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2018 Summer Leadership Institute

Budgeting, bills, school safety and lots more

Kentucky School Advocate

June 2018

By Madelynn Coldiron
Staff writer

The topics don’t get timelier than this: school safety and legislative action on public education.

Eric Kennedy, KSBA's Governmental Relations Director

That’s why school board members attending this year’s KSBA Summer Leadership Institute, July 13-14 at the Marriott Griffin Gate in Lexington, will get a one-two punch from the main speakers. Association Governmental Relations Director Eric Kennedy (right) will kick things off at Friday evening’s opening session. He’ll give an overview of the outcomes of the 2018 General Assembly, offering details on the biennial budget and changes to the public pension systems, plus a recap of a couple of dozen other education-related bills that passed.

The Saturday plenary session features Dan Orman (below left), training coordinator for the Kentucky Center for School Safety, who will focus on how school boards can lead the way in setting policy and mission statements that provide strong and safe learning and teaching environments. Orman said he’ll be reviewing some “often-overlooked cornerstones of school safety and some ideas from real Kentucky schools that will enhance any school district’s approach to a safer and more secure learning environment.”

Dan Orman, training coordinator for the Kentucky Center for School Safety

KSBA Board Team Development Director Laura Cole said the plenary session is a response to the popularity of the sessions Orman presented at the association’s annual conference in March. “The school safety sessions at annual conference were just a huge hit and a lot of the surveys indicated that board members wanted more,” she said.

Cole said summer training is a great way for board members to rack up their training credits in a more relaxed setting, and there will be plenty of opportunities to do so at this year’s Summer Leadership Institute, starting with the Friday afternoon pre-conference bonus sessions in which board members can receive credit in three of the four mandated topics: superintendent evaluation, finance, ethics and charter school authorization. (Charter authorizer credit pending)

Two budget-related clinic sessions will provide new takes on that topic. In one of those, KSBA’s Kennedy will take board members on a deep dive into the state budget. He’ll offer a primer down to the district level on how the state delivers financial support to public education, accompanied by an explanation of the budget process and how to read the budget bill.

“We all know that the General Assembly, by Constitution, bears the responsibility of providing adequate financial support for public education in our state. It does so primarily through appropriating funds in the biennial state budget bill typically enacted in every even-year session,” Kennedy explained. “As critically important as these budget bills are, too many of us have never actually read one. This session will begin to demystify the budget, and help board members, superintendents and others understand the flow of funds.”

Also in a first-time offering, co-presenters Matt Bubness, senior manager with the Government Finance Officers Association, and Prichard Committee Policy Director Perry Papka outline a roadmap to school district budgeting, developed by Bubness’ group, that aligns with student achievement goals in an era of decreased public funding for education.

In another clinic session, Amy Peabody, KSBA’s new staff attorney and Legal Services trainer, will guide board members in understanding the state’s uniform charter school application, yet another on-point topic.

“This session will be very timely, very focused and hopefully very valuable,” Cole said.

Other clinic sessions during the Summer Leadership Institute include a session on the roles of school councils and school boards; a presentation on using equity to close the achievement gap; and a session on district leadership and building a culture of excellence as a board team, led by Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Marty Pollio.

Registration for two days of training is open at www.ksba.org.