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People Are Talking

Photo courtesy of Northern Kentucky Tribune

Kentucky School Advocate

December 2018

“Parents are so sold on four-year colleges, it’s hard to make them aware of the opportunities that are available right here in this area.” – Amanda Bardo, school counselor at R.A. Jones Middle School (Boone County), as her students visited an auto parts factory as part of Manufacturing Day, designed to inspire students to explore manufacturing careers. From the Northern Kentucky Tribune (Photo at right courtesy of Northern Kentucky Tribune)

“With the way the economy is here in Eastern Kentucky, there is no way I can vote to raise taxes on the people.” – Shane Hurley, Pike County school board member, on voting to keep the tax rate the same and forgo $943,000 for the district. From the Appalachian News-Express, Pikeville

“To give a school a rating based on a score that hasn’t occurred yet is kind of a hard pill to swallow in a high stakes accountability system.” – Jim Flynn, Simpson County Schools superintendent, on the state’s accountability system which measures students’ projected growth, not how they actually performed on the state assessments. From the Bowling Green Daily News

“Even if the kids weren’t on track to reach proficiency or not reaching proficiency, we were still growing, and if we’re giving growth points, then give growth points when we grow kids.” – Teresa Nicholas, Pulaski County Schools district assessment coordinator, during the first meeting of a work group to look at the growth indicator in the state’s accountability system. From WDRB-TV, Louisville

“… I don’t think the public is generally aware that any time a non-profit buys (land), that takes property taxes off the rolls for the school districts.” – Steve Becker (right), Danville Independent school board member, on the city buying a $1.1 million piece of property for a fire station. From The Advocate Messenger, Danville

“They burn a cleaner fuel with almost zero emissions, get warmer faster, which is really important on cold mornings, and aren‘t as noisy.” – Brad McKinney, Franklin County Schools transportation director, on the district considering purchasing two propane-powered school buses. There are now 59 propane buses in 16 Kentucky school districts. From the Frankfort State Journal

“The tweets are all positive, so our district sees us differently, their home school sees them differently. We celebrate these kids every day.” – Leslie Miller, coordinator of Jackson Academy, Warren County Schools alternative school, on using social media to change perception of the school, which was recognized by the Kentucky Department of Education as one of 10 Alternative Programs of Distinction. From Kentucky Teacher, KDE (Photo at right courtesy of Kentucky Teacher)

“We want people to understand we want to remove barriers to learning. We want them to see we might be able to do something simple to keep kids in school.” – Anthony Thompson, Russell Independent Schools director of pupil personnel, on his district’s efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism by establishing relationships with parents. From The Daily Independent, Ashland

“The focus is not on the end result, but what happens every single day in the classroom and with the students and their individual growth.” – Alicia Hunter, Madison County Schools chief academic officer, on the state accountability system, which placed six district schools in the Targeted Support and Improvement category. From the Richmond Register

“Schools, in almost every community that we're in, are the place that people connect with.” – Joshua Crabtree (right), Kenton County school board member and executive director of Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, on a $660,000 grant to hire lawyers and social workers to work with schools in 33 counties to provide stability for children who are victims of the opioid epidemic. From the Cincinnati/Kentucky Enquirer

“For a lot of parents, it’s an entirely different way than they were taught, which is scary. However, I think as they’re seeing the kids have a deeper understanding, then they’re coming around to it.” – Megan Tillery, math interventionist at Jefferson County Schools‘ Kennedy Elementary, on the Eureka Math curriculum, which they credit with a 21-percentage point increase in math scores. From the Courier Journal, Louisville

“Our attendance that day was at 100 percent. That’s almost unheard of, especially for a district our size.” – Sanford Holbrook (right), Robertson County superintendent, about the district’s high school winning high attendance day in the small school category. From The Ledger Independent, Maysville