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Dear Colleagues,
Winter has finally come to Kentucky, with all of us waking up this morning to frigid temperatures and ice and snow on the ground.
Just by listening to the news this morning, I know many of you chose to either close your schools completely or use today as your first non-traditional instruction (NTI) day. I have seen several news stories recently about how snow days now seem to be mostly a thing of the past due to our success with NTI days. Kentucky is considered one of the pioneers nationally of making use of NTI days in cases of severe weather.
I am glad our districts have the option of using up to 10 NTI days each year. We know that we almost always face some rough weather in the first few months of the year, and having this option helps keep our students, our teachers and our staff safe, without depriving students of the chance to continue their learning.
I now know how hard the decision to call off school for a day can be. For the first time since taking over as interim commissioner, I was texting yesterday with our Office of Special Education and Early Learning staff to make the call about whether classes would be held at the Kentucky School for the Blind and the Kentucky School for the Deaf.
Keeping our students safe and learning is always our number one priority. I know you often face criticism for whatever call you make during severe weather. Please continue to put the safety of your students, teachers and staff first.
And as a reminder, today is the Superintendents Webcast for January at 2-4 p.m. ET. We will be discussing what is happening in the General Assembly, the 2024 Impact Kentucky Survey and the Kentucky Educational Careers Attrition Survey, procurement training opportunities and legislative graduation citations. You should have already received your Teams invitation to the meeting. And, as always, you can watch the webcast live or see the recording after it is over on the KDE Media Portal.
Sincerely,
Robin Fields Kinney
Interim Commissioner of Education
Tentative 2024-2025 Title I, Part A Census Poverty and Hold Harmless Rates Available
An explanation of tentative census poverty data and tentative hold harmless rates can be found on the Kentucky Department of Education Title I Part A Documents and Resources webpage. These numbers, used in part to allocate Title I, Part A funds, can now be used to produce an estimate of your 2024-2025 school year Title I, Part A allocation.
Carefully review the information included in the document and bear in mind that all data is tentative and is provided for planning purposes only. It does not represent your district’s final Title I, Part A allocation for next school year. An overview of the notification was included in the December 2023 Title I webinar.
For more information, contact your Title I, Part A consultant.
Comprehensive District and School Improvement Planning: Phase Four
The last phase of the comprehensive district/school improvement plan process includes the vital step of 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 the planned strategies and activities being implemented as intended?
- Are our strategies and activities meeting the needs of learners?
- 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.
With Phase Four diagnostics yet to be competed, it’s important to follow local policy regarding the timeline for posting and remember to include any attachments referenced in a diagnostic. Please see below for additional information on what should be posted for each improvement plan:
District’s Improvement Plan:
- Continuous Improvement Diagnostic for Districts
- Executive Summary for Districts
- Needs Assessment Diagnostic for Districts
- District Assurances
- Comprehensive District Improvement Plan (including the Goal Building Template)
- Superintendent Gap Assurances
- Professional Development Plan for Districts
School’s Improvement Plan:
- Continuous Improvement Diagnostic for Schools
- Executive Summary for Schools
- Needs Assessment for Schools
- School Assurances
- Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (including the Goal Building Template)
- Professional Development Plan for Schools
Phase Four Diagnostics
Phase Four of the continuous improvement planning process also includes three district-level diagnostics and a school-level diagnostic that are each due May 1.
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 implemented to prevent a loss of learning. This diagnostic will describe the plan for the following school year. For questions regarding the Continuation of Learning Plan, please contact 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, please contact Kaiman Triplett or Brandy Neal.
The final diagnostic is the Professional Development Plan for both schools and districts. Each school and district must design a professional development plan that supports its efforts to meet the goals established in KRS 158.6451 and addresses the priorities identified in their local needs assessment. The 2023-2024 Professional Development Plan will be implemented in the 2024-2025 school year and incorporated into the improvement plan for that year. For questions regarding the Professional Development Plan, please contact Renee Yates.
Webinar for 2023 Clean School Bus Rebate Program for Kentucky Applicants
The EPA Region 4 staff is hosting a webinar at 11-11:45 a.m. ET on Jan. 17 where they will discuss the considerations when applying for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus programs. This will include discussions on the difference between rebates and grants, how to apply for the 2023 rebate program and the next steps to be taken.
This webinar is curated for Kentucky applicants, but any applicants in Region 4 are welcome to join. Register now to attend the EPA Region 4 webinar.
The Clean School Bus Rebates provides funding for propane and electric buses; funding closes on Jan. 31. For this round of rebates, EPA anticipates offering at least $500 million in total funding. The EPA may adjust the total funding amount depending on demand and other considerations.
Up to $345,000 per zero-emissions replacement bus includes combined bus and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Recipients have the flexibility to determine the split between funding for the bus itself and the supporting infrastructure. Requirements include:
- Be vehicle model year 2010 or older diesel-powered school buses that will be scrapped if selected for funding.
- If a fleet has no eligible 2010 or older diesel school buses and is requesting zero-emission school bus replacements, the fleet can either:
- Scrap 2010 or older non-diesel internal combustion engine buses; or
- Scrap, sell or donate 2011 or newer diesel or non-diesel internal combustion engine buses.
- Have a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more.
- Be operational at the time of application submission – able to start, move in all directions, and have all operational parts.
- Have provided bus service to a public school district for at least three days/week on average during the 2022-2023 school year at the time of applying, excluding emergency-related school closures.
- School districts applying directly for funds may only submit one application to replace up to 25 buses;
- Applicants can request up to $20,000 per bus in additional funds for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant replacement buses equipped with wheelchair lifts.
PBLNow Seeks Educators to Test and Provide Feedback on Science Curriculum
PBLNow, a new division of PBLWorks, has developed science project-based units for grades K-12 and is looking for educators to test these units between February and March to provide feedback. Any teachers who test a unit and provide feedback can earn $600.
The curriculum is separated by grade levels: elementary school, middle school and high school. The units focus on topics contextualized for Kentucky and last for two to three weeks at the elementary school level, four to five weeks at the middle school level and four to six weeks at the high school level.
All units are built using the Next Generation Science Standards, and each can be substituted for an OpenSciEd unit at the same grade level. Additionally, they include formative and summative performance tasks embedded within the unit.
More information about the units can be found on the PBLNow Elementary Science Units webpage, the PBLNow Middle School Science Units webpage and the PBLNow High School Science Units webpage.
Get Ready to Streamline Administration of Your District’s Title I Program
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has contracted with the Public Consulting Group (PCG) to provide Title1Next™, a Title I, Part A document management solution at no cost to all Kentucky school districts. School districts may register to get started with Title1Next in January or March 2024. More details will be forthcoming. Additional opportunities to register later in 2024 also will be available.
Title1Next is a cloud-based documentation management system which allows district Title I coordinators to quickly disseminate, retrieve, evaluate and approve an unlimited number of compliance documents from Title I schools and principals. The system also allows you to file, organize and store documentation for multiple academic years.
Information on the system features is available on the Title1Next website. Details about the system and registration process also was shared during the monthly KDE Title I webinar for December. The webinar recording is available on the Title I Part A Documents and Resources webpage.
Benefits of Title1Next include:
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Increased operational efficiency: From streamlined data and documentation to built-in program management and communication tools, Title1Next encourages more efficient, collaborative and productive Title I operations within districts and schools.
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Improved compliance and accountability: The integrated monitoring and alert system within Title1Next helps ensure that Kentucky Title I schools submit documentation on time. This documentation also is stored in the cloud for multiple academic years, which is pivotal for meeting record retention requirements and preparing for monitoring.
For more information, please contact the following individuals:
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