make sure I’ve prepared our students the very best to take care of all of us.” Apollo High School Princi-pal Tom Purcell on the work by site-based councils at his school and Daviess County High to meet a board-initiated process to fi nd a common schedule for both schools. From the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer.


By Mary Branham

Diane Cantrill has been teaching for 26 years, so she’s seen a lot of fads in education come and go.

But the Shelby County High School chemistry

teacher – and a member of the school council – is excited about a big change coming next year. Shelby County, like several high schools around the state, will make the move to tri-mester scheduling.

Cantrill believes there will be many ben-efi ts. Trimester scheduling gives schools the opportunity to intervene with students having problems. In addition, schools on trimester scheduling have off ered “fabulous electives that would give our students a chance to explore,” she said.

Th e school has been operating on a four-by-four block schedule the past decade, according to interim Principal Michael Rowe.

“We were realizing when we were looking at things like our curriculum maps that we weren’t covering all the content required before our students were assessed on it,” he said. While students would get the content before grad-uation, they may have been tested in core areas of math and science in the junior year — but not get the instruction until senior year.

The role of school boards

While the decision to switch to a trimester schedule falls to school councils, such plans need to be coordi-nated with overarching school board policies, said Dara Bass, KSBA’s director of policy and procedures.

That’s because the change may aff ect several areas, includ-ing local graduation requirements, the reporting of student progress at the end of grading periods, the overall school calendar and start and end times for the school day – all of which are set by the board.

Bill Young, a retired social studies teacher, came back this spring to teach at Shelby County High School. The school was in the process of scheduling for its new trimester format in May.


Rowe believes a move to trimesters, with the school year broken into three 12-week sessions, will alleviate some of that problem. But Rowe said the major benefi t is interven-tion. For instance, if a student fails the fi rst section of a course, he or she would be able to retake that section im-mediately, Rowe said.

In addition, those students who are not on grade level would be placed in a math or reading lab until they reach grade level. Th en, they would be able to take electives, which can be important, Rowe said.

“A lot of times electives are the hook that you’ll have for students to keep them interested in school,” said Rowe. “It allows students to have more buy-in, and of course that hook to keep them in school.”

Shelby County will move from a four-period day with classes lasting from 85 to 89 minutes each to a fi ve-period day with 72-minute classes, Rowe said.

Estill County High School will be using a similar sched-ule, and Principal Blain Click said that will enable the school to retain one of the primary benefi ts of block sched-uling: “Th ere is quite a bit of research that shows block creates a better climate in school,” Click said. “It’s more comfortable for teacher and students; the number of transi-tions is less, students are in with teachers longer.”

Click also likes the added fl exibility of the trimester scheduling.

Movement spreadingTrimester scheduling began in the Midwest and is spread-

ing across the country, according to Ronald Williamson, a professor at Eastern Michigan University who studies the impact of scheduling on student success.

Th e interest, he said, is driven by the need for a personal-ized environment for students, greater fl exibility in cur-riculum and instruction, and a quicker response for credit recovery.

“If I’m a struggling math student and I don’t do well in algebra 1, I can come back and take algebra 1 again the next trimester and be able to get back on schedule and back on track faster,” Williamson said.

Th at’s how it has worked at Dixie Heights High School in Kenton County, which has operated under a trimester schedule for two years. Vice Principal Larry Tibbs said the trimester schedule gives students, and teachers, three “fresh starts” during each school year.

“If they struggled in the fi rst trimester and failed every-thing, they still have the opportunity to earn 10 credits,” Tibbs said. It’s also good for teachers, he said. “Teachers that have had that challenging class we’ve all had … you even have a fresh start with a new class, a new beginning to invigorate you.”

Tibbs said creating the master schedule is the only challenge he’s seen. It’s also important, he said, to ensure the sequencing is aligned in each section of a class. A student could have two different teachers for the first and second parts of a class, Tibbs said, so teachers need to make sure they’re teaching the same things in the

same time frame.“It forces teachers to fi ne tune and map out what they’re

doing,” Tibbs said. “We really saw that as an advantage.”Professional development for teachers is imperative to the

success of implementing the schedule, he noted.While most schools in Kentucky are just moving in the

trimester direction, they can look to other states – like Michigan – to gauge how successful the concept has been.

Mark Westerburg, an assistant superintendent for Michigan’s Spring Lake Public Schools, said his district has seen its ACT scores increase under trimester scheduling. Michigan has required all juniors take the ACT the past three years, he said.

But Westerburg, who has consulted with schools around the country on trimester scheduling, cautions that just changing the schedule won’t solve any problems a school might have.

“It still comes down to what are you doing between the bells,” he said.

— Mary Branham is a writer from Frankfort.


By Jennifer WohllebStaff Writer

Experts say what makes a high-quality preschool isn’t much diff erent than what makes a

good K-12 school: Small class size. Low student-teacher ratio. Teachers working in their area of specialization. Compre-hensive learning standards.

And for the most part, Kentucky is meeting those standards.

