County school board members voice support for moving to 4-day preschool
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Friday, Dec. 8, 2017 — Several members of the Nelson County Board of Education voiced support for shifting the district’s Early Learning Center (ELC) from a five-day preschool program to four days in order to give teachers the time to do the planning, training, and other required activities they need to accomplish to further the program’s growth and improve kindergarten readiness.
The discussion arose during a presentation from ELC principal Holly Walker about the preschool’s growth, progress and challenges for the coming year.
Holly Walker, principal of the district Early Learning Center, reviews the preschool’s growth, successes and challenges at Thursday’s school board meeting.
The ELC was awarded a 5 star rating earlier this year by the Kentucky Department of Education. The ratings confirm the preschool is one of the area’s premier preschool programs, Walker explained.
The number of students attending the preschool continues to grow, Walker told the board. Three years ago, enrollment was 149; last year it jumped to 207. So far this year, there are 284 students enrolled.
Teachers are working hard to meet an array of requirements, but due to the program’s growth, teachers have only one day per month for planning, meetings and other required activities — an issue that raised concerns among several board members.
Board chair Diane Breeding and board member Diane Berry expressed surprise that the ELC teachers had just one day for planning each month.
“Just one day? That’s it?” Breeding asked. “Why?”
The school district chose to offer five-day per week preschool, Interim Superintendent Tom Brown explained. The ELC can’t fit in two three-hour preschool sessions in each day and still give teachers the time they need for planning, Walker told the board.
Nelson County is one of three districts in Kentucky that offer five-day preschool, she explained. The Bardstown City Schools is one of the other two districts that have a five day preschool, Walker said. The rest of the state’s school districts with preschools are all four-day programs.
Those programs use the fifth day to give teachers the time they need to plan, attend IEP and other meetings, conduct required home visits, attend trainings, and other activities.
Without planning time, when teachers must make home visits, attend meetings, trainings or other functions, the school must call for a substitute to come in for coverage.
Tiffanie Clark, director of special education, reviews plans for grant money that the district may receive from the WHAS Crusade for Children.
In her personal opinion, Walker said if the district wants to see the preschool growth and improvement continue, the teachers need to have more time to plan, to do training to improve their own skills and meet all the requirements of the job.
Board member Damon Jackey, agreed, adding that it be worth taking time to evaluate the benefit of moving to a four day preschool program.
Walker said even if the ELC became a four-day preschool, the facility would continue to offer child care five days a week.
The board took no action after their discussion, though Breeding suggested that Walker put together a proposal to explain the reasons a change to a four-day preschool schedule would be beneficial.
ENERGY SAVINGS. The Nelson County School district’s projects aimed at improving the energy efficiency of its buildings have saved the district’s taxpayers $5.4 million in energy savings over the past 10 years.
That was the report Josh Bunch, the district’s energy manager, gave the county school board of education at its meeting Thursday.
In energy efficiency, the county school district buildings are ranked collectively as the third most efficient in the state.
Bunch said that in addition to monitoring energy use in the district’s buildings, he’s also looking for areas to improve efficiencies. For example, he’s found that many of the district’s computers in school computer labs do not power down and enter sleep mode in the evenings, weekends and during holiday breaks. He’s working with the district tech guys to address the issue.
Bunch also said he’s working on a pilot project that will include students in learning about energy efficiency and learning how their behavior as students can help save energy.
OUT OF DISTRICT CONTRACTS. The board approved reciprocal out-of-district contracts with several school districts to accept their students into Nelson County Schools and vice-versa. The following district approved contracts with Anderson, Barren, Boyle, Bullitt, Elizabethtown Independent Schools, Fayette, Hardin, Hart, Jefferson, LaRue, Marion, Spencer, Taylor Washington, Eminence Independent and Franklin County.
Bardstown Independent Schools were not on the out-of-district contracts list because the two districts have a separate agreement that limits the number of county district students who can attend city school district schools.
In other business, the board:
– reviewed equipment that is planned for purchase if the district is succesful in obtaining a grant from the WHAS Crusade for Children grant.
— received an update from Principal Scott Rouse on students at The Academy at Horizons.
— approved a technology grant that will fund the purchase of materials to be used for technology “camp” activities.
— reviewed the possibility of the district entering into a contract with the Lincoln Trail District Health Department to conduct Medicaid billing on the district’s behalf.
— approved the board’s meeting schedule for calendar 2018.
-30-
