People are Talking

 

February 2015 

 

"It’s a good opportunity for the kids at Phoenix to be positive role models, and of course our kids love big kids. They’re always interested when big kids are involved.” Conkwright Elementary (Clark County) first-grade teacher and team leader Emily Tipton on an ongoing volunteer project whereby students from the district’s alternative school work with students from the elementary school as a way to boost attendance of the older students. From the Winchester Sun. Photo provided by Clark County Schools

“We want to work with our teachers, we want to work with MCEA so we have no problems working on a contract with them but it had to be the right language, it couldn’t be against the law. The way the old one was done, it was against the law. Since 2011, there’s a lot of laws that have changed, things that need to be put in and taken out so as soon as we get a draft, we can get it to them and start working back and forth.” McCracken County Board of Education Chairman Jeff Parker on the district’s first contract negotiations with its teacher union in four years. From WKMS Radio of Murray.

 

“We pay about $300,000 in utilities a year and probably two-thirds of that is from electric. That times 18 percent - if you don’t fight it - it’s very, very significant. I think it behooves us to join that battle to see if we can get that stopped.” Taylor County Schools Superintendent Roger Cook on why his board voted to join other districts and KSBA to intervene in proposed gas and electric rate hikes sought by Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities. From the Campbellsville Central Kentucky News-Journal.

 

“What concerns me most when I talk to students is the lack of motivation that I see. It’s not because the teachers haven’t tried to motivate or because the principal hasn’t tried to motivate, because I see lots of fun and engaging activities. There are so many kids that will say they would rather not do the work and deal with the consequences than they would go above and beyond. Then, I also see today and the time we spent (at the new school) and I see the motivation, excitement and the twinkle in the kids’ eyes. I want to know how we see that in the classrooms. Maybe this will be the turning point for some of that.” Washington County Schools Superintendent Robin Cochran on hopes that this month’s move into the new high school will provide an academic boost for some students. From the Springfield Sun.

 

“I think the new system will be more effective than the old system for the simple fact that we will spend more time on the process. After we grow accustomed to using it, we will see the benefit of establishing goals for our district and our superintendent. I think having the time to discuss the direction of our district and how that applies to our superintendent will be the most interesting to me.” LaRue County Board of Education member Price Smith on his expectations for using the new state-mandated superintendent evaluation process. From the Hodgenville LaRue County Herald-News.

 

“We started talking about what kind of things people do in their work environment to get those chemicals firing. But rather than just talk about it we want to experience it. We were curious about how it might transform our culture. We’re talking about growing hearts by the power of gratitude. There have been many tears shed. People have said things to other people they’ve never said before.” South Heights Elementary School (Henderson County) Principal Rob Carroll on establishing a “Compliment Booth” for students and staff to exchange positive encouragement. From the Henderson Gleaner.

 

“This is a step of faith.” Carroll County Schools Superintendent Bill Hogan on work to develop a multidistrict virtual high school to be called “iLead” and slated to open this fall with funding from the state. From the Carrollton News-Democrat.

 

“Well, basically that’s because we were not engaged to do so. We were engaged to do a financial audit, which is required in order to receive the KDE funding, your federal funding. If you read through our contract that we have with you – the contract’s approved by the state – it specifically mentions in there that we’re not here to detect fraud.” CPA Mike Jones of Mather and Company under questioning by Shelby County school board members about why the firm’s annual audits for several years failed to detect the alleged embezzlement of $600,000 by a former finance department employee. From the Shelbyville Sentinel-News.

“We base our decisions on the projected amount of SEEK funding given to us by KDE. They give us amounts, we budget accordingly and expect they will fund what they tell us they will. When KDE reduces the amount of SEEK funding after the year has begun and our budgets, contracts, etc. are already set, it puts a real strain on local school districts. In order to recover from such unexpected, midyear cuts in SEEK funding, we have to tighten spending and hope no further reductions occur.” Monroe County Schools Superintendent Amy Thompson on dealing with a midyear SEEK cut due to statewide enrollment numbers being higher than those on which the 2014-15 SEEK budget is based. From the Tompkinsville Monroe County Citizen.

 

 

“I’m dealing with issues I’ve never had to deal with before. Parents can still come to the school, but we have to have control over who is in the building.” Albany Elementary School (Clinton County) Principal Tim Armstrong on the need for new protocols on visitor access to the school and parking lots, especially in light of several emergency protective orders involving families. From the Albany Clinton County News.

 

“The Grinch visited Augusta last night.” Augusta Independent Schools Superintendent Lisa McCane after a Dec. 19 fire destroyed the much of the school’s playground equipment, an incident that led to the arrest of a teenager on criminal mischief charges. From the Maysville Ledger-Independent.