“Kentucky meets eight of the 10 bench-marks (see chart opposite page) that we set for a quality program and Kentucky is considered one of the better preschool programs in the country,” said Dr. Ellen Frede, co-director of the National Insti-tute for Early Education Research.

Many of those benchmarks are inter-woven.

“What’s really important is the qual-ity of the teaching in any educational endeavor,” Frede said. “So having highly qualifi ed teachers who are specialized in early childhood education is very im-portant, but at the same time, they have to have a class size that is reasonable because it doesn’t matter how good your teaching is – when you have too many kids you can’t reach them.”

Dr. Kim Townley, an associate profes-sor at the University of Kentucky, said the state has made improvements to its programs since its inception in 1990, particularly in the area of teacher quali-fi cations. All preschool teachers hired aft er 2004-05 now must have a bach-elor’s degree with a specialized certifi ca-tion in early childhood education.

“Until then we had to use alternative certifi cation, like elementary or even people with two-year degrees,” said Townley, who formerly headed Ken-

tucky’s early childhood initiative. “It would be like hiring a science teacher to teach math. It’s critically important that they be trained in the specifi c content area. Kentucky has now done that and that’s not true in other states. We are a leader in that.”

Kentucky preschools do miss the mark when it comes to the qualifi cations of its assistant teachers, who are required to have only a high school diploma. NIEER’s benchmark in this area requires at least an associate degree in child development or its equivalent. However, the state does require preschool teachers to continue their education with at least 28 hours of professional development annually, exceeding NIEER’s recommen-dation of 15 hours.

“In Kentucky, the early childhood teachers have the same professional development requirements as K-12 teachers,” said Annie Rooney French, preschool consultant with the state education department. “So if they are re-quired to have four days, the preschool teachers also have four days.”

Th e whole childA good preschool program does more

than just focus on academics.“One of the biggest things that

research tells us is that you have to focus on the whole child,” said Shelley Simpson, coordinator of the Northern Kentucky University’s Early Childhood Center. “You have to build the social skills, the emotional skills, the self regu-lation and problem-solving skills, as well as the literacy skills and the math skills.”

Frede said meeting physical needs is also important – and a required bench-mark that Kentucky meets. “We also look for screenings, health, vision,” she said. “Children who have health issues

What makes a good preschool?National benchmarks guide early education programs

are not going to learn as well.”Frede said understanding young

children is critically important for pre-school teachers.

“You’re not so much teaching a specif-ic curriculum – although content mat-ters – you’re teaching children,” she said. “Th ey can’t communicate as well; there’s a lot you have to be artful about in your teaching to be able to reach them all and help them all grow. A college education and especially that specialist knowledge in early childhood education are really, really important.”

Simpson, who works with 2-year-olds, said she fi nds class size and student-teacher ratios particularly important. She said while Kentucky does meets NIEER’s minimum standard of no more 20 students per class and a student:teacher ratio of 10:1, it could be doing better.

“Th ere are only about 10 or 11 other states in the country that have ratios at or above ours,” she said. “We really see the diff erence here (at NKU’s center) because we keep our ratios low and it makes a huge diff erence in what you can do with the children.”

ResearchWhen Kentucky began its program, it

contracted with UK to do a study, which lasted nine years, on the eff ectiveness of preschool programs. Townley said

National Institute for Early Education

Research Benchmarks

1. Comprehensive early learning standards

2. Lead teachers must have a BA

3. Lead teachers must have a specialization in pre-K

4. Assistant teachers must have a Child Development associate degree or equivalent*

5. Teachers must complete at least 15 hours of in-service train-ing each year

6. Maximum class size of 20 or lower

7. Staff -child ratio of 1:10 or bet-ter

8. Vision, hearing, and health screening and referral are re-quired, along with at least one family support service

9. At least one meal is off ered per day

10. Site visits are required**Items marked in red are the benchmarks Kentucky does not meet

the study found that children do make progress, even if they are developmen-tally behind their peers when they enter the program. However, waiting until the age of 3 or 4 may be too late.

“Brain research tells us that 90 percent of that architecture in the brain is built by year 3,” Townley said. “And that is what our whole Kids Now initiative was about: How do we improve all of the en-vironments in which all young children spend time?”

She compared quality early child care and education to building the founda-tion of a home.

“If you build a strong foundation, when you put the rest of it on, like the drywall, paint, it will be strong and it will last,” Townley said. “Th e same is true with building that architectural structure in the brain, that what is built early on is what later learning is going to be built upon. If that foundation is shaky, then we’re going to have more children referred to special ed, more remedial education, more children who are not going to succeed and are more likely to drop out of school.”

— For more information about NIEER, go to http://nieer.org/. To see NIEER’s 2008 Report Card on Kentucky’s pre-school programs, go to http://nieer.org/yearbook/pdf/KY.pdf.



By Madelynn ColdironStaff Writer

The transformation in Union County Schools isn’t as simple as a CEO change.

Instead, it’s come about as a result of what local attorney and educa-tion activist Charlie Moore calls, “a confl uence of community actions.”

