Kentucky School Districts Cut Teachers

Hey Toni. We're glad you're still out there. The education story count in Lexington has dropped like a rock.

This from Toni at C-J:

135 lost positions after budget cuts

More than 1,100 jobs were cut in public schools this year because of the state's budget crunch, according to a final survey released yesterday by the Kentucky School Boards Association.

As part of its survey, the school boards association spoke with superintendents at each of the state's 174 school districts and asked them how cutting their budgets affected their operations.

Brad Hughes, spokesman for the association, said 39 districts reported that they didn't have to eliminate any jobs, but 135 lost at least one certified or classified post before the new school year started.

The survey found 594 certified posts were eliminated, while 575 classified jobs were cut.Certified positions include teachers, counselors and administrators. Classified staff includes bus drivers, cafeteria workers, office clerks, custodians and teachers' aides.

Because of a state budget shortfall, the Kentucky Department of Education cut $43 million for professional development programs and after-school services, as well as money for textbooks. That forced some school districts to make up the difference elsewhere...

Kentucky schools cutting 975 jobs...and David Williams still can't feel any real pain

You may recall our self-esteemed President of the Senate David Williams declared that Kentuckians would not feel any real pain as a result of the recent budget cuts. I'll bet 975 Kentuckians would beg to differ.

This from Raviya Ismail at the Herald-Leader:

Kentucky schools have eliminated about 975 positions, including 455 teachers, to cope with cuts in the state's two-year budget, according to a state education group.

The Kentucky School Boards Association conducted a survey that found nearly 90 of the state's 174 school districts have cut about 455 certified positions and about 520 classified positions from their payrolls. Teachers are certified staff, and teachers' aides, also known as para-educators, are classified staff.

The reductions affect about 1 percent of the state's 42,000 teachers.

“The worry is that (layoffs) will be worse in the '09-'10 school year,” said Brad Hughes, spokesman for the Kentucky School Boards Association.

When adjusted for inflation, the state's funding of K-12 education will decline by $172 million this fiscal year and $171 million next year, according to an analysis by the Council for Better Education.

Specifically, the state budget cut about $43 million from education programs, including a $14.7 million reduction in the main funding formula for school districts. Also hard hit were professional development and after-school tutoring programs...

Education Commissioner at EKU

I had a special visitor in my Educational Foundations class this afternoon at EKU; Education Commissioner Jon Draud. After demonstrating the chemical processes involved in human respiration (just kidding - see photo) Draud helped my students better understand his role, how the education bureaucracy works, and the importance of dedicated teachers in Kentucky's future.

This from Greg Stotelmyer; Photo by Steve Kaufmann/WTVQ:

Expect cuts in teacher positions

because of the state's tight budget.

Kentucky Education Commissioner Jon Draud says he suspects some of the state's 174 school districts will have to cut teacher positions because of the lean budget.

"Some have larger contingency funds than others," said Draud. "Some have more of a student-teacher ratio that would give them an opportunity to make cuts and others do not."

Around 43,000 teachers are employed across Kentucky.

Draud was at Eastern Kentucky University Tuesday to speak to future teachers. The 1960 EKU graduate told education students gathered in a lecture hall that the state does not have its priorities correct and lawmakers have "not kept" their commitments to education.

In 1990 the legislature reformed Kentucky's public education system, raising an addition $1.3 billion.

Draud says while cuts to key programs not funded by the base funding formula (SEEK) will hurt, it's unfunded programs that will hold the state back from meeting achievement goals by the year 2014.

"Where we're really hurting is moving forward some of the things we didn't get funded that we needed to have funded like the individual learning plans, our new information system, on line testing, virtual high school, I can go on and on. I mean, these things are needed to get to proficiency."

My thanks to Dr Draud for his efforts on behalf of our students.

Earlier in the day, Draud met with President Doug Whitlock and a group of university leaders to discuss ways to forge new avenues of cooperation between EKU and KDE. Eastern Kentucky University’s first doctoral degree program is in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and will focus on the improvement of P-12 public education, particularly in rural Kentucky schools.
The Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree program is now accepting applicants for the Fall 2008 semester.

