SCHOOLS A6
South Kenton Recorder
October 20, 2011
ACHIEVEMENTS
Editor Nancy Daly | ndaly@nky.com | 578-1059
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SOUTH KENTON Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Independence and Taylor Mill
N K Y. c o m
RECORDER
Children’s literature conference set for Nov. 5
“Fantastic Journeys Through Literature,” the 16th annual Ohio Kentucky Indiana Children’s Literature Conference, will take place Saturday, Nov. 5, at Thomas More College in Crestview Hills. Keynote speakers will be Ingrid Law, whose middle-grade novel “SAVVY” was a Newbery Honor Book in 2009, and Keiko Kasza, winner of the 1989 Kentucky Bluegrass Award and writer and illustrator of many other award-winning picture books. The full-day conference will include a
wide variety of workshops useful to teachers, writers, librarians, illustrators and parents on subjects such as “Fantastic Flannel Boards,” “Using Books as Bibliotherapy,” “Writing for the School-Library/Educational Market,” “Literature Across the Curriculum,” “Mock Caldecott and Newbery Awards” and “Drop Everything and Write!” There will be presentations on the latest in picture books, middle grade and young adult literature. The conference will offer a manuscript critique option and writers’
workshop conducted by Cincinnati author and former Institute of Children’s Literature instructor Linda Leopold Strauss. The 2011 conference is sponsored by the Dearborn Highlands Arts Council and Kentucky Humanities Council in cooperation with the Blue Marble Book Store, Boone County Public Library, Clermont County Public Library, Kenton County Public Library, Madeira City Schools, Northern Kentucky University, Thomas More College, University of Cincinnati and Xavier
University. The conference will begin at 8 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. Registration fee (which includes a continental breakfast, lunch, and registration packet) is $85; early bird registrations (before Oct. 21) are $75; student registrations (full-time students with ID) are $35. Manuscript critiques are available for an additional fee. Registration is available at http://oki.nku.edu or by contacting Jennifer Smith at 572-6620 or smithjen@nku.edu.
School tax factors vary By William Croyle
wcroyle@nky.com
MELISSA STEWART/COMMUNITY RECORDER
Woodland Middle School eighth-grade student Brook Katinic rings the “stock market bell” to kick off Portfolios TM INvestment Simulation Game.
New project will teach student ‘real-world’ math By Melissa Stewart mjstewart@nky.com
Students at Woodland and Turkey Foot middle schools are learning how to play the stock market while gaining real-world math experience. The schools are participating in a project called “Investing in Students, Making Math Count” made possible through a partnership between the district and Fidelity Investments, Northern Kentucky University, Ninthwave, and Omniology. The project involves Portfolios Investment Simulation Game, an investment simulation exercise designed to teach seventh-grade students real-world, relevant mathematical curriculum through the world of investing, according to Jenny Barret, math consultant
The schools are participating in a project made possible through a partnership between the district and Fidelity Investments, Northern Kentucky University, Ninthwave, and Omniology. for the Kenton County School District. Students will participate in a weekly online challenge where they keep track of the results of their virtual stock purchases. Each week will represent a year, Barrett said. By the time the program is completed in March, students will see what it would be like investing during the course of about 20 years. On March 30, 2012, Fidelity
will host a special tournament for the top 128 investors at their Covington campus. In addition, each month volunteers from Fidelity will visit students in their classroom to provide expertise on the subject. “They have so much to offer as far as their expertise,” Barrett said. “Their presence will really engage the students. It’s priceless. Partnerships like this add to the learning process.” Woodland Middle School seventh-grade teacher Gina Benham is excited about the project. “The kids love it anytime you can tie in money,” she said. “It gives them something very realworld to think about. This also reinforces our curriculum. At the end, they’ll have learned something a lot of adults aren’t even familiar with.”
Homework, study tips suggested As mid-term approaches parents and students may be looking for homework and study tips. Covington Children’s Librarian Elizabeth Hardin and Covington Library Children’s Assistant Janet Flerlage suggests some ways to make sure your child has good habits. 1. Designate a specific area for homework or studying. Make sure there’s plenty of quiet space to spread out and store necessary materials. This creates a distraction free zone that can meet your child’s needs. Make sure other family members know this is the study zone and not to interrupt. Make sure cell phones are turned off. Help your child gather all their supplies before they start. 2. Develop a schedule to stay on track. Create a calendar that lists upcoming tests and projects due. Then, set a timeline with your child to meet important deadlines. A little each day is a great way to learn without feeling overwhelmed. Teach your child to record assignments correctly in their planner. 3. Find new ways to learn. Sometimes it’s beneficial to think outside the box. Visit local museums, libraries, or nature centers and find ways to tie in school subjects with what you see there. Create simple science experiments, cooking or art projects at
home that can relate to homework or assigned reading from school. 4. Look for signs of frustration. When children feel overwhelmed with an assignment it’s important to take a small break. Go for a walk outside or have a snack together. Little can be accomplished if a child is angry or upset. 5. Find a study buddy. Sometimes having a classmate, relative, or friendly teacher to study with can be helpful. The moral support they provide can keep a child on task longer and help them stay focused. Need a little extra help? The Covington Children’s Department offers free tutoring by appointment for students in grades K-6. Call 962-4077 for an appointment. The Library also offers a variety of databases like Learning Express, World Book and Mango that provides an easy way to do research, take practice tests and study foreign language. Visit www.kentonlibrary.org/databases to use these and more. Most of the databases can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection and a library card number. Visit www.kentonlibrary.org for more information or directions.
