Kentucky Teacher

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Education Secretary Arne Duncan speaks during the Improving Productivity in Kentucky Schools and Districts conference in Louisville, Ky. Photo by Amy Wallot, Nov. 10, 2011

Starting next year, Kentucky school districts can make money by saving money as part of a recognition program launched by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE).

Education Commissioner Terry Holliday announced the program, called Performance Efficiencies Recognition for Kentucky Schools (PERKS), during the Improving Productivity in Kentucky Schools and Districts conference in Louisville this month.

The program will recognize up to five school districts that have found innovative ways to improve productivity and efficiency in the areas of finance, transportation, facilities, budget and information systems.

Each recognized district will receive a minimum of $5,000 each, although Holliday said he would eventually like to see the annual PERKS awards reach $25,000 each. Read the full story

The registration process for the Nov. 10 Productivity Conference with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will open up to anyone outside of school districts, co-ops and associations on Oct.1.

To guarantee a district has slots for its team, participants must register by Friday, Sept. 30. After that date, the registration will be open to all other interested parties and for the expansion of school district and co-op teams already registered.

Go to here to register a team. For more information, contact David Cook at (502) 564-4201.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) will provide tools to analyze resource decisions to improve school districts’ operational processes and free resources to invest in the work of Senate Bill 1 through the Performance Excellence Connection Project.

The “Kentucky Best Practices” website is a component of the project, and it will enable school districts to share solutions to common operational issues. Best practices and promising approaches may be submitted by superintendents, principals, finance officers, directors of pupil personnel, district assessment coordinators and others in management roles. These electronic submissions will be reviewed by trained reviewers, then approved submissions will be posted and catalogued so every school and district leader can easily search for successful processes and network with others facing similar challenges.

The website address and more information on how to use it will be released soon.

Also, in collaboration with the Kentucky School Boards Association, the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents, the Kentucky Association of School Administrators, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Kentucky Center for Performance Excellence, KDE is planning a one-day conference on “Improving Productivity in Kentucky Schools and Districts” in Louisville on Sept. 9.

Every district can send a team of three to the conference, and a school board member may be a member of those teams. National experts will speak on education productivity, and Kentucky education leaders who have submitted best practices for the new website will share approaches that have worked for them. More details on the conference will come soon.