While on campus Draud also met with district superintendents in the Southeast / Southcentral Educational Cooperative. Here's the story from Brad Hughes at the Kentucky School board's Association.

Clearer rules, tougher enforcement coming
for school calendars in 2009-10

Richmond, Ky. – Citing confusion in some districts, Education Commissioner Jon Draud Tuesday pledged to personally review and approve all 2008-09 school year calendars that he determines have made “reasonable” efforts to meet the legislative mandate on the total number of instructional days for next school year.

However, Draud told superintendents in the Southeast / Southcentral Educational Cooperative that new guidelines will be in place for the 2009-10 school year, including a prohibition on the use of banked time – minutes added to the instructional day – to meet the minimum instructional day requirement.

“You are going to be asked to submit, based on criteria to be developed by my staff, what you are doing to try to meet the calendar requirements. I’m going to look at each one of those and if I think that what you are doing is reasonable, I’m going to approve them,” Draud said. “I’m going to be very lenient on the side of the districts because the way this came down on this issue has been, I believe, very confusing.”

Saying his decision was not a popular one with some KDE staff, Draud said he believes the budget language had “unintended consequences” when the legislature required two additional, six-hour instructional days, starting with this school year. The total number of days must be increased based on the number of six-hour days in the 2005-06 school year.

Similar language is in the 2008-10 budget awaiting Gov. Steve Beshear’s signature. However, a change sought by Draud gives the commissioner greater authority to “set parameters for what will be acceptable in lieu of a full six-hour day.

“We’re going to develop those guidelines in advance, and if you don’t follow them, you’re going to lose funding,” he said. “I don’t want you to get the impression that I don’t have the courage to enforce (the guidelines), because I do and I will.”

Draud specifically warned superintendents that the use of so-called “banked time” to meet the minimum number of instructional days is going to end. “I won’t approve things like that in the future,” he said. “I do not see how adding minutes to the day will improve instruction for kids.”

Task forces update

Draud also told the superintendents that more than 200 people have volunteered to serve on his task force to review the CATS test and the state’s overall assessment system. The commissioner proposed the task force in response to Senate Bill 1 during the 2008 General Assembly. That proposal, which did not pass, would have
replaced the CATS test with one less dependent on scoring of writing portfolios and more comparable to measuring student achievement in Kentucky versus that in
other states.

“This is very much a political issue, and I want key legislators on this task force,” he said. “We must get people to come together to decide what is the best possible assessment system for our children.”

He also said a second task force – this one to address schools that are struggling academically -- will produce a set of legislative proposals to create more options for intervention to move those schools forward. “We have to look at the culture and the leadership involved when schools have made no progress for six to seven years,” Draud said. “We cannot just sit by and allow that to continue.”

State budget

Remarking on the state budget on the governor’s desk, Draud said he couldn’t fault the General Assembly for the biennial spending plan it passed based on the available budget. But, he added, “If I had a role in the process, we would have raised new revenues. That’s an easy call for me.

“We have to get people in this state to understand the connection between taxes and services,” Draud said. “The problem is that we have to get people to understand that we need additional resources if we are to move forward.”

Walton-Verona's dropout rate: 0%

There's something seriously missing from the Walton-Verona School District that you hear about at most high schools in Northern Kentucky and across the U.S.

Dropouts.

Since 1999, according to the district, there hasn't been a single one on the Walton-Verona High campus in Walton, thanks largely to an ambitious program targeting at-risk students that involves far more than just drop-out prevention.

Today, the Kentucky School Boards Association will present to the district its PEAK Award at a 2 p.m. event at the high school's library.

The award, short for Public Education Achieves in Kentucky, is given only to two public school districts each school year with programs that, according to the association Web site, "enhance student learning skills and, in doing so, promote the positive impact of public elementary and secondary education" in the commonwealth.

The district's exemplary record at keeping students in class is due in large part to the Schools and Families Empowered Agent program. In its eighth year at Walton-Verona, it was prompted, in part, by the district's ineligibility for state-funded family resource or youth-service centers.

It doesn't have enough financially disadvantaged students receiving free or reduced-price lunch to qualify for such centers, but that didn't mean there wasn't a need for them.

