Take Note

Kentucky School Advocate
October 2015

The Corbin Independent and Taylor County school districts have received Regional Dropout Prevention Grants from the state Department of Education. As districts with low dropout rates, the two systems will use the one-year grants to provide training and technical assistance to districts in their respective regions. The efforts will help those districts implement strategies to support students at risk of dropping out. The goal of the grant is to share ideas and best practices on how districts can play a pivotal role in reducing the dropout rate.

Corbin Independent received $20,000, while Taylor County Schools received $16,950.

More sharing: KSBA at NSBA
KSBA staff will be providing several clinics during the National School Boards Association’s annual conference, April 9–11, 2016, in Boston.

• Kerri Schelling and Jean Crowley with KSBA’s Board Team Development Service will present a session on school board self-evaluations.

• Staff with the KSBA School Energy Managers Project will outline how to eliminate wasteful energy expenses.

• Teresa Combs with Legal and Administrative Training Services will review student bullying issues for the NSBA Council of School Board Attorneys.

• Brad Hughes of the Member Support/Communications Service will helm a session on safe and effective use of social media by school leaders.

Schelling also will be among the trainers for the annual New Board Member Boot Camp, and Hughes will be part of the reporting team covering the conference for its online daily news service.

For more information on the NSBA event, go to www.nsba.org.

Present and perform
The theme of KSBA’s 80th annual conference, Feb. 26–28, 2016, is "From chalkboards to whiteboards: 8 decades of serving school boards." Now is the time for school districts to make their mark on those boards by submitting proposals to present clinic sessions at the event. There are two types of sessions: three-hour, interactive, skill-building sessions on Friday morning, Feb. 26; and 75-minute information and sharing clinics on Friday afternoon and Saturday. Sessions should reflect the conference theme and goals. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 6.

KSBA also is soliciting proposals from public school student performing groups to show off their talents at various times during the annual conference. The deadline for those applications is Nov. 13. Information on selection criteria and guidelines for both performers and presenters can be found on the rotating tabs at www.ksba.org.

Correction
A story about the Breathitt County school district’s improvement efforts in the September issue gave an incorrect date regarding state management of the district. State management will continue to September 2017, at which time the Kentucky Board of Education will evaluate whether it is still required.

The director of the School Energy Managers Project and KSBA have received Kentucky’s Energy Leadership Award. The honor was presented Sept. 9 by Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet Secretary Len Peters during the 39th Governor’s Conference on Energy and the Environment.

The award recognizes leaders from public and private sectors who have made outstanding contributions in Kentucky’s energy field by promoting and using energy efficiency and alternative energy resources to achieve sustainability goals. Greg Higdon and the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers also received the award.

KSBA’s School Energy Managers Project educates and supports energy management efforts in all school districts. Director Ron Willhite, pictured at center flanked, l–r, by Peters and John Davies of the Department for Energy Development and Independence, has led SEMP since its inception in 2010, when it partnered with the cabinet as part of a comprehensive energy and education effort. The program has helped schools reduce their energy costs through efficiency and has placed 35 energy managers in positions serving 85 school systems. Schools participating in the project have saved more than $50 million in cumulative avoided costs – redirecting savings back to the classroom.

KSBA twice has been awarded the ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year honors by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the successful energy management program.