Schooling Aspiring Principals in Clark

This from the Winchester Sun:

Clark County Schools Superintendent Elaine Farris has had many mentors as she has progressed through the educational system at the school, district and state level.

Because of that, she said, she knows the importance of grooming individuals who are looking to move up and someday become administrators...

Farris started an Aspiring Principals Cadre this year for individuals within the school system who want to someday become principals.

Ten teachers and district personnel responded to her call and have been meeting with Farris, Barbara Disney, a former principal and Providence Elementary School principal Brenda Considine once a month since August.

One of their first tasks was to review the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISSLC) standards for school administrators, then assess where they were on those standards and create a professional growth plan to work toward...

“Principals are no longer building managers. The ones who are more instructionally focused and have the expertise and knowledge and can improve student performance are the ones who are being hired now,” Farris said.

The training and experience the class members are gaining will serve them well whether they decide to go on and become a principal or not, Farris said.

“I don’t care whether it’s high school, middle or elementary school, being a principal in the 21st century is a tough job. Maybe some of them might decide after this that they don’t want to be a principal,” Farris said. “But when these individuals go back into their schools and have developed these skills, even if they don’t become principals, they can take those leadership skills and that perspective back to their schools and be even better leaders in their buildings.” ...

Besides, Stumbo might raid the fund

This from the Winchester Sun:

Schools face $1.5M deficit

Clark County Public Schools are already facing financial woes for the 2010-2011 school year.

A draft budget for the 2010-2011 year was presented to the school board at a special meeting Wednesday night. It includes a deficit of $1,553,677 and a contingency plan under the required 2 percent.

Consultant Dr. Bob Wagoner and Clark County Financial Director Stacey Clark presented the budget, and Wagoner encouraged the board to find a way to cut expenses by $800,000. Wagoner said that if the deficit is dealt with over two years rather than all at once, it would be easier for the district to handle.

"It is going to require some very difficult decisions by the board,” Wagoner said. “. … If it is not tackled, short of winning the Powerball, there’s not going to be a good way to do this without doing damage to your instructional program.”

Wagoner said that before the budget is approved, the contingency fund would have to be increased as well.

Although Wagoner said that having 5 to 8 percent in the fund is preferable, the current financial situation will not allow that....

And this from the Daily Independent:

Schools leery of one possible fix for budget

Proposal would take away districts’ rainy day funds

A proposal for the state to turn to school district rainy day funds as budget bandages has area administrators nervous.

The proposal is one of five possible fixes for Kentucky’s red-ink predicament and, if adopted, would fund deficits in the state’s education budget with money districts keep in reserve for emergencies.

“It concerns me because it’s not extra money. It’s money we hope not to have to use but it’s real money,” said Lawrence County School District Superintendent Mike Armstrong.

While worrisome, the proposal floated by House Speaker Greg Stumbo doesn’t come as a surprise, Armstrong said. Stumbo told superintendents at their recent convention that “anything and everything is on the table,” Armstrong said.

The proposal may not be legal because there is no way to determine how much of a contingency fund is state money and how much is local, said Greenup County School District Business Manager Scott Burchett. Burchett is worried, anyway, because the $780 million in gambling revenue Gov. Steve Beshear had been counting on in his
proposed budget faces certain death in the General Assembly.

That leaves a hole the state will have to fill somehow, Burchett said. “That makes us real nervous,” he said...

Commish is Super

This from GRC Online:

After beginning her career in Clark County,
Elaine Farris returns to lead district

For Elaine Farris, it’s been a full circle journey. The career educator began kindergarten in Clark County at the age of five, and after 27 years of professional preparation at all levels, Mrs. Farris is now Clark County Schools superintendent.

“It’s exciting to be back home again,” Mrs. Farris said Tuesday after the Board of Education awarded her a four-year contract as superintendent. “I can’t express to you what this feeling is. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I am so excited about the opportunity.”

Mrs. Farris brings to her new position a wide range of experience in education, from physical education teacher at Odell Gross, to ninth grade principal at George Rogers Clark, to Kentucky Distinguished Educator, to Shearer Elementary principal, to interim Commissioner of Education, a position she has held since January.

In announcing the hiring, Board chairman Judy Hicks said the Board is “excited about the level of instructional leadership, passion, energy, enthusiasm and expectation that Elaine Farris brings to our school district and to the community of Winchester and Clark County.”

Though her resume is sparkling and her accomplishments vast, Mrs. Farris’s strongest points reach far beyond paper. “We have to understand that what this is really all about is the kids,” she told GRC Online after the hiring became official. “I’m a big proponent of hearing the student voice. I will organize a superintendent student advisory council and I will meet with them on a regular basis and hear what they have to say.