“In our community when the school board began to talk about where we were going and what was happening, our community got behind us – we had a group of people, business people, concerned parents, across the whole spectrum, “ said Union County school board member Eugene Pardue. “Th ey pushed for us to regain some of the luster. Th ey became very active also and it seemed like a snowball eff ect. We took off .”

Pardue, a former principal and retired 40-year educator, said the community involvement “was almost like a dynamite stick.”

Moore said it would have been diffi cult for district leaders to make “hard deci-sions to eff ect change” without community support for the academically strug-gling system.

“I think what the community eff orts conveyed is permission to make changes and to try to achieve excellence,” he said.

Th e movement had its beginnings in a local economic development organiza-tion that began looking at issues that impacted the economy – education among them. An education group – which would later grow to regional scope – was spun off amid the realization that the school district’s academic achievement was sliding. At about that time, in late 2007, the school board decided to look for a new superintendent.

“People became aware that something needed to be done to improve the quality of our schools,” Moore said. “We brought the community’s focus to the realization that this was a critical, critical decision for the future of our county.”

With that in mind, the board looked for a new superintendent with a history “of getting things done,” as Pardue put it.

Board members chose Josh Powell, superintendent of the tiny Cloverport Independent district, which moved from 165th in CATS-score ranking to 10th in three years during his tenure there. He vowed to take Union County into the top 50 within a year, from its current spot in 161st place.

“We knew we had a person that was willing to do the things that had to be done. He said there will be a little pain and there has been some pain,” Pardue said.

DénouementIn his fi rst week on the job, Powell demoted the high school principal to class-

room teacher and transferred the middle school principal to head the alterna-tive program. An elementary school principal later resigned. Powell also set up a Department of Student Achievement, hired curriculum specialists to support and train teachers, established goals and set up a formative testing routine that emphasizes critical thinking over rote learning. He focused attention on special education in the district, which he described as “20 years out of date.”

Th e NCLB Tier 5 middle school came in for special attention: aft er a team studied the practices of high-performing middle schools, Union County Middle was completely reorganized over Christmas break 2008-09, with teachers shuffl ed to ensure they were teaching in their fi eld, schedules revamped, and discipline


If change is the byword in Union County Schools, the school board itself is not going

to be left behind, said board Chair-woman Jennifer Buckman.

“As aggressive as we’re moving, we want to make sure we stay in the mainstream, too, to stay as aggressive and on top of things as we can,” she said.

To that end, Buckman said the board is trying to get all the training it can from sources such as KSBA’s Academy of Studies. Th e goal, she said, is to get to Level 5, the highest level of training and go on to become a Board of Distinction, a program that focuses on governance team development.

“Th e faculty, the staff , and the students, they’re all making improve-ments and changes and I feel like we need to set that standard to show we’re on board with it, too,” she said.

Buckman said she will be prepar-ing a PowerPoint presentation for the public and faculty and staff that explains the training the board is getting to help them as the district goes through this period of change. Superintendent Josh Powell was supportive of the idea, she added. In a separate interview, Powell praised the board, saying, “Th e school board from day one wanted to improve and make drastic improvements in student achievement.”

Buckman said she, accompanied by the rest of the board, will make the presentation fi rst for the public and then for faculty and staff during the district’s traditional open house held during opening day of school for the 2009-10 school year.

“Th ere are so many changes that are going on in the schools that I’m going to show them as board chair what we’re going to do as a board to meet those same challenges,” she said.

School board is part of ‘change’


Community provides impetus for change in Union County

Continued on next page

Photos opposite page: (Top) Uniontown Elementary second-graders test their math skills in a small group. Gavin Crowley holds up fl ash cards for Dashon Kilbourne and Taylee Parish. (Bottom) at Morganfi eld Elementary, kindergartners Emily Combs, left, and Johne-sha Sawyer look at a book together.


• Setting up a Department of Student Achievement and hiring seven curricu-lum specialists, most from within the system, including two who specialize in interventions for all children who need help. They model lessons, do school walk-throughs and provide feedback and support for teachers. “When you have somebody that comes in with your kids, doing those strategies with your students at a high level, teachers respect that,” Superintendent Josh Powell said.

• Using the Kentucky Association of School Councils as a resource. KASC provided training for the curriculum specialists “so we were all being trained the same thing,” Powell said.

and safety tightened. “When you’re goal-ori-

ented and data driven, you don’t take a year or two to correct your defi ciencies – you can do it the same week,” Powell explained.

ReactionBecause of the com-

munity’s push for change, general complaints have been few, Pardue and board Chairwoman Jen-nifer Buckman said. Of the board members who hired Powell, one was re-elected last November, one was defeated and one chose not to run – but the new superintendent’s initiatives had no bearing on the elec-tion, the two board members said.

Some dissatisfaction is normal, Moore, the local attorney, said: “Anytime you start having those challenges, you’re churn-ing up things that will create some people who are negative about it.”

Admittedly there has been employee turnover. “When you start holding people accountable, you lose people,” said Denny Vincent, supervisor of instruction and interim middle school principal.

Nancy Brinkley, president of the Union County Education Association, said overall, morale is down and teachers have mixed feelings about the changes.

