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Fall Regional Meetings

Financial transparency, charters and guests highlight regional meetings

Kentucky School Advocate

October 2018

By Josh Shoulta
Staff writer

Public school funding, including communicating financial decisions to district residents, is the focus of this year’s KSBA regional meetings. Amy Peabody, KSBA’s staff attorney, legal training services, discusses federal, state and local funding and identifies the challenges they pose to district leadership.

Adding to the complexity is the board’s new responsibility of monitoring the funding of charter schools.

During the session, entitled “Show me the Money,” Peabody also details how districts administer funds, how boards explain funding to the community and boards’ responsibility to monitor charter school finances.

Peabody uses hypothetical situations to explain best practices and engages the audience with her high-energy, light-hearted style.

“My goal is to give our members a clear sense of the funding layers they may not be as familiar with,” she said. “From there, we work on how to share this information with the public.”

Peabody also emphasizes the important role boards play as charter authorizers.

“School boards have the power to deny or revoke a charter contract if that entity cannot uphold defined financial management standards,” she said. “Board members need to have a solid understanding as to the breadth of that authority and the current regulations.”

By design, the topic discussed at the regional meetings will serve as a precursor for additional charter authorizer training at the Winter Symposium (Nov. 30–Dec. 1).

Board members attending regional meetings essentially receive a two-for-one deal on mandated training credits, earning an hour of finance credit which also counts toward the 12 mandated charter authorizer credit hours.

In addition to the main program, board members have been taking advantage of bonus sessions provided at each regional meeting site, with offerings ranging from “The Ethics of School Board Service” to “Fraud: Are You at Risk?”

Gov. Matt Bevin (right) and several state legislators have attended the meetings. During the Second Region meeting, hosted by Daviess County at Apollo High School, Bevin addressed pension reform and thanked school board members for their service.

Bevin also lent support reforming principal selection and teacher tribunals.

“I’ve long had concern with the fact that we have superintendents who do not have control over what happens
in their districts as it relates to the hiring and/or firing of principals,” Bevin said.

Meetings for the Eastern Kentucky South, Fourth and Fifth regions will be held in October. To register for one of the three remaining regional meetings, go to our website.

Board View: ‘Slow down and study’

Shelby County school board member Will Barnett (left), who attended the Fifth Regional Meeting in Eminence, said the fall gatherings are helpful given the complex issues facing public schools.

"This year has presented school districts with shifts, both drastic and subtle, in areas from funding to the makeup of the Kentucky Board of Education and leadership at the department of education to the duties of school boards as charter authorizers as provisional funding structures for charters have expired,” he said. “The regional meetings are a great opportunity to slow down between the summer and winter conferences and really study the latest intricacies of the changes over the last several months and the implications they hold for students.”

Barnett also appreciated the opportunity to learn from his colleagues.

“There's an added benefit of being able to ask questions and hear the insight of other board members to add depth to our own understanding,” he said. “The target keeps moving and the Fifth Regional Meeting helped me sharpen my sights.”