Kentucky School Advocate
October 2023

Estes named Russellville superintendent
The Russellville Independent Board of Education has hired Kyle Estes, who led the district in an interim capacity since May, as the new superintendent.  

Estes served as Hancock County superintendent for nine years. He joined the staff at Russellville High School as a math teacher in January. Estes and his family moved to the area after two years in Alaska.

“I am excited about the opportunity to move the district from ‘good’ to ‘great,’” he said. “I am looking forward to continuing the focus on student successes.”

When the board hired Estes, members thanked KSBA’s superintendent search consultant for guiding them through the process.

“KSBA’s superintendent search service does an outstanding job assisting local districts,” said board member Davonna Page. She told Estes that the board is glad he and his family have become a part of the district.

“We’re glad to have you on board and look forward to your leadership in this era,” Page said.

Estes said it was not his plan to become superintendent again.

“The opportunity presented itself and I felt like I could make a difference here. Ultimately, that’ll be the goal, making Russellville Independent a better district for students and for our community,” he told WBKO-TV.  “And it takes all of us, it will take all of us working together to achieve that.”

Estes said his plans for the first year include focusing on three primary objectives: attendance, literacy and rigor.

Boone Co. educator named Teacher of the Year
Kevin Dailey, a middle school social studies teacher at Ballyshannon Middle School in Boone County, has been named the 2024 Kentucky Teacher of the Year.

“I am really blessed and honored to be able to represent 40,000 plus teachers in Kentucky,” Dailey said. “This day is about all of our kids and all of our families. This day is about Kentucky.”

The Kentucky Department of Education and Valvoline, co-sponsors of the award, announced Dailey’s selection at a Sept. 13 ceremony. Dailey (above center) also was named the 2024 Kentucky Middle School Teacher of the Year. Russell County Schools’ Donnie Wilkerson (above right) was named the Elementary School Teacher of the Year and Jefferson County Public Schools’ Kumar Rashad (above left) was named High School Teacher of the Year.Dailey has taught in Boone County Schools since 2021 and has been in education for the past 10 years.

As the 2024 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, Dailey hopes to ensure students across the Commonwealth have access to supportive teachers.

“I tell my students from day one, I already love you,” Dailey said. “I don’t know you yet, but I love you. I think you’re awesome and you’re going to do great things.”

The 2024 Teacher of the Year will receive a $10,000 cash award, while the Elementary and High School Teachers of the Year each will get $2,750. All three winners received a custom-designed glass award commemorating the honor. Nominations for the 2025 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Award will open on Nov. 1.

Lawmakers hear about attendance declines
Many districts could face a fiscal cliff now that the state has returned to funding school districts based off current student attendance instead of pre-COVID numbers, a Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) official recently told lawmakers.

Chay Ritter, KDE’s director of the Division of District Support, explained to the Budget Review Subcommittee on Education that the statewide average daily attendance (ADA) has fallen 4.6% since the pandemic.

To help stabilize funding during the pandemic, the legislature allowed districts to choose to base funding on the 2018-19 or the 2019-20 school year. This year funding is based on ADA from the 2022-23 school year.

Some of the drops were drastic – the top five losses by percentage were: Cloverport Independent (25%), Fairview Independent (22%), Letcher County (19%), Ballard County (18%) and Dawson Springs Independent (18%).

Some districts have already begun to see an attendance rebound, Ritter said.

“There’s a little bit of silver lining. We’ve been kind of monitoring and checking with districts, they’re starting to see an upswing in attendance,” he said. “It is getting a little stronger in some districts, which is exactly what we’d like to see.”

Lawmakers asked if districts would benefit from the SEEK formula using the average daily membership number instead of ADA. Ritter said some districts would benefit but some districts would lose funding.