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Interim exec Baird honored by KSBA Board of Directors for leading association since June 2013; new CEO begins work next week
Interim exec Baird honored by KSBA Board of Directors for leading association since June 2013; new CEO begins work next week

With a standing ovation, the KSBA Board of Directors Saturday saluted Interim Executive Director David Baird for his work of the past 15 months.

“We want you to know how much we all appreciate what you’ve done for this association and school board members across the state,” KSBA President Durward Narramore of Jenkins Independent told Baird at the conclusion of the 27-member panel’s fall quarterly meeting in Frankfort.

Baird, a retired superintendent who has been with KSBA as associate executive director since 2005, became interim executive director June 15, 2013 after the retirement of his predecessor, William G. Scott.

“I accepted this job because of the people in this room – you, the members of the board of directors, and the staff members working for you,” Baird said. “I’ve been honored to be able to work with such a special team.”

KSBA’s new executive director, Mike Armstrong, official starts work Oct. 1, after meeting the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System’s mandatory three-month waiting period to begin a new KTRS-covered job. Armstrong retired June 30 as superintendent of the Lawrence County Schools.

Also under KTRS rules, when Armstrong begins work full-time, Baird will become a part-time KSBA employee, while returning to his post as associate executive director. Baird will continue to work with the association’s governmental relations service in preparation for the 2015 General Assembly.

A former teacher, principal, coach and athletic director in the Carroll County and Eminence systems, Baird is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University and Morehead State University, with additional studies at Georgetown College, Xavier University in Cincinnati and the University of Louisville.

Kentucky’s Superintendent of the Year in 2005, Baird was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Morehead State University in 2007. Executive Educator magazine named him one of the Top 100 Educators in America during his tenure as Eminence superintendent.

During his 40-year career in education, Baird has served on multiple boards, including the state School Facilities Construction Commission and the state Blue Ribbon Commission on Low-Performing Schools.

Baird was presented with gifts of a handcrafted, engraved wooden box and a gift certificate.

Also during the KSBA board’s quarterly meeting:

      · A representative of the certified public accounting firm of Mountjoy Chilton Medley
LLP of Lexington reported a “clean” opinion in its audit of KSBA finances for FY 2013-14.

      · The board heard updates on development of a new local board self evaluation tool and related training, and the search for a new director for the Governmental Relations Service. An announcement on that selection is expected within the next few weeks.

      · The board approved renewing KSBA’s participation in a joint reception of seven to eight states in the National School Boards Association’s Central Region at next year’s NSBA annual conference in Nashville, TN.

  •      The board also renewed annual nonvoting member rights to all of the regional educational cooperatives, entitling them to access to all KSBA services and support.