“Th e teachers don’t complain about change per se, but they complain about the amount of change we have had in such a short, time,” said Brinkley, who teaches business at Union

KASC also conducts monthly walk-throughs of each school and gives feedback to the district leadership team. Principals also regularly get together for a walk-through of a school, said Patricia Sheff er, director of instruction.

• Becoming goal-oriented and data-driven, with increased rigor and relevance and more student-centered activities. The emphasis on mastery of open-response questions refl ects Powell’s belief that students need to think critically to be prepared for the workforce.

• Shifting gears in attitude, with higher expectations for staff and students and greater accountability.

County High School. Powell is confi dent that any

initial resistance on the part of teachers is being erased as they see results. And he said the seven curriculum specialists the district has hired are there to as-sist and support the teachers.

“Our teachers do say ‘we are working harder and work-ing maybe more but we’re also working smarter,’” Pardue said.

Brinkley said teachers will accept any changes that “are well understood” and that they be-lieve are for the good of students.

“However, if the changes are done ‘to’ the employees rather

than being done collaboratively with them, morale will not im-prove,” said Brinkley, whose 21

years of teaching have been in Union County. But to curriculum specialist Amy Hancock, speed is of the

essence. Hancock got a rude awakening earlier this year when her son, on track to be the high school salutatorian, learned he might need remedial classes at Western Kentucky University.

“Th e changes are not quick enough,” she said at a recent central offi ce staff meeting, where a wall-mounted fl at-screen TV continually displays each school’s scores by subject.

Buckman, whose son is a sophomore at Union County High School, said the changes there were “diff erent” at fi rst but are now accepted by students. “I talked to several students and they like the changes – they like to be challenged,” she said.

Th e changes won’t go on forever, Moore noted : “You’re probably talking about one year of intense change, and the sec-ond year fewer changes and third year only fi ne tuning.”

Change to spare

• Establishing a system of formative as-sessments. District benchmark assess-ments are given every other week, with each grade level tested on a Kentucky core content area. On those weeks with no districtwide tests, classroom teachers give a test based on what was taught that week. District and class-room tests consist of 12 multiple choice questions and one open response ques-tion. “The tests are given as ‘assess-ments for learning’ to guide instruction and provide next steps,” Sheff er said.

• Increasing the mainstreaming of students in special education, exposing them to more relevant age-appropriate content with appropriate modifi cations and accommodations.

Union County Schools has implemented an array of strategies, from the empirical to the less measurable. The list includes:

Uniontown Elementary teacher Jill Humphrey and fi fth-grader Caylin Bealmer review an algebra expressions/equations activity sheet tied to Kentucky Core Content.



Normally, school board members might eye with trepidation any mail they receive from the state legislature’s Offi ce of Education

Accountability.But the letter Kentucky’s school board members

will get this summer from the agency – best known for its investigations – will be benign.

OEA will be surveying board members about their training at the behest of the legislature’s Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommit-tee. Th e panel has asked OEA to look at leadership development programs for school board members, superintendents, principals and school councils. Th e survey of board members will be part of that work.

“I think what we’re looking at is what does the statute require as far as training and what are the statutory goals for these members, and then try to line up what is the training they’re getting and try to get some feeling for any gaps that are there,” OEA Director Marcia Seiler said.

Information from all four groups also could reveal whether they “all have the same world view about the training,” said Ken Chilton, OEA’s director of research.

“Board members might think the training’s great and they’re getting exactly what they want, but the principals and superintendents might think there may be some gaps there,” he said.

Th e survey information also might reveal how well each type of stakeholder knows the responsibilities of the four groups, Chilton added.

“If the board knows what the council does and the council knows what the board does – those types of things. I’m talking about alignment – do all leaders in the leadership puzzle know what the other groups are doing and why they’re doing it and what’s required and such,” he said. “I think that’s important to make sure everybody’s on the same page.”

Th e agency currently is designing the survey, but Chilton said it will be user friendly and simple. Simi-lar surveys will go to principals, superintendents and school council members.

KSBA Executive Director Bill Scott said the as-sociation looks forward to sharing survey results with members and using it to take training “to a higher level.”

“Although we’re very proud of the professional de-velopment opportunities provided to our members, we’re constantly looking for ways to improve this critical service,” he said. “ I hope board members will take this survey seriously and view it as an opportu-

nity to help us identify strengths as well as areas that need to be improved. “

So far, so goodTh us far, Chilton’s researchers have looked at what

other states require and have found that Kentucky is what he called “a top tier” state for board member training.

“We’ve found that Kentucky compared to other states actually is one of the leaders in the amount of training required,” he said. “So I don’t foresee us com-ing out and requiring school board members to get more training.”

Twenty-four states require no training at all for board members, he added.

OEA has also found that the state’s school board members overwhelmingly comply with required train-ing.

“What we found initially… is that most folks are getting the training; that’s not the issue,” Chilton said. “We want to delve into if there are any opportunities to focus that training on areas where they feel they’re currently not getting enough training or need more expertise.”

Study is routineSeiler said this project is typical of interim work her

agency does at the subcommittee’s request. Th e panel usually chooses a couple of topics for study during the period between legislative sessions.

