...Lyon Co. superintendent glad "virtual" charter schools removed from new law, doesn't see local population as being large enough to support developing such programs
Herald-Ledger, Eddyville, March 22, 2017
Superintendent discusses legislative session with board
by Jody Norwood
Superintendent Russ Tilford told the Lyon County Board of Education to expect few short-term changes coming from education-related state laws recently passed.
Tilford and the board discussed the possible impact of charter schools on Lyon County, as well as school calendar requirements and student athlete concussions.
House Bill 520 brings forprofit publicly funded charter schools to Kentucky, which was one of the few free public education holdouts. Kentucky is the 44th state to approve some form of diverting tax dollars to for-profit schools.
Tilford said he doesn’t expect the bill to have much impact on Lyon County in the near future.
“It’s been a point of concern for all of us throughout the legislative session,” Tilford said. “The bill, as I understand it, shouldn’t have a tremendous negative impact on Lyon County. We’re one of the few that I feel that way about, partly because of the exclusion of virtual schools.
“Unless we authorize one, I don’t see our population being large enough that a charter school will land in Lyon County. We don’t have the population to support and sustain a charter school in Lyon County.... The regulations would have to change from what the original law is before I think charter schools will be prominent in this area.”
According to the bill, HB 520 allows local school boards to authorize public charter schools in their districts beginning with the 2017-2018 school year. The schools would be established by contract and governed by independent boards to provide Kentucky residents with nonsectarian educational programs that “meet or exceed student performance standards adopted by the Kentucky Board of Education.” Amendments require “federal and state categorical funds to be distributed to eligible students in charter schools in the same manner as distributed in noncharter public schools” and outline who should serve on charter school boards. According to the bill, local public school districts will have the chance to vote against proposed charter schools. That decision can be appealed to the state Board of Education, which could overturn local decisions.
Tilford said the original bill included language that would allow for virtual charter schools, which could have diverted local dollars to other districts in the state with little oversight for students taking classes online.
“Our state and local dollars would have followed the child to virtual charter school,” Tilford said. “That part, I was glad to see was pulled from the law.”
Tilford said language in the bill approved by the Senate prohibits funding dollars to go below current levels for Lyon County.
The Senate voted 23-15 in favor of the bill, along with a 53-43 House vote to accept changes made by the Senate.
Tilford said he was supportive of other education-related bills, including:
• House Bill 241, dealing with concussion protocols.
“Basically it prohibits a child from returning to play in athletics if they’re suspected of a concussion,” Tilford said. “That’s a long way from where we once were. I think it is a good piece of safety legislation for our kids.”
• Senate Bill 50, school calendar bill.
“It’s been a hot topic in our community,” Tilford said. “The only thing that it requires is that we have two community members on our [calendar] committee. Last year we had one.”
Tilford said it allows the local board to continue having control over school dates, while waving the number of attendance days required, provided the district meets a minimum number of instructional hours. The district would still be required to provide 1,062 hours of instruction.