February 2016
When the alarms go off in a Kentucky school, do students roll their eyes at “just another drill,” or do they get scared? There are ways to ensure that students respond properly to the assortment of drills required by state law, without diluting the message of safety.
0-12, not PS-12
The Webster County school district has refocused its early childhood efforts to round up not only the system’s eligible preschool-age children, but those even younger. Partners in the initiative include Head Start and family resource centers.
Work ready schools
The signs are popping up at county lines across Kentucky: Work Ready Community, Work Ready Community in Progress. The signs say nothing about schools, but it turns out that school districts have a big role in earning Work Ready status for their county.
Togetherness: When it comes to making communities work-ready, school district borders
can disappear. In some areas of the state, districts in adjoining counties are working
together on this initiative.
Energy champ – again
Butler County Schools came out on top in 2014-15 for the third time in four years as the Kentucky school district that saved the most energy, measured in energy use intensity. But plenty of other school systems are continuing to save energy and money – a good thing, given the utilities outlook.
Getting schooled about charter schools
Representatives of the KEAT (Kentucky Education Action Team) used KSBA’s new online conference center in December to learn about Ohio’s charter school experience in preparation for legislative activities on the topic in the 2016 General Assembly. KEAT is a K-12 advocacy coalition that focuses on issues relating to state funding of public schools.