Subcommittee Co-Chair Sen. Jack Westwood (R-Erlanger) said an overview of the kind of training school board members, superintendents, principals and council members receive fi ts in with the group’s charge of looking at assessment and accountability. “Th at’s part of the package,” he said.

Westwood, a former local school board member and teacher, said he’s especially interested in training for principals.

“I want to make sure the training that the princi-pals have would be something that is going to prepare them for the increasing challenges of schools today,” he said, adding the same idea applies to school board members.

“If school boards are going to be making decisions that relate to education, again, I think it would be well for us to see how well-trained they are, that they know the issues as well as the solution because they’re in a position obviously to implement these,” said West-wood, who also sits on the Senate Education Commit-tee.

Seiler said she’s hoping for a good survey response rate from school board members. “Th e more people that respond, the more data we can collect and the more accurate the study will be,” she said.

Legislative panel studying school leaders’ training


By Jennifer WohllebStaff Writer

This year’s KSBA Sum-mer Leader-

ship Institute will be one day shorter than in the past but it will still pack the same learning punch of the original.

“Th e reason we shortened the confer-ence is economics,” said Kerri Schelling, KSBA‘s director of Board Team Development. “We

know it’s hard for board members to justify the expense and the time out of the district and away from their families. It will help board members be good stewards of their commu-nity’s tax dollars.”

Schelling said the new format will not compromise the integrity of the training opportunities.

“It’s still a very full two days for people and hopefully they can spend less time and money and yet still have the same quality instruction, because we would not sacrifi ce the quality for the cost,” she said. “We think we found a way to capitalize on both of those.”

Th e institute, which will be July 10-11 at the Marriott Grif-fi n Gate Resort in Lexington, will begin at its normal time of 7 p.m. on Friday and end at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Th is year there are two themes: the importance of early childhood education and leadership development.

“Our opening session will focus on early childhood education and will be a companion piece to the grant KSBA received from NSBA and Pew Charitable Trusts to increase

awareness among board members and help them become better consumers about preschool education,” Schelling said. “It’s going to kick off a yearlong focus on early childhood education.”

Saturday’s traditional 75-minute morning sessions are being replaced this year by a three-hour plenary session anchored by Greg McKenzie, a former board trainer from the Oregon School Boards Association, who will help board members increase their leadership skills.

“McKenzie is going to talk about 21st century leadership. For example, how do you lead when there is confl ict within the board,” Schelling said. “It’s going to be very practical and very hands-on. It’s not going to be three hours of lecture. He’ll get people working in groups, so the time will go by pretty quickly.”

Th e three-hour session is aimed at board members who are working through KSBA’s Academy of Studies and are interested in more in-depth instruction. It will qualify as an elective for Levels IV and V.

“As has been the case in recent years, we are continuing to make leadership the theme at Summer Leadership and these are the higher-level courses,” Schelling said. “You aren’t going to see a lot of the entry-level courses as you would at our Winter Conference in December, although Summer Leader-ship is a great learning opportunity for board members of all experience levels.”

Schelling is reminding board members that even if they haven’t yet advanced to the upper levels of the Academy of Studies, they can bank these hours for when that time comes.

“No one should be afraid that this conference is ‘above their head;’ it is appropriate for everyone,” she said.

Th e conference will wrap up with two concurrent breakout sessions Saturday aft ernoon.

Legislative agendaTh e 2010 General Assembly, which is a biennial budget

session, will also be on the agenda at Summer Leadership

SHORT AND SWEETBriefer Summer Leadership Institute won’t stint on learning opportunities

Greg McKenzie, president and founder of Window to Leadership

20-plus years as a college instructor at university and community colleges 8 years as an elected school board member7 years as a leadership trainer for school boards and staff s25 -plus years as a business attorney and litigator10-plus years’ executive search experienceProject director for national research project on board role in student success

"A brighter future through better public schools"

KSBA Summer Leadership Institute

July 10-11Marriott Griffi n

Gate Resort Lexington


Institute with a roundtable session to begin the process of assembling KSBA’s legislative agenda. It will be 9 – 11:30 a.m. Friday and all board mem-bers are invited to attend.

“Th is is an important opportunity for them to share with us what they think is important for KSBA’s legislative agenda,” said Shannon Pratt, KSBA’s assistant director of Governmental Relations.

Prior to the roundtable, surveys will be sent to board members asking them to prioritize which issues are important to them.

“Whether it is principal hiring, special educa-tion vouchers, the insurance programs, we will take that information to our roundtable,” said David Baird, KSBA’s Governmental Relations director and associate executive director. “We will divide people into groups and get their opinions and ideas. We will take that information back to another work group, which will develop a draft legislative agenda that will go to our Board of Directors for their approval at the October meet-ing.”

– For more information or to register online, go to www.ksba.org and look for Summer Leadership Institute under “Featured events” at the top of the page.

Web site of the month

Oldham County Schools’ newly rede-signed Web site off ers visitors great photos of its students in action and an

easy way to fi nd the latest information on each page.

