“In essence, when people don’t pay their taxes, they’re shortchanging the children in their community. Without significant collections, I don’t see how we could avoid some cutbacks.” Leslie County Schools Superintendent Anthony Little on the impact of an estimated $1.4 million in unpaid local property tax bills on the district’s finances. From the Lexington Herald-Leader.
“The bills have to be paid whether there’s school or not.” Boyd County Schools accounts payable director Helen Campbell on being part of a skeleton crew working in the central office while the rest of the district was closed due to bad weather. From the Ashland The Independent.
“The nice thing about this is that most teachers wish they could talk to other teachers and educators, but it is not easy to network with a lot of people. At this event, you have people from all over Kentucky, as well as Cincinnati, and some from Indiana. Last year I was able to connect with a principal in Bowling Green and he gave me a lot of good ideas. This is a professional learning network gathered together in one place, and everybody that comes loves learning and growing. We exchange contact information and instantly our network has grown exponentially.” Longbranch Elementary School (Boone County) Principal Erika Bowles on the success of a Saturday “Ed Camp” that drew nearly 400 teachers. From the Covington River City News.
“I think it’s the best solution for the site and it keeps the old architecture, which is what has made Ruth Moyer what it is. It won’t be Woodfill (another recently renovated elementary) No. 2. It will still be Ruth Moyer and it will still have that heart that people in this community are used to from Ruth Moyer.” Fort Thomas Independent Board of Education Chairwoman Karen Allen on the decision to retain the original brick front of a 1930s elementary building slated for a $20 million renovation. From the Fort Mitchell Community Press & Recorder.
“My teacher always found a way to allow me to be part of what the other kids were doing. He found a way to adjust or adapt the lessons and make accommodations so everyone could participate. The fact I was able to participate built confidence in me enough to join the track team. (Your students) may not succeed the first time. But they might change their approach and try it again, and when they do get it, they have this feeling of conquering something. Those kids feel like they’re on top of the world.” Paralympic track and field medalist Lex Gillete, blind since age 10, during a workshop for central Kentucky educators and coaches on adaptive athletics and physical education for special needs students. From the Winchester Sun.
“The perception in the community may be that minority students aren’t handled fairly, but perception isn’t always based in reality. All I can do is make sure we’re not underserving or unfair, and that we watch how we interact (to be sure) no one is simply responding to their own prejudice. Fairness is a huge question, and I encourage administrators to push the student’s incident aside and look at the individual. Look at all factors to make sure the punishment is right for that kid. I’m not gonna defend misbehavior, so if a kid does something severe, I will support the suspension.” Daviess County Schools Superintendent Owens Saylor on his district’s efforts to reduce suspensions of minority students while maintaining standards of fairness and discipline. From the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer.
“From what I can see from the interactions online between the teachers and students, it is going to take care of the things that we need and I think will continue and help the kids get ready to come back to school, hopefully on Wednesday. You can see online as the kids are working and then we’ll see those students who didn’t have internet access, they have received a phone call, or will today, to kind of check on them and see how they’re doing and see if they have any questions.” Todd County Schools Superintendent Wayne Benningfield on his initial assessment of participating in the state’s nontraditional instruction day pilot to continue instruction during periods of bad weather. From the Murray WKMS Radio.
“It’s going to give our kids a lot of opportunities. And you start thinking about these snowbound days – really, I think to have a true snowbound day, you’ve got to have (this).” Perry County Schools District Technology Coordinator Mike Smith on the board’s approval of his plan to create a “technology teacher group” as one aspect of a plan to create more learning options during bad weather. From the Hazard Herald.
“I think sports medicine professionals would argue that it is much better to have too many calories than not enough for female athletes. My point is that one of the stated goals of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act is to stop the ‘obesity epidemic,’ but not every child is at risk for obesity and for our female athletes, we may need to be pushing more calories, not less. Restricting calories could be very harmful to our female athletes.” Anderson County Schools Director of Programs and Operations Ronnie Fields, a former coach, on the quandary posed by federal rules restricting students’ calorie intake during the school day. From the Lawrenceburg Anderson News.
“A lot of people just want to stick their head into the sand and they don’t want to think about it until it happens, but then it’s too late.” Spencer County Board of Education Chairwoman Debbie Herndon on a school-sponsored training about how students can protect themselves from cyberbullies. From the Taylorsville Spencer Magnet.