In a continuing effort toward creating a collaborative culture, please find a summary of the Scott County Board of Education meeting on January 14, 2016. This is being forwarded to all employees and parents/community via e-communications. This is merely a summary and not to be perceived as official board minutes.
The Scott County Board of Education met on January 14, 2016 at 6:30pm at the Great Crossing Office Complex. Students in the Scott County High School Y-Club provided an overview of the organization and recent accomplishments at the Kentucky Youth Assembly conference. Student Y-Club is a student-run organization that promotes civic engagement, servant leadership, and social responsibility through model government, service learning, and advocacy. Fifty (50) club members attended the KYA conference where the chapter won the KYA Statesmanship Award for the second time. This is awarded to only one school at each annual conference. The SCHS chapter also received the Excellence Level Service Award.
Next, the school/board member dialogues continued with Royal Spring Middle School and Interim Principal Keith Griesser. There are 824 students and 90 staff members at the school. During his first year as principal, Griesser has met with each staff member seeking feedback to help the school continue to improve. RSMS again scored Distinguished on state assessments. The school promotes the Three R’s: Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships. RSMS students were on hand to share persuasive speeches assigned by teacher Celeste Lehr. Principal Griesser applauded both the efforts of students as well as the successful writing program at RSMS developed by teacher Willow Hambrick and implemented at both Anne Mason and Eastern Elementary schools. Griesser and members of the board continued discussion on the need for mental health services throughout the district. Superintendent Putty added that partnership with bluegrass.org and the University of Kentucky/WEDCO Beautiful Minds program make additional resources available to students.
During the Superintendent’s Report, Superintendent Patricia Putty announced the upcoming Toyota Classic basketball tournament and KSBA conference. Superintendent Putty was proud of the students in attendance which are a testament to why we are here and illustrate the success of our district. In other business, the board approved minutes, donations, fundraisers, items for surplus, and grants. Next, members amended the 2015-2016 school calendar. February 15 will now be a regular instructional day for students. Students will not attend school on March 8 to accommodate a special election to fill an open seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives. March 8, 2016 will be used as a collaborative day for district certified staff but students will not be in school.
Next, the board approved Barnes Dennig to perform the 2015-2016 financial audit before Assistant Superintendent for Student Learning Maurice Chappell presented an overview of the District Improvement Plan which identifies concrete, realistic goals for improvement in reading and math, college and career readiness, and graduation rate, as well as goals to implement new science and social studies standards. Members approved the 2016-2017 District Improvement Plan as written. Member Jennifer Holbert also discussed the need for updates to the Scott County Schools website.
The Scott County Board of Education appointed Maurice Chappell to the Evaluation Appeals Committee with Paul Krueger, Director of Elementary Education, serving as an alternate. Next, members conducted a first reading of the amended attendance policy and then tabled the first reading of three additional policies before reviewing procedures and job descriptions as listed. After the financial statement, approval of current bills, personnel report, and field trip report, members discussed a continued relationship with Chenoweth Law Firm for legal counsel as needed. The board also seeks to develop a relationship with a local attorney for primary legal counsel for the Scott County Board of Education.
The next meeting of the Scott County Board of Education will take place on Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 6:30pm at the Great Crossing Office Complex.