“We want to save money. I don’t want people coming in taking jobs. We’ve got to do what we’ve been doing and save money for the district.” Kenton County school board member Mike Martin on a contract with a transportation consultant that has some bus drivers and their representatives concerned about outsourcing. From the Fort Mitchell Kentucky Enquirer.
“We are down to 10 players and that is it. We don’t have the numbers to participate. I made the decision after talking it over with Coach (Fred) Robinson. I want him to continue to teach them the plays and the basics so they can be ready for next year as freshmen on the varsity team. They can’t practice now with the varsity but he can continue to give them instruction.” Fulton Independent Schools Athletics Director Donna Garland on the challenges that face many small districts in building sports participation in the lower grades. From the Fulton Leader.
“We do have quite a few children in Letcher County who do have severe, life-threatening allergies to peanuts and it is hard. If your children love peanut butter you don’t understand that. If you have a healthy child, you can’t understand it can be that fatal. We do need some of you to understand that, yes, your child may like to have a lot of peanut butter, but if you would stop and think, you wouldn’t let your (own) child be endangered by anything.” Letcher County Schools Superintendent Anna Craft on the district’s policy banning foods with peanut or tree nut products. From the Whitesburg Mountain Eagle.
“We used to be called ‘vocational school’ (and) the name change was basically to change the image. But I feel like our deeds have changed the image. We’re stepping up and producing technicians that can go out there and get the job done. And that’s how you change image. It’s not just changing a name to make it all better. Personally I like ‘Vocational School’ just fine, because that’s what we do is teach students a vocation.” Lake Cumberland Area Technical Center (Russell County) Principal Jeff Adams on the changing perception of programs once called simply “shop.” From the Russell Springs News-Register.
“Not only was it not true, it would be piddly if it was true. It’s not anything illegal or immoral ... It just makes you scratch your head. You make people mad in this business sometimes because you have to tell them ‘No.’ Some people handle things better than others.” Science Hill Independent School Superintendent Rick Walker reacting to an Office of Education Accountability investigation into claims by anonymous individuals. From the Somerset Commonwealth-Journal.
“We don’t penalize kids for not knowing information when we first introduce it, or in the middle of it. Ultimately, in the end, when we give summative exams, if the kids can prove that they know the material, have mastered the material on that exam, that’s what we count. It’s not a ‘gotcha’ game anymore, and actually we don’t even count homework grades. Kids go home, they do their homework. If they don’t know it or understand it, we don’t want them to cheat on it. We want them to come back and say, ‘Hey, I could get 1, 4, and 5, but I have no idea how to get these other two,’ because the teacher needs to know that.” Marshall County Schools Supervisor of Elementary Instruction Abby Griffy on the move to “standards-based grade scales.” From the Paducah West Kentucky Star.
“About Oct. 15, these new scores are going to come out and that’s when things could get a little crazy, because there’s going to be some push back. It’s not going to be as flattering as we would like. That’s when we need business people to stand up with education leaders and say, ‘We’re here to see this thing through.’ We did it in the early 90s with KERA. There were some bumps in the road but we did it; we made progress and we need to make more progress.” Kentucky Chamber of Commerce President Dave Adkisson speaking with Education Commissioner Terry Holliday to the Pikeville Rotary Club about the state’s new school assessment and accountability system. From the Pikeville Appalachian News-Express.
“If this group of freshmen commit to taking the AP courses, we will commit to providing them. We want to encourage our top-level students. We realized one of the barriers for these students was the fluctuation of course offerings and the encouragement and support they need to continue through.” Madison Southern High School Principal David Gilliam on the “AP Cohort” created by his school and Madison Central High School to encourage more students to pursue Advanced Placement studies. From the Richmond Register.
“We want them to work on songs they are at least familiar with. We are not playing ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb,’ or ‘Hot Cross Buns.’” Tom Stephens, an elementary music teacher for Raceland-Worthington Independent, on the dramatic growth of the high school’s guitar course, in part due to its focus on lessons from Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page” to Lynyrd Skynryd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” From the Ashland Daily Independent.
“I know of one child who told me that his dad put a seat belt and roll bar on his tractor, and then he turned it over six weeks later. That’s what saved his life. We hear good stories that children have taken back to their parents.” Kari Button of Mammoth Cave Farm Safety 4 Just Kids on the annual day-long fire, chemical, ATV and animal safety seminar for Barren County Schools’ fourth-graders From the Glasgow Daily Times.
“Anyone from a freshman to a senior ... if they move out of the district and go to another place, our graduation rate will suffer, and somebody else’s would go up.” Monroe County Schools Superintendent Lewis Carter on an unpopular aspect of Kentucky’s temporary use of average freshman graduation rate (AFGR) to calculate high school dropout rates. From the Bowling Green WBKO-TV news.
“South Floyd High went from a 64.2 percent graduation rate for 2009-10 to 99.4 percent for 2010-11. That is phenomenal growth and it didn’t happen without a team working intentionally to do what it takes for kids. Some of these students returned to school, while others took advantage of the evening school program at Renaissance Learning Center (RLC). South Floyd transitioned some kids who were academically behind to RLC and adopted the ‘name and claim’ approach where they always remember the name and the kid that these numbers are associated with.” Floyd County Schools Superintendent Henry Webb on the effort at one of his high schools to get more students to earn their diploma. From the Prestonsburg Floyd County Times.