Commissioner's Monday Message

Sept. 19, 2022

Dear Colleagues:

Tomorrow we will be recognizing some of Kentucky’s finest education professionals when we honor the 24 Teacher Achievement Award winners and name the 2023 elementary, middle and high school Teacher of the Year during a ceremony beginning at 10 a.m. ET at the Kentucky State Capitol Rotunda.

During the ceremony, which will be livestreamed on the KDE Media Portal, we also will be naming the overall 2023 Kentucky Teacher of the Year during this first in-person event in two years.

This year we celebrate 22 years of honoring teachers in the Commonwealth. This partnership between Valvoline and the Kentucky Department of Education provides the foundation for a teacher awards program that is one of the nation’s best.

Nominations for the 2023 Kentucky Teacher of the Year opened in January. This was a record-breaking year, as nearly 2,000 teacher nominations were received. And for the first time ever, KDE received at least one nomination from all 171 school districts! From those nominations, we had more than 300 teachers submit an application.

In June, a committee of judges made up of highly respected educators from across Kentucky reviewed and scored each application to select 24 educators as recipients of the 2023 Valvoline Teacher Achievement Awards. Those honorees are:

Elementary School

• Rebecca Brewer, Norton Commons Elementary (Jefferson County)
• Ashley Buchanon, Rockfield Elementary (Warren County)
• Kelly Gates, Pride Elementary (Hopkins County)
• Amber Hays, Thelma B. Johnson Early Learning Center (Henderson County)
• Shannon Kay, New Haven Elementary (Boone County)
• Julie Moore, School for the Creative and Performing Arts at Bluegrass (Fayette County)
• Melinda Richardson, Clay City Elementary (Powell County)
• Cassandra Walden, East Bernstadt Elementary (East Bernstadt Independent)

Middle School

• Caitlin Buckley, Kentucky School for the Deaf
• Angela Dilts-Pollock, Farnsley Middle (Jefferson County)
• Nathaniel Green, Newport High (Newport Independent Schools)
• Danielle Hicks, Clinton County Middle
• Justin Mitchell, Franklin-Simpson Middle (Simpson County)
• Mandy Perez, Crittenden County Middle
• Rhoda Whitaker, Whitesburg Middle (Letcher County)
• Charlena Williams, Hancock County Middle

High School

• Cathy Conley, Knott County Central High (Knott County)
• Eddie Groves, Ohio County High
• Tina Henry, Boyle County High
• Robin Kemp, Highlands High (Fort Thomas Independent)
• Victoria Mohon, Christian County High
• Lauren Niemann, Fern Creek High (Jefferson County)
• Amber L. Sergent, Woodford County High
• Steven Thomas, Green County Area Technology Center (Green County)

While a lot of the attention tomorrow will focus on the 2023 Teacher of the Year, I want to take this time to congratulate all of our 24 Teacher Achievement Award winners. These teachers have gone above and beyond to bring meaningful educational experiences to their students every day, helping them overcome all sorts of challenges they may face in their lives and find the passions that will guide them throughout their adult lives.

And while we will be recognizing just 24 Teacher Achievement Award winners tomorrow, I know there are thousands of other educators who are doing stellar work to meet the needs of their students. I know you stand with me in my desire to lift up the teaching profession and recognize their hard work and dedication.

I hope you will join me in thanking these two dozen teachers we will be honoring Tuesday.

Kind regards,

Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.

Commissioner and Chief Learner

Alternative Education Guidance Update

Recent legislative and regulatory changes impacting Alternative Education Programs prompted the need for updated Guidance for Alternative Education Programs.

The Kentucky Department of Education also has released an alternative education regulation guidance document and FAQ for House Bill 194, which expands GED opportunities to students who are at least 17 years of age, off-track to graduate and enrolled in alternative education programs.

For more information, email April Stanley.

Youth Leaders Sought to Join Kentucky Teen Council

Kentucky National Guard Child and Youth Services is seeking youth leaders ages 14-17 to join its Kentucky Teen Council.

The Kentucky Teen Council represents the voices of youth who have parents in the military. Members will be required to attend quarterly meetings, volunteer at Kentucky National Guard Child and Youth Services (CYS) events and other events as needed, and attend an annual face-to-face meeting.

Members will build leadership and life skills and friendships with other council members. There may be opportunities to travel out-of-state and participate in other fun and engaging activities. The council will represent Kentucky National Guard Youth across the state and act as a voice for all military youth.

