In 2015, Kentucky school board members amassed more than 11,357 hours of training. That’s according to an annual report by KSBA presented at the June meeting of the Kentucky Board of Education.
The 2015 total represented 4,381 hours of board member training above the minimum required, based on individual members’ years of service. That means that just under 90 percent of Kentucky’s 856 local board members exceeded their mandatory hours of study.
Board members in office as of December 31, 2014 are required to earn a minimum of 12 training hours in each of the first four years of district board service; eight hours during each of the second four years; and four hours each year thereafter. For board members beginning service on or after January 1, 2015, a minimum of 12 hours are required during each of the first eight years of district board service and eight hours each year thereafter. Additionally, board members must obtain training in the areas of finance, ethics and superintendent evaluation based on their total length of service.
The annual report noted that only 26 members fell short of the mandatory-hours mark, and most of those took office after the November 2015 election. Almost all of those members earned the required hours earlier this year, and the state board of education approved counting the training received in 2016 toward their 2015 requirements.
By state regulation, KSBA collects and keeps records on board member training as the approved provider of most local school board member professional development.
Photo Above: KSBA Board Team Development Director Kerri Schelling discusses the association’s annual report on school board member training statistics at the June meeting of the Kentucky Board of Education.