(FRANKFORT, KY) – The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) presented information on two series of town halls being held across the Commonwealth – one on school funding and the other on assessment and accountability – during the Superintendents Webcast on Dec. 10.
SEEK Roadshow
The first series of events will be a roadshow KDE officials are hosting at regional cooperatives to offer district training on the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) funding program, including how local issues impact formula inputs and overall funding.
The SEEK funding program is a formula-driven allocation of state-provided funds to local school districts. The formula includes funding for transportation costs and special needs students as reported by districts.
“This is something that's open to the public, geared towards superintendents, finance officers, legislators, interest groups and anybody that is interested in a better understanding of SEEK. … (We’ll also be) getting the thoughts of your district and your leadership on how it works now and how it could work better,” said Associate Commissioner Matt Ross of KDE’s Office of Finance and Operations.
Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher thanked legislators for recent boosts to SEEK funding, saying “SEEK becomes more and more effective as more and more funds are put into that.”
“There may be some tweaks in there that we need to do (with SEEK), I don't know, but this is an opportunity to give everyone across the state a chance to see the inner workings of SEEK and any part of the formula that they may have questions about,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher also thanked education cooperatives for hosting the events, which are listed below:
- Dec. 13: Southeast South-Central Cooperative (SESC) in London, from 9 a.m. to noon ET.
- Dec. 19: Kentucky Educational Development Cooperative (KEDC) in Ashland, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET.
- Jan. 22: Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC) in Hazard, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET.
- Jan. 24: Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative (OVEC) in Shelbyville, from 9 a.m. to noon ET.
- Feb. 5: Green River Regional Educational Cooperative (GRREC) in Bowling Green, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CT.
- Feb. 13: Central Kentucky Educational Cooperative (CKEC) in Lexington, from 9 a.m. to noon ET.
- Feb. 19: Northern Kentucky Educational Cooperative (NKEC) in Cold Spring, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET.
- Feb. 26: West Kentucky Educational Cooperative (WKEC) in Eddyville, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT.
Assessment and Accountability Town Halls
KDE staff members also presented information on a series of town halls that are scheduled across the state to get input on KDE’s and the Kentucky United We Learn Council’s efforts to revamp the Commonwealth’s assessment and accountability systems.
The town hall meetings are designed to get input from educators, students, families, legislators and community members on the latest framework and how new assessment and accountability systems could work locally.
KDE and the Kentucky United We Learn Council have been working on assessment and accountability for the last two years, developing different proposals that have led to Framework 1.0, which was discussed during the Kentucky Board of Education meeting on Dec. 4-5. Fletcher said there will be a revised Framework 2.0 before those town hall meetings for the public to review.
“We’re very excited about this opportunity, and again, for those of you that have given us input … we thank you for that and I hope that you can see we're listening,” Fletcher said.
The dates and locations are as follows:
- Jan. 7: Southeast South-Central Educational Cooperative (SESC) in London.
- Jan. 8: Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services (NKCES) in Cold Spring.
- Jan. 15: Central Kentucky Educational Cooperative (CKEC) in Lexington.
- Jan. 16: Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC) in Hazard.
- Jan. 21: Green River Regional Educational Cooperative (GRREC) in Bowling Green.
- Jan. 22: Kentucky Educational Development Corporation (KEDC) in Ashland.
- Jan. 27: Hybrid Spanish Town Hall, virtual and at Dishman McGinnis Elementary School in Bowling Green.
- Jan. 29: Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative (OVEC) in Shelbyville.
- Jan. 30: West Kentucky Educational Cooperative (WKEC) in Eddyville.
Fletcher said having feedback from across the Commonwealth will be important while working with legislators on assessment and accountability reform.
“We want to make sure that we come with a unified voice of this is what we believe is best for our students,” he said.
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