At Walton-Verona, the SAFE point person is Larry Davis, who tirelessly monitors student achievement and attendance from pre-school through the high school to identify at-risk kids.

He has an elaborate system to address those needs.

Davis made 100 visits to students' homes last school year, regularly monitored 52 students, served as a mediator in 19 truancy cases and referred 32 students to medical professionals ranging from physicians to counselors.

He typically keeps track of about 110 students considered at-risk each year...

This from the Kentucky Post.

KSBA podcast on MRSA

Brad Hughes over at the Kentucky School Boards Association posted a one-hour podcast Q&A about schools, staff and MRSA with Dr. Kraig Humbaugh director, Division of Epidemiology and Health Planning, Kentucky Department for Public Health. Good job, Brad.

Find it at KSBA.

Board of Education votes to hire Erwin as 4th Commish, apparently without knowledge of second resume problem

KDE Communications Director Lisa Gross says she "was unable to share" the newest allegations of resume problems before the board went into closed session.

KSBA reported that the board went into closed session at 9:30 EST - twenty-four minutes before she received confirmation of yet another resume problem.

Contrary to assertions made in her application, Erwin was not a presenter at the 2006 Triple I Conference according to an Illinois Association of School Boards official - and supported by Board minutes from District 303, and individuals close to district leadership in St. Charles who refused to be identified.

So...here's the news...

KSBA reports:

The Kentucky Board of Education has voted to hire Illinois superintendent Dr. Barbara Erwin to become the state's commissioner of education.

The vote came shortly after 1:30 p.m. CT following a five-hour closed door session with the board members and Erwin.

The vote was unanimous with the exception of absent member Doug Hubbard, who was out of state. Hubbard had called for Erwin to withdraw after news media outlets reported criticisms of the candidate related to some of her previous superintendencies and noted an error in her resume.

The state board had on its planned agenda an early morning vote on a contract, followed by an introduction of the new commissioner. However, the meeting opened shortly after 8:30 a.m. CT with an amendment to that agenda, followed immediately by the start of the closed session.

And this from the Herald-Leader...and Erwin's resume....and from the Courier-Journal.

State board in lengthy executive session with commissioner candidate

Lisa Gross, Kentucky Department of Education Communications Director confirmed that she had received my message and that the state boarrd of education was still in executive session as of 1PM EST.

The Kentucky School Boards Association reports they are, "in an extended, unplanned executive session to discuss the selection of the state's next commissioner of education."

At its two-day retreat in Bowling Green, the state board opened today's session by amending its agenda and immediately going into closed session at 8:30 a.m. CT.

Joining the members of the state board was Illinois superintendent Barbara Erwin, who had previously been identified by the state board as the leading candidate to replace Gene Wilhoit as the chief executive of the state Department of Education.

Since her public identification at the top of three finalists, Erwin has come under criticism for her leadership style in superintendencies in two other states and for an error on her resume.

The state board's search process also has come into question following the disclosure of those issues by news media outlets, rather than the search firm hired by the state.

An update on the meeting will be posted on the KSBA Web site as soon as action has been taken.

Principals starting to receive long-needed help

Get used to the idea of principals having a sidekick to deal with the nuts-and-bolts side of their job.

The concept of a school administrative manager, which began with a handful of Jefferson County schools in 2003, pushed out into the state this school year and is poised to expand even further next year. The pilot program is being funded in part by the Wallace Foundation, which has a focus on developing education leadership.

"We’ve had a lot of calls and interest," said Debbie Daniels, who oversees the school administrative manager – SAM for short – program at the Kentucky Department of Education. "I think it’s an answer to a struggle that principals and school districts have had for a long time, in that principals don’t have time to do what they need to do instructionally."

Graves County school leaders are sold. The district’s Wingo Elementary added a SAM this year, one of six schools added to the list of pilot sites.

The others include three elementary schools in Fayette County, two in LaRue County and one in Pike County. Daniels said 10-12 more schools will be added next school year, including, for the first time, some middle and high schools. The Jefferson County district will place administrative managers in an additional 20 schools.

At Wingo, school administrative manager Rita Pirtle handles bus unloading, the principal’s schedule, student discipline, after-school event scheduling, playground facilities and school safety. She also oversees custodial and food services functions, budget and finance, and coordinates maintenance and repairs.

