001I'd like to welcome everybody. McCory County Board of Education regular board meeting December 16th, 2025, 5:30 p.m. Central office call to order and roll call. Braxton >> here. Drew >> here. Cody >> here. >> Es here. >> Chair here. I need a motion and second to approve the agenda and the agenda. I make a motion we approve the agenda and the agenda. Chair Braxton Drew Cody >> at this time communications a prayer by Mr. Braxton. >> Father, we come to you now in the name of Jesus and we just pray over our students or staff or community. Father, we just we just pray right now what the angel spoke. Glory to God in the highest. Let there be peace on earth and good will toward men. So father we just thank you for watching over
002them during this time. Give everyone the wisdom and every decision that they make and everything that they do. We ask it in the name of Jesus. At this time of county high school JTC Isaac Stevens to the pledge of the world for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> Superintendent of Communications, Dr. We have three uh three different folks that are going to talk with us tonight about test scores, food service. They're going to do their annual report. So, first we have Shane King, food service. So, I'm kind of give you an update on our food service program. Last year, it's early in the year with the rising food cost. Uh, we were concerned about I'd sit in a meeting with other school districts and they were having to
003borrow money from the general fund to fund their food service program. So, I got to do some research and some was able to join Green River, which our entire district is now a member of. They were able uh assist us in joining HBS, which is a buying cooperative to help with our bidding process. So, this year kind of set us up for open bidding with other vendors. And uh Gordon's was able to pick up our our bid and from Janu or from August till November compared to last year, food services already saved $112,000. So this has already let us set up to start renovations that are long overdue and needed. So we're excited about that with the the increased revenue and the savings. We started on some projects at the intermediate school and going to
004follow us with some other schools. Also the summer feeding program we served over 70,000 meals. So this is going to allow us some more opportunity to provide different food and different options and hopefully open a second site this summer uh in the Pinemont area to serve our community. That's great. >> Thank you. So, I really appreciate your all support. >> Thank you, Shane. Shane and service staff. They do a wonderful job. A lot of variety of things for kids. We appreciate everything here, but we'll get it to her. Thank you all that information. >> Up next, we have Miss Charlotte Barnett with the annual report from Bridge Central High School. excited to share today. >> Says she can do everything in two minutes and 30 seconds. [snorts] fast as we call anything. Okay. Um uh
005this is our 2526 annual report from the data that has been released from last year. And I just want to say too before sharing this data, I know um I'm super excited to get a chance to come in here and share this, but I don't feel like that's something I should come in here and do myself because there's a whole team of people who come who do a lot of work behind this. Um so I get to stand up here and do the talking, but I want you to see the faces of the folks who put all of these things together and make that happen. So I wanted to make sure that they were here today because there is so much that goes into making it happen. And I promise you we're keeping it short
006today. Um, but definitely want to take some time to celebrate. Uh, McCree Central High School has been listed as a green school this year. So, we are a high achieving school. Um, and just want to add on top of that too, just looking at our data, uh, we have gone from the bottom third of the state into the top third of the state. [snorts] And one of the one of the things I feel like that I love the most about this data that has come out is getting a chance to celebrate that with our students. We did a lot of work last year to prep them and to get them ready for it, but then to bring them back into the gym and celebrate with them uh was really nice. And I don't know if
007you all have had a chance to see the Facebook post that we put out where we had the Raider mascot come down and bring 75. We actually drove a hundred kids out of the stands and the Raider got to leapfrog over that number of students. And each one of those jumps represented a high school in the state of Kentucky that McCree Central has moved ahead of. So just in this last year, we moved in front of an additional 75 high schools on top of what we had already been in front of. And so just super excited about that and um just really proud of our school. It was so nice to get to stand in front of the gym and tell our students, you know, that Wayne County scores can't beat them, Southwestern scores can't
008beat them. And just list off the number of who we've been very competitive with over the years who've not been able to beat their scores this last year. So, super proud of that and appreciative of all of these folks who make that happen. So, we're going to break down data for you just a little bit so you can see exactly where that comes from. Um, starting off first with our reading program and Miss Don Kid here has led our English department for the last couple of years. We've out worked her to death out of there. Um, but we our scores went from a 55.7 to a 66.2. That last year alone, we had a 19% increase in our reading scores. And if you'll look at interventions that we've put in place over here, SRRA, corrective
