SCHOOLS A6
BCR Recorder
January 13, 2011
ACHIEVEMENTS
Editor Nancy Daly | ndaly@nky.com | 578-1059
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NEWS
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ACTIVITIES
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HONORS
Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Northern Kenton County
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The Mann Mingle theme was Peace, Love and Mingle which goes right along with the school’s theme of Peace, Love and Learning
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Emily Eggleston gets her face painted.
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Mann Elementary School had the “Mann Mingle” on recently. There were three bounce houses from Leapin’ Lizards, clowns from Dotties Entertainment, games, prizes, bingo, face painting and tattoos. There was also a silent auction where each class put together a basket to auction off. About 300 kids attended. Jake Hanna, Will Swinehart, and Benjamin Schmidt waiting to buy prizes with their tickets.
Carter McIntire checks out the kids table of toys in the silent auction.
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Bella Bloemer waits to go into one of the bounce houses.
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Alexandra Price waits for her balloon animal from the clowns from Dottles Entertainment.
Kentucky schools braced for SEEK shortfall State funding that school districts receive will be cut in the last quarter of this fiscal year by about 2 percent due to a $49.3 million shortfall. The Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) fund is the main source of state dollars for the 174 public school districts. The funding for this fiscal year, which ends June 30, is about $2.5 billion. That’s about 2 percent less than what is needed. “We’ve been preparing for this,” said Tim Hanner, superintendent of the Kenton County School District. “We’re not shocked to hear that SEEK was not solvent this year.” Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday, who dis-
cussed the issue through a webcast Friday with district superintendents and finance officers, said a shortfall has happened twice in the past, most recently in fiscal year 2006. The complicated SEEK formula that determines how much state money each district receives works as follows: every district gets the same base dollars per pupil. Money is then added for transportation, exceptional children, athome instruction and at-risk kids. The formula then subtracts local money, which is a certain amount per $100 of assessed property value divided by the district’s average daily attendance the previous year.
The result is the amount of state money per student for that district. According to the Kentucky Department of Education, there a few reasons for the lack of funding, including lower-than-forecasted property values and unexpected student growth. Average daily attendance figures for the end of fiscal year 2010 showed about 10,000 more students statewide than projected, which was due to higher enrollment, better student attendance and a change in how attendance is calculated. Holliday said districts should be able to cover the shortfall with Education Jobs Fund money, a total of $134 million from the U.S.
Department of Education. That money, which is a reimbursement, has been available to districts this year, and remains available through fiscal year 2012. “The commissioner told superintendents to hang on to that money because we could not predict the future,” said Lisa Gross, spokeswoman for the state education department. “Given the state’s financial situation, this (shortfall) was not a certainty, but a definite possibility.” Kelley Gamble, finance director in Kenton County, said the district has $2.3 million in Education Jobs money to spend. The 2 percent cut amounts to about $915,000. In Campbell County, Superintendent Anthony Strong said the
district conservatively budgeted $250,000 less in SEEK money for this fiscal year than it was actually supposed to receive. The cut announced Friday amounts to $236,000 for the district, making it a virtual wash. The district also has $733,000 in Education Jobs money to use. “The news we got today is never good, but it won’t be too bad for Campbell County,” Strong said. “We’re not looking at having to reduce staff or cut salaries as a result of it.” Holliday said he expects a shortfall for fiscal year 2012, but does not know how much. He hopes to have that data by the end of the month. Kentucky News Service
Conner celebrates career readiness success Conner High School is celebrating its success in the College and Career Readiness testing arena. College and Career Readiness is the new measure of educational excellence. Tim Hitzfield, Conner principal, said, “Conner High School is committed to developing college and career readiness skills in all of our students. Our recognition of students that achieve at the highest levels is just one step in providing a platform for student success and recognition. “Our ultimate goal is to build a skill set within each of our students that allows them to self evaluate their progress, reflect on
their skills, achieve mastery in reading, math, science, and English, and develop to their full scholastic potential.” At a Nov. 24 assembly Becky Flynn, branch manager of the Hebron Bank of Kentucky office, and Mark Tranbarger, VP of The Bank of Kentucky. passed out savings bond to students scoring the highest at their grade level or met all benchmarks. According to Tranbarger, “The Bank of Kentucky is pleased to have the opportunity to work with the staff and students at Conner High School. We are committed to the partnerships we form with the schools and are proud of what we
are accomplishing together. Congratulations go out to all the students for their achievements this year, especially the ten honored here with the highest composite scores and highest achieved benchmark in all areas. We wish you successful futures and look forward to you leading our communities.” Boone County Central Office representatives also expressed their appreciation to the students. Pat Murray, chief academic officer, spoke to the students, as did Karen Cheser, assistant superintendent, and Cathy Schafer, director of high school teaching and learning.
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Mark Tranbarger, vice president of The Bank of Kentucky, is shown with senior students Toria Fischer and Austin Chapman.