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Kentucky School Advocate

January 2017

LEAD the way

School board members and other local education leaders descend on the Capitol Jan. 5 to talk with their representatives and senators for the annual KSBA Legislative Education Advocacy Day (LEAD).

The event usually is held later in a session, but was moved this year to the first week of January, when lawmakers will gather for a somewhat historic gathering.

This will be the first General Assembly to be Republican-dominated, with GOP members holding a super majority in both the House and Senate following the 2016 general election. Nearly a third of representatives will be new to the job. (For a look at the issues that are likely to arise, see story, page 10.)

LEAD participants will gather for a 7:30 a.m. breakfast, to which all members of the legislature are invited, in the Capitol Annex cafeteria. Issue briefings and advocacy tips will be presented from 9–10:30 a.m. Participants then head to legislative offices in the annex to visit their senators and representatives (arranged in advance), with the option of staying for the convening of the two chambers that afternoon.

Registration is online at www.ksba.org, with a Jan. 2 deadline. For more information, please contact KSBA Director of Governmental Relations Eric Kennedy [email protected] at 800-372-2962.

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Newly nominated
Graves County board member Charles “Ronnie” Holmes is in line to lead KSBA’s board of directors. Holmes, with more than three decades of service, has been nominated to become KSBA’s president-elect, a position with a two-year tenure that automatically means ascension to the presidency. David Webster of Simpson County will become president at the association’s Feb. 24–26 conference in Louisville.

Holmes, who owns a contracting business in Mayfield, is currently a director-at-large on the 27-member KSBA board. He has previously represented districts in KSBA’s First Region as regional chairperson on the panel.

In addition to Holmes, a nominating committee also endorsed four people for three-year terms as directors-at-large on the KSBA board. They are:

• Diane Berry, who recently won re-election to a second term on the Nelson County school board.

• Steve Becker, who is in his second term as a member of the Danville Independent board.

• Bill Robertson, who is in his fourth period of service on the Fulton Independent board.

• Davonna Page, a member of the Russellville Independent board since 2003.

Page and Robertson had previously served as regional chairpersons for the KSBA Third and First Regions, respectively.

All those nominated will be ratified by a vote of members attending the annual business meeting, held in conjunction with the conference.

Meanwhile, KSBA President Allen Kennedy will make appointments to fill two director-at-large seats on the board that became vacant this month. Kennedy said he is particularly interested in candidates from the eastern portion of the state, to maintain the board’s geographical makeup as much as possible.

Members of any Kentucky school board not currently represented on the KSBA Board of Directors may get more information by contacting Executive Director Mike Armstrong ([email protected]) or calling him at 800-372-2962.

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Webb repeat

Floyd County Schools Superintendent Dr. Henry Webb received double honors in 2016 when he was named Kentucky Superintendent of the Year by the Kentucky Association of School Administrators. Webb had received the F.L. Dupree Award for Outstanding Superintendent in February at KSBA’s annual conference He received his latest award in December and will represent the state at the national competition.

“The success that has come to the Floyd County Schools under Dr. Webb’s leadership is nothing short of remarkable,” said KASA Executive Director Wayne Young. “He has established a culture of excellence that has produced not only phenomenal academic achievement, but also an embedded vision for future success.”

Webb’s entire career has been spent in Floyd County Schools; he took the helm in 2007 and has overseen its turnaround to District of Distinction, its digital conversion and establishment of an Early College program, among other improvements.

Clarification
In response to a December story on new Districts of Innovation, Education Professional Standards Board Executive Director Jimmy Adams said the EPSB has never denied a waiver request from any district in the Districts of Innovation. Adams said “the EPSB has never had to grant a waiver request because all requests that have been made were allowable under current regulations. Certification is not solely about content and pedagogy knowledge, it is also about the safety of our students and public trust. The EPSB has the authority to hold certified educators accountable if they violate that trust.”