Under advisement
Ten local school board members make up Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday’s newly constituted Local School Board Member Advisory Council. They represent the state’s seven Supreme Court judicial districts, plus three at-large members. Members will serve staggered one-year terms, with half of the council serving a two-year term with the initial appointment.
The appointees whose terms end January 2015 are David Webster of Simpson County, Gretchen Cole of Somerset Independent, Donna Crain Drury of Anderson County, Donna Wilson of Montgomery County and Mark Ross of Pendleton County (at large).
Also appointed to terms ending January 2016 are Greg Hunsaker of Henderson County, Debbie Wesslund of Jefferson County, Paula Jolly of Walton-Verona Independent, Larry Dodson of Oldham County (at large) and Michelle New of Franklin County (at large).
Ross, Webster and Dodson are members of KSBA’s board of directors. KSBA nominated several of the appointees. The council will meet four times a year to discuss how Kentucky Department of Education initiatives and decisions made at the state level are affecting local boards of education and districts throughout the state. The panels’ first meeting is Jan. 29 in Frankfort.
Banner headlines
Student artists from Carroll County Schools were the early birds in sending KSBA their banner for the 2014 KSBA Annual Conference, Jan. 31-Feb. 2. Their contribution was the first to arrive at KSBA offices. The banners, by students from districts across the state, are designed around the theme of each conference. This year’s is Kentucky Public Schools – Creating Next-Generation Leaders. The works will be displayed in the hallways and meeting rooms at the conference site, Louisville’s Galt House.
Districts have until Jan. 27 to get their banners to the KSBA offices in Frankfort. The guidelines on banners and other information are available online on the
2014 Annual Conference page on KSBA’s website.
Time to speak up
The 2014 session of the General Assembly will be in full swing in February and so will the lobbying efforts by school board members. This year’s Kids First Advocacy Conference and Lobbying Day will be Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 19-20 at both the Capitol and Capital Plaza Hotel in Frankfort.
The event will begin Wednesday evening at the hotel with a legislative reception for conference participants, lawmakers and staff from the governor’s office and Legislative Research Commission. School board members will receive training in effective lobbying the following morning before heading to the Capitol, where they will talk with legislative leaders and meet with their own representatives and senators. Passes will be provided for those who want to stay to observe the action in the House and Senate chambers that afternoon.
Registration information has been mailed and is available by clicking here on the Governmental Relations tab on KSBA’s website, www.ksba.org.