By SHARON K. HALL
Declining enrollment in the school district does not mean declining state funds for Knott County based on attendance. A report on enrollment through the fifth week of the new school year revealed a drop of approximately 40 students. In an attempt to retain students in Knott County, the school administration is currently seeking contact with children living in Knott County and enrolled in another county.
Superintendent Kim King noted, “It looks like we are 40 students down from last year. That is not bad, not being down 100 like some of the other districts.”
Finance Officer Greg Conn said, “Mr. (Steve) Richardson did a great job last year by increasing the ADA (Average Daily Attendance). That is a funding increase. We will be as good as we were two years ago.”
Richardson indicated they are off to a good start with an attendance of 95%.
Three students were honored during the board meeting for having perfect attendance. Last month perfect attendance students were honored as well. There were 51 students that received a perfect attendance certificate. King pointed out that parents and teachers should be proud of the children for coming every day. She complemented the caregivers and Richardson for working hard to get the children to school and the school staff for keeping the students interested.
One organization that works closely with the schools attended the Sept. 10 Knott County Board of Education meeting.
King stated, “I asked members of Trans-Star Ambulance Service to come to the meeting. We had several bus accidents and I have never worked with a more professional, efficient organization. They are really good with the kids. I have asked them if they would come to train us.”
Last month Trans-Star responded to a two-vehicle accident in Kite involving a school bus with 33 children. EMT Ben Martin and other first responders stayed at the scene until all the children were picked up by family or transferred to another bus.
A parent from Carr Creek addressed the board about a situation she felt needed correcting. According to the parent after the bus accident two weeks ago the bus her child rides has become overcrowded. King told the parent to talk to Transportation Director Brent Hoover in private so they can resolve the problem. Hoover and the parent left the meeting to discuss it.
In light of the recent lockdown at Jones Fork Elementary and bus wrecks board member Dennis Jacobs requested the board members get prompt notification of these types of issues. King said someone would be appointed to notify them.
Hoover discussed Knott County Tell Survey results. The Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning Working Conditions Survey is a survey through an anonymous process that teachers take that identifies their perceptions of teaching and learning working conditions. Knott County had a good rate of return with a higher percentage of participation compared to the state. Knott County was at or above the state average in most categories.
Michelle Sandlin gave the instructional report. She discussed the results of the Stanford 10 (The Stanford Achievement Test). It measures Kindergarten student achievement in reading, mathematics, language, environment, and listening. First grade student categories are reading, math, language, spelling/environment, and listening. Hindman students scored the highest in kindergarten and Carr Creek students scored the highest in first grade testing. Overall, Knott County is above the 50 percentile.
Janet Spare said the Knott County School District is 100 % RMTS compliant. The purpose of the RMTS program is to capture the percentage of time staff spends on administrative tasks related to medical services and direct medical staff spends on providing direct medical services. RMTS is used to determine how much the school district is reimbursed by Medicaid for administrative tasks and medical services.