Commissioner's Monday Message

July 18, 2022

Dear Colleagues:

Please join me in congratulating the 24 outstanding educators who were named today by KDE and Valvoline Inc. as 2023 Kentucky Valvoline Teacher Achievement Award winners.

These teachers qualify to compete for the overall 2023 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Award, which will be announced in September.

I agree with Sam Mitchell, Valvoline’s chief executive officer, that the Kentucky Teacher of the Year Awards are a highlight each year for us. Our teachers are some of the best in the nation, and we are proud to celebrate them.

Teachers give of themselves every day to help students gain the skills needed to pursue their dreams. I thank all teachers for inspiring, motivating and supporting Kentucky’s students.

The winners are:

Elementary School

• Rebecca Brewer, Norton Commons Elementary (Jefferson County)
• Ashley Buchanon, Rockfield Elementary (Warren County)
• Kelly Gates, Pride Elementary (Hopkins County)
• Amber Hays, Thelma B. Johnson Early Learning Center (Henderson County)
• Shannon Kay, New Haven Elementary (Boone County)
• Julie Moore, School for the Creative and Performing Arts at Bluegrass (Fayette County)
• Melinda Richardson, Clay City Elementary (Powell County)
• Cassandra Walden, East Bernstadt Elementary (East Bernstadt Independent)

Middle School

• Caitlin Buckley, Kentucky School for the Deaf
• Angela Dilts-Pollock, Farnsley Middle (Jefferson County)
• Nathaniel Green, Newport High (Newport Independent Schools)
• Danielle Hicks, Clinton County Middle
• Justin Mitchell, Franklin-Simpson Middle (Simpson County)
• Mandy Perez, Crittenden County Middle
• Rhoda Whitaker, Whitesburg Middle (Letcher County)
• Charlena Williams, Hancock County Middle

High School

• Cathy Conley, Knott County Central (Knott County)
• Eddie Groves, Ohio County High
• Tina Henry, Boyle County High
• Robin Kemp, Highlands High (Fort Thomas Independent)
• Victoria Mohon, Christian County High
• Lauren Niemann, Fern Creek High (Jefferson County)
• Amber L. Sergent, Woodford County High
• Steven Thomas, Green County Area Technology Center (Green County)

All 24 will be honored during a ceremony in Frankfort on Sept. 20. At that time, the Kentucky Elementary, Middle and High School Teachers of the Year will be announced. From this group of three finalists, the 2023 Kentucky Teacher of the Year will be named and will represent the state in the National Teacher of the Year competition.

Valvoline will present the 24 recipients with cash awards. In addition, the three Kentucky Teachers of the Year will receive custom-designed glassware commemorating their accomplishments.

This year, KDE received 1,987 teacher nominations from all 171 school districts. This was the first time we received at least one nomination from every school district in the Commonwealth. Simply being nominated for this award means a lot to our teachers.

Judging was conducted in June by a blue-ribbon panel of veteran educators from across the state. Applications included information on the nominees’ teaching philosophies, teaching experiences and involvement in their respective communities, as well as letters of recommendation from peers, students, parents, administrators and others.

On another important topic, I wanted to let you know that we have updated the United We Learn website. Please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the information and the new resources it contains as we continue to incorporate this vision for the future of education into our daily work here at KDE.

Kind regards,

Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.

Commissioner and Chief Learner

Kentucky EPSB Approves Emergency Regulation for Alternative Route to Teaching Certification

The Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB) approved an emergency administrative regulation for a new expedited alternative teaching certification pathway, referred to as Option 9, at its July 11 special meeting.

House Bill (HB) 277, sponsored by Rep. Walker Thomas, amended KRS 161.048 to create Option 9, an expedited certification of a person to teach at any grade level through a cooperative program. This new route differs from the other eight options because it is available to candidates who have not obtained a bachelor’s degree and will not allow for temporary or provisional certification while completing the route.

Under Option 9, an EPSB-approved college or university may partner with a school district or educational cooperative to develop an expedited certification program that results in a bachelor’s degree and initial teaching certification within three school years.

You can read more about the program and its requirements on Kentucky Teacher.

Option 9 was developed in partnership between Kentucky legislators, Christian County Public Schools, Murray State University and the West Kentucky Educational Cooperative in order to address teacher shortages and improve Grow-Your-Own programs.

Because of the tight timeline between the legislation becoming effective on July 14 and the EPSB administrative regulation process, the EPSB approved an emergency regulation to enact administrative oversight of Option 9. This was accompanied by an identical ordinary administrative regulation that will replace the emergency regulation once completed.

Kentucky Equitable Access to Effective Educators Survey for School Report Card

The Kentucky Department of Education’s Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness now collects data pertaining to the count of ineffective teachers through the Kentucky Equitable Access to Effective Educators Survey and as reported in the Kentucky School Report Card.

A teacher receives a summative rating of “ineffective” as determined through the local performance evaluation system that meets the requirements established by KRS 156.557.

The survey will be emailed on Wednesday, July 20. Superintendents (or designee) should complete the survey by Monday, Aug. 1.

If you have any questions, email Scott Tremoulis.

KDE to Offer Statewide Federal Programs Training

The Kentucky Department of Education is pleased to offer a statewide federal programs training at no cost to school districts on Sept. 20-22 at the Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington. The same content will be offered on three different days.

The training will be provided by Brustein & Manasevit, a legal firm that is nationally recognized for its federal grants management and education regulatory and legislative practice.

The training will benefit district staff who are responsible for the oversight and administration of federal education programs and compliance with legal requirements. We strongly encourage the district superintendent, finance officer and federal programs coordinator to attend.

Register for this training online. Although the registration will remain open until the training, space is limited, so please register early to secure a spot for your preferred date. Attendees must register individually.

