People are Talking

Kentucky School Advocate

May 2015 

 

 

“I’d like to say how appreciative I am to those who have already paid their tax bill. Last year we collected 96 percent and I have no reason to believe it won’t be that again this year. There are many school districts across the state where their collection rates are in the 70 and 80 percent range. I feel the residents in our community recognize that these funds go to help our students and respond accordingly.” Harlan Independent Schools Superintendent C. D. Morton on public response to his previous concerns that 2014 property tax payments were running behind the norm, posing a potential fiscal problem for the district. From the Harlan Daily Enterprise.

 

“You can only sit in a shop and build things for so long, so this is a great opportunity for them to get out and see how they would frame something like this and actually build it. It’s a tremendous opportunity. And it’s great for us because all we have to do is supply the material. Any time that we can tie our students in from the technology center to help us do some things, it’s great for the kids and the school systems. It’s a win-win situation for everybody involved.” Glasgow Mayor Dick Doty on plans for students from the Barren County Area Technology Center and the middle school’s carpentry club to help renovate a community soccer complex. From the Glasgow Daily Times.

 

“Like with a local board of education, there is no more important decision that you make as a board than who you hire as a leader. I know it’s going to require a lot of extra work. There needs to be a strong commitment on our part to be full participants. I know this will conflict with vacations and family time, but it’s really important that we all be part of this process. We’ll get this done. We’ll do it right.” Kentucky Board of Education Chairman Roger Marcum at the start of the state board’s search for a successor to retiring Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday. From the KSBA eNews Service.

“You all have a special spot in my heart. My mother was a cook for 20 years at an elementary school. It’s a wonderful time for children to come in, recharge, and relax. You all may make the only meal that they see all day. It’s a big part of their life.” Laurel County school board member Joe Schenkenfelder expressing his appreciation to the district’s school food services staff at a board meeting. From the London Sentinel-Echo.

“It’s something new. It’s a unique way to use technology and to give more students in our region access to Spanish, and I really love Spanish language and culture and wanted a chance to reach those students. I’m able to interact with their students and give them instant feedback.” Hazard Independent Schools Spanish teacher Maggie Roll on a distance learning project in which she teaches classes to students in Jenkins Independent. From the Hazard WYMT-TV News.

 

“The question becomes whether (Kentucky law) applies to a school administrator, including a principal, a question which goes beyond our narrow scope of review in the context of a dispute arising under the Open Records Act. However, the courts have conclusively resolved this question and no credible argument can be made that Mr. (former high school principal Alan) Sweet’s private reprimand was not properly withheld assuming that (Kentucky law) was properly invoked.” Attorney General Jack Conway in an opinion in which he determined that the Whitley County Schools acted properly in denying a newspaper request for access to details about a principal’s private reprimand. From the Corbin Times-Tribune.

 

 

“It is a pretty bare bones budget as it is. There is no fat. Any cut will be to education, and that is the only product we sell.” McCreary County Schools Superintendent Donnie Wright, left, on the limited options local leaders have in preparing a balanced budget for next school year. From the Whitley City McCreary County Voice.

 

“That really took us by surprise. We’ve been scrambling to make sure that our current GED students who won’t reach their 18th birthday by the time this law takes effect are aware that they need to finish this process.” Jessamine County Adult Education Director Mary Davis on learning that the law raising the mandatory school attendance age from 16 to 18 will require some dropouts to return to school. From the Nicholasville Jessamine Journal.

 

“We’re asking our teachers to do things they haven’t done before, to do the extra training and make the extra commitment. We feel like we’re just getting started. One thing about innovation is that it breeds innovation. We want to continue to push the envelope into new horizons, new territory to provide the best instruction possible to each and every student. We don’t see it as that we’ve arrived, but that we’re on the right track.” Eminence Independent Schools Superintendent Buddy Berry on the selection of his system as a District of Distinction by the national magazine District Administration. From the Eminence Henry County Local.