If homeowners in different school districts compared property tax bills, they may be shocked at the variation in the school tax rates. For example, in the 18 districts in the six Northern Kentucky counties, residents in Grant County Schools have the lowest rate at $5.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Those in Silver Grove Schools, a one-school district of about 220 students, pay the highest at $11.76 per $1,000. But there is no single reason for the inconsistencies. In fact, several variables come into play when the rate is set by boards of education. Each fall, Kentucky school boards can raise taxes 4 percent without putting it on a ballot. Anything higher would be subject to voter recall and a subsequent vote by citizens in that district. That freedom to increase taxes is the main reason school levies, common in states such as Ohio, rarely happen here. In fact, only a couple have taken place in the last decade. Voters in Southgate Independent Schools passed a 42 percent increase in 2004. A proposed increase of 1.7 cents per $100 of assessed value in Campbell County Schools failed in 2005. In Silver Grove, the school board passed the 4 percent increase this year. Melanie Pelle, current chairwoman and member of the board for 16 years, said a big reason was because the tax assessment on Lafarge North America’s gypsum plant, the city’s primary source of tax revenue, was lowered by $7 million. She also said several homes are in foreclosure. “And the state has cut our funds the last three or four years,” Pelle said. “I know it’s tough economic times, but Silver Grove School is the heart of this community.” In Grant County, the school board was able to avoid the 4 percent increase this year because higher property valuations increased revenues. Richard Bredenberg, the board chairman, said he hopes the Creation Museum’s Ark Encounter theme park, which could open as early as 2014 in the county, will significantly boost revenue and keep taxes down. But right now, the board is just taking it year to year. “Every year the (state funding) formula seems to decrease. Next school year will have to be determined by the circumstances then,” Bredenberg said. “But we’ll hold the line as long as we can.” Some districts also benefit from other revenue sources that enable them to keep property taxes lower. For example, the Kenton County School District, which has not taken the 4 percent increase the
Taxes per $1,000 of assessed value
Beechwood Independent - $7.58 Bellevue Independent - $7.04 Boone County - $5.79 Campbell County - $5.64 Covington Independent - $11.17 Dayton Independent - $9.28 Erlanger-Elsmere Independent - $7.43 Fort Thomas Independent - $9.15 Gallatin County - $6.66 Grant County - $5.25 Kenton County - $5.57 Ludlow Independent - $7.02 Newport Independent - $9.27 Pendleton County - $6.06 Silver Grove Independent - $11.76 Southgate Independent - $8.80 Walton-Verona Independent - $10.06 Williamstown Independent - $8.91
Source: Kentucky Department of Education last three years, has a utility tax of 3 percent that should generate about $6.4 million this school year. The district also received $1.8 million this year in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for staff professional development, and has a few new energy-efficient schools that have reduced energy costs by more than $3 million the last four years. “The utility tax certainly helps the revenue,” said board chairwoman Karen Collins, “but one of the biggest things is all we’ve saved in utilities.” Covington Independent Schools does not have a utility tax, and has very old buildings. The district passed the 4 percent hike this year, and has the second-highest rate in the area at $11.17 per $1,000. Krista Athey, the board chairwoman, said the 4 percent increase will help pay for a 1 percent raise in teachers’ salaries as the district tries to compete with neighboring districts for the best teachers. “If we’re not competitive with other districts, we will fail our students,” Athey said. Covington also faces the challenges that most urban areas face. The city had more than 1,000 foreclosed homes from 2000 through 2009, and the students the district serves include 89 percent who live below the poverty level, nearly 15 percent classified as homeless, 32 percent who are transient and 22 percent who have special education needs. “The board is not trying to suck in as much money as we can,” Athey said. “But we believe anytime there are resources available, we have to make sure to get them and pass them on to our children.” And while merging smaller districts into larger districts could lower taxes, the smaller districts aren’t interested. “I don’t think bigger is always better,” Pelle said. “Our students receive a lot of one-on-one ... and do not get lost in the shuffle.”