Kentucky School Advocate
April 2022

Three superintendents announce retirements      
The Superintendents of Crittenden, Owen and Webster county schools have announced they will retire at the end of the school year.

Crittenden County Superintendent Vince Clark announced on Jan. 25 that he plans to move to Florida to be near his son and his family. Clark, who has been superintendent for eight years, started as a math teacher at the district in 1991.

“I’ve worked or served under nine superintendents and we’re losing one of the best,” said board member Eric LaRue, according to The Crittenden Press.

Clark said he was grateful to the board for trusting him to lead the district.

The Webster County School Board on Feb. 27 accepted the retirement of Superintendent Rhonda Callaway. In her retirement letter, Callaway said she would treasure the relationships and collaboration established during some great times and some challenging times and she appreciates how the board members have always put students first.

“I sincerely thank you for your support and the opportunity to serve the best students and staff in the commonwealth in a very supportive community during the past eight years,” she said according to the Journal-Enterprise. “I’m so grateful this is where my educational journey landed prior to retirement.”

Callaway started at Webster County Schools in 2014 as the director of secondary instruction and was hired as superintendent in 2018.

Owen County Superintendent Rob Stafford also announced he will retire at the end of the school year.

In addition to these three superintendents, as of March 29 at least 12 other superintendents had resigned or announced they will not return next school year, and KSBA Superintendent Search Services were conducting five active searches.

Learn and Earn webinars begin    
KSBA’s popular Learn and Earn webinar series begins its 2022 schedule on April 13. The monthly series offers insightful one-hour live online trainings good for state required training credit. Sessions are held from noon – 1 p.m. (ET) on the second Wednesday of each month at a cost of $50 per session. Pre-registration is required, and space is limited to 100 viewers.

This year’s series kicks off with “How much do your SBDM allocations cost?” Employees are your most important asset, but they don’t come cheap. This session will focus on the district’s annual school base allocation, including the applicable laws, timelines and pitfalls to watch out for in developing the staffing policies pertaining to the allocations. The training, facilitated by KSBA’s training cadre, counts toward state mandated finance training requirements.

Other topics in this year’s lineup include solutions to teacher shortages, women in educational leadership, teaching certification and rank changes, and more.

See the full schedule at ksba.org.

Campbellsville Independent board member dies        

“There is never enough praise that we could say for her,” board chairperson Pat Hall said.

Hall thanked the community for all the love and support they have shown to the board, school system and Taylor’s family.

At KSBA’s Annual Conference, the association honored Taylor and four other board members who passed away over the past year. The board members honored at Annual Conference were Taylor; Franklin Hibbs, Bardstown Ind.; Jenny Bruce, Dawson Springs Ind.; Rosann Sharon, Dayton Ind.; and Jesse Salyer, Johnson Co.