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Adair Co. School Board, Jan. 17, 2013 meeting report In the Thursday, January 17, 2013, regular meeting:
Click on headline for complete story with photo(s) By Ed Waggener In organization housekeeping at the first meeting of 2013, on Thursday January 17, first of the year the Adair County School Board re-elected Floyd Burton (Div 4) as chair, and elected Joseph Payne (Div 3) as vice chair. Superintendent Alan Reed was re-appointed as the Secretary to the Board. The board also voted to continue the regular meeting time. The board meets each third Thursday, at 7pmCT, at the Board Conference Room, 1204 Greensburg Street, Columbia, KY. All members were present for the meeting. In addition to Floyd Burton and Joseph Payne, the members are Greg Willis (Div 1), Quinn Lasley (Div 2) and Mike Harris (Div 5). Chairman Burton recognized new board members Quinn Lasley and Greg Willis, newly appointed by Kentucky Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday to fill the unexpired term of Rebecca Turner. All the Board members were present framed certificates from the Kentucky School Boards Association recognizing each, inscribed, "For service to this community's public schools, Students, staff and citizens," which were signed by Kentucky School Boards Association president Tom Blankenship, and William Scott, Executive Director. January 2013 is Kentucky School Board Recognition Month. The certificates were presented to each board member by Superintendent Reed. In the opening segment, the Consent Agenda, (See: Adair Co. Board of Education Agenda, Jan. 17, 2013) was unanimously approved. Coach Gay, Mr. Holmes, win approval to build new football practice field >Adair County High School Football Coach Travis Gay and David Holmes of the Adair County Youth Football League won approval to build a new practice field. The field will be parallel to the existing playing field in the football complex at 623 Indian Drive. The project will be built at no cost to the school district. The approval to move ahead was given, with a 5-0 show of hands. The motion stipulated that a written agreement between the Adair County Young Football League stipulate that the board would not be liable for any debts which might arise from the project and that a BG-1 (Building & Grounds, a Kentucky Department of Education office, form 1) be submitted prior to the start of work. Treasurer Renae Smith gives budget report Treasurer Renae Smith said that the schools current cash situation is good - for the moment - but that the budget is getting tighter and tighter. "Tax money seems to be coming in slower this year than usual, she said. She noted that the SEEK funds are down, and briefed the board on the future payments resulting from the Kentucky School Board Association's decision to let the Kentucky School Board's Insurance Trust Fund Disband. Adair County is affected along with all the other school boards in the state, all of whom will be assessed a share, based on participation in the fund, to pay for past claims. Superintendent Alan Reed said that Adair County has long since changed much of it's insurance to Ohio Casualty, through local insurance Agency Reed Bros. Insurance, but heavier participation back in the 1990s would result in an assessment in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In more recent years, KSBA has handled only some unemployment insurance. Treasurer Smith said that the district continues to see cuts from state programs, including SEEK funding; she's received correspondence announcing over $100,000 less in SEEK funding for the coming school year. "It really worries me," she said. Board Member Mike Harris noted that the bold decision to close one facility and reconfigure into four schools, late last year is looking better now. "If we hadn't done that," he said, "we'd be in really dire straits." The change to four schools instead of five is anticipated to save $500-600,000 per year. The draft budget, an exercise required by the state was presented for 2013-14, with a caveat from the treasurer, who said, "Without real figures from the state and Federal governments, the budget isn't worth the paper it's printed on." New school change orders result in small net savings on new school Architect Gabe Jones of Sherman, Carter, Barnhart Architects, received approval for two change orders. One will raise the cost of the utilities trenching by $4,500. A second, a change in the kitchen, will mean $5,500 coming back to the district. Mr. Jones showed presented drawings with the green and blue themes on the floor which will help Adair County Primary Center students find class rooms. They'll need only remember