|
Dear Colleagues:
I had the privilege this morning to be invited to the governor’s press conference where he announced his education budget for the next two fiscal years.
The funding priorities for the Kentucky Board of Education and the Kentucky Department of Education this budget cycle include funding all-day kindergarten, funding school transportation costs and restoring funding for professional development for our public school teachers. All of these are supported by the governor’s budget proposal, along with other investments that will contribute to the quality of education for Kentucky’s public school students.
One potential game-changer for Kentucky's youngest students in the governor's just-announced budget is full funding for universal pre-kindergarten. As educators, I know you understand the importance of a high-quality early education for students. Universal pre-K is an exciting possibility that could pay big dividends down the road.
The governor's budget also would full fund transportation, which if it passes, would provide a huge relief for all of your districts and free up funding for other important priorities.
The House introduced its own budget bill last week, which also is positive for our students and our schools. Both bills raise SEEK over both years, both fully fund all-day kindergarten and both provide funding for professional development. Although we know that proposed budgets change over the course of a legislative session, I am hopeful that the next biennial budget will provide some much needed resources for our schools.
I also know many of you are running into questions right now about where your teachers need to work from during nontraditional instruction (NTI) days due to the rapid rise of the omicron variant of COVID. Senate Bill 1, passed during last year’s special session, makes that question a little more complex. In short, it depends on whether the NTI day is due to COVID.
Section 7 of SB 1 says:
“When a school district utilizes a student attendance day under an approved nontraditional instruction plan due to COVID-19, or utilizes remote instruction under Section 5 of this Act, all certified staff and any classified staff designated by the district shall be required to perform work duties on-site during the student attendance day, except for employees quarantined due to COVID-19 who the district determines can fulfill their job duties remotely.”
My reading is that Section 5 expired on Dec. 31, 2021, so it doesn’t apply at this point. However, Section 7 also applies to situations “when a school district utilizes a student attendance day under an approved nontraditional instructional plan due to COVID-19.” There is no time limit on Section 7, so it seems that teachers would be required to work on-site during a day when a district is closed due to COVID. Closures for other health and safety reasons – such as the flu – would not require teachers to work on-site.
I know this is a confusing situation and I would like you to know that I urged changes to the piece of legislation before it passed last session. Please keep this email handy when deciding what is best for your district in the days ahead.
Please remember that we will be having the January Superintendents Webcast tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET. This month’s webcast will include a disaster recovery superintendent huddle with special funding information from the U.S. Department of Education, COVID-19 updates with Deputy Commissioner Dr. Connie White from the Kentucky Department for Public Health (DPH); legislative updates, ESSER integrated data reporting, an OSHA and ETS update, an update about recent diversity, equity and inclusion hires and a communications update. As usual, you can watch the webcast on the KDE Media Portal and you can ask your questions in advance using this Google form.
I also want to let you know that you will receive a special edition of the Monday Message late this afternoon to provide more information about updates to the DPH COVID guidance for schools. You will receive that after the governor’s press conference, scheduled for 4 p.m. ET today.
Kind regards,
Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.
Commissioner and Chief Learner
Kentucky Essential Workplace Ethics Instruction
KRS 158.1413 establishes the requirements for Kentucky’s Essential Workplace Ethics Instruction program. It requires that, by Sept. 1, 2019, and every two years thereafter, the superintendent of each school district shall provide to the commissioner of education and the Kentucky Workforce Innovation Board a report describing the school district's essential workplace ethics programs and how they are being implemented at each school.
A summary report of the 2021 Essential Workplace Ethics data can be found here. For more information about this report, email Scott U’Sellis from the Kentucky Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education.
Feedback Sought on Visual and Performing Arts Standards
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is seeking feedback on the current Kentucky Academic Standards (KAS) for Visual and Performing Arts.
KRS 158.6453 calls for the KDE to implement a process for reviewing all academic standards and aligned assessments beginning in the 2017-2018 school year. The schedule calls for one or two content areas to be reviewed each year and every six years after that on a rotating basis.
Standards outline what students are expected to learn in each grade to successfully transition to the next level of learning. The curriculum or methods and resources used to teach the standards is a separate issue and is decided at the local level.
