Rowan County presents staff-survey gains, KDE site-visit invite and family-resource pilot update

Rowan County school officials on Feb. 17 presented results from a recent district staff survey and highlighted several district developments, including a student performance from Rodburn Elementary and an invitation to host a Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) site visit.

Banks, a district staff presenter, said staff participation in the survey was about 87 percent overall, with preschool and middle school staff reporting 100 percent participation. "This past year, we had 87 percent of our staff who completed the survey, which is a very high percentage," Banks said. Banks described gains across nine survey domains, noting double-digit improvements in school leadership (+12 percentage points), school climate (+10) and feedback/coaching (about +11). Banks said one dip was in the resources domain and attributed that to the earlier availability of ESSER funds that temporarily boosted resources in prior years.

Instructional staff Miss Carver told the board Rowan County had been invited by KDE to host a foresight site visit on March 10. "We'll bring in about a 100 educators from across the state" to observe classrooms and preview a prototype dashboard the district plans to roll out in April, she said. Carver said the visit is an honor and an opportunity to showcase district classroom practices.

Carolyn Poe provided an update on Family Resource and Youth Service Centers, saying Clearfield Elementary, McBrayer Elementary and the high school are part of a pilot with the Cabinet for Family and Health Services that includes only about 40 school districts statewide.

Board members praised the student presentation and the survey gains but noted that packet data still show the district below many state baseline metrics. A board member asked whether districts of similar size can be compared on the KDE site; Banks confirmed KDE’s online tools allow district-to-district comparisons.

Next steps identified by staff: principals will analyze individual-school survey results with school committees and select one or two focus areas to address before the next survey (in two years). The district will finalize the prototype dashboard and host visitors on March 10.

Treasurer Ms. Littleton also gave the monthly finance update prior to those presentations, reporting starting and ending fund balances and monthly receipts and expenditures (figures presented in the meeting packet).