they are in the "blue" or "green" wing. Jones acknowledged that red is a great color, but told UL Cardinal van and Vice Chair Joseph Payne (Div 3) that the color hadn't been an option. Despite rainy weather, the project is still on schedule, expected to be ready in time for 2013-14 school term opening day. The board had been scheduled to vote on a landscaping proposal by Sherman, Carter, Barnhart, but his proposal of a $4,000 plan only for the new school now under construction, Adair County Primary Center, was tabled because of a misunderstanding. The board and Mr. Superintendent asked that he present a landscape proposal for the entire campus. Forum on nutrition and physical activity short The District is required to hold an annual public forum on nutrition and physical activity programs each year. This year, as usual, no one from the public asked to speak at the forum. Dayna Feese, Assistant Food Service Director, presented a brief overview of the programs in the absence of Carol Roy, Director of Food Services, Adair Co. School District, who was unable to attend because of a funeral. Ms. Feese said that their are several improvements in the nutritional program, including a fresh fruit and vegetable with each lunch, more whole grain breads, a requirement that there be at least three different items on each students tray. She said that there has been a big increase in Free and Reduced Lunch participants, possibly as a result of changed requirements, and possibly as a result of tough economic times. She said that the Nutrition And Physical Activity program would be on the schools' website, Adair.k12.ky.us soon. Adair County Leadership Academy members introduced Instructional Supervisor Phyllis Curry introduced five Adair County District teachers who will be the first class of the District's New Leadership Academy. She gave the following brief bios on each.
Phyllis Curry updates Board on Race to Top funds A highlight of the meeting was the presentation about the Race to the Top grant which will benefit Adair County and 21 other educational agencies and school districts, including Campbellsville Independent, Green County, Metcalfe, Russell, and Taylor Counties in the 7 County local area. In a summary of the program, Instructional Supervisor Phyllis Curry wrote, "The Adair County school district will receive services and assistance totaling over $1.6 million over four years as part of the larger $40 million dollar grant awarded to the Green River (GRREC) and Ohio Valley Educational (OVEC) Cooperatives recently by the United States Department of Education. "The district will not receive any of the money directly as GRREC will be the fiscal agent for all funds, but the money will still have a huge impact on the students of Adair County. "The funds will allow for a full-time College and Career Readiness Counselor to work with students K-12 to prepare them for post-secondary experiences, whether that is college or career. The person chosen will be a GRREC employee, but will work specifically with Adair County students on a daily basis. "The district and schools will begin work immediately on implementation plans and will be putting together a proposal to submit to GRREC for other programs, services, and materials that will benefit the students of Adair County." At the meeting, Mrs. Curry said that the Race to the Top Grant will actually be a race to Kid-Friendly-Learning. "It's a place where students take responsibility for their own purposeful learning, and leaders develop leaders to enable kid friendly learning," she said, reading from a slide show presentation she and others had prepared. "The implementation team will include you all," pointing to the board of education and Superintendent Reed. "You the board of education, Mr. Reed, and administrators, principals and teachers and support staff." She said that the learning will involve more learning, more learning anytime a student wants to learn. There will be a new emphasis on use of Tablets to learn, and students will even be encouraged to bring their own devices, "BYOD" - for Bring your own device. A part of the grant may be used to have Wi-Fi on the district's school busses. She said that many Adair Countians still don't have access to high speed internet, so the need for internet access on the road is important. And, while most of the funds are spent by the consortiums who applied and won grant, there will be some discretionary spending - with the consortium's consent - and that approval to spend the Wi-Fi on busses will likely be requested. She spoke of an innovation in learning, The Flipped Classroom. In this situation, the teacher gives students material to learn at home. On return, the