KENTON RECORDER
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‘A bad Agreement’: School board approves Ignite Institute deal, members disagree Julia Fair Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
Sisters and co-owners Melyssa Kirn and Michele Tibbs started Grainwell's woodshop in 2014. The pandemic forced them to fi nd new ways to market and sell their goods. MEG VOGEL/THE ENQUIRER
The pandemic changed shopping, is it for good? Shoppers went online and lots of local businesses evolved. That isn’t likely to change Hannah K. Sparling Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
This story is part of a weeklong series focusing on how life has changed – and will continue to – because of the pandemic. Before she lost her job in February 2020, Kimberly Fletcher had a hobby. She had a Facebook group, Kim’s Steals and Deals, where she would shop and post bargains for people. If they bought using Fletcher’s link, she’d get a small commission. Really, it was just a fun way to help people while also off setting her Amazon addiction, Fletcher said. After she lost her job, Fletcher decided not to look for another one. She knew it was a risk, but she decided instead to devote herself full-time to Kim’s Steals and Deals. At that point, the group had about 2,500 members. Now, one year and one global pandemic later, it’s more than 70,000. Fletcher’s husband left his job as well, and they now run Kim’s Steals and Deals as a family business from their home in Independence, Kentucky. “People are shopping with me all day long,” Fletcher said. “It’s totally crazy
Boone County School board voted 3-2 to continue a partnership with another Northern Kentucky county school March 11, which one board member called a “bad agreement.” The board convened to vote on its third partnership with Kenton County Schools for the Ignite Institute 20212022 school year. The schools fi rst partnered together for the 2019-2020 school year to run the fi rst-ever science-and-arts-focused high school in Kentucky. The school was born out of devastating economic news. In 2014, Toyota announced it would close its Erlanger headquarters and move 1,600 jobs out of Northern Kentucky. Then, as a parting gift to the region in 2017, the company donated its building to Boone County to transform it into the Ignite Institute for students to specialize in science, technology, engineering, design, and mathematics. The schools agreed to share payroll costs, contribute an equal lump-sum to the operational budget, and evenly split enrollment, according to the agreements the school boards signed which The Enquirer obtained through records requests. First, enrollment has not been equal, an Enquirer review showed. According to the 2020-2021 and draft 2021-2022 school year agreements, students from two school districts would each get 45% of the spots. The remaining 10% would go to regional students. “That model doesn’t make sense to me,” said school board member Julia Pile. “A per-pupil makes more sense.” See SCHOOLS, Page 2A
It started out as a hobby, but Kimberly Fletcher and her husband, Dan, have both left their previous careers behind to focus full-time on Kim's Steals and Deals. ALBERT CESARE / THE ENQUIRER
how it all just snowballed in the last year. And because of the pandemic, it’s really attributable to people and their online shopping habits.” The pandemic has been devastating for businesses across the country. S&P
Global Market Intelligence said corporate bankruptcies ended 2020 at their worst level in a decade, with 630 companies fi ling for bankruptcy. See SHOPPING, Page 2A
The Ignite Institute, pictured, Tuesday, March 9, in Erlanger, Ky. KAREEM ELGAZZAR/THE ENQUIRER
YOUR HEALTH with Dr. Owens
With the COVID-19 vaccine, good things come to those who don’t wait www.interactforhealth.org
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