Bardstown school board approves new safety tipline, youth skills grant
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Tuesday, March 20, 2018 — The Bardstown Board of Education approved Saturday, June 2, 2018, as the Bardstown High School graduation date. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. The last day of school is currently set as Friday, June 1.
Superintendent Brent Holsclaw explains the Kentucky Center for School Safety S.T.O.P. tip line during Tuesday’s board of education meeting.
SCHOOL SAFETY TIPLINE. The board also approved the district’s participation in the S.T.O.P. Tipline program offered by the Kentucky Center for School Safety.
S.T.O.P — Safety Tipline, Online Prevention — is online technology that will allow students, staff and parents to anonymously report incidents of threatening behavior, violence, drug/alcohol use, bullying, etc., to school authorities.
The service is provided free to Kentucky school districts by the KCSS.
Board member Franklin Hibbs III asked about how the system can handle hoax reports.
The initial reports submitted through the tipline go first to the district’s director of pupil personnel, who will handle them.
“The tipline doesn’t replace face-to-face communication with people about their concerns,” Superintendent Brent Holsclaw told the school board. ‘It’s not a perfect system, but its another tool.”
NEW SKILLS FOR YOUTH GRANT. Tim Beck, the district’s director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, explained to the board about a grant available to assist an effort to create what would amount to a “regional area technology center” using resources from Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and the Nelson County Area Technology Center.
TIM BECK
Beck said there are five schools and 14 businesses currently involved in discussions to develop additional career pathways for area students.
Right now, everything is in the planning stages, but the pathways being explored include business, healthcare and manufacturing. Every school participating in the process will benefit by having additional career pathways available to their students.
TAX COLLECTIONS. 97 percent of taxes are collected, with $239,000 outstanding, and one property owner accounting for approximately $87,000 of that total. The treasurer said the property owner would have the taxes paid before the April 20, 2018 tax sale.
In other business, the board:
— listened to a presentation the Bardstown Early Childhood Education Center delivery targets by its principal, Michelle Sharp.
The early childhood center has 329 students and is so full the center had to find a classroom in the Bardstown Primary School in January to handle the continued influx of students.
— honored the Bardstown High School Lady Tigers basketball team for tier 22-10 2018 record. The team won the district and was runner-up in the regional tournament.
— approved using a 5/3 Bank MasterCard program as part of a group of schools who use their cards to make purchases and in doing so, earn cash rewards. The money earned in the use of the card will go to the school district’s foundation.
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