Click on any main menu item – that listing runs both across the top and down the left side of the home page – and a box bearing links to the most recent articles or documents about information found on that page appear at the top. If you are a frequent visitor to the site, it is an easy way to keep up with what’s new in the district.

To visit the site, go to www.oldham.k12.ky.us

Ready or not, here comes another school year!Personnel hired Students preregistered Supplies ordered Policies in place

Reaching the PEAK in Burgin

Burgin Independent Schools turned presentation of the KSBA PEAK (Public Education Achieves in Kentucky) Award into an impressive show-and-tell in May. The elemen-tary school’s PASS (Positive Approach to Student Success) program was chosen for its work to reduce behavior issues and classroom interruptions.

Above: KSBA Executive Director Bill Scott presents the PEAK Award to Superintendent Dick Webb and members of the Burgin Board of Education. Also participating in the ceremony were KSBA President elect Tom Blankenship of Lincoln County, far right, and Fern Reed, KSBA Central Region Director and a member of the Montgomery County board., second from left.

Right: Special education teacher Brenda Woods talks with several Burgin elementary students about appropriate classroom behavior. Stu-dents in the program showed a 24 percent increase in mastered goals in the initiative’s fi rst year.

What about an employee handbook to communicate critical personnel information?


Call KSBA for further informationTelephone: 1-800-372-2962

FAX: (502) 695-2991E-mail: [email protected]

ANYTHING MISSING?

If your administrators already are wearing too many hats and you need an aff ordable process to help develop a handbook for your district, call on KSBA for assistance.

We will work with your staff in designing, formatting and publishing a handbook custom tailored to refl ect your board policies and district needs.


RANDY COOK: Penny wise, pound foolish – Kentucky educators must avoid this cliché when it comes to the pur-

chase of school insurance. In these tough economic times school boards must be sure they are not saving small amounts of premiums at the risk of having to pay large amounts in out-of-pocket expenses and uncovered claims. As you review coverage for 2009-10, make sure you look for these coverage points:

• Retroactive date for claims-made policies extends back to at least 1992.

• Commercial auto policies have the statutorily required $20,000 in

personal injury protection (PIP).• A minimum of $3 million is contained in commercial

property policies for debris removal, extra expense and ordi-nance and law coverage.

• Pollution coverage is in place.• Additional limits via an umbrella policy are secure.

Tee time: If you are attending this year’s Summer Leadership Institute, July 10-11 in Lexington, consider joining our Second Annual KSBIT Golf Scramble. Watch your mail for informa-tion or go to the featured events section of our Web site, www.ksba.org.

— Cook is Claims and Underwriting manager for the Ken-tucky School Boards Insurance Trust, KSBA’s insurance and risk management service.

EVALUATING INSURANCE NEEDSKSBIT CORNER

Boyle County Schools, (2,650 – PS–12) www.boyle.kyschools.us

Th e Boyle County Board of Education is seeking as its next superintendent an individual with the leadership skills needed to assure the continuation of current district progress. Along with administrative experience, candidates should possess strong interpersonal skills. Th e successful candidate should also demonstrate the innovative skills necessary to raise student achievement within the current economic climate.

To apply and receive further information, send seven col-lated copies of a letter of application, application form, resume and three letters of recommendation to:

Boyle County Superintendent SearchKentucky School Boards Association 260 Democrat Drive Frankfort, KY 40601

All applications must be received by June 4, 2009.

Clay County Schools (3,592 – PS–12) www.clay.kyschools.us

Th e Clay County Board of Education is seeking an out-standing educational leader who is student centered. Th e successful candidate should have a strong working knowl-edge of curriculum and instruction and can create not only an atmosphere of high expectations but lead the district to reaching those expectations. Candidates should also have administrative experience and outstanding people skills with an open-door policy.

Kentucky superintendent vacanciesTo apply and receive further information, send seven col-

lated copies of a letter of application, application form, resume and three letters of recommendation to:

Clay County Superintendent SearchKentucky School Boards Association 260 Democrat Drive Frankfort, KY 40601

All applications must be received by June 12, 2009.

Hickman County Schools (800 – K-12) www.hickman.kyschools.us

Th e Hickman County school district seeks as its next super-intendent a qualifi ed highly motivated and energetic candidate who is eager to take the district to the highest levels of achieve-ment in all areas. Th e successful candidate shall demonstrate a distinguished level of skill in obtaining high-quality student aca-demic achievement, in communicating internally and externally to the public, and in planning and organizing.

To apply and receive further information, contact Superin-tendent Steve Bayko for an application at: Hickman County Board of Education, 416 Waterfi eld Drive N., Clinton, KY 42031.

Send the application, resume, answers to questions, and references to:

Hickman County Superintendent Search Neely, Brien and Wilson Attorneys at LawP.O. Box 708, Mayfi eld, KY 42066.

Application deadline is June 11, 2009.

Q. What should our board look for as it reviews insurance bids for the new school year?

Q. We’ve just passed the 10th anniversary of the Colum-

bine shootings. Th is past December was the 11th anniversary of the Heath High School shootings. We’ve had intermittent school shoot-ings since those two events, which garnered so much attention. In your opinion, what is the reaction to these types of events today com-pared with back then?

