City school board approves an extension of superintendent’s contract

A delegation of students presented gifts and expressed their thanks to the school board members at Tuesday’s meeting in honor of School Board Recognition Month.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, 11 p.m. — The Bardstown Board of Education unanimously approved a motion to give Superintendent Brent Holsclaw a one-year extension of his employment contract.

Board member Jim Roby was elected to serve as board chairman for 2017.

Introduced by Jim Roby, the board’s new chair at Tuesday’s board meeting, the intent of the extension is to show support for the superintendent’s office, and send a message to the community that the board is pleased with the district’s ongoing improvement and with Holsclaw’s leadership.

“I think we’re all in agreement that it starts at the top and works its way down,” Roby said of Holsclaw’s leadership and influence. “We’d be remiss in not extending Mr. Holsclaw’s contract one year.”

Holsclaw expressed his appreciation to the board for the one-year extension, and he gave credit to the central office staff for their role in the district’s continued success. He said he has focused not just on academics, but on the whole child, and the board has supported his efforts.

Holsclaw pledged to continue to work for the betterment of the children the district serves.

The extension means Holsclaw’s contract will run through July 2019.

2017-18 DISTRICT CALENDAR. The board approved the 2017-18 school district calendar that preserves the first two weeks of October for fall break, and the first two weeks of April for spring break.

The first day of school for students will be Aug. 1, 2017; the last day will be June 1, 2018.
Winter break will be Dec. 20, 2017 through Jan. 1, 2018.

BES Principal Paul Bowling reviews the schools delivery targets and how the school plans to stay on course to improve students’ education.

DRAFT BUDGET. The board’s draft budget is the first introduction of the next year’s budget, leading to the working budget that will be finalized in September.

It’s difficult to have a precise budget this early in the year, but its a starting point, Holsclaw said.

The draft budget assumes a 4 percent tax revenue increase, and that the state’s SEEK funding will remain about the same as the current school year.

The draft budget also funds the annual step increases for the district’s certified and classified employees. Step raises are increases connected to years of service to the district, he said. The step raisers make up about 2 percent of the district’s budget.

The numbers in the draft budget are subject to change moving forward, and the board will have a chance to review the budget again in May.

BES DELIVERY TARGETS. Bardstown Elementary School Principal Paul Bowling reviewed with the board the elementary’s plans for continuing growth and improvement in its test scores.

A year ago, Bowling told the board that he was confident of better K-PREP scores based on the work the staff was doing to focus on opportunities for improvement. Student performance on the K-PREP test surpassed his prediction; the school surpassed its Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) by 10 points, Bowling said.

The school’s K-PREP scores are the highest they’ve ever been, he said.

Teachers are working together and sharing ways to improve student learning, and the school is fine-tuning the methods its used that led to higher scores last year.

In other business, the board:

— approved the district’s nutrition and physical activity report card presented by Felicia Flanagan, school nurse.

— heard that Michelle Spalding, a 19-year employee of the district, is the district’s new elementary and primary school director of curriculum instruction and assessment. She previously was assistant principal at the elementary school.

— heard from Holsclaw that to date the district has collected $6,846,165 in school taxes, which amounts to 93 percent of the total tax bills. There are 6,256 tax bills, and only 647 remain outstanding, Holsclaw said.

— a delegation of students presented gifts to the board and expressed appreciation for the work they do.

— the board approved Chenoweth Law Office of Lawrenceburg to provide legal services to the district on an as-needed basis.

— the board elected Jim Roby and Jennifer Shrewsbury as board chair and vice-chair, respectively, for the 2017 calendar year.

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