~from the Sturgis News
Board Hears Reports; Holds Finance Corporation Meeting
Following the Pledge of Allegiance led by Sturgis Elementary student Eli Knight, the Union County Board of Education opened their Monday night meeting with recognition of members of the Sturgis Elementary STLP, the UCHS Cheerleaders and the district spelling bee champion Kendra McDowell. The county’s three media outlets--WMSK, The Union County Advocate and The Sturgis News--were also recognized for their contributions to the schools.
When the business session opened, Director of Pupil Personnel Steve Carter provided the seventh month attendance report. Attendance for the last month was at 93.10 percent, low for this time of year, Carter said. He also noted that in an effort to determine the cause of the low attendance he has reviewed excessive absences, but those absences are lower than they have been the previous two years. Carter said the district will continue to work to improve attendance.
A student achievement report presented by Sherri Collins shows that the high school had 100 percent participation by high school juniors in state ACT testing held on March 5. Collins also told the board that students are being assessed for WorkKeys, a test of foundational skills required to be successful in a career. WorkKeys allows students to earn The National Career Readiness Certificate; testing for NCRC covers three areas: applied math, reading for information and locating information. 124 of UCHS’s seniors qualify for WorkKeys; they will continue testing through May.
Collins also reported that alternate K-Prep testing will take place between April 8 and May 24; end of course exams (EOC) will be completed between April 29 and May10 and K-Prep will be taken during the last 14 days of school (May 6-10). Third through eighth graders and tenth and eleventh graders will take the K-Prep, a state mandated assessment.
MIchelle Hall, principal of Sturgis Elementary School, introduced three teams of teachers from that school. The teachers discussed what they are doing at their grade levels to prepare students for the future. The first, second and fourth grade teachers all stressed that standards for students are more rigorous now than ever before. During the presentation a group of second graders showed board members how they are learning to “skip count.” The fourth grade teachers challenged to board members to determine if they are “smarter than a fourth grader.” They were given a packet of common assessments given to county fourth graders for their review and to see if they know the material. First grade teachers explained how they chart student achievement and how they encourage students to record and chart their own achievements.
Following the presentation of the financial report by David Waggener, Georgiann McCord asked the board to approve the district evaluation plan. Union County adopted the Kentucky Professional Growth and Effectiveness System design for certified evaluations. Each district in the state must adopt an evaluation plan that is either state developed or they must design a plan equivalent to the state plan. In 2013-14, several teachers from Morganfield Elementary will serve be part of a pilot program for the new evaluation system with full implementation in 2014-15. The new plan goes beyond NCLB minimum Highly Qualified Teacher standards. The program requires that administrators who conduct teacher evaluations have 20 plus hours of training and testing.
The board also approved the 2013-14 school calendar which reflects an opening date for students of August 8. The last day of classes for students will be May 16, 2014. The calendar provides for 175 days of student instruction, four professional development days, four holidays, and one opening and one closing day. Several early release days are also built into the calendar.
Ten items were approved by consent, including KSBA training hours, travel requests and reports, personnel acknowledgement, critical shortage for emergency certified subs, and first reading of KSBA policy and procedure interim update.
Following the regular meeting of the board, which concluded at 6:55, the group reconvened in a meeting of the Union County School District Finance Corporation. The purpose of that meeting was to approve consideration for refunding revenue bonds. David Waggener told the board that should the bonds sell, the district will save about $120,000 over a 13 year period. The board approved the request, and the meeting adjourned.