009reading strategies, we've partnered with our Gear Up program. Uh, Tamara Wilson down here next to the end. I drag her in here anytime I can. Uh, but Tamara's done a lot of work for us in Europe last year to organize both M interventions and reading interventions for students and we were able to see significant growth out of that too. So the SR reading program um having the gear up academic tutors in place uh we brought about eye time last year and took a look at our students who were scoring in the high novice and the high apprentice and did some extra supports for those students too. Um not to mention additional things that we have done this year too. We've reached out to augment for additional resources to boost our library. And I don't know
010if you all are watching our social media at all, but our library has had a huge boost this year with the number of cir the circulation that's taking place there, the activities, the engagement with our students, and I'm tickled to death with that. And we've been able to bring at least $20,000 in from augment for resources into our library, too. And that has gone to uh to other schools as well. So 19% in reading. Um our combined writing, we had some slight growth with combined writing this year. We targeted that this year with bringing in the Kentucky Writing Project for professional development for our teachers to help boost those scores additionally, too. So we're seeing some good feedback so far from our benchmark data, too. We don't just do math benchmark data. We build social
011science tests and social studies test and all that. So we're seeing some good feedback from that this year, too. and math. Math went from a 44.2 in 2024 to a 55.9. Our math program had the highest growth over the year at 26%. Uh Britney Stevens over here, she's the head of our Gear Up program right now. She's the academic tutor, does a lot of what Tamara did for us last year. Um and she led our math department last year, too. So, you can see exactly why she fits perfectly into that new role. Um, we've done math 180 interventions for students. Uh, the Gear Academic Tutors for math as well, I time CUS groups just like we do with reading. Uh, and she's in the process right now of looking at bringing in a boot camp
012to support the SAP program, too. So, 20 26% in math and 19% growth in reading is what has really given us the bang for our buck in this area. Um, science science has been tough across the state. If you all remember, but last last year there was a single student in the state of Kentucky who had gotten a distinguished score. Uh that has changed in this last round and we did have some growth with science this year. Um definitely still not where we want to be, but we have been able to pull out some distinguished scores and we're still working on the science part of it. So um with science, we're doing creation of common assessments, building benchmark exams for them too, and we're starting to track that data so we can see how to
013give them some additional support. So reading, math, writing, and science have all gone up. Uh social studies this last year is uh where we took our biggest hit. Uh we did we went from 57.7 to a 47.5. Uh we've had a couple little hiccups this year, too, just with taking care of some staff needs. Um but we've got a great social studies department who's really getting behind supporting those kids. Um and they've kind of flown in and out of 11th grade classes to support them this year. So, I anticipate we'll see some great growth with them. Um, we did spend the summer uh working on DBQ developments with them to help increase writing and so forth, too. So, uh, social studies has been has been a little bit of a tough one for us. Our
014graduation rate pretty much stayed the same. And just a few things I want to highlight with that graduation rate, too. You know, we have a senior counselor who's assigned to track progress of all of our seniors. We keep track of nine weeks grades and how they're progressing and if we need to do some sort of intervention to make sure that they stay on track. Uh Miss Stacy Musgrove does a wonderful job um with with tracking those things for our kids too. Um especially when it comes to those nineweek grade grades reviews. Um alternative education programs, uh cadre program, associate degree programs. There just a wide variety of things that we put in place to help support the seniors. And then with uh with our partnerships with Europe as well, you know, we're making sure that
015every senior that goes across our stage has a plan in place. Um we already have I think the last number I saw was somewhere around 69 to 70 of our seniors who already completed their FASA for the upcoming year. And that's from the transition center. So they're doing a wonderful job with that. Um not just getting to graduation, but making sure we've got a plan in place for them after they graduate. and uh postsecary readiness. Dr. Shephard down here at the end will tell you um she took that position last year and it is a big job and if you've never been if you've never been in charge of it then you don't really know everything that goes into it and it is a tough job. Um there's a lot of tracking every student in
016every single career pathway that they ever participate in. So you got a lot to do with TED's data tracking. you have a lot to do with um financing and budgets and every one of those come with an industry certification test or in a program test that goes with it too. So you have to work all those testing systems as part of this as well. Um so it's a difficult job and you know you always kind of worry a little bit when it's somebody's first year in something like this where we score so high already. Um you know are we going to be able to maintain that and keep that going? And not only did she do that but we also saw growth as well. So, Mercury Central High School is in the top 5% of