For more information, email Erin Sudduth or Tara Rodriguez.

Registration Open for 2022 Continuous Improvement Summit

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and Cognia™ invite you to the annual Continuous Improvement Summit Sept. 26^-27 at the Central Bank Center, formerly the Lexington Convention Center. Keynote speaker Bradley J. Geise will discuss “Data Analysis in Continuous Improvement.”

This summit will provide attendees with an opportunity to invest in their own growth as a leader and a teacher. Learn from experts and come away with strategies that can make a difference in your own work and the experiences of your students.

Participants will make new connections and build upon existing relationships with peers across Kentucky, hear up-to-date information from KDE leaders and learn how Cognia can help you address your unique challenges in your journey of continuous improvement.

To register for this event, visit the registration website. #KYCIS2022

Student Privacy Training Videos and Slides Available in Campus Community

The videos and slides from the June 8 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Student Privacy Training are available in a Kentucky On-Demand course in the Campus Passport training center by logging in to Infinite Campus Community. For instructions on how to access Campus Community, refer to the Campus Community Guide.

The training included two sessions: FERPA 101, the basics, and FERPA 201, real-life scenarios involving student data. Please promote the videos within your district and feel free to incorporate the videos and information into professional development plans for the new school year.

The student privacy training was provided through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Education Student Privacy Office. If you have questions about accessibility to the training resources, please email School Data Services.

Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) staff may view the videos on the internal KDE Data Governance SharePoint website.

Flexibility for Data Used to Rank and Serve Schools Under Title I, Part A Offered

Section 1113(a)(3) of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires a district to rank all its schools according to their percentage of public school students from low-income families. ESSA provides districts with several options in determining this number of children, including students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). To the extent that NSLP data from school year 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 are not available, districts may benefit from flexibility offered to determine within district allocations for Title I, Part A.

This updated U.S. Department of Education fact sheet explains the flexibility for using data from the 2019-2020, 2020-2021 or 2021-2022 school years for the purposes of ranking and serving schools, and discusses how to use the data for determining equitable services. Please contact Erin Sudduth with further questions.

For the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years, funding will be provided for career and technical education programs within districts. This will be based on district programs that were in place during fall 2021 and attend hours that have been audited within the Technical Education Data System. Pursuant to House Bill 1 (2022), these funds will be distributed via the local area vocational education center funding formula established within KRS 157.069 and 705 KAR 2:140.The 2022-2023 tentative allocations are viewable on Kentucky Department of Education’s State Grants webpage under “FY2022-2023 DISTRICT STATE GRANT ALLOCATION LAVEC update.”

Financial contracts for signature and a funding matrix will be sent to recipients by Aug. 1, 2022.

McKinney-Vento/Homeless Training and Awareness for School and District Staff

Under 704 KAR 7:090, one of the duties of district homeless coordinators is to ensure school personnel providing McKinney-Vento services receive professional development and other support related to addressing the challenges of homelessness and supporting homeless children and unaccompanied youth, including runaway youth (Section 2 (3)). This duty is required of all district homeless coordinators, whether or not the district receives McKinney-Vento funds.

To support districts in meeting this requirement, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is offering online professional development at no cost to schools or districts. KDE also will provide up to one hour of Effective Instructional Leadership Act (EILA) credit for administrators who complete courses.

Courses are available for specific staff roles, such as administrators, staff who work with food service, enrollment and transportation, and teachers. Staff can self-register using the instructions for Essential Staff Courses. District homeless liaisons can register using the instructions for the Liaison Courses. Courses include:

• Administration;
• Media and librarians;
• Teachers;
• Special education;
• Counselors;
• Title I;
• Early childhood;
• Transportation;
• Food service;
• Extracurriculars; and
• Enrollment.

After registration, all staff should have immediate access to the courses. It only takes 15 minutes to complete an Essential Staff course. Staff can take as many courses as they wish. Depending on demand, these courses might only be available through KDE for a limited time, so be sure to take advantage of this offer soon.

Email Zach Stumbo for more information or to obtain a copy of the EILA certificate.

KDE’s Transformational Change Series for School Leaders

The KDE Transformational Change Leadership Series, led by Mike Rutherford, consists of three one-day conference experiences offered in both Lexington, at the Central Bank Center, and in Bowling Green, at Hyatt Place. The conferences will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. local time.

Participants interested in attending the sessions in Lexington should mark their calendars to attend on Sept. 21, Oct. 26 and Nov. 31. The Bowling Green sessions will be held on Sept. 22, Oct. 27 and Dec. 1. Each conference includes a 60-minute virtual pre- and post-conference support session.

Each conference experience is designed for optimal engagement, relevance and applicability. The conference series and support sessions are free.

Conference 1 will engage participants in an in-depth study of the nature and logic behind transformational school leadership, and how transformational change leadership differs from leadership for continuous, incremental improvement. Topics will include the leadership concepts of self-awareness, characteristics of high-trust organizations, servant leadership values, developing a personal leadership platform, collecting and interpreting date to support school transformation and the role of instructional leadership for transformational change.

Conference 2 will focus on designing and leading change, improvement science, leadership transitions, futuring and paradigm studies, creating meaningful work and principles of sustainability.

Conference 3 will center on the study of how organizational culture can be assessed and shaped to catalyze transformational change, creating community, developing constituent voice, attracting and retaining talent, leading great groups, and how to effectively market/brand a school’s improvement vision.

Those interested in participating in the training series must complete the registration form no later than Aug. 31. For more information, email Tim Godbey.

Those receiving this at KSB and KSD, please make sure all employees receive it. Also, ATC principals are asked to forward it to their staffs.

Please send your questions, comments and suggestions on the Monday Message to Jennifer Ginn by 10 a.m. Friday to be published in the upcoming week.