Monday, February 9, 2015

Summary of February 6 KYSPRA Board Meeting

The KYSPRA Board of Directors met on Friday, February 6, 2015 for the third quarterly meeting of the school year. In an effort to keep KYSPRA members informed on action from the Board of Directors, below is a summary of information discussed at the meeting. This should not be considered official meeting minutes.

Linda Salyer reported that invoices for membership dues have been sent to current members. Linda also provided a summary report from the 2014 Fall Conference, sharing there were 36 conference registrations and nine one-day registrations, which included four students from Campbellsville University. Twenty-three additional tickets for the OASIS banquet were purchased. After expenses, the Association earned $3,233.42 in revenue from the Conference.

Organizational Reports:
·         Nancy Rodriguez of the Kentucky Department of Education shared information about the Kentucky Rising initiative that is still being discussed. (Click here to download a draft Fact Sheet from KDE). In summary, Kentucky Rising is a program to take Kentucky’s College & Career Readiness efforts to the next level. More details will be shared from KDE in the future. Nancy also mentioned that there will soon be an open position for Editor of the Kentucky Teacher publication. Interested applicants should check the KDE website for more info.

·         Madelynn Coldiron of the Kentucky School Board Association informed the Board of upcoming pre-conference professional development for Board of Education members, including sessions on The Perfect Interview, School Crisis Management, and Ethics. Madelynn also led discussion to gather feedback on the OASIS Professional Development Program which is coordinated by Brad Hughes of KSBA. The Board will work with Brad to brainstorm all suggestions and will share changes with the requests for entries that will be sent to members later this year.

·         Tom Martin attended the Board of Directors meeting on behalf of Kentucky Educational Television. He talked about the recent Financial Aid call in show on Education Matters, as well as an upcoming show regarding the Core Academic Standards, airing first on KET Monday, February 23 at 9:00 pm EST. Also, KET is currently accepting submissions for the 2015 KET Young Writers contest, a statewide competition designed to improve the advancement of children’s literacy skills through hands-on, active learning. Students in grades Kindergarten through 3rd grade are invited to submit entries to KET’s Young Writers Illustrated Story Contest. Students in 4th and 5th grades are invited to submit entries to KET’s Young Writers Short Story Contest. Entries must be received by April 11. More info on the contest: http://www.ket.org/pressroom/2013/11/youngwriters2015.html. And last, Tom said if KYSPRA members would like to be added to a distribution list from KET for notice of shows or programming, contact him via email at tmartin@ket.org.

Old Business:
·         Tracy Green reported that she has been working with Susie Hart and a small committee to update and redesign the KYSPRA website with the goal to make the site more interactive, linking several resources to the page, as well as adding more features to recognize distinguished OASIS projects.
·         The blog and Twitter account are being utilized to share day-to-day information with members and members are encouraged to share posts with KYSPRA to keep the blog updated and active. Kyspra.blogspot.com and @kyschoolpr on Twitter.

New Business:
·         Spring Professional Development: Wayne Walden led discussion about upcoming professional development opportunities. Based on feedback from the post-conference survey in the fall, it seems many members would prefer more regionally-based opportunities to limit travel time and costs. Wayne will be working to organize three to five one-day meetings with similar agendas to be held in areas across the Commonwealth. More details will follow regarding specific opportunities and registration.


Thanks to each of you for all you do for Kentucky schools.

Leslie McCoy
KYSPRA President, 2014-15

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