To provide feedback on the KAS for Visual and Performing Arts, access the public comment form. Due to the amount of text within the survey, it is recommended that surveys be completed on a full-size computer or laptop screen. Participants are provided the opportunity to give feedback on all standards or self-selected areas of interest. Feedback on the current KAS for Visual and Performing Arts will be collected through Jan. 31, 2022.
Questions on this process can be directed to standards@education.ky.gov.
LRP DirectSTEP eLearning Courses and Special Ed Connection Access
The Kentucky Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Early Learning, is partnering with LRP to provide access to LRP DirectSTEP eLearning courses and Special Ed Connection. Through this partnership, all Kentucky school district staff have access to LRP DirectSTEP eLearning courses and Special Ed Connection at no cost to the local school district.
The LRP DirectSTEP eLearning courses explain best practices and the legal requirements for behavior management, autism, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act eligibility, IEPs and more. These courses are for all staff including teachers, principals, paraprofessionals and nurses.
Self-registration and access to these courses is available online. The courses can be completed online in an hour and are compatible with most media devices.
Special Ed Connection is a one-stop-shop for best practices to help school districts meet legal and regulatory mandates with ready-to-use charts, checklists and professional development tools to help guide and train staff. This resource helps educators stay current on policy changes coming from the Biden administration and the U.S. Department of Education as well as access to up-to-the minute guidance to address pandemic and natural disaster-related challenges.
The local school district directors of special education have been asked to fill out and return a license agreement and a school district staff user list to LRP in order to receive access to Special Ed Connection. Once LRP receives and processes the required documents, all staff on the returned user list will receive a welcome email containing the login information for the school district. The staff involved will also be signed up to receive the daily eConnections email that is an optional, value-added component included with the subscription to Special Ed Connection.
For more information, email the Kentucky Department of Education’s Joe McCowan.
Comprehensive District and School Improvement Planning: Phase Four
Progress Monitoring and Online Posting
The last phase of the comprehensive district/school improvement plan process involves progress monitoring. Continuous improvement planning requires careful monitoring, which ensures the needs of learners are met and that student outcomes are positively impacted.
During Phase Four, districts and schools may choose a flexible and customized approach to monitoring and implementing the comprehensive improvement plan. During this phase, districts/schools should collect both input and outcome data and ask themselves several key reflective questions regarding their plan:
- Are our strategies and activities meeting the needs of learners?
- How do we know
- Will we adjust or stay the course?
Pursuant to 703 KAR 5:225, Comprehensive District Improvement Plans (CDIPs) and Comprehensive School Improvement Plans (CSIPs) must be posted online. CDIPs must be posted to the district’s website while CSIPs must be posted to each school’s website. When posting CDIPs and CSIPs to the respective website, remember to include any attachments referenced in a diagnostic.
Additional information that should be posted for each improvement plan includes:
District’s Improvement Plan:
- Continuous Improvement Diagnostic for Districts
- Needs Assessment Diagnostic for Districts
- District Assurances
- Professional Development Plan for Districts
- Comprehensive District Improvement Plan (including the Goal Building Template)
- Executive Summary for Districts
- Superintendent Gap Assurances
School’s Improvement Plan:
- Continuous Improvement Diagnostic for Schools
- Needs Assessment for Schools
- School Assurances
- Professional Development Plan for Schools
- Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (including the Goal Building Template)
- Executive Summary for Schools
Continuation of Learning Plan for Districts and English Learner Plan for Districts (Lau Plan)
Phase Four of the continuous improvement planning process also includes two district-level diagnostics that will be due later in the spring.
The Continuation of Learning Plan will support the district in designing and implementing a plan for a continuation of learning during times when nontraditional instruction may need to be used in order to prevent a loss of learning. This diagnostic is due May 1 and will describe the plan for the following school year. For questions regarding the Continuation of Learning Plan, email Steve Kissinger or David Cook.
The English Learner Plan for Districts (Lau Plan) diagnostic supports the district’s commitment to ensuring that English learner (EL) students can meaningfully participate in the district’s educational programs and services. It outlines the affirmative steps taken by the district to overcome educational barriers that impede equal participation by EL students in their instructional programs. For questions regarding this district level diagnostic, email Jessica Sanderson.
|