Oftentimes we make decisions and we don’t hear from the kids. I look forward to
getting to know my students here, interacting with them and having a close relationship with the kids because that’s really what it’s about.”

Board member B.J. Swope said Mrs. Farris is uniquely qualified. “She was the best candidate and we’re excited about her being here,” he said.

Mrs. Farris and husband, Alvin, have a son, Ryan, who was educated in Clark County schools, and now have three grandchildren in the district, two at Conkwright and one at Central Elementary.

In her comments to a packed Central Office boardroom, Mrs. Farris called Clark County “an outstanding school district” and pledged to take it to the “next level.”

“I appreciate and want to publicly recognize and honor the work that has gone on here and that is currently taking place,” Mrs. Farris said. “Thank you Central Office staff, building principals, faculty and staff for what you are doing and will continue to do for kids. I know that what you do makes a difference. We -- this board team, this district, the school staffs and this community -- must have a collective obligation to provide every child in every classroom every day, a quality education. I know that this is what this board team wants because we discussed it in our interview.”

Mrs. Farris stressed the importance of collaboration between education, business,
faith-based organizations and universities in the community. “We must have that kind of collaboration if we are going to achieve at high levels for all of our students,” she said. “During my interview with this board team, we discussed the opportunity to move this district from good to great. In order for us to make that happen, we have agreed that we are going to focus on the right stuff and we are going to go in the right direction together."

Board member Debbie Fatkin praised each candidate who made the final five. “Each interview was a great interview,” she said. “They all did an excellent job. With Elaine, it was about passion.”

Indeed. And it showed when she took the podium. “I make a commitment that I will work tirelessly to lead and to work with this board and this community to make this school district a great school district,” Mrs. Farris said. “You know why? Because these children -- our children, -- their families, and our community deserve nothing less. I am willing and ready to come back home and move this district to the next level. I am excited about being back home.”

Elaine Farris hired as new superintendent

Clark County’s own Elaine Farris was hired Tuesday as the new superintendent, punctuating an illustrious career in education that includes three local schools.

Farris, who has served since January as interim state Commissioner of Education, was superintendent at Shelby County Schools for three years before joining the state department as deputy commissioner in 2007.

Prior to leaving Clark County to become elementary director for Fayette County Schools in 2001, Farris served as Shearer Elementary principal. Farris lived in Clark County while she worked as a Kentucky Distinguished Educator, and before that, she was assistant principal at GRC, health and PE teacher at GRC, and PE teacher at Odell Gross Elementary, where she began her teaching career.

The board’s unanimous vote met with rousing applause from a packed Central Office boardroom.

SOURCE: Clark County schools by way of KSBA

Clark County School Board to Hire New Superintendent Tonight

"It’s somebody (that) people will recognize the name.”

---Clark Co board member Rick Perry

This from the Winchester Sun:

Clark County may meet its new school superintendent Monday night.

The board of education called a special meeting for 6:30 p.m. Monday solely to hire a new superintendent and allow for his comments. Board members met in closed session Thursday night for an hour and 40 minutes to discuss the five finalists and which one to offer the position.

Until the contract is signed, board members aren’t saying who their first choice is.
“We’ve made a decision,” board member Rick Perry said. “It’s somebody (that) people will recognize the name.”

Board Chairperson Judy Hicks said the members were confident the contract will be signed without complications, or the meeting would not have been called for Monday. During Thursday’s meeting, Hicks said the board authorized the board attorney to draw up a contract...

If "people will recognize the name" of the board's choice then one must consider who has the most name-recognition among the finalists. That's easy. Elaine Farris.

But three of the candidates have Clark County ties including Paul Christy works with the district at present and Lisa Stone used to work there. So that would seem to leave out Donald F. Aldridge and Stephen Dickerson.

Elaine Farris Finalist for Clark County Top Spot

As the first African American Superintendent in Kentucky Elaine Farris is an historic figure. But as Interim Education Commissioner, she agreed not to pursue the permanent position, leaving the board of education unencumbered in its search for the next Commish.

When the superintendency in her home county opened last December, Farris spoke to KSN&C off the record; so we couldn't say anything. Now that Clark County has named her as a finalist its hard to imagine a more qualified candidate.

In fact, one needn't imagine. The Winchester Sun reports:

Five candidates picked for superintendent

The finalists for the Clark County school superintendent position include the state’s interim education commissioner, the district’s operations director and a former principal of Fannie Bush Elementary.

