Kentucky School Advocate
October 2024
Q. With your appointment, there are now four former superintendents on the Kentucky Board of Education. How will your experience as superintendent inform your decisions on the board?
A. I’ll be able to bring a view of how everything impacts the schools. Having been a superintendent helps us be realistic about how things impact school districts and the demands on administrators and our teachers. I have always believed if we’re going to add something in the schools, we must find something that may be not as impactful and get that off the plate so we can keep people from being overwhelmed.
Q. The other former superintendents on KBE served in larger districts. Why is it important for small, independent districts such as Ludlow to have a voice on the board?
A. Coming from an independent, you hear a lot about school choice, and I believe independents are a big choice for kids in our Commonwealth. Independents usually have a small-city type focus, and we’ve been able to meet the needs of our community by listening to it. When I became superintendent, we wanted to make sure our students had access to postsecondary options, like dual credit, the trades, internships. Last year 95% of the senior class had those outside experiences; almost 80% of our kids receive at least one set of dual credit classes before graduation. So that’s where it can be different. In a big county, there are so many different schools. As an independent you have kids that go longitudinally straight through the system. So many of our kids face barriers, and as a small independent district we could keep a close eye on students since we had them for 13 years.
Q. Just how small is Ludlow Independent?
A. Approximately 850 students K-12.
Q. As you joined the board, another former Kentucky superintendent, Robbie Fletcher, became education commissioner. What are the benefits of having a former Kentucky superintendent lead KDE?
A. His view of how KDE interacts with school districts will be insightful; he’ll also understand the positives and negatives of the SEEK formula. As someone who has worked in Kentucky his whole career, he understands the work we have to do with our legislators. Whatever KDE decides, we must make sure that we get the legislators on board. He has relationships with superintendents throughout the state and understands the struggles they face. Dr. Fletcher also knows that superintendents need the department to listen. And he understands that every kid in Kentucky deserves the best opportunities and that those opportunities will look different in different parts of the state.
Q. So, you see his time as an educator in Kentucky as a big advantage?
A. Having all the relationships within the state is invaluable. It will save him a year’s work. He’s been on committees that worked with legislators and superintendents from other districts. He understands who can help him get the message out. He also understands there are people that he’ll have to work harder to get on board. He knows that because there are former superintendents on the state board, he will get difficult and thought-provoking questions. I think he will have his vision, but he’ll also listen, and if he feels there’s something we need to make a shift on, I think he’ll be open to that.
Q. KDE will be working to reimagine the accountability and assessment system. Why does the system need to be changed and what would an ideal system look like to you?
A. We’ve locked into that one test score for years. But when you talk to businesspeople, they want kids who are creative, think on their own and problem solve. I think we are going to have to think about what we can offer students and understand it is not just a test score. We have kids with many different skill sets, and we need to give them opportunities other than one test score.
Also, I don’t think more is better. We need to listen to the people who are implementing these things, and sometimes we need to slow down a little. The state and legislators understand there need to be some changes, but we also need to make sure that we take time to listen and get all of the information before we start down a path that may not always be the answer. We’re going to need a lot of flexibility, but we also are going to need to make sure that our kids have the reading and math skills, which I think are the basis to being successful, and then allow them to build on whatever interests or strengths they have.
Before the Sept. 13 football game, Ludlow Independent Schools honored former Superintendent Mike Borchers by naming the newly renovated field, complete with red turf, after him.
Photo provided.
Q. About 18 months from now, Ludlow will have wrapped up $40 million in renovations to its campus. Why are these major improvements important to the district?
A. We’ve had a lot of success academically with our kids but one of our main goals was to have the best facilities to offer our kids anything that you’d find elsewhere in the state.
Our building was built in 1935 and was kept up well but had had few renovations. So, there were rooms that had only one or two outlets, which was a challenge with the current technology. This project gives us the newest technology, including a sound system for the hearing impaired and 80-inch TV screens for the visually impaired. There will be a new auditorium, two cafeterias instead of one so we don’t have to start feeding kids at 10:20 a.m. We’ve attached our gym to the main building, and we have a new districtwide library with a huge media center to replace two small, outdated libraries; an art room and broadcasting studio; the latest in security measures. We’ve updated all our athletic facilities. So, our facilities will match the academics that we’ve been achieving. And then our goal will be to see how much more we can achieve with all these new facilities. Our school is the center of our community. Everything revolves around it and its success.
Q. The district recently renamed its new red turf football field in your honor. How did it feel to be recognized in that way?
A. It was humbling and a very, very big honor. Our stadium is a huge meeting area for our community. It’s where all our school and youth sports are played.
Q. Your 13-year tenure as superintendent was one of the longest in the state, with the average superintendent serving less than four years. Why has superintendent turnover increased?
A. The job has many demands: academics, students’ and staff’s social and emotional needs, financials, constraints on school districts. The political climate makes it more difficult. Ludlow had a very stable board that kept a laser focus on what was best for students and staff. In the last 10 years, we’ve had the same administrative staff and that stability allowed for us to continue our vision. When you have turnover, it takes years to catch up. We worked to have a good culture. Our board made sure our teachers and staff had competitive salaries and we worked hard to have a community that respected our educators and worked well with them. You don’t see that everywhere. When there’s a lot of turnover, it can be hard to keep everyone going in the same direction and that leads to frustration and burnout.
Q. Supporters of Amendment 2, which would allow public funds to be spent on private schools, say parents need school choice. What is your opinion on the amendment?
A. I think public funds need to go to public schools. In terms of school choice, several years ago, we had legislative action so that students can go to any public school. So, there’s a huge school choice option in northern Kentucky with all the independent and county school districts. To me, when we talk school choice, we need to look at what the choice is and realize there is a lot of good public school choice. Studies show public school funding isn’t where it should be and, until that is addressed, I don’t see how we can divert public funding to something else. In Kentucky, 90% of youth are educated in public schools. If you don’t have that 90% funded, why do you want to divert the funding somewhere else?