Board updates student code of conduct, reviews district technology plan
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Joey Downs explains to the board of education the final proposed updates to the student code of conduct.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015 10 p.m. — In an update of the district’s student code of conduct, the Bardstown Independent Board of Education approved adding fairness language to include prohibit discrimination of individuals by their sexual orientation or gender preference.
Joey Downs, the district’s chief information officer, had presented a revised code of conduct to the board at an earlier meeting, and the board requested he add the additional language.
The revisions also addressed tobacco-related products, including prohibiting possession or use of alternative nicotine products and vapor products on the school campus.
Michelle Sharp, principal at the Bardstown Early Learning Center, discusses the center’s plans for making sure students are prepared to enter kindergarten.
ELC TARGETS. Michelle Sharp, principal of the Bardstown Early Childhood Education Center, told the board of plans to improve the quality of education delivered to the district’s 3 and 4-year-olds.
The goal is to make certain the center’s children are going to be kindergarten-ready. The process will include evaluating children in the classroom to determine their skill levels, which will be reviewed periodically.
TECHNOLOGY PLAN UPDATE. J. W. Mattingly, the district’s technology integration specialist, walked the board through the district’s three-year technology plan update.
“Technology isn’t just hardware,” Mattingly said. “It’s resources — training, software, guidance to support the other functions in the administration.”
J. W. Mattingly discusses the district’s three-year technology plan at Tuesday’s board meeting.
The plan’s goals address voice communications, digital and print communications, learning systems for students, student-support software and infrastructure.
The plan also addresses updates to existing hardware and software, Mattingly said. The existing set of four computer servers will be replaced by two servers — one primary server and one backup.
The plan also calls for improving the wired network and wireless access throughout the buildings.
The board’s meeting room has wi-fi available through a single access point. With only a handful of users, it works fine, but Mattingly said in a classroom environment it would be inadequate.
The plan also includes turning to Microsoft for Office software subscription, which will be available on student workstations and available to students for use on up to five of their own devices. “This will help college readiness and work readiness,” he said.
2015 CAPITAL FUNDS REQUEST. The board authorized a request to transfer left over bonding money and capital outlay money to roll over to the district’s general fund.
Due to the recession, the state has allowed school districts to transfer some formerly restricted funds for capital projects and leftover bonding money to general fund expenditures, which exclude salaries and personnel expenses. The funds will be used for various allowed district expenses, which can include financial software, property insurance, networking expenses and utilities.
In other business, the board:
— approved the staffing allocation funds for the district’s site-based council. The councils decide how they will staff positions within their building.
— approved a three-year student teacher agreement with Western Kentucky University to host student teachers in the district’s schools.
— heard Superintendent Holsclaw report on several recent positive media reports about the contributions to the community by board chair Kathy Reed.
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