teacher acts as a facilitator, and, and kids teach other kids. "This is in practice already in Taylor County," she said. She said that the District itself will become more innovative, looking for instructional opportunities and practices outside the traditional and regular school setting. What traditional instruction there is, she said, will be competency based - with the level of instructional competency divided into three classes, and learning will be personalized for each child. Students themselves will be leaders, and leaders will emphasize developing other leaders. The actual dollars for Adair County is $1,623,783.18 million, the entire budget is spent by the consortium overseeing the Race to the Top. Others present expressed excitement with the possibilities. Assistant Superintendent Brenda Mann also participated in the presentation. Superintendent's report Superintendent Alan W. Reed shared, in the Superintendent's Report segment, with the packed Adair County District conference room audience present, his biggest source of insomnia, what's giving him sleepless nights: The Budget. "We've been given a respite from the Fiscal Cliff, but the can was just kicked down the road. The Son of Cliff is just a couple of months away." Besides that, the state sent a letter announcing a $102,000 cut in SEEK (Support Education Excellence in Kentucky) funds cut for the coming school year. Added to the woes, the Kentucky School Board Association sent word that districts which participated in the KSBA insurance funds would be assessed share liability for a loss of funds this year by KSBA, which Adair County and most other KSBA member counties will have to pay for, even though Adair County now uses mostly local carriers. "Our participation, which created the liability, goes back as far as 1990." The board may face as much as a $200,000 assessment. He said that the funding cuts and insurance will impact the schools negatively. Anytime there are cuts, he said, it impacts staff. "If staff is cut," he said, "that impacts kids." He updated the audience on the Army Junior ROTC program saying that the District's application has moved up to 59th in the country. "I fully expect that if we don't have the program at the opening of school in the fall of 2013," he said, "It will happen by 2014." He also reported good news on the process for getting the Somerset Community College Nurses Aid program set up at Adair County High School. "I received word," he said, holding up a copy of the application, "that the application written by Ellen Zornes and others was the best the Kentucky Department of Education has ever received. He said that this will mean that graduates of the program will leave Adair County High School career ready, and more ready to take and pay for college hours. They can be earning while learning, with the certification, he says. Without naming all the names, he said that the application is another example of total community involvement. Two physicians, he said, gave up appointments for most of one day just to help write the application. Security on the campus has been strengthened. Mr. Reed said that since the gun violence at Sandy Hook, CT, awareness has been raised about school safety. "It's the number one concern of the Grandparents I met with this past week. I told them that their grandchildren are the safest in school of anywhere they can be, even though we all know that there are unforeseen dangers everywhere." He said that a retired law enforcement had checked security at all the schools and was unable to gain unauthorized entry without a challenge. "He told us," Mr. Reed said, "that we have done a good job." The Grandparents were part of "The Grand Group," grandparents raising grandchildren, which had visited the campus in January. He reported that new radios have been installed in the county's fleet of school buses, Mr. Reed acknowledged the establishment of a Leadership Academy in the School system, but said he would leave details to Phyllis Curry, the Adair County Instructional Supervisor. He said that he had gotten good news on the School Nurse program from the Lake Cumberland District Health Department. He said that it now appears that the School Nurses will continue to be in each of the District's Schools. He also said that he thinks the return to the traditional semester system, with a six class day, will be a positive step for Adair County High School. That goes into effect in 2013-14. ACHS was on a trimester program. "That was a good experiment," Mr. Reed said. "But it never worked as well as the conventional semester system. Adair County takes giant step toward smoke free campus The Adair County Board of Education took a giant step