The Kentucky School Boards Association has a new president.
Allen Kennedy, a three-term member of the Hancock County Board of Education, assumed the duties as chairman of the KSBA Board of Directors this week. Kennedy succeeded Durward Narramore Jr. of Jenkins Independent, whose local board term ended at the same time.
Kennedy is a retired human resources manager, master electrician and trainer with more than 40 years’ experience. He serves as an instructor in employee and labor relations at Owensboro Community and Technical College, and is a member of KSBA’s Board Team Development Training Cadre.
“I’m tremendously humbled by the opportunity to serve in this role – first for all of our children and our educators, then for our members and finally for all of the taxpayers across the Commonwealth who depend on local school board members and organizations such as KSBA to work for excellence and effectiveness in our public schools,” Kennedy said. “I will be one cog in a tremendous team working to enhance education in our state. It’s an honor and I’m eager to begin my work.”
Kennedy, a resident of Lewisport, was first elected to the Hancock County board in 2006 and to the KSBA Board of Directors as a director-at-large in 2008. In 2012, he was selected to become president elect. During the past two years, he was served on the KSBA board’s Governance Committee. He has been a regular participant in the National School Boards Association’s Advocacy Institute, including meetings with members of the Kentucky Congressional delegation, for several years.
Kennedy also is an appointee of Gov. Steve Beshear to the board of directors of the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board.
Nominating committee report
Meanwhile, a nominating committee headed by Immediate Past President Tom Blankenship of Lincoln County has recommended a slate of candidates for several posts to be ratified by the membership during the association’s annual business meeting in late February.
The committee had multiple candidates for the position of president elect and four director-at-large seats on the 27-member KSBA board, and has selected the following:
President elect:
· David Webster, Simpson County Board of Education.
Webster is a commercial rental company owner in Franklin. He has been serving in his second term of one of the 12 directors-at-large on the KSBA board..
New directors-at-large:
· Joe Brown, Garrard County
· Michele New, Franklin County
· Jo Sabol, West Point Independent
· Donna Wilson, Montgomery County
All five nominees will be invited to make brief remarks during the association’s business meeting, which this year will take place at the conclusion of the Saturday luncheon General Session at KSBA’s 79th Annual Conference next month.