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Dear Colleagues,
We have been following the bills making their way through the legislature as we head into the final days of the session. The Senate dropped its budget bill last week, which has some differences as compared to the House budget bill.
One of the things I know you are most concerned about is funding for the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) program. The Senate proposed the same per-pupil amount as the House budget, $4,368 in FY2025 and $4,455 in FY2026. However, we remain concerned about the adequacy of funding overall.
SEEK Transportation was increased by the House and Senate in both years of the biennium. In FY25, both budgets proposed an increase to transportation, from $274 million to $319 million. For FY26, the house proposed an increase to $398 million; the Senate an increase to $358 million. Both proposals are a promising step forward in fully funding transportation for all of our districts.
Neither the Senate nor the House had anything in their bills specifically addressing salary increases for teachers or other school district employees.
There’s still some time before the budget is finalized. The House and Senate must come to an agreement in a conference committee and the final bill will be sent to the governor for his signature. The governor has line-item veto power in the budget bill, which can be overridden with a simple majority vote in each chamber.
The conference committee on the budget started this morning. I encourage each of you to stay engaged in the process. There is still time in the legislative process to reach out to your legislators and share the potential impact on your district.
In other news, the full Kentucky Board of Education will interview the three finalists for the Commonwealth’s next education commissioner – Buddy Berry, Robbie Fletcher and Jim Flynn – in Louisville today and tomorrow. We hope to have a new commissioner named and submitted to the Kentucky Senate for consideration of confirmation by the end of the month.
As always, continued updates and more information on the search can be found on the KDE 2023-2024 Commissioner Search webpage.
Sincerely,
Robin Fields Kinney
Interim Commissioner of Education
Nominations Open for Kentucky Exemplary Educators Program
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is seeking recommendations of exemplary educators and leaders in the Commonwealth’s public schools to join the 2024 Kentucky Exemplary Educators Program (KEEP). Qualified individuals recommended for KEEP will receive a certificate of excellence from KDE and may be considered for other recognitions and opportunities, including invitations to sit on advisory councils and committees.
District superintendents, district curriculum and professional development supervisors, principals, representatives from teacher training institutions and other education leaders are invited to recommend up to three individuals. Recommended individuals must be certified teachers, teacher specialists, assistant principals and/or principals currently serving in Kentucky’s public schools.
To receive the recognition, recommended individuals should be early- to mid-career professionals with at least five years of experience and whose contributions to education are largely unheralded, yet worthy of the spotlight. Individuals also should demonstrate all of the following:
- Exceptional educational talent as evidenced by effective and innovative instructional practices and student learning results in the classroom and school;
- Exemplary educational accomplishments and leadership beyond the classroom that provide models of excellence for the profession;
- Engaging and inspiring presence that motivates and impacts students, colleagues and the community; and
- Strong long-range potential for professional and policy leadership.
Recommendations for exemplary educators should be submitted via the online KEEP recommendation form by April 15. Refer to the KEEP Information Sheet for required information and additional details about the recommendation process.
For more information, email awards@education.ky.gov or call (502) 564-2000, ext. 4616.
LRC Requesting Student Information
The Legislative Research Commission (LRC) is requesting student information from all districts for the purpose of completing the annual graduation citations for 8th- and 12th-grade students from Kentucky legislators in your communities. The graduation citations are typically handed out by schools during graduation ceremonies and recognize the academic achievement of your students.
LRC is requesting the following student information: name, grade, district, district number, school, school number and academic year for all 8th- and 12th-grade students. KDE previously provided this information to LRC. However, upon further review of the applicable federal law, KDE determined that this information should instead be shared directly by districts to the LRC using the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Kentucky Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (KYFERPA) directory information exception. See 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, 34 C.F.R. 99.31(a)(11), and KRS 160.720(2).
To meet this LRC request, KDE has developed a standard ad hoc reporting tool that is available in the Infinite Campus (IC) system for each district’s KSIS point of contact to use to gather the data for the graduation citations. Each district’s Kentucky Student Information System point of contact must verify that the exported data aligns to their local definition of FERPA directory information and remove the students that are opted out of the district disclosing directory information before sharing the CSV file with LRC.
The CSV file should be sent to grad.data@lrc.ky.gov. Districts should have submitted the CSV file by March 15 to ensure that they have sufficient time to complete the graduation citations prior to 2024 graduation ceremonies. LRC will send the completed paper graduation citations to each district for distribution to students.
Please continue to work with your schools and families to ensure the information has been submitted to recognize the hard work of your students and schools. KDE appreciates the commitment of Kentucky legislators to recognize the academic achievement of the Commonwealth’s students and is hopeful all districts will be able to share this information with the LRC so that your students can receive the recognition they deserve.
If you have any questions, you may contact KDE Associate Commissioner David Couch. who can address your technology-related questions or can point you to the right person at KDE or the LRC to answer your non-technology questions.