The five finalists were announced Thursday, before the first interview this evening with Paul Christy, the district’s operations director. The other four finalists will be interviewed by the board members next week.

The board has been gearing up for the search process since Superintendent Ed Musgrove announced his resignation in December after three years leading the district.

The initial advertisement of the open position garnered 21 applicants, which a screening committee of school officials, district employees and a parent representative whittled down to five recommendations to the board members. The board then invited the five finalists to interview.

“Hopefully, we’ll have a great decision when we come out of this,” board chair Judy Hicks said. The board hopes to have a superintendent hired by mid-April...

The finalists are:

Elaine Farris: appointed interim education commissioner in January after Commissioner Jon Draud resigned due to health concerns. She was also superintendent of Shelby County’s school system for four years. Farris started as a physical education teacher at Odell Gross Elementary in 1982, before moving to George Rogers Clark High School in 1989. In 1993, she became an assistant principal at GRC. She spent three years as principal of Shearer Elementary before becoming elementary school director for the Fayette County District. (In the interest of full disclosure, Elaine and I worked together in Fayette County. She has been my boss, my student and my colleague. She understands leadership and working with people. Any district would be fortunate to sign her.)

Paul Christy: has worked in Clark County since June 2006 and is responsible for the district’s
transportation, maintenance, staffing allocations, district athletics and purchasing; Served as principal of Frankfort Independent High School for two years, was assistant principal at Franklin County High School for a year prior to that and was principal at Bath County High School for five years. His educational career started as a technology education teacher at Bath County High School.

Lisa Stone: "is presently the education leader" (sic) for the Kentucky Association of School Councils. She taught in Clay County; worked in Clark County for 11 years before becoming principal of Fannie Bush Elementary in 1990. In 1994, she started working in Fayette County as principal at Rosa Parks Elementary and as an elementary school director. (In the interest of full disclosure, Lisa and I worked together in Fayette County.)

Donald F. Aldridge: Superintendent of Eminence Independent School District for three years, following seven years as assistant principal and principal in Estill and Lee counties. He began as a math teacher in Irvine in 1994, according to his resume.

Stephen Dickerson of North Vernon, Ind.: The only out-of-state finalist. He is the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for the Jennings County, Ind., school district since February 2000. He spent 17 years as a high school principal between three Indiana schools as well as three years as an assistant principal and athletic director. He also spent seven years as a science teacher and coach in Indiana

The State Journal's take:

Interim education chief applies for new job

Interim Education Commissioner Elaine Farris is a finalist for a job as school superintendent in Clark County.

The Winchester Sun reports that Farris and four others are being considered for the position in the central Kentucky district of 6,000 students.

Clark County Superintendent Ed Musgrove announced his resignation in December 2008, effective June 30.

If Farris were to leave her post as interim commissioner before a commissioner is hired, the Kentucky Board of Education would name another interim, said Lisa Gross, director of communications for the Kentucky Department of Education.

Farris, deputy education commissioner for the Bureau of Learning and Results Services, was named interim education commissioner in January. Her duties overseeing the state's public education system began Feb. 1...

Gross said Farris, a native of Clark County, notified the Board of Education early on that she would apply for the position if it came open.

"We are not concerned," Gross said. "We support her in whatever endeavor she wants to take."

Infinite Nightmare

I recently had occasion to chat with my tax accountant. He was a parent at Cassidy and knew I remain interested in how the schools are doing. So he mentioned to me that Fayette County was having some problems implementing Infinite Campus, the state's new student records database.

I knew that KDE had acquired a new system and that there were protests about it. In fact, the last time Fayette County looked at upgrading student information systems, I was part of a district task force that recommended the purchase of services from Software Technology Inc (STI). The state soon followed suit and required STI for all districts (except maybe Jefferson County).

But things change and KDE felt a newer more capable system was needed.

I no longer have school-aged children, at least not K-12, and so I hadn't heard anything about the new system and have never had occasion to use it. Further, I didn't devote time to look into the complaints my accountant shared.

But Clark County superintendent Ed Musgrove has looked into it. And, he doesn't like what he sees.

This from the Winchester Sun:

Infinite confusion

A Web-based system that was intended to streamline student records in Clark County Public Schools has only made things worse and could cost the district state funding, school district administrators said this week.

Clark County was one of 16 pilot sites that launched the Infinite Campus system in October, along with nearby Fayette County and Paris Independent school districts.

Infinite Campus is designed to give teachers, parents and students 24-hour access to information about grades, testing results and attendance, but Superintendent Ed Musgrove said the program is not working for Clark County. He estimates that serving as a pilot district has cost Clark County approximately $20,000 in lost hours, and immeasurable stress and frustration.

