Commonwealth-Journal, Somerset, July 27, 2014
Somerset Schools will fight ruling
by Chris Harris
The recent hearing regarding the conflict with county schools over non-resident students might not have gone Somerset’s way, but that doesn’t mean they’re done fighting.
On Thursday, the Somerset Independent Schools Board of Education approved filing an exception to the recommendation made the previous week by a Lexington-based hearing officer.
It’s the latest step in what has been an ongoing struggle between the Pulaski County School System and both the Somerset and Science Hill School districts following the county’s decision to disallow students living in their own geographic territory to attend school at either of the other two public systems.
A week ago from Friday, school officials were told that hearing officer Mike Wilson had written a recommendation in favor of the case made by Pulaski County Schools following an appeal made by Somerset to try and prevent the terms of Pulaski’s contract, which would have allowed any and all Somerset student to attend in the county, but none the other way.
The recommendation then goes before Dr. Terry Holliday, Kentucky Education Commissioner, for him to make a ruling on the case.
The exception approved by the school board this past week is an attempt to tell Holliday that Somerset strongly disagrees with the recommendation Wilson made, which upheld Pulaski’s contract terms based on a glowing assessment of the county school district.
“In filing an exception, what you’re doing is ... filing a position with the commissioner’s office about a recommendation or a number of recommendations that you don’t agree with,” said Somerset Superintendent Boyd Randolph. “For example, the hearing officer may make a recommendation based on one set of data that we may feel the hearing officer was incorrect (about), or that his interpretation wasn’t relevant.
“We disagree with it based on our interpretation and our understanding of the facts as relating to the statute and I have no idea if the commissioner would make a different ruling based on our exceptions, but we feel it’s incumbent upon the board to make the exception,” he added.
The Kentucky Revised Statute that Randolph referred to is KRS 157.350, which deals with eligibility of school districts to participate in the SEEK (Support Education Excellence in Kentucky) funding from the state for each student enrolled. Item (4) in the statute states that the program includes no non-resident pupils in its average daily attendance, with a list of exceptions.
If there is a dispute, according to the statute, the commissioner and the Kentucky Board of Education should consider “the factors affecting the districts, including but not limited to academic performance and the impact on programs, school facilities, transportation, and staffing of the districts.”
Somerset contended to Wilson that losing their previous allotment of non-resident students from Pulaski would drastically affect the number of classes and programs able to be offered and teachers employed, but Wilson, based on the contents of the written recommendation, felt that “if Pulaski’s proposal is approved, Somerset is unlikely to experience a significant reduction of students either short-term or long-term.”
The Somerset school board unanimously approved the exception, which has yet to be composed.
With school starting at Somerset for students on August 6, time is of the essence, but there are still more steps in the process to get the non-resident pupil issue figured out. Any exceptions must be filed by August 4, noted Randolph, who expected the commissioner to have a ruling the week after that.
Should the commissioner uphold the recommendation, Pulaski’s contract will stand, but Somerset can continue appealing up the ladder, next to the State Board of Education and then to Franklin County Circuit Court in Frankfort if necessary.
“The appeal won’t change the commissioner’s ruling when it goes into affect,” said Randolph. “The appeal would only have an impact once it’s been ruled upon.”
Additionally, the Somerset Board of Education agreed this week to a deal with Science Hill School to provide high school service to the small northern Pulaski K-8 district, as required by Kentucky statute.
Science Hill agreed earlier this past week to a deal that would send their graduating students to Somerset for high school. In the past, students departing Science Hill could go either to Somerset or Pulaski County High Schools, but following Science Hill’s own contract dispute over non-resident students with the county district, only Somerset would be able to accept Science Hill’s students along with the state SEEK money the school receives per student, expected to be about $3,911 per student.
In mid-January, the Pulaski County School Board approved the contract that would disallow any students living within the boundaries of the county district to attend school at Somerset as a non-resident pupil, unless they were siblings with a student that was already enrolled at one of the other systems. This would be applicable for the upcoming 2014-15 school year.
In prior years, Somerset has been allowed 240 county territory students. The number of Pulaski territory students who actually attended Somerset in 2013-14 was 213, according to the recommendation, not counting the children of district employees who don’t have to be taken into account as non-residents.
Pulaski County had drafted a similar contract for Science Hill, which considered taking the issue to an appeal before Holliday’s department, but instead worked out the issue with Pulaski’s board via a revised contract that would restrict student movement both ways.
Somerset, however, took a more aggressive approach, with the board voting in February to retain legal counsel with the goal of making an appeal and retaining a number of non-resident students able to attend school in the city.
Pulaski County Superintendent has stated that the county board of education chose to deny their own resident pupils to the other systems to help protect enrollment numbers, which had gone “flat” over time while other districts showed growth.
For his part, Randolph would prefer to concentrate on matters other than an ongoing legal battle over student enrollment with their crosstown educational counterparts.
“We would rather spend our time doing other things obviously,” he said, “getting ready for the school year, and trying to make sure we offer the best programs we can for kids.”