Kentucky School Advocate
April 2023

LSBMAC meets at Annual Conference         
A panel of school board members who advise the Kentucky Commissioner of Education met on Feb. 23 at the Galt House. The Local School Board Member Advisory Council, chaired by Simpson County board member David Webster discussed a variety of topics with Kentucky Department of Education staff.

Matthew Courtney, policy adviser in the Office of Continuous Improvement and Support, explained the department’s guidance on the use of student preferred pronouns. Board members also heard an update on the legislative session from KDE’s Director of Governmental Relations Brian Perry.

Chay Ritter, director of the Division of District Support, discussed the impact of moving from using average daily attendance to using average daily membership, as some have suggested.

Oldham County board member Larry Dodson asked what can be done for districts that are “SEEK losers,” meaning that as their assessments increase, they lose state money under the SEEK formula.

Ritter explained that board members could advocate for changes with their legislators.

“There will always be a good opportunity through these K-groups, KSBA being one of them, to have this discussion with legislators,” he said. “The more you educate, the better chance you have of getting in the room with them and kind of explaining the problem.”

The meeting was the second to be held in conjunction with KSBA’s conferences. The next advisory council meeting will be held at the Summer Leadership Institute in July.

Local district tax rates
At its February meeting, the Kentucky Board of Education approved school districts local tax rates for the 2022-23 school year.

This school year, 94 of the 171 school districts voted to set the rate that generateed 4% more revenue than the previous year, 23 districts choosing the compensating rate – the rate which would bring in the same amount of revenue – and 54 district decided on another rate. The other rate could be higher or lower than the compensating rate.

The 94 districts passing the 4% rate is the highest approving the 4% revenue rate in the past eight years.

Schools encouraged to submit best practices
The Kentucky Department of Education’s Best Practices and Sustainability website is open for submission of best practices from schools and districts.

The Best Practice website is designed to serve as a clearinghouse to promote practices that motivate, engage and provide measurable results in student learning, achievement and school/district processes. Any aspect of a school system that can impact student outcomes through improved instruction or operations can be submitted as a best practice.

Best practices should be submitted by May 1 to be considered for acknowledgement at the Continuous Improvement Summit, scheduled for Sept. 25-26. For more information, email [email protected].