(FRANKFORT, KY) – Staff members with the Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) Office of Education Technology shared data on Kentucky’s technology use during the Superintendents Webcast on Jan. 14.
“Kentucky K-12 is the pioneer national leader in almost every aspect of K-12 education technology since 1992, but we’re always trying to get better,” said David Couch, associate commissioner of the KDE Office of Education Technology.
Couch said Kentucky was the first state to have internet access in every district and every classroom in the ‘90s, and over the past 18 months, the Commonwealth has increased the internet bandwidth capacity to every district with the Next Generation K-12 Internet service.
“The KY K-12 Connected User Experience System (CUES) is the next logical and needed step for us to implement in districts and KDE organizations over the next 18-24 months,” Couch said.
This year, Kentucky students and staff have access to more than 1.1 million digital devices, a 2.1% increase from the 2023-2024 school year. Since 2014, there has been significant and sustained growth of Chromebook devices, which represent 80.7% of the devices in Kentucky schools.
The percentage of schools with WiFi internet capable of handling a digital device for every student in the 2024-2025 school year is 99.86%.
Couch said there are funding concerns moving forward for education technology. Data presented by KDE shows funding dropped by $56.6 million over the previous school year.
“During the (COVID-19) pandemic, there was a lot of money going towards education technology,” Couch said. “We’re back now to that downward path, and we need to address that.”
Staff also explained KDE’s partnership with Identity Automation to implement a new state-funded K-12-centric identity management framework that will ensure all participants have secure access to technology resources and provide avenues for teachers to keep students engaged and connected to the state’s education technology resources.
The new connected user experience system (CUES), once implemented, will replace the Microsoft Active Directory KDE has provided since 2003. Four districts already use the new connected user experience districtwide for all their student, staff and teacher accounts, and more than 100 districts have initiated the process to deploy Identity Automation’s PhishID service.
More details are available on the KETS CUES Resource Hub.
College and Career Opportunities
Representatives with the Commonwealth Education Continuum shared an update on a new platform to help Kentuckians navigate college and career opportunities.
Jessica Fletcher, marketing analytics director for the Kentucky Center for Statistics (KySTATS), which is a member of the Commonwealth Education Continuum, presented Futuriti, a new platform that Kentuckians can use to visualize their paths from classroom to career. The website also has resources dedicated to adults who are trying to navigate the job market.
“The widespread use of Futuriti could help increase Kentucky’s educational attainment rate and our labor force participation rates,” Fletcher said.
Futuriti is divided into three sections:
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Choose Your Career Path – Helps Kentuckians choose paths that align with their knowledge, skills and abilities and meet their financial needs.
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Continue Your Education – Helps students plan for college and technical training and provides information on enrollment, financial aid and academic success.
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Start Your Career – Provides information about starting your job search and links to the Kentucky Career Center’s job bank, as well as links for veterans, disabled Kentuckians, parents with childcare needs and more.
Fletcher said the website will have several resources, including links to career aptitude tests, high-demand career information, links to job search resources and tips on resume creation. The platform also includes tutorials on college admissions and enrollment, and information about grants, scholarships and other sources of financial aid. KDE, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education and KySTATS were contributing partners on the Futuriti project.
The Futuriti website will formally launch with an event at the Kentucky State Capitol Rotunda at 10 a.m. ET on Feb. 4.
Human Trafficking Awareness Month
January marks Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and Division Director Christina Weeter in KDE’s Office of Continuous Improvement and Support shared resources for schools to use to create awareness of the problem and resources for schools and districts to use to help support students.
“We want to reiterate some of this information and remind folks that this is something that should be attended to year-round, not just during January,” Weeter said.
KDE offers resources to districts on the KDE Human Trafficking webpage, including a downloadable poster that includes potential warning signs and the Human Trafficking Hotline number, in compliance with KRS 156.095. The webpage also includes a Human Trafficking Protocol for Schools document to help adults in school buildings identify the warning signs of human trafficking and potential action steps.
AED Grant
Matt Ross, associate commissioner of KDE’s Office of Finance and Operations, provided information about funding to assist districts with purchasing automated external defibrillators (AEDs).
The Kentucky Legislature earmarked $2.5 million to be used during the current fiscal year for greater access to AEDs in the event of a cardiac event. Grant funds are available to Kentucky public school districts interested in acquiring an AED when none exists in a school, wishing to update AEDs more than eight years old, or add to its current AED inventory.
Applications may be submitted to the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) by Feb. 28 by 4 p.m. ET. Additional information can be found on the KDE Competitive Grants webpage.
In other business:
- Fletcher shared information about upcoming assessment and accountability town hall dates and SEEK Roadshow dates;
- Brian Perry, KDE Director of Government Relations, shared an update on the beginning of the 2025 legislative session; and
- Representatives with KDE’s Office of Education Technology shared cybersecurity tips, including how to stop phishing attacks, the need for external network scanning services and other cybersecurity matters.
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