FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING INCLUDES HONORING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

The Fulton County Board of Education heard from District Director of Academics Sondra Gibbs during their special called session Nov. 21, preceding the Thanksgiving holiday break, regarding the school district’s test scores recently received and provided to the public.

Board members Perry Turner, Chair, Kim Haglar, Brian Emmons, Barry Patrick and Rob Garrigan were present.

Gibbs explained the new accountability system, and compared it with previous year’s methods to score students in a number of subjects, and then translate those scores to a designated status such as Distinguished or Proficient, as well as Novice or Apprentice. Areas of testing range from reading, math, science, social studies, and writing.

Color charts are assigned to each accountability score for each school, from low to high, starting with red, the lowest, to orange, to yellow, to green and then to blue, which is the highest achievable designation a school may earn.

The Principals of the elementary, middle and high schools provided an overview of each of their school’s rankings and data.

Ashton Giles, elementary school Principal shared that overall, the school would be classified as TSI, based on their score. TSI stands for Targeted Support and Improvement, designated for schools that have student subgroups performing significantly lower than their peers on specific indicators.

Upon TSI identification, TSI schools must revise their Comprehensive School Improvement Plan to include components of turnaround leadership development and support, the identification of critical resource inequities, evidence based interventions and any additional actions that address the causes of consistently underperforming subgroups of students.

“This does not define who we are. We have been working really hard. The students are loved and safe. This does not define who we are. We will reduce the areas in novice, and find our gaps,” she said.

She shared with the board that Fulton County Elementary had just recently been notified the school was in the top 40% of all elementary schools in Kentucky, listed by U.S. News and World Reports.

Middle School Principal Teresa Speed shared with the board that the “novice areas” concern her. She said often in the middle school age group, there can be an attitude of “we really don’t care...”

“By the end of May, we do care,” she said, adding she had met with each student individually and had identified students who may need help.

“We did have four different science teachers last year,” Speed said, alluding to the inconsistence in student instruction. She also said she had identified areas of the school, through the student safety survey, where students may not feel safe, so measures were being put in place to alleviate those concerns. She said while the school advanced to orange, up from the previous year, she wanted to see the advancement continue and increase to a higher score/color for the next year. She said scores came up in reading and math, and the school scored green in writing, and was no longer designated as TSI.

High School Principal Ellen Murphy reported last year, the high school was designated as green.

This year, she said, after having “taught from bell to bell”, a focus on content and the creation of a caring atmosphere, the school increased to the highest ranking of blue.

Increases were reported in most areas of study, as to percentages of students who scored Proficient and Distinguished, with the school achieving an overall index of 83.2.

“We were not just barely in blue, we were in blue,” Murphy said.

She also announced Fulton County High School was ranked 15th out of 228 Kentucky high schools, with only Hickman County and Ballard County the local schools ranked higher.

“I am proud and thankful to the kids, the staff...they worked so hard. I do believe the difference is relationships. We focus on what matters, what we can control from 8 to 3 each day...relationships, instruction, team work. If these students know you care, and believe, they will do it,” Murphy said.

She credited consistent staffing also as a contributing factor to the successful increase to blue.

Superintendent Patrice Chambers commended Murphy for extended school services, as often, school districts would wait until summer to implement those services, however instead, Murphy had taken her ESS funds and offered after school tutoring every school day of the week.

“Middle school, the numbers are not where we want them to be, but we are closing those gaps. In the elementary school, we have a lot of students who scored proficient and distinguished on testing. We do still have some work to do there. These same students in blue, in high school, came from our middle school. We have increased staff pay to create a culture where these good teachers will want to stay. It’s a great day to be a Pilot, where we are relentlessly pursuing excellence. Let’s shoot all the way to blue,” Chambers said.

Board Chair Perry Turner thanked the administration and staff for their efforts and hard work toward achieving success by reaching the highest status.

During the student presentation portion of the meeting, the Middle School Student Council presented their plans and goals for their organization, including the implementation of a peer mentorship program and a middle school bookstore.

Officers of the student council introduced themselves to the board and those in attendance for the meeting, and shared their personal goals for each office.

Students recognized for earning Distinguished status in third grade math included Blake Bradshaw, James Sis, Braydon Johnson, Kylee Bradshaw and Adam Keeler. Students recognized for earning Proficient status in third grade math included Thomas Hamil, Vincent Webber, Tayshun Hardy, Genesis Mondesir, Christopher Blodgett, Tereck Lyons, Zayden Howard, Carder Kelly, Hunter Mosley, Christopher Mitcherr and Doris Williams.

Students recognized for earning Distinguished in third grade reading were Thomas Hamil, Vincent Webber and Tayshun Hardy. Students recognized for earning Proficient in third grade reading were Blake Bradshaw, Drake Patrick, McKenna Smith, James Sims, Aah Smith, Anala Gaston, Genesis Mondesir and Christopher Blodgett.

Students recognized for earning Distinguished in fourth grade math were Lily Linder, Ava Bower, Rhett Fields and Silas Lane.Students recognized for earning Proficient in fourth grade math included Jason Falgout, Billie McCoy, William Giese, Addicyn Harrison, Travis Carlisle, Adrionna Watson, Michael Jaco, Sawyer Jones, Raylan Davis, Zy’erique Frame and Kalyssa Uzzle.

