Commissioner's Monday Message

Dec. 12, 2022

Dear Colleagues:

On Friday I had the honor of going to Gallatin County Schools with Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman to surprise their Early Childhood Coordinator Heather LeBlanc with the 2022-2023 Kentucky Education Support Staff Professional (KESSP) Award. Today, we honored Michael Wright, an instructional assistant at the Calloway County Day Treatment Center. 

The KESSP award was created in 2020 by Gov. Andy Beshear and. Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman to recognize the state’s more than 46,000 classified school employees. Classified school employees serve in vital and often overlooked roles, from driving students to school, to preparing their meals, to working with partner agencies to ensure students’ vital needs are met.

I frequently get the chance to recognize a few of the many outstanding educators and administrators we have in Commonwealth, from presiding at the Kentucky Teacher of the Year ceremony to honoring the world languages teacher of the year or the principal of the year at a Kentucky Board of Education meeting. However, support staff in every school are important partners in helping students succeed.

Heather's work in early childhood is critical to getting students on the right track early. Her work lays the foundation these students will use throughout their educational career. 

Michael's work at the Calloway County Day Treatment Center changes the lives of the students he helps on a daily basis. Whether it's working with students one-on-one in math or inspiring a love of science with hands-on projects, he shows his students they matter and they can be successful if they persevere.

Please join me in thanking not just Michael and Heather, but all of the support staff in your own buildings. Without them, we wouldn't be able to do the job we love so much.

I also would like to remind you of the next Superintendents Webcast, scheduled 2-4 p.m. ET tomorrow, Dec. 13. As usual, you can watch the webinar on the KDE Media Portal, where a recorded version will be available if you can't join us.

We will have updates from Kentucky Board of Education Chair Lu S. Young, updates on the Kentucky United We Learn Council, information about career and technical education funding mid-year adjustments and updates from the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

We also will be showing you the videos fellow superintendents sent in about how they knew their ARP/ESSER projects were having an effect on students. You can share how your district is using ARP/ESSER funding using this Google sheet. 

Kind regards,

Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.

Commissioner and Chief Learner

Evidence-based Practices for Targeted Support and Improvement

A recorded webinar addressing the selection and implementation of evidence-based practices for schools identified for Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) is now available on the TSI webpage. All identified schools are required to implement at least one evidence-based practice to address the specific needs of students in their low-performing subgroup(s).

For additional information regarding TSI, contact Marsha VanHook. For more information on evidence-based practices, contact Natalie Gwishiri.

FMCSA Clearinghouse Virtual Training

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has requested directors and anyone with access to the FMCSA Clearinghouse to attend their online webinar, scheduled for 10-11:30 a.m. ET on Jan. 10.

This is a virtual outreach/training for public transit and school bus safety officials on Department of Transportation drug and alcohol testing and the clearinghouse, with more of an emphasis on how to use the clearinghouse (i.e. when to do queries, what violations have to be reported, what happens when a driver is prohibited). The webinar also will provide clearinghouse information and training resources, and information on upcoming changes to the clearinghouse.

This is a mandatory program for all school districts with safety-sensitive positions that use a commercial driver’s license, including school bus drivers and school bus technicians or inspectors.

The meeting should take about 1.5 hours and will be held on Microsoft Teams. Register for the FMCSA Clearinghouse Training webinar on Eventbrite. The link to the meeting will be on the bottom of the confirmation email from Eventbrite. Please check your junk mail for the email if you do not receive it immediately after registering.

For more information, contact Elisa Hanley.

Change in Due Date for 2022-2023 Phase Four: Professional Development Plan for Districts/Schools Uploaded to the Continuous Improvement Platform (CIP) 

Previously, the comprehensive district improvement plan (CDIP) and comprehensive school improvement plan (CSIP) Professional Development Diagnostics were due Dec. 31 for the current school year. The diagnostics have been revised and will now be due May 1. 

The information uploaded will be for the 2023-2024 school year. The diagnostics are intended to be planning tools as schools and districts plan professional development based on current data. This change in due date will accommodate the purpose in a more efficient way.

