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People Are Talking

Kentucky School Advocate

February 2018

Marion County Superintendent Taylora Schlosser

“Inappropriate use of social media is causing a lot of the problem. We have to be partners to address this.”
– Marion County Schools Superintendent Taylora Schlosser (right) to middle school students she talked with following back-to-back threats to the school posted on social media. An arrest was made in one of the cases. From the Lebanon Enterprise

“We recently had our holiday gala at the Mason County Auditorium and afterward, the custodians, some students and I were cleaning up. We were vacuuming and tripped the breaker. When was the last time you were vacuuming your house and tripped your breaker?”
– Mason County High School music teacher Charlie Hunter, giving an example of why the board’s recently approved nickel tax is needed to fund much-needed maintenance and upgrades at several schools.

From the

Ledger-Independent

, Maysville

“What we’ve seen a lot of is an increase in young people having and playing with guns, as well as a rise in drug use, depression and suicidal thoughts.”
– Simpson County Schools Director of Pupil Personnel Joey Kilburn on results of the district’s Kentucky Incentives for Prevention survey, which prompted officials to develop a workshop for parents. From the Franklin Favorite

“It’s a travesty that we are placed in that situation that we have to be so frugal.”

–

Ashland Independent Superintendent Sean Howard, reacting

to a report by the nonpartisan Center on Budget

and Policy Priorities that said Kentucky has cut

more funding per student since 2008, adjusted for inflation, than all but two other states.

From the

Daily Independent

, Ashland

“It was so different across the state in different districts.”

–

State Representative Kelly Flood (D-Lexington), describing what she learned when investigating the types

of sex education school districts currently provide. Flood is co-sponsor of a bill that would require

age-appropriate sex education for public school students starting in fourth grade.

From the

Lexington Herald-Leader

“It’s more of the message it sends, that we care more about private schools than public ones.”

– Ben Miller,

an higher education issues expert for the left-leaning Center

for American Progress, on the new federal tax reform that

allows families to use up to $10,000 per year of their

“529” college savings plan funds on annual K-12 expenses,

including private and religious school tuition.

From the

Courier Journal

, Louisville

“Some of our kids simply do not have access to air conditioning, so I would rather they be in a climate-controlled classroom than out in the August heat.”

–

Scott County Schools Superintendent Kevin Hub, responding

to criticism from Senate Majority Floor Leader

Damon Thayer that the school board-approved

2018-19 starting date of Aug. 8 is too early.

From the

News-Graphic

, Georgetown

State Senate Education Committee Chairman Max Wise

“We’re looking at about 15 Kentucky counties that may be losing school systems, of having to close down.”

–

State Senate Education Committee Chairman Max Wise (R-Campbellsville) on the crisis in property taxation

some districts, particularly in eastern Kentucky, are facing due to local economic conditions.

From WEKU-FM, Richmond

“I realize it has been both popular and needed by many districts. However, the next iteration must evaluate the quality of the experience as well.”

–

State Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt, after the Senate Education Committee approved a bill to end the popular non-traditional instruction program within three years. From the Lexington Herald-Leader

“We’re not responding to a specific threat. We’re just looking to the future.”

–

Boyd County school board Chairman Bob Green on the board’s move

to post an off-duty sheriff’s deputy at its meetings.

From the

Daily Independent

, Ashland

“I’d rather the local school board spend my money than someone else.”

–

Burgin resident Darryl Peavler at a public hearing on a proposed

equivalent nickel tax for the Burgin Independent

district, later approved by the school board.

From the

Harrodsburg Herald

“By not adequately funding the SEEK guaranteed base, by cutting non-SEEK funding for several years and by leaving wealthy and poor school districts alike to make up the difference, we have put our school districts on an increasingly uneven playing field.”

– Anna Baumann, s

enior policy analyst for the Kentucky Center

for Economic Policy and author of a report

showing the funding gap between wealthy

and poor school districts continues to grow.

From the

Murray Ledger & Times

“As our Chamber of Commerce continues to advocate for additional state dollars toward funding education, it seems our efforts are wasted without pension reform.”

– Opinion piece by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, which noted state funding meant for schools

would instead go toward shoring up public pension systems, and urging the legislature to waste no time in acting on pension reforms.

From the River City News, Covington

“Most of my administrators wear multiple hats in the district. My director of pupil personnel is also our high school assistant principal and director of maintenance. Our director of districtwide services wears six to eight different hats over title funds, special education and a number of areas.”

–

Dawson Springs Independent Superintendent Leonard Whalen, reacting to the governor’s criticism

of district administrative costs and his state budget proposal to address them.

Whalen also noted he is the sole certified staffer in the district’s central office.

From the

Messenger

, Madisonville

“When throwing out a blanket statement, you need to make sure it’s a very educated and well-researched statement of how poorly districts are doing with administration. Because I don’t think that is true for us.”

–

Hardin County Schools Superintendent Teresa Morgan’s reaction to the governor’s comments

explaining his budget-based directive to school districts to cut administrative costs.

From the

News-Enterprise

, Elizabethtown