Students recognized for earning Distinguished in fourth grade reading were Lily Linder, Jason Falgout, Billy McCoy, Ava Bower, Rhett Fields, William Giese and Emiah Cuevas.

Students recognized for earning Proficient in fourth grade reading were Addicyn Harrison, Colten Blankenship, Travis Carlisle, Hunter Thorpe, Jaskyylah Perry, Adrionna Watson, Silas Lane, Abigail Elks and Arabelle Keeler.

Students recognized who earned Proficient in fifth grade math included Alexander Rudy, Phillip Bradshaw, Miya Minor, Zayden Huff, Jaquaylan Yandal, Eduardo Barnett and William Rudy.

Students who ranked distinguished in fifth grade reading were Alexander Rudy, Phillip Bradshaw, Miya Minor, William Rudy, Brianna Coleman and Aubrey Muenzer. Students who scored Proficient in fifth grade reading were Zayden Huff, Jaquaylan Yandal, Eduardo Barnett, Ethan Toon, Jaxon Kimmons, Jerry Lynch, Presley Chandler and Zakahri Skinner.

The student who scored Distinguished in fourth grade science was Rhett Fields. Students who scored Proficient in fourth grade science were Lily Linder, Billie McCoy, Ava Bower, William Giese, Costen Blankenship, Travis Carlisle, Silas Lane and Sawyer Jones.

Students who scored Distinguished in fourth grade social studies were Alexander Rudy, Phillip Bradshaw, and Aubrey Muenzer. Students who scored proficient in fifth grade social studies were Zayden Huff, Eduardo Barnett, William Rudy and Brianna Coleman.

Students who achieved Distinguished status in fifth grade mechanics were Alexander Rudy, Phillip Bradshaw, Miya Minor, William Rudy, Brianna Coleman, and Presley Chandler. Students who scored Proficient in fifth grade mechanics were Jaquaylan Yandal, Eduardo Barnett, Bella Hernandez, Bryson Edgin, Marely Lazo, Gabe Scott and Kentley Stephenson.

Students who scored Proficient in fifth grande on demand were Alexander Rudy, Phillip Bradshaw, Miya Minor, Eduardo Barrianna Coleman, Aubrey Muenzer, Ethan Toon, Presley Chandler, Elizabeth Mulcahy, Bella Hernandez and Faith Montgomery.

The Attendance Report was provided, which reflected from Oct. 11-Nov. 7, the district recorded an overall attendance percentage of 94%, with the elementary reporting 95%, and the middle/high school reporting 94% attendance for that period. The freshman class at the high school was recognized for achieving an attendance percentage of 97%.

Superintendent Patrice Chambers announced the Superintendent Special Spotlight, which honored Allison Whitledge, School Board Attorney, who was presented with special gifts to express appreciation from the school district and Board of Education, as well as the Superintendent.

An application and agreement for use of district property was reviewed and approved by the Board, submitted by the Hickman Youth Softball and Baseball League, represented by Shawana Vowell, Shelby Holman, Maegan Scott and Clay Jones. Scott was present for the meeting. She explained the purpose of the league was to build the high school softball and baseball programs, and the dates requested to use the district’s property were April through July, 2024, for practices and games, after 5 p.m. The application stated concessions would be sold and proceeds would go toward paying game officials.

The Board approved the application and request.

Board meeting dates were proposed to the Board for their approval, setting monthly dates from January 2024 through December 2024.

Jan. 25, Feb. 22, March 28, April 25, May 23, june 27, July 25, Aug. 22, Sept. 26, Oct. 24, Nov. 21 and Dec. 19, at 6 p.m. were meeting dates approved.

A lease agreement was made and entered into by the Fulton County School District, Board of Education, as Lessor and the Murray Independent School District Board of Education, Lessee. The Murray BOE, through its Murray Head Start Program applied for and received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, funding for conducting Head start programs in the Fulton County School District. The property to be leased will be purposed for conducting the Head Start and Early Head Start program in Fulton County School District. The term of the lease is Sept. 1, 2023 through Aug. 31, 2024.

The Board approved the lease.

Superintendent Patrice Chambers provided the Personnel Report to the board members, with no hirings, retirements, transfers or non-renewals listed. One resignation was listed, for Lavetta Crumble, as High School Volleyball Coach.

Related to personnel, two employees requested and were approved for FMLA, Family Medical Leave Act time off.

Recognized earlier in the meeting by Board of Education Chairman Perry Turner, Board Treasurer Jennifer Davis was welcomed back to the board meeting following a time away for medical recuperation.

Davis provided the board with information from the financial report, with year to date revenue reported at $1,268,793.49 against a budget of $6,165,252, with 21% collection. Last year, she reported, the revenue was at $3,605,885.04 against a budget of $5,467,012.

Year to date expenses were reported at $1,268,558.51 against a budget of $6,165,252, at 21%, with last year’s figures at $1,146,076.76 against a budget of $1546,712, at 21%.

Davis reported numerous “up front” expenses occur at the beginning of the school year, all at the same time, including insurances, and, property tax revenue was just now being received.