Clark County Public Schools Superintendent Ed Musgrove announced his resignation Tuesday night, telling the Board of Education that the district needs a “strong, positive board-superintendent leadership team.”
“That does not exist, and this district must have it,” he said. “It’s the last thing to happen for us to achieve greatness. I want the new board to have that opportunity, in six months, to achieve a leadership team.”
Funding cuts proposed for Kentucky’s public education system might not go quite as deep, if legislators accept a plan presented this morning by the governor.
Gov. Steve Beshear said he would protect funding for public schools by implementing a 70-cent cigarette tax increase. According to a press release from the governor’s communications office, the $3 billion Support Education Excellence in Kentucky fund and student financial aid for higher education would remain untouched.
The Kentucky Department of Education and the state’s public universities would face a 2 percent cut, half the amount that Beshear warned of earlier this month.
Despite receiving mostly satisfactory scores on his yearly evaluation, Clark County Public Schools Superintendent Ed Musgrove isn’t likely to get a pay raise this year.
Board of Education members struggled to agree on an amount that would strike a balance between rewarding Musgrove’s work and sending a message of fiscal responsibility in tough economic times.
But in the end, after two failed motions that would have raised his salary 1 percent and nearly 7 percent, the board adjourned without resolving the issue.
You know that yearly evaluation you dread? Meeting with the boss, discussing all the accomplishments and missteps of the last 12 months — isn’t it kind of like an early Christmas present each December?
Now imagine you have to do it in front of all your coworkers and anyone else who wants to come. That’s what Clark County Public Schools Superintendent Ed Musgrove will face Thursday night, when the Board of Education conducts his annual review in front of the public for the first time.
Because of a ruling by Attorney General Jack Conway this summer, school districts across Kentucky are evaluating superintendents in open session, instead of using the personnel exemption in the state’s open meetings law.
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Here’s a thought-provoking story published Monday in the Indy Star. Indiana’s School 57 requires that students and parents work hard — or the kid will be sent elsewhere.
Known as a “fundamental school,” parents must “formally agree to sign their children’s homework each day, volunteer at the school regularly and respond to the teachers’ call or notes within 24 hours,” according to the Star.
The Herald-Leader is reporting on its Web site that the Kentucky Department of Education will contact school superintendents today to figure out how it can cut 4 percent from its budget. According to the Kentucky School Boards Association Web site, superintendents have until next Wednesday to analyze how the cut would impact their districts.
Gov. Steve Beshear has asked all state agencies and public universities to prepare for the reduction. In January, Beshear warned of a 7 percent cut across the board, but his proposed budget included no cuts to the attendance-based funding for public schools.
BCTC could also face leaner means — the Kentucky Community and Technical College System has been asked to lower its budget by $8.8 million, according to the newspaper.
Today, students at George Rogers Clark High School will learn a lesson in giving.
Members of FFA and Senior Advisory will knock on doors and deliver Thanksgiving food boxes to needy families — many of them with kids in Clark County Public Schools.
By James Mann
“When they deliver them, and they go see where some people really do live and how they live, it’s a real humbling experience,” agriculture teacher Shane Wiseman said. “In my opinion, this is my favorite FFA project we do.”
Local dentist Dr. Tena Powe warned Central Elementary students that their teeth would “feel a little funny” after she painted a fluoride varnish on them last Friday.
Students leaned over their chairs, straining to watch while their classmates took a turn in the improvised dentist chair — a desk chair pulled aside.
“It’s kind of scary. It’s freaky at first,” fifth-grader Celeste King said. “Once you do it, it’s easy, and you ain’t freaked out anymore.”
By James Mann
Eight teams of local dentists and their staff members visited Clark County elementary schools Friday, applying a fluoride varnish to the teeth of every child who had a permission slip.
An annual financial audit of Clark County Public Schools revealed that the district’s financial status has improved over recent years.
The school district ended the 2008 fiscal year with $2.35 million more in assets than in 2007, and total governmental funds were up to $7.7 million from $5.2 million.
Auditor Tom Sparks called the upward change in assets “excellent.”
With the next round of state testing just six months away, Clark County educators are making plans that they hope will raise scores and the school district’s status in the federal No Child Left Behind program.
The Kentucky Department of Education has formed an Assist and Support for School Improvement and Success Team, or ASSIST, to work with Clark County Public Schools this year.
The four-member team of educators will meet with principals monthly, and two of its members will visit Clark County each week, said team leader Tara Isaacs at Tuesday’s meeting of the Clark County Board of Education.
“I think that’s going to be the great piece of this puzzle that was not working,” Superintendent Ed Musgrove said.
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