Kentucky School Advocate
August 2020

School safety facility upgrade funding available
Districts can now apply for funding for school safety facility upgrades required under Senate Bill 1 (2019), the School Safety and Security Act.

The Kentucky Department of Education has created a new School Security Request (SSR) process related to funding in the 2020 budget.

House Bill 352, the 2020 budget bill, included $18.2 million for a variety of school safety facility upgrades. The appropriation is based off a survey done by the Kentucky School Boards Association in 2019 and requirements in SB 1.

SB 1, which was shepherded by Sen. Maxwell Wise (left), identifies six required security devices for schools: main entrance locks, a main entrance camera, a main entrance intercom, classroom door locks, classroom door window coverings and exterior door access control. Money from the $18.2 million can only be used for these six devices.Each district’s portion of the security funding is based on its average daily attendance (ADA) rates. Districts must submit an SSR form, which details what schools will do with the funding and the amount of funding requested.

Since SB 1 was passed under an emergency clause, it allows districts to request funding for retroactive projects, which includes those completed from March 11, 2019, to June 30, 2020.

24 Kentucky Valvoline Teacher Achievement Award winners named for 2021
The Kentucky Department of Education and Valvoline Inc. have selected 24 Kentucky educators as recipients of the 2021 Valvoline Teacher Achievement Awards. The teachers qualify to compete for the 2021 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Award which will be announced in October.

The 24 winning teachers are:

Elementary School

•    Stephanie Groathouse, New Haven Elementary (Boone County)

•    Toni Mullins, Carr Creek Elementary (Knott County)

•    Samuel Northern, Simpson Elementary (Simpson County)

•    Johanna Parr, Klondike Lane Elementary (Jefferson County)

•    Donnie Piercey, Stonewall Elementary (Fayette County)

•    Noraa Ransey, North Calloway Elementary (Calloway County)

•    Amanda White, Charles Straub Elementary (Mason County)

•    Donnie Wilkerson, Jamestown Elementary (Russell County)

Middle School

•    Timothy Franklin, Paducah Middle (Paducah Independent)

•    Amy Harlan, Garrard Middle (Garrard County)

•    Laura Murphy, Daviess County Middle

•    Laura Peavley, Westport Middle (Jefferson County)

•    Steffanie Skiles, McKell Middle (Greenup County)

•    Jeannette Teater, The Providence School (Jessamine County)

•    April Turpin, W.B. Muncy Elementary (Leslie County)

•    Tia Wood, Ballyshannon Middle (Boone County)

High School

•    Jeremy Byrn, Allen County-Scottsville High (Allen County)

•    Jared Criswell, Wayne County High

•    Lori Knapp-Lindsay, Boone County Ignite Academy

•    Christopher McCurry, Lafayette High (Fayette County)

•    Scott Osborn, Lawrence County High

•    Mary Slone, Floyd Central High (Floyd County)

•    Scott Wade, Newcomer Academy (Jefferson County)

•    Ashley Woodruff, McCracken County High

All 24 teachers will be honored at a yet-to-be finalized event in the fall. At that time the Kentucky Elementary, Middle and High School Teachers of the Year will be announced. From this group of three finalists, the Kentucky Teacher of the Year will be named and will represent the state in the National Teacher of the Year competition.

Lee County teacher wins national award
Jessica Napier (right) was named the 2020 SHAPE America National Health Education Teacher of the Year.

“This award means way more to me than I ever expected and I didn’t realize that until my name was announced,” Napier said. “In that moment, I was overcome with gratitude for every single person who has poured time, love and energy into my life. I feel like this award is a way for me to say ‘Thank you’ to them, and to be able to do that in this way means the world to me.”

Napier is the middle and high school health education teacher for Lee County Schools and has taught health education for 18 years. In 2019, she was named Kentucky’s Health Education Teacher of the Year. She then competed against 12 other state Health Education Teachers of the Year before being named the SHAPE America Southern District Teacher of the Year in November 2019.