"I wish we had not been a pilot school," Musgrove said. "But hindsight is always perfect." Director of Pupil Personnel Diane Akers said Infinite Campus does not track attendance the same way as the previous system, and district administrators are "very anxious" about the accuracy of Clark County's average daily attendance numbers, which are used by the state to calculate the amount of funding each school district receives. Other pilot districts are facing the same concern.

That report will be sent to the state June 30.

"The new system does not track it (attendance) minute by minute, and the codes (used previously) did not convert over," Akers said. "The attendance clerks have had to go back and manually calculate it (attendance) with pen and paper. It's almost like we've backed up in a lot of ways."

An attendance clerk housed at Central Office, for example, used to complete her work in four hours a day, Akers said. Since the switch, she has spent eight hours a day on attendance and still hasn't been able to keep up.

Akers said it takes 20 to 30 minutes to enter each family's information in the Infinite Campus system, which took just three minutes with the previous system. Teachers have entered student grades into the system, and then turned their computer on the next day to find it missing.

Akers said she is concerned that the state is about to introduce Infinite Campus to
more school districts, despite the bugs that have not been resolved in pilot districts. According to the Kentucky Department of Education Web site, the system should be phased in statewide by December 2008.

"They're going to start converting people, and these other things are still not working for us," she said.

Before Clark County first launched the program in October, it conducted three successful "rollovers" of student information from the old system. Then an Infinite Campus employee made changes to the way the transfer worked, Akers said, and didn't notify Clark County before a fourth rollover was conducted.

"A lot of the data didn't roll over the same way," she said. "I have been told that out of the 16 pilot districts, our conversion was the worst."

District officials agreed to serve as a pilot district because they were promised an easy process, Musgrove said. When the switch didn't go as well as expected, the responsibility was shifted to school districts to fix the problem, he said.

"Our concern is that when we agreed to be a pilot, the part that sold us on this was that throughout this year we would receive all necessary training, equipment - everything necessary to make this pilot successful," Musgrove said.

"Being a pilot certainly wasn't free. When it didn't work ight, I do not believe Infinite Campus stepped up to the plate and shouldered their share of the burden."

Pilot districts were offered free training at the beginning f the implementation process, Musgrove said, but were later offered additional training at a cost of $6,000 per class. The expense would have been even greater, Musgrove said, because the training was out of state and travel and lodging costs were additional.

Clark County Public Schools, which was placed on the state's financial watch list last year for dropping below a 2 percent budget contingency, couldn't afford the costly training, Musgrove said. Clark County employees then started seeing their work orders fall to the bottom of the priority list at Infinite Campus.

"What we believe is that once the pilot wasn't going as seamlessly as everyone thought, in a roundabout way, it came to us that if we would agree to send our employees to this additional level of training, it would allow us a better understanding of how to correct the work orders as they were processed," he said.

"Since we didn't have this training, our requests were going to the bottom of the pile, and others, who had completed the training, were somehow going to the top of the pile."

Akers also said Clark County employees made several complaints to Infinite Campus, which she thinks could have contributed to work orders being delayed.

The new Web-based system replaced one called STI, which had been in place in Clark County for 10 years. STI cost the district at least $15,000 a year to run.

Last August, Software Technology Inc., the company that runs STI, filed suit against the Kentucky Department of Education and others, claiming that the Department of Education and the state Finance Department "engaged in fraud, misrepresentation and unlawful acts" to prevent STI from being awarded the contract to continue to run the statewide student information system.

The suit alleged that the Department of Education and Jefferson County Public Schools made a "secret unlawful pact" to keep STI from receiving the contract.

In a December 2007 letter to Commissioner of Education Jon Draud, V. Wayne Young, executive director of the Kentucky Association of School Administrators, claimed that Infinite Campus "doesn't meet the needs of local districts" and called it a "labor-intensive nightmare."

Young said pilot school districts reported their Infinite Campus experience was "universally abysmal" - tasks that take more time to complete, longer reports and more complicated instructions.

According to the Franklin County Clerk's office, the case was last active on Jan. 9, when a motion for mediation was filed.

There is also concern among Clark County administrators that the state budget will not have enough money next year to fund the Infinite Campus system. The program is already under funded in this year's budget, Musgrove said, and any additional cost will have to come from the district's contingency fund.

"Because they (state) are requiring districts to have it, they said they would pay for it," Akers said. "Now that they're having a budget squeeze they might divert that cost over to us." Clark County plans to launch a parent portal in August, which should allow parents to use a code number to access information about their children anytime, from any computer with an Internet connection.