toward a smoke free campus, by voting to approve a proposal presented by A.C.T.I.O.N. Generation's Ellen Zornes and Jelaine Harlow, Health Education representative of the local health department, to do a grant application by the Adair County Health Department to get money for a publicity campaign and signage for the campus. The vote was 4-1, with Chairman Floyd Burton (Div 4) , Vice Chair Joseph Payne (Div 3), and members Quin "Tweeta" Lasley (Div 2) and Mike Harris (Div 1) voting in the affirmative with a show of hands. Newly seated Division 1 Member Greg "Hollywood" Willis, raised his hand highest, voting no. Mrs. Harlow cited air quality tests done at the high school which showed that air outside of restrooms where smoking had occurred was as much as five times the normal outside air benchmark in nearby classrooms. The effort is part of a plan to make the Adair County School District 100% Tobacco-Free. Mrs. Harlow said that she had talked to the Ag Department, and was encouraged that Agriculture Teacher Kirby Hancock concurs with the plan, and that the Agriculture Department will be rotating demonstration crops, downplaying the emphasis on tobacco. Board gives go ahead to remove Family Education House Adair County High School Plant Operations Manager Ricky Bault recommended to the Adair County Board of Education that this house be razed. Mr. Bault said a disposal of asbestos will be the biggest cost involved. He estimated that at $2,000 and the total cost for removal at under $4,000. Superintendent Reed said that as long as the structure stands, the Board is obligated to keep it insured. The board gave its approval, 5-0, at last night's school board meeting, January 17, 2013. The approval allows Mr. Bault and Supt. Reed the latitude to get the job done as quickly and cheaply as possible. Mr. Bault told the board that a water line on campus will have to be replaced. The line is a 340 feet long, pipe which was put in in the late 60s or early 70s, he said. It will be replaced with a 4", schedule 80 PVC line. End of, Regular Meeting Reports, January 17, 2013 Information About Your Adair County Schools The Adair County School Board meets at 7pmCT, each third Thursday, at the Board Conference Room, lower level, 1204 Greensburg Street, Columbia, KY. Adair County Board of Education: Chairman Floyd Burton (Division 4) Members: Greg Willis (Division 1); Quin "Tweeta" Lasley (Division 2), Joseph Payne, (Division 3), Mike Harris (Division 5) . Superintendent Alan W. Reed. School Board Attorney Jeff Hoover. Assistant Superintendent Brenda Mann, Instructional Supervisor Phyllis Curry; Anita Wethington, Special Education Director; Mike Akin, Title 1 Coordinator; Carla Perkins, Technology Coordinator; David Jones, Transportation Director; Ricky Bault, Maintenance Director; Carol Roy, Food Services Director; Renae Smith, Finance Officer. Becky Bailey, Board Secretary. End of, Regular Meeting Reports, January 17, 2013 Information About Your Adair County Schools The Adair County School Board meets at 7pmCT, each third Thursday, at the Board Conference Room, lower level, 1204 Greensburg Street, Columbia, KY. Adair County Board of Education: Chairman Floyd Burton (Division 4) Members: Greg Willis (Division 1); Quin "Tweeta" Lasley (Division 2), Joseph Payne, (Division 3), Mike Harris (Division 5) . Superintendent Alan W. Reed. School Board Attorney Jeff Hoover. Assistant Superintendent Brenda Mann, Instructional Supervisor Phyllis Curry; Anita Wethington, Special Education Director; Mike Akin, Title 1 Coordinator; Carla Perkins, Technology Coordinator; David Jones, Transportation Director; Ricky Bault, Maintenance Director; Carol Roy, Food Services Director; Renae Smith, Finance Officer. Becky Bailey, Board Secretary. End of, Regular Meeting Reports, January 17, 2013 Information About Your Adair County Schools The Adair County School Board meets at 7pmCT, each third Thursday, at the Board Conference Room, lower level, 1204 Greensburg Street, Columbia, KY. Adair County Board of Education: Chairman Floyd Burton (Division 4) Members: Greg Willis (Division 1); Quin "Tweeta" Lasley (Division 2), Joseph Payne, (Division 3), Mike Harris (Division 5) . Superintendent Alan W. Reed. School Board Attorney Jeff Hoover. Assistant Superintendent Brenda Mann, Instructional Supervisor Phyllis Curry; Anita Wethington, Special Education Director; Mike Akin, Title 1 Coordinator; Carla Perkins, Technology Coordinator; David Jones, Transportation Director; Ricky Bault, Maintenance Director; Carol Roy, Food Services Director; Renae Smith, Finance Officer. Becky Bailey, Board Secretary. This story was posted on 2013-01-18 07:31:20
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