"I can’t see how a principal could be expected to do what I’m doing now and be able to have time to get into the classrooms, work with students, work with teachers," Pirtle said.

This from the Kentucky School Boards Association.

Kentucky alternative schools scrutinized

Kentucky’s alternative education programs are getting a comprehensive look following a "snapshot" last year that revealed a host of serious problems.

That on-site sampling of 40 alternative programs in 37 Kentucky school districts turned up programs with shortcomings ranging from not having a six-hour instructional day to students having inadequate instructional materials. In some cases, those problems amounted to violations of state education laws and regulations.

Keith Travis, chairman of the state board of education, which ordered the initial review, said he was disappointed in the findings. "The general gist of it was they weren’t getting the full instructional value, which is unfortunate because many times those are the students who (most) need the full instructional value," he said.

The review was conducted for the board last year by the Kentucky Center for School Safety.

This from the Kentucky School Boards Association.

Flat Gap aide pleads guilty in child slapping case

In a story by Jennifer Lawson, Paintsville Herald, reprinted at KSBA.org:

The attorney for a Flat Gap Elementary teacher’s aide, Violet Castle, accused of fourth-degree assault for slapping a 5-year-old, now says she will enter a guilty plea in Johnson District Court next month.

Castle’s attorney, Ned Pillersdorf, once presented a motion to dismiss the case under KRS 503.110 which states “the force used was necessary when a teacher or other person entrusted with the care and supervision of a minor needs to maintain reasonable discipline.” He also argued that what Castle did was instinct.

A report from Flat Gap Principal Tracy May showed Castle had told May that what she did was “just a reaction” as the child slapped her first as she was attempting to pull him away from his mother on the second day of school.

Agriculture education: new ideas fall on fertile ground

This from Madelynn Coldiron, KSBA Staff Writer.

When agricultural education was established more than 100 years ago, it was focused on production, reflecting an agrarian society, said Curt Lucas, program consultant for agriculture education at the Kentucky Department of Education. When food production became more efficient, the percentage of the population directly involved in actual farming fell.

Enrollment in high school ag programs began to drop in the early to mid-’80s, Lucas said. The state education department revamped the curriculum in the late ’80s-early ’90s to expand course offerings and move away from the traditional program – which Lucas describes as "Ag 1, Ag 2, Ag 3 and Ag 4."

Those traditional offerings have been replaced by 34 courses in six career majors, aligned with Kentucky’s core content. Currently, there are 140 agriculture programs and 250 ag teachers in the state. Those teachers now have a resource in a state-of-the-art Web-based curriculum.

~

Students involved in the agriculture program at Nelson County High School raise and sell plants in the school greenhouse, landscape school grounds, teach primary students about food sources, and learn about ag marketing, horticulture, turf management and biotechnology.

It’s a long way from the three or four basic agriculture classes that school board Chairman Adam Wheatley took when he was a student there. Wheatley, a Farm Bureau insurance agent and a farmer with an animal science degree, echoed a slogan of the FFA: "It’s no longer sows, cows and plows."

Sixty percent of the students in the Nelson County ag program are girls, an evolution that began around the time that course offerings expanded. And while girls make up nearly all the floral design class, they also dominate the enrollment of the freshman ag science class.

"It’s a lot of hands-on and you get outside the classroom," said sophomore Mallory Downs. Senior Jane Graham said her classes in agriculture sales and marketing and ag communications have prepared her for a future career in advertising and graphic design.

Online School Creates Contract Issue: Half of Barren County Virtual School enrollees live Outside the District

This from the Kentucky School Boards Association, by Brad Hughes

In its first year, the Barren Academy for Virtual and Expanded Learning (BAVEL) served 15 students. This year, the Barren County online school is helping 65 students work toward their high school degrees through courses offered by the Kentucky Virtual High School.

Based on enrollment growth alone, BAVEL could be considered good news for all involved. But the fact that more than half of BAVEL’s students do not live within the Barren County district has created what Superintendent Dr. Jerry Ralston calls a "dilemma" which he has asked state officials to help resolve.