To join, members must:

• Be currently enrolled in 9th, 10th or 11th grade for the 2022-2023 school year;
• Be willing to commit for a two-year term on the council;
• Maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA (quarterly grade checks will be required);
• Attend at least three volunteer opportunities throughout the year;
• Have the ability to travel for meetings, presentations, volunteer opportunities and community service projects;
• Actively answer emails, and participate in meetings, conference calls and planning for events; and
• Attend the mandatory Kentucky Teen Council Workshop that will be scheduled at a later date.

To be eligible, students must be either:

• Dependents of currently serving Kentucky Army and Air National Guard members;
• Survivors of Kentucky Army and Air National Guard members;
• Grandchildren of actively serving Kentucky Army and Air National Guard members;
• Children and grandchildren of Kentucky Army and Air National Guard retirees; or
• Siblings, nieces or nephews of Kentucky Army and Air National Guard members.

Students must apply online by Oct. 1.

KECSAC Student Writing Competitions

The Kentucky Educational Collaborative for State Agency Children (KECSAC) is kicking off the school year with a new student competition series that will highlight the work and talent of state agency students across the Commonwealth. The first competitive writing event will focus on poetry.

Any student who is currently in a KECSAC program may enter until Sept. 30. Entries are broken into three age categories. Guidelines, entry forms and flyers are available on the KECSAC website. Entries will be accepted for an essay writing competition from Nov. 1-23.

KECSAC programs are encouraged to share this information with teachers and students. Winners will receive prizes and entries also will be featured in KECSAC publications.

For more information, email Sherri Clusky.

Updated Student Discipline Guidelines and Model Policies

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has updated the student discipline guidelines and model policies. These are available for review on KDE’s Student Discipline Guidelines and Model Policies webpage.

For more information, email Doug Roberts.

Reminder: Campus Analytics Training Set for Sept. 20

The Kentucky Department of Education has partnered with Infinite Campus to offer Campus Analytics training to all Kentucky districts at 10 a.m. ET or 2 p.m. ET on Sept. 20. Campus Analytics is a premium product that is now available to all Kentucky districts at no cost.

Important topics and tools covered include early warning, data validation/visualization, new premium survey options, teacher engagement check-ins and more. Help empower your district by learning to effectively use Infinite Campus tools for more accurate data analysis, reporting and prediction of students at risk. Please help encourage participation as there is still time to register.

Register now to participate in the Campus Analytics training. Contact Training@infinitecampus.com with questions.

Survey to Identify DEIB Professionals for Community of Practice Meetings

The Kentucky Department of Education's (KDE’s) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Team in the Office of Teaching and Learning facilitates a monthly community of practice meeting with district DEIB coordinators/officers/point people to allow them to share and learn from one another as they work toward helping each student and educator in Kentucky feel a sense of belonging.

The monthly meetings also allow DEIB coordinators to create and deepen partnerships to remove long-standing barriers to equity by providing supports in developing an equity lens, elevating student and educator voice, and promoting equitable, inclusive and healing learning communities.

KDE’s DEIB team has put together a short district DEIB community of practice Google survey to help identify professionals throughout Kentucky who should be invited to these meetings.

Visit the KDE DEIB webpage for additional information, resources and contacts.

2022-23 Comprehensive Improvement Planning for Districts and Schools

Improvement planning for the 2022-2023 academic year is underway. As we use the experiences and lessons learned from the past couple of years, proven systems and processes will continue to support quality teaching and learning. A collaborative process involving multiple stakeholders is essential to identifying priority needs and the resources and actions to best address them.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) will continue to use the Cognia Comprehensive Improvement Platform (CIP) and the 2022-2023 diagnostics are now available. Schools and districts must develop an improvement plan annually and therefore, you must begin new diagnostics. When creating and completing your diagnostics within the CIP, please ensure that the correct level (system or school) and current year are chosen.

The process and timeline for comprehensive school and district improvement planning outlined in 703 KAR 5:225 remain unchanged, but there have been a few changes within the phases as outlined on the Comprehensive Improvement Planning webpage. While comprehensive improvement planning is a continuous process and plans may be reviewed and revised at any time, the timeline identifies the diagnostics included in each phase of the planning process and their statutory due dates.

We hope you will join us for the Continuous Improvement Summit Sept. 26-27 at the Central Bank Center in Lexington to learn more about improvement planning and continuous improvement.

For additional information about the CIP, contact Marsha VanHook. For more information regarding improvement planning, visit the Comprehensive Improvement Planning webpage or email Ruth Swanson.

Those receiving this at KSB and KSD, please make sure all employees receive it. Also, ATC principals are asked to forward it to their staffs.

Please send your questions, comments and suggestions on the Monday Message to Jennifer Ginn by 10 a.m. Friday to be published in the upcoming week.