Registration Open for 2024 Continuous Improvement Summit
The Kentucky Department of Education and Cognia™ invite you to the annual Continuous Improvement Summit on Sept. 23-24 at the Central Bank Center in Lexington. Please join us for an opportunity to explore a variety of topics and engage in conversations that will enrich your understanding of continuous improvement.
Keynote speaker Marck Abraham, the author of “What Success Looks Like,” is a transformational leader with a wealth of experience in education. He is committed to providing a world-class educational experience that ensures all students achieve their goals of post-secondary college and fulfilling careers. His mission has been to create environments that assist students in reaching their maximum potential in life.
During this two-day event, you will enhance your professional learning, 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 address your unique challenges in your journey of continuous improvement.
To receive early bird pricing, please register before Sept. 2.
2024 Persistence to Graduation Summit Call for Proposals and Registration
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) Division of Student Success is hosting the 2024 Persistence to Graduation Summit at the Hilton in downtown Lexington on June 11-12.
During this two-day event, superintendents, district level personnel, school administrators, school counselors, educators, family resource and youth services center coordinators, school mental health and social service professionals, and community partners from across Kentucky will convene to share information and best practices to support students who may experience challenges to reaching graduation. Engaging and interactive sessions will be led by facilitators from across the state and will include:
- Student transition and re-engagement strategies;
- Alternative education programming;
- Well-rounded educational opportunities;
- Safe and supportive learning environments; and
- Effective use of education technology.
These sessions are designed to be more engaging than the typical “sit-and-get” format of most conferences and are structured to encourage dialogue and exchanges that leverage the expertise of the session participants as well as the session leaders. Facilitators will engage with participants throughout the session and help cultivate an interactive experience, mirroring the type of interactions that take place in highly engaging classrooms. Participants will have prior access to any materials submitted by facilitators.
Those interested in facilitating a session should submit a proposal in the Persistence to Graduation Call for Proposals portal by April 12. If there are multiple presenters for a single session, only one person needs to complete the form. If you would like to suggest multiple session topics, please access the portal link again and submit a proposal for any additional topic.
Submissions will be reviewed by KDE staff and selected based on content, proposed methods for participant engagement and event needs. Those selected will be notified by email.
Registration for the 2024 Persistence to Graduation Summit is available at no cost to participants through Title IV, Part A funding, but registration is limited to the first 300. For more information, contact Michelle Wilson.
District LETRS Facilitator Application Now Open
District Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) facilitators will play a crucial role in facilitating LETRS sessions and guaranteeing the long-term viability of your district's LETRS instructional application as you go through the professional learning and welcome new cohorts of teachers, both new to teaching and new to your district.
Applicants must meet specific requirements in order to be eligible to apply to be a district LETRS facilitator, including having at least 80% of the district's K–3 educators participating in LETRS and applicants receiving a score of 88% or above on the posttest. Those that are accepted are expected to complete a four-day training session in the fall.
Individuals who are interested in applying should view the complete list of requirements within the Kentucky LETRS District Facilitator application. The application window closes May 31.
For more information, please contact Christie Biggerstaff, director of early literacy.
Preschool Quality: Kentucky All STARS Update
Through funding from the Preschool Development Grant, Kentucky All STARS for State-Funded Preschool Programs will be reintroduced for the 2024-2025 school year. Preschool sites are required to participate in the Kentucky All STARS Rating System (704 KAR 3:015).
The Early Learning Unit has made changes to a quality standard in Kentucky All STARS for state-funded preschool programs. These changes include the use of the Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (TPOT) as the environmental assessment.
Preschool coordinators should plan to attend their Regional Training Center’s spring leadership meeting, where they will be provided additional information regarding the changes.
Please contact Jennifer Hagan, preschool quality coordinator, with any questions you may have regarding Kentucky All STARS for State-Funded Preschool Programs.
Science Instructional Resources Consumer Guide Now Available
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has created a consumer guide to support districts in evaluating and selecting high-quality instructional resources (HQIRs) for science.
The Science Instructional Resources Consumer Guide is intended to help decisionmakers in Kentucky districts select high-quality science instructional resources aligned to the Kentucky Academic Standards for Science that meet the unique needs of students, educators and local communities. The guide includes:
- An introduction that highlights the importance of HQIRs and how selection of instructional resources fits within the Curriculum Development Process;
- An overview of specific markers and equity “look-fors” of high-quality science instructional resources;
- Four key steps districts may use as they seek resources, evaluate their effectiveness and ultimately select high-quality primary and supplemental resources for use in schools;
- Key questions to consider when working through each step;
- Considerations for navigating the current science market; and
- General and content-specific tools to support local teams in the selection process.
The Science Instructional Resources Consumer Guide is available now on the High-Quality Instructional Resources webpage on KYstandards.org.
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