School board approves seeking accreditation

The Estill County Board of Education voted to begin the process of earning AdvancED Accreditation for the dsitrict..
Instructional Supervisor Tonya Isaacs told the board earning an accelerated status for the schools will promote improvement,
“Accreditation engages the school community in meeting high quality standards, implementing a continuous improvement process and engaging in quality assurance through internal and external review,” according to information provided by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI).
Estill County Schools haven’t applied for the process yet, but Isaacs said the process would begin with a readiness visit and other preparations leading up to a visit from a review team.
The internal review would happen approximately 18 months after the application from the schools is accepted.
The accreditation would be district-wide, “but each school would complete an individual improvement plan,” Isaacs said.
In order to earn accreditation the schools would have to complete the plans to meet the AdvancED standards including having a clear vision and purpose, having effective and responsive leadership, collecting, reporting and using performance results and having a rigorous curriculum through through research-based methods.
Schools would also be required to be part a continuous improvement plan and “demonstrate quality assurance through internal and external review.”
The accreditation process could be paid for by the district’s GEAR-UP grant if the internal review is completed in the next 18 months.
Isaacs said there are several other school districts that have already earned accreditation or are completing the process.
She said this process will be good for the schools because it causes employees and administration to take a deeper look at details.
“We have to be very honest with ourselves and transparent,” she said. “If not, we’re not going to make improvements.”
Isaacs has experience with the process. She recently served on a review team for accreditation in Boone County. She called the process, “very thorough.”
“It’s good to have the outside eyes,” she said. “They give you a different viewpoint on things.”
Overall Isaacs said the process would be a lot of hard work, but beneficial in the end.
“It’s really an honor to accredited,” she said. “It just requires looking at ourselves and evaluating.”
The board also discussed tentative SEEK calculations for 2012-13.
Superintendent Bert Hensley told the board Estill County would be getting an increase in funds than the originally expected $11,092,347.
Estill County is now expected to receive approximately $11,161,000.
The funds are based on the number of students enrolled in April of the previous school year.
Hensley said there were 2,221 students enrolled at the end of the 2011-12 school year.
Even with the increase, the expected funds are less than the district received last year: $11,180, 664.
This decrease is because of an overall increase in enrollment statewide.
“With more kids in the state that means less money per school,” he said.
In other business:
•Assistant Superintendent Randall Christopher told the board construction at West Irvine Elementary is wrapping up and the school should be able to discuss an open house by the next board meeting.
•The board set the first of two dates to meet with principals to discuss test scores. The board will meet with Estill County High School Principal Blain Click and Estill County Middle School Principal Tim Burkhart Nov. 1.
•The board approved the treasurer’s report and payment of bills.
•The board approved school board member training hours for Charlie Bill Muncy, Jami Price and Jon Bicknell.
•The board approved out of state trips for student council and the Future Business Leaders of America.
•The board approved the resignation of school board member Rick Napier.
•The board heard a suggestion from South Irvine PK Center Principal Lisa Reece to change the name of the school to more accurately reflect the school’s mission. The board told Reece to bring the issue before the Site Based Decision Making Council at the school and ask them to request the change.