A. In the last 10 years, I have been to 10 other schools

where kids have been killed. I don’t think the reaction, the attention is as long-term. It’s still just as devastat-ing to the communities, but it doesn’t hold the national interest the way it did before.

One of the roles I have given myself since I retired from Heath is, if there is a shooting at a school, I go to those schools to help the principal and ad-ministrators make decisions to get the school back up and functioning at a high level. I’ve done that several times and there’s just not as much long term national attention, but the eff ect in the community is just as long-term.

Q. Do you think it hurts the ef-forts to continue to improve

school safety when these shootings don’t get that kind of prolonged exposure?

A. I don’t believe that glaring national attention has that

much of a long-term eff ect on school safety. I think we’re very aware of the security of kids; our whole country is security conscious of everything. I think security is a top priority for most school districts and it’s already on the front burner, so I don’t think not having that national attention takes away from that.

Q. What have we learned since the tragedies of Heath and

Columbine?

A. I think what most of us have learned is that true safety and

security comes in trusting each other. Th e most important item in school safety is that kids have trusted, caring adults at school, adults who give them a sense of security, who they know they can go to with their problems.

Aft er the shootings, we were look-ing for short-term answers: metal detectors, cameras, name badges, school resource offi cers. But there is a gradual realization that the most important aspect of school safety is the relationships. I think most schools are aware of that now.

All of the studies that have been done, everything just keeps coming back to the basics, which are kids should not be bullied or humiliated in school and caring adults are the best safety precaution you can have in school, adults that kids can trust with information.

IN CONVERSATION WITH ...

In Conversation With…features an interview between a leader or fi gure in-volved in public education and a staff member of the Kentucky School Advocate.

Th is month’s conversation is with Bill Bond, who was principal of Heath High School in 1997 when freshman Michael Carneal shot and killed three students and injured fi ve. Bond, now the school safety specialist for the National Associa-tion of Secondary School Principals, talks about where school safety stands today, 10 years aft er the Columbine High School shootings and more than 11 years aft er Heath.

Bill BondSchool safety expert

“I think what most of us have learned is that true safety and security comes in trusting each other. Th e most important item in school safety is that kids have trusted, caring adults at school, adults who give them a sense of security, who they know they can go to with their problems.

— Bill Bond, retired Heath High School principal



Q. Are there any lessons that we have we forgotten since these

tragedies?

A. I don’t know that we have forgotten any lessons, but we

live in a society where fi rearms, guns are readily available to kids and kids don’t have to go out on the streets to purchase a gun, they don’t have to get it illegally. Eighty to 90 percent of the time they can get the gun at home. People who own guns and have guns at home have that responsibility to protect the community by storing those guns safely and appropriately. I think we forget that sometimes.

Q. Th at’s not a point I’ve heard in awhile.

A. No, it’s not politically correct to talk about controlling fi rearms

but it’s absolutely necessary. It should be something that all gun owners do.

Q. You’ve gone to 10 other schools to off er support in the

aft ermath of school shootings. What have you observed as the common thread in those acts of violence?

A. We talk about bullying and I do a lot of presentations on bully-

ing and that is a common thread. But the most common thread is that the kids who commit these acts, they don’t have any hope, they can’t see the future. When kids can’t see the future, they don’t see themselves in it and they see the world they are in now as all there is going to be.

Th e reason I say the kids can’t see the future is because in none of the school shootings that I’ve ever been to did the shooter have an exit plan. Th ere was no plan of escape. It was just always elabo-rate plans of how to kill but no plans on escape. Th at tells me that they couldn’t see the future, that they felt hopeless.

I think as educators, our main respon-sibility is to help kids see the future, to see the hope that’s in the future. I think we have to do that.

Q. What do you think schools are doing right in terms of

promoting school safety?

A. Th ere are laws and mandates and policies that everyone have

a crisis plan that works and that they review their crisis plan. School boards insist now that schools have anti-bully-ing policies and that they are reinforced.

We have state laws that require man-datory attendance. If we require all kids to come to school, then we have a moral obligation to protect all kids when they are there, and not only protect them physically, but protect them emotion-ally and see that they are not held up to ridicule or humiliation.

Q. Is there anything you would like to see more of to continue

improving school safety?

A. I think the SRO programs are good in schools, but what

makes those programs so valuable is not the police offi cer having a gun; it’s the

police offi cer representing a diff erent type of adult in the school that kids can trust and can go to with information. It gives kids a sense of security.

Q. How far have we come since 1997?

A. Since 1997, we have invented a whole new vocabulary and a

whole new industry. Before the shoot-ings at Heath High School, the phrases: school shooting, lockdown, crisis plans, anti-bullying program, those terms didn’t even exist.

I do believe if there hadn’t been a Heath High School, with all of its publicity, there never would have been a Columbine. It was a paradigm shift where a student brought fi ve guns to school, a thousand rounds of ammuni-tion with the idea of seeing how many kids he could kill. He didn’t target any one certain kid, just how many could be killed. I hate to say it, but aft er that there was a rapid succession of school shoot-ings that followed that pattern.