For more information, please visit the Kentucky Department of Education’s Professional Learning webpage or email Renee Yates.

Upload your School or District Plan for Implementing a Trauma-Informed Approach Now

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is partnering with the University of Kentucky Center on Trauma and Children (CTAC) to facilitate the use of trauma-informed practices in schools statewide. To this end, CTAC is examining the trauma-informed plans that districts created in response to the School Safety and Resiliency Act (SSRA) to highlight ways districts are meeting the needs of their students exposed to trauma, as well as to identify any areas of support that are needed as we work toward meeting the requirements within the legislation.

Submitting your plans to KDE or its partners is not required by the SSRA, so participation is voluntary. However, we ask that you upload your district’s trauma-informed plan by Dec. 19 to help facilitate this process.

Information from your plan will be combined with plans from other schools and districts to gain a better perspective of Kentucky’s response to the SSRA and guide technical assistance KDE provides to districts through its partnership with CTAC. Any information specific to your district will not be shared without your permission.

For more information, email Ginny Sprang or Leah Riggs. We look forward to working with you as we all continue to serve students, families and school personnel across the Commonwealth impacted by trauma.

Happy Holidays!

The Monday Message will be taking a break during the holidays. This will be last newsletter until we return on Jan. 9.

From all of us here at the Kentucky Department of Education, we wish you and yours a joyous holiday season!

Title IV, Part A CSPR Data Collection Survey

Title IV, Part A has implemented a survey in the Grant Management Application and Planning (GMAP) System for data collection to assist districts with their Consolidated State Performance Report (CSPR) data submission. The survey is now live for districts to complete the information.

For districts to maintain compliance with their federal grant, the CSPR data is required. The survey asks for specific data regarding the Title IV, Part A funds that have been spent by the district – as well as services allocated for private schools – between July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022, in each of the three components: Well-Rounded Education, Safe and Healthy Students and Effective Use of Technology. The survey also will ask the degree to which districts are making progress toward achieving their goals with Title IV, Part A supported activities.

Please remember this data is for actual funds spent during the time period. The deadline for the survey to be completed is Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. Please visit the Title IV, Part A webpage for information and resources.

The CSPR survey is in the Application Supplement section of GMAP, titled Title IV Survey.

Please contact your designated KDE Title IV, Part A staff member for additional questions: Lalah Brewer or Lee Bowling.

Sign Up Now for Remaining Initial Certified Evaluation Training

Per 704 KAR 3:370 and KRS 156.557, all new evaluators must complete the Initial Certified Evaluation training.

For the 2022-2023 school year, there are only two remaining dates left to attend – Jan. 10-11 and Jan. 24-25. Registration for the Initial Certified Evaluation training is available online.

KDE’s Transformational Change Series for School Leaders

The Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) Transformational Change Leadership Series consists of three one-day conference experiences offered in both Lexington at the Central Bank Center and Bowling Green at the Hilton Garden Inn from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. local time.

Participants interested in attending the sessions at the Central Bank Center in Lexington should mark their calendars to attend on Jan. 25, Feb. 21 and March 28. Participants interested in participating at the Hilton Garden Inn location in Bowling Green should mark their calendars to attend on Jan. 26, Feb. 22 and March 29. Each conference experience is designed for optimal engagement, relevance and applicability. The conference series comes at no cost to participants.

The first conference will engage participants in an in-depth study of the nature and logic behind transformational school leadership and how transformational change leadership differs from leadership for continuous, incremental improvement.

Topics will include the leadership concepts of self-awareness, characteristics of high-trust organizations, servant leadership values, developing a personal leadership platform, collecting and interpreting data to support school transformation and the role of instructional leadership for transformational change.  

The second conference will focus on designing and leading change, improvement science, leadership transitions, futuring and paradigm studies, creating meaningful work and principles of sustainability.

The third conference will center on the study of how organizational culture can be assessed and shaped to catalyze transformational change, creating community, developing constituent voice, attracting and retaining talent, leading great groups and how to effectively market/brand a school’s improvement vision. Each attendee interested in participating in the training series must complete the registration form no later than Jan. 10. Questions regarding the training should be directed to Tim Godbey.

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.