County school board reviews budget, student achievement data
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Thursday, May 7, 2015, 11:45 p.m. — In its first look at the proposed 2015-16 budget, the Nelson County Board of Education saw the impact of the state-mandated 2 percent across-the-board raises for the district’s employees.
Tim Hockensmith, the district’s chief operating officer, discusses the district’s tentative budget at the board’s working session Thursday.
The mandated raises — combined with the step raisers district employees usually receive — will add $700,000 to the district’s payroll expenses.
The district also expects to get slightly more in SEEK funds for the next fiscal year — $15.25 million, up from the current year’s $15.16 million. If the district follows-through with plans to take a 4 percent tax revenue increase later this year, the increase in SEEK money and additional tax revenue means the district may still come up short about $160,000 to cover the salary increases.
Tim Hockensmith, the district’s chief operating officer, told the board that he working to make sure the district ends the next fiscal year without dipping into its contingency funds.
“There’s a lot left to happen in the school district,” Hockensmith told the board. “We don’t know who is going to retire, and we don’t know what costs those costs will be.”
Kim Brown, the district’s director of secondary schools, reviews student achievement data at the working session of the Nelson County Board of Education.
Payroll and benefits account for more than 80 percent of the district’s budget, Hockensmith told the board.
Discussion of the budget will continue at the board’s monthly meeting on May 19.
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DATA UPDATE. Kim Brown, the district’s director of secondary schools, showed the board the aggregate MAP test results for grades K-2.
More than 70 percent of kindergarten students scored above the 50th percentile in both math and reading. More than 60 percent of first-graders scored above th 50th percentile in math and reading, and more than 50 percent of the district’s second-graders scored above the 50th percentile in both subjects.
The MAP tests are national benchmarks that assess students’ knowledge in math and reading, and are used to help students improve their skills.
Board chairman Damon Jackey makes a point during a discussion at the board’s working session Thursday evening.
“What we’re doing is getting a picture of what the kids know as they move into the accountability grades,” Orr told the board.
The board also reviewed and discussed the college and career readiness scores for Thomas Nelson and Nelson County high schools.
SCHOOL HEALTH COORDINATOR. Sara Wilson, the district’s executive director of student support, told the board that the job description for the district’s School Health Coordinator has changed. Wilson had done the duties in the past, but the state now requires the person who holds the job must be a registered nurse or a school psychologist.
The job is not a new one and is only a new title for an existing job. Superintendent Anthony Orr said the job will be posted to see if there’s an existing school nurse of psychologist who is interested in the position.
SUMMER SCHOOL SET. The district’s summer school sessions will be conducted in four one-week sessions, with two weeks offered at Horizon Academy and one week each for Bloomfield Middle School and New Haven School.
The summer school is aimed at students in grades 9-12 who need to make up credit. Bus transportation will be available in the Bloomfield and New Haven areas; bus transportation will not be available during the Horizons Academy summer school sessions.
Content teachers and instructional assistant will be available to students at all the summer school sessions.
In other action, the board:
— went into executive session to review the superintendent’s evaluation process.
— reviewed Perkins Grants for 2015-16 that are used to help fund the district’s ag programs, including the greenhouse, staff training and work to create dual-credit classes with Western Kentucky University.
— reviewed updates to the Certified Evaluation Plan.
— reviewed updates to the district’s policies and procedures, including new changes that will ban e-cigarettes.
— reviewed revisions to the district’s technology plan.
NEXT UP. The Nelson County Board of Education meets next at 5 p.m. May 19 at the district’s Central Office on Wildcat Lane.
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