Advance notice
Seven Kentucky public school districts have been recognized for achieving voluntary system accreditation through the AdvancED/Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation process.
The seven were presented plaques and banners in a Frankfort ceremony in October. They are: Boone, Graves and Marshall counties and Elizabethtown and Williamstown independents, initial accreditation; and McCracken and Rowan counties, continuing accreditation.
The accreditation process includes a self-assessment, site visit from a team of experienced peer educators and other actions identified by the team. Accreditation is for a five-year period. More information about voluntary accreditation is available here.
Grand flag
The Kentucky Education Action Team is the 2012 recipient of the Flag of Learning and Liberty, presented by the Kentucky School Public Relations Association. KEAT comprises the Kentucky Association of School Administrators, Kentucky Association of School Councils, Kentucky Association of School Superintendents, Kentucky Education Association, Kentucky Parent Teacher Association, Kentucky School Boards Association and the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.
The group’s mission is to reverse four years of state funding cuts to key services in teaching and learning. Gallatin County Superintendent and KASS President Dot Perkins accepted the award on behalf of KEAT at a KYSPRA gathering.
Seeing red
Project RED, a group that focuses on academic results and the financial implication of education technology, has selected Owensboro Independent Schools to support as part of a national technology integration program. The Kentucky system is one of nine districts chosen nationwide to benefit from Project RED’s guidance in 1:1 education technology implementation.
These “signature districts” also will collaborate with one another while aligning their plans with Project RED’s research-based strategies for technology-based school reform. They eventually will be model districts for the group.
Project RED team member Leslie Wilson said the group was impressed with Owensboro Independent’s initial plans and is looking forward to moving them to the next level.
Sequester this
The National School Boards Association is asking local school boards to sign a resolution urging Congress to rescind the across-the-board budget cuts required by the Budget Control Act of 2011, commonly called sequestration. The resolution already has been adopted by several Kentucky boards.
According to NSBA, the sequestration process will impose the 7.8 percent cuts Jan. 2 unless Congress takes action. Among the cuts: $1 billion from Title I grants, affecting nearly two million disadvantaged students; $900 million in special education grants that would hurt nearly a half-million children with disabilities; and $60 million for programs for English language learners. Other areas affected include early childhood education, summer school and after-school programs.
To download a sample resolution and other materials, click here.
Deadline extended
Districts have just a little more time to nominate students for the KSBA First Degree College Scholarship Program, which presented its inaugural scholarships last year. The new deadline for nominations is Nov. 16.
The $2,500 scholarships will be announced at KSBA’s annual conference, Feb. 22-24 in Louisville, honoring one male and one female student at a Kentucky public high school who will become the first members of their immediate family to pursue a postsecondary degree. The KSBA Board of Directors established the program last year, funded by the KSBA board and several other Kentucky organizations. Up to two students may be nominated from each school district. Selection is made through a lottery draw.
Click here for program details and nomination forms.