KSBA and the Kentucky Department of Education have completed work on a process for review and authorization of local school board member training.
Under the collaborative process, KSBA remains the primary training entity for board of education members in Kentucky. The new process calls for KSBA and KDE to jointly approve of any school board member training provided by a third-party. All board member training proposals will be submitted to KSBA, which will work with KDE to conduct the reviews. KSBA continues as the designated monitor and official record-keeper of all school board training.
If such requests are received, such programs would be in addition to the KSBA seminars, which have been pre-approved by KDE and need no additional application for use by local boards. The KSBA courses are provided at all major conferences (Annual Conference, Summer Leadership Institute, Fall Regional Meetings and Winter Symposium). Additionally, KSBA staff and/or members of its cadre of current and former board members are going to districts to provide the classes onsite - both those newly-required by the state and others that are in the KSBA Academy of Studies.
The new procedure fulfills the requirements of a Kentucky Board of Education administrative regulation that took effect Jan. 1. That regulation amended existing rules for professional development of Kentucky’s nearly 900 local school board members.
Key elements of the new process, which KDE and KSBA will jointly administer, include:
· Sets consistent, high quality standards for individual board member and board team training, including a goal of enabling board members to be better “consumers” of training.
· Replaces the previous process for approving “local” board training hours, while enabling district staff to provide training for its own board.
· Mirrors training requirements already in place for district finance officers and EILA (Effective Instructional Leadership Act) participants.
These are some important requirements of the new process:
· Training approval must be requested from KSBA at least 30 days in advance of the training (as opposed to the previous process of after-the-fact approval).
· Approved programs will be issued a tracking number, will be valid for the calendar year in which it is issued, and must be resubmitted for renewal annually as desired.
· KSBA-provided training also will adhere to the standards of the new process, whether classes take place at statewide, regional or local events.
If any board members have completed non-KSBA provided training in January, February or March and want to receive credit toward the annual training requirements, providers may submit an application to KSBA for consideration of post-delivery approval of the training only for this period. Requests must be received by March 31.
Individuals and/or groups interested in developing training for school board members may view the Technical Assistance Manual and Provider Application form online here http://www.ksba.org/Downloads/Technical%20Assistance%20Manual%20and%20Provider%20Application%20for%20KY%20Public%20School%20%20Board%20Training%20Programs%20-%20January%202014.pdf.
For more information, contact Kerri Schelling [email protected] , KSBA’s director of Board Team Development at 800-372-2972.