Q. Is sounds like you do think in general schools are doing the

right thing, heading in the right direc-tion?

A. I do. In general, schools are doing the right things for kids,

and educators are making an eff ort to connect with all kids. I think there is a conscious eff ort to reach those kids and to have a personal relationship with all kids, and I think that is a good thing.

School safety resources Kentucky Center for Safe Schools - www.kysafeschools.org

KCSS’s resource page - www.kysafeschools.org/res/index.htm

Keep Schools Safe - www.keepschoolssafe.org

National Association of School Resource Offi cers - www.nasro.org

Students Everywhere Against Violence - www.nationalsave.org

Internet safety - www.isafe.org


GET YOUR MESSAGE OUT

Even in tough budget times, schools still must tell their storiesForget the old saying

about bad things coming in threes. In

barely 10 days this spring, I heard from four school com-munications staff members who had just learned that their duties were being cut. One person’s hours were reduced. Th e second was be-ing reassigned. And the other jobs were being eliminated.

In each case, the district fi nancial outlook was cited as the reason. Staff cuts had to be made to balance revenues with ex-penditures. Th e boards and/or superintendents had to make tough choices, including cutting back on the district’s communications eff orts.

Th is is in no way a commentary to second-guess those leaders. Th e last thing board mem-bers and superintendents want to reduce is the personnel directly involved in classroom learn-ing – teachers and aides, principals and support staff and on up (or down) the human resource ladder. Th ere is no easy way to cut one teacher and keep an assistant superintendent, or a coach, much less a public information offi cer.

During the past three years, KSBA has been in the same boat as our members. Because of the budget, we’ve lost jobs held by people who pro-vided services, including the production of this magazine. Hard times require hard decisions. I know that.

I also know that the desire of school staff , par-ents and taxpayers to be informed and to ques-tion district leaders’ decisions is neither reduced nor eliminated when the budget is bad.

Adapt but continueKSBA is a lot like a public school system in

that it may cut the payroll, but not the workload. So we all have to fi nd ways of doing more with less. A prime example is our eNews Service.

When layoff s occurred two years ago, we needed to continue the hard-copy news clippings service without the employee who produced the weekly packet. Th e resulting daily e-mails of linked headlines, complemented by the weekly electronic story-text archive, saved printing and mailing costs. Now, the service keeps more than 1,700 board members, superintendents, admin-istrators, state Board of Education members and

public education advocates in the loop of what media are reporting about Kentucky schools.

But we still have to have someone to look for the stories, craft accurate head-lines, post working links and capture the article texts.

Likewise, some school districts have supplemented or replaced publications with electronic newsletters. Oth-

ers are turning to Web-based applications such as podcasting or streaming video of events.

But someone still has to collect, write, edit, format and distribute an electronic newsletter. If it has photographs or video, someone has to capture the images with suffi cient quality for people to want to see.

And while few school leaders may shed tears about the economic troubles of media outlets, there are still plenty of reporters to ask the questions board members and superintendents wish wouldn’t be asked and to cover critics who shout all the louder. A school system that cannot respond pays in news coverage that can erode community backing, something no district can aff ord to lose in good times or bad.

Th e Last WordTh is month, board members and superin-

tendents have to complete a balanced 2009-10 spending plan. Next month, they’re going to have to have to live – and lead – within those means.

Th ose means may not include a newsletter or a dedicated public information director – this year. Th ey may result in a temporary suspension of a public engagement plan or a parent involve-ment initiative.

But school leaders who don’t communicate with their communities – in a meaningful, ongoing, measured and eff ective manner – oft en fi nd themselves bemoaning critics who aren’t counterbalanced by supporters, bad news that overpowers positive press and earning no credit when hard managerial decisions actually produce desired goals of higher student achieve-ment.

And that’s a message worth getting out – at budget time and through the year to come.

Brad HughesKSBA Member

Support Services Director

260 Democrat Drive Frankfort, KY 40601

Nonprofi t OrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit 850

Lexington, KY "A brighter future through better public schools"

Derby education

During the run-up to this year’s Kentucky Derby on May 2, students in schools throughout Kentucky were given a “preview,” courtesy of the Kentucky Derby Museum’s educational outreach program.

Crab Orchard Elementary School in Lincoln County was one of those schools. At top right, museum Outreach Education Coor-dinator Ronnie Dreistadt tells kindergartners about riding equip-ment, getting a giggle out of Abby Napier – who is “helping” by wearing a stopwatch.

Below right, Dreistadt shows Derby pictures to explain how the race is run, followed by an engaging reading of A Horse Named Little Duck and his quest to win the Derby.

Above, fi rst- and second-graders react to Dreistadt’s “play by play” of a Derby race. Prior to the “race,” students were chosen to play the role of celebrities attending the event, along with other major players such as the owner of the winning horse, the president of Churchill Downs race track and the governor of Kentucky. Guided by Dreistadt, the role-play-ers even acted out the ceremonial presentation of the trophy.

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June Advocate 2009