"This has been the most difficult pilot...Clark County has taken on," Akers said. "We've had many difficult days, but we're beginning to see some progress."

Musgrove said the difficulty is felt through all levels of Clark County schools.

"All of us here miss STI immensely," he said.

Judge halts Clark plan to shuffle students

WINCHESTER --This week, a group of frustrated Clark County parents claimed a small victory in a lawsuit they filed against the Clark County School Board and the Kentucky Board of Education

A Franklin Circuit judge granted an injunction Wednesday that prevents the Clark County School Board from implementing a plan that would close four elementary schools, consolidate the two county middle schools and build a new building for the county's only high school.

Clark County Citizens for Quality Education filed the lawsuit in July. The group alleges that the school board didn't follow proper procedures in developing the District Facilities Plan that outlines the changes to the school district.

The lawsuit is another piece of a debate that has riled parts of the community and put school board members on the defense. In May, critics of the facilities plan challenged board member Rick C. Perry's residency, saying that he didn't live in the district he was elected to represent.

Perry, who was later cleared of the accusations by the attorney general's office, said he was being attacked because he voted in favor of the facilities plan.

For residents who are critical of the plan, their fight represents an attempt to take a stand against a trend across Kentucky -- rural counties losing small schools in favor of larger, consolidated schools...

This from the Herald-Leader.

George Rogers Clark student receives racial note

A 16-year-old black student at George Rogers Clark High School says he received a threatening, racially-charged note at school two weeks ago, and four white students were arrested Wednesday, charged with terroristic threatening in the incident, according to one of their mothers.

Ronda Hopewell, the mother of the black student, Deonte Skinner, says she is shocked something like that would happen in 2007.

“I can’t believe there is still prejudice around here,” Hopewell said. “I saw on the news where a student got a threatening letter, but here in Winchester? I couldn’t believe that.”

In the note were two crude drawings that depicted someone, possibly Deonte, being whipped and lynched, an image of the Confederate flag, and a scribble that his mother says is his grave.
The note also includes the phrases “The south will rize again” and “I had a dream white power.”
But Lois Cotton, mother of one of the boys charged with the crime, said her son was arrested over a drawing that was altered. She said all four boys admitted to drawing the pictures, but names and words were added later.

They were suspended for three days. Cotton said Winchester Police arrested the boys during school Wednesday.

“I agree that they did need (to be) suspended for the drawings,” Cotton said. “I didn’t complain one bit about that, and I wouldn’t have complained if they got the full 10 days (suspension).”
Cotton also said her son and the others were questioned without their parents present. She said she is considering a civil suit against school administrators...

This from the Winchester Sun.

Clark plan calls for two new schools

Four older elementaries would be closed

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports:
A planning committee charged with reviewing schools in Clark County has recommended that a new high school and elementary school be built and that the district close four other smaller, aging elementary schools as part of a plan to be presented to the school board Thursday.

Doug Christopher, vice-chair of the Facilities Planning Committee says the changes are designed to be equitable to Clark County students. He says some elementary students attend a school with as few as 110 students, while other schools have as many as 600 students.

Architects have estimated it will cost the district about $60 million to implement the plan, including building the new high school. The price tag will require raising property taxes by 5 cents from 39.7 cents per $100 of assessed value to 44.7 cents, Christopher said.
And some parents don't want the small schools to close.

"Closing small schools, raising taxes -- I don't think there is anybody in the county that likes us right now," Christopher said. "But we looked at this from an equality standpoint and what's best for the students."

The plan, which has been in the works since November, centers around a new high school.
There are 1,650 students attending George Rogers Clark High School, which was designed to hold only 1,500, Christopher said.

He said the new building would hold 1,800 high school students and would feature an area for vocational classes and a freshmen academy, or a separate wing designed to separate freshmen as they transition into high school.

If the school board approves the committee's plan Thursday, the new high school could be up and running as early as 2010, Christopher said.

He said the old high school building would then be turned into a large middle school and the county's two middle schools -- Conkwright and Clark -- will be converted into elementary schools.

Five of Clark's eight elementaries -- Central, Fannie Bush, Hannah McClure, Providence and Pilot View -- were built in the 1950s and don't have central air conditioning.

Under the plan, Fannie Bush, Providence and Pilot View will close, as will Trapp Elementary. Hannah McClure will be turned into a preschool.

That would leave only five elementary schools: the two former middle schools, Shearer, Strode Station and Central. But the Central building is aging and plans call for a new facility to be built and the current structure to be torn down.

More from the Winchester Sun. "Facilities plan passes despite parents' protests"