Kentucky School Advocate
April 2020
KSBA board of directors ratified 
New members of KSBA’s Board of Directors were ratified by the general membership at the business session held during KSBA’s 84th Annual Conference.
The four new members (pictured at right) are Scott Davison, Rowan County; Pamela Morehead, Eminence Independent; Christine Thompson, Livingston County; and Kerry Young, Warren County.
They will each serve a three-year term. Morehead and Young each recently completed a term as a regional chairperson on the KSBA board.
School board member advisory council meets
The Local School Board Member Advisory Council met with interim Education Commissioner Kevin Brown March 9 at the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) to hear presentations from KDE staff on the Impact Kentucky Survey, the goTeachKy teacher recruitment initiative, state budget, legislative session and an early literacy initiative. Brown also updated the group on the coronavirus response.
The council of 13 local school board members, which is designed to advise KDE on how department initiatives and decisions are affecting school boards and districts, had not met in more than a year. The members who attended included: Diane Berry, Nelson County; Linda Duncan, Jefferson County; Ambrose Wilson, Woodford County; Julia Fischer, Bellevue Ind.; Larry Dodson, Oldham County; Carl Wicklund, Kenton County; Charlie Wise, Hardin County; and Joanna Freels, Shelby County.
Photo: Local School Board Member Advisory Council members, from left, Ambrose Wilson, Linda Duncan, Diane Berry and Charlie Wise meet at KDE.
West Point Ind. and Hardin County to merge
When the next school year begins there will be one fewer school district. The school boards of West Point Independent and Hardin County Schools have agreed to merge.
The boards voted in late February to form one district after West Point Independent faced falling enrollment, a lack of revenue and threat of state management.
“This entire process has been about putting children first,” said Hardin County Schools Superintendent Teresa Morgan. “We know that this has been an emotional time for students, families and staff of West Point Independent School. We want everyone involved to know that our district will take excellent care of everyone involved and will make this transition as seamless as possible.”
Hardin does not plan to offer classes at West Point School. West Point Superintendent Sally Sugg said the agreement specifies many things including which schools the students will attend.
“I know it has been a difficult decision for our board members and I’m so proud of them,” Sugg told the Elizabethtown News-Enterprise. “It was a difficult decision for everybody but it is the right thing to do, and that’s true leadership.”