City schools set graduation date, review certified evaluation plan updates
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Wednesday, April 22, 2015, 1 p.m. — The Bardstown Independent Schools Board of Education announced Tuesday the Bardstown High School graduation date is Saturday, June 6. The graduation ceremony is set for 11 a.m. on Garnis Martin Field. In the event of inclement weather, the graduation will be moved into the high school gym.
Joey Downs, the chief information officer, reviews a draft of the district’s certified evaluation plan at the school board’s meeting Tuesday.
CERTIFIED EVALUATION PLAN. Joey Downs, the district’s chief information officer, reviewed with the board the district’s Certified Evaluation Plan.
The district is working with state consultants on the plan and will bring it to the board for final approval next month in order to get it submitted to the state on time.
“The vision of this plan is to have every student in every school taught by an effective teacher, and every school to be led by an effective teacher,” Downs said. “It’s a process based on continual growth.”
Non-tenured teachers will be evaluated yearly for effectiveness, while teachers with tenure will be evaluated every three years.
One of the big changes with the new process is that principals must be trained in order to conduct the evaluations properly, Downs said. All the principals and assistant principals have been trained and passed the necessary tests.
“We want to assure our teachers they’re being evaluated by trained and highly skilled administrators,” Downs said.
Teachers will be evaluated on their planning and preparation, classroom environment, instruction and their professional responsibilities.
Downs noted that the old teacher evaluation system included observations of the teacher in the classroom. The new system observes what the students are doing as part of the learning environment.
“It’s a real shift,” Downs said.
Financial advisor Joe Nance of Ross, Sinclaire & Associates LLC updated the board on the savings achieved by the refinancing of two of its bonds.
REFINANCING SAVINGS. Joe Nance of Ross, Sinclaire & Associates LLC, a financial advisor to the school district, told the board that the bond sale to refinance its 2006 bond and a 2010 Build American bond netted greater savings than projected.
The projected savings of the refinancing was $132,404, but the actual savings was $242,136.
“We actually saved more than $100,000 than we projected,” he said. “The timing was good, and that’s good news to report.”
SUMMER LUNCH PROGRAM. The board unanimously approved its application for participation in the 2015 Summer Nutrition program. The program provides breakfast and lunch free to children under age 18. Breakfast is available between 8-9 a.m., and lunch is served from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Students from the elementary, middle and high school were honored for the achievement at competitions on the local, regional and state level during Tuesday’s board meeting.
The federal government reimburses participating school food service programs for serving the meals. Adults who accompany the children purchase lunch for $3. The program begins on June 8 and runs through July 24.
In other business, the board:
— recognized the elementary school academic team for its recent wins in student competitions;
— recognized the middle school speech and drama group for their performances in competition;
— recognized the Technology Student Association group for their awards at a state competitions.
— approved the district’s community education contract for adult education;
— approved its contract with Communicare for the 2015-16 school year. Holsclaw said Communicare provides services to 70 to 80 students in the middle and high school;
— approved the pay date schedule for the 2016 fiscal year.
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