017schools in the state in postsecary readiness. Um, and it's because of just how intentional we are with that CTE programming. Uh, 2024 school saw a 111. 2025 we went to a 114.5 and Dr. Shepard will tell you that we're pushing for a 120 this year. Um and those bonus points come from making sure that all the career uh industry certifications that we offer are high demand industry certification. So we get bonus points for that but help compensate as well. So um virtual academy students. Um I think that's been a big one that she has targeted this year too. Just making sure that our virtual population is tough. It is tough at the high school level to keep them engaged. Um they're ready to go to work. So we're coming up with all these programs to
018keep them invested as much as we can and postsecary readiness can be tough when they're leaving and to go to a virtual placement. So she's worked out a wonderful program um to make sure that they're all connected to that as well. So top 5% in the state. Uh and we had a chance this last year the whole CT department went to a state conference presented at state conference this year to teach other schools how to how to set this up. Uh and we've hosted several at our school too who were looking to grow their own programs. Uh school culture and climate. Our school stayed relatively the same there. We do have interventions that we have in place for that. We're planning a school culture scrimmage this year just to get some feedback on um how
019our students are reporting that we're doing this year. Um, we've had our students do safety reports on WMCHS news to kind of teach each other about the safety procedures that are in place and why they're there. So, we're trying to push that as much as we can. And then also, we've had our state security marshall come in and do some professional development with our with our teachers as well to make sure that we're setting things up properly. So, um, score stayed about the same on that one. U, but that's one we're definitely want wanting to grow in this year. And then uh next to last, the other thing that I wanted to point out to uh Mitch Ston down here, uh some other achievements that our school has had just besides the academic data, which
020I know is so important, uh but the most important thing to us is having our kids ready once they go across that stage for what they're transitioning into next. And um you know, we can talk about all these ideas and things that we want to do, but somebody has to make that stuff happen. And that's I love so much about this team because they are in action. They make it happen. Uh Mitch Sexon is a wonderful example of that. We talked about bringing in that associate degree pathway for our students a couple of years ago and if he could sit here for three hours and share all the data tracking that he does to support all of these students and make sure that they are successful in this program. We have 286 students who are
021participating in dual credit, 29 of which who have been working on an associate degree pathway through the University of the Cumberlands. Um, we have upgrades coming to the auditorium to the CTE department for garage doors. Um, and McCree Central will host our first ever dual diploma ceremony at graduation this year. So, we will graduate our students with a high school diploma and an associate degree from the University of Cumberland at the same time. And uh Dr. Jennifer Simpson is going to be our special uh speaker at our graduation event this year for that, too. So, uh you know, all of that happens from these folks here. Uh EMS comes in the spring. We have a fiber optics program in the spring, too. And all of those are ways that we're working to keep our virtual
022students, get them back in the building, and get ouru students ready for a job, too. So, pretty central is green. We're very, very proud of that. Uh, hope to be leaping across some more schools this coming year, too. So, we've got a good plan in place for that. I think that's it. >> Congratulations to all of you. >> Thank you very much. Um, and I said, too, you know, we're we're not done growing because McCree Central was 4.7 away from being a blue school. And uh Britney Stevens, who's working gear up for us this year, has created the best data trackers for us that break down all of our students um MAP scores, social studies benchmarks, on demand writing so we can go in and calculate where we're at and find where we need to
023give that support. So we're targeting that and hoping to make sure that we're next year. We're changing colors. So I think that's it. Any questions? >> Any questions? Any questions for me or anybody in the crowd? >> Thank you all for your hard work. >> Thank you. >> And catch them. >> Miss Barnett and her team does a does a really really great job in high school. I'm really proud of So next is Dr. Sasha Taylor. She's going to give us the annual report from Brick Middle School. But we're going to change color soon because I give you the whole packet. I just pulled out a few slides that I'm going to talk about here. But I wanted you to have the data and but before I start sharing numbers and data, I want to
024Start with context. Data matters. It helps us reflect, adjust, and improve. But it does not tell the whole story of the school. And tonight, I want to make sure that you understand not just where we are, but who we are at the middle school. Um, you know, you've got your colors, red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. The middle school fell to an orange 44.8. Hurts to say it, but you need to know your middle school is at the bottom 10% of the state right now. Um this score um comes from your uh status and overall indicators of different groups that combine your reading and math, your science, social studies combined writing and your school and climate survey and you get um the change factor, you know, if you go up or down. So your reading
025and math went down 4.7, put them in the orange at a 46.9. Um the science, social studies, and combined writing was a 43. It dropped through a your school climate and safety went up from 76.2 to an 85.8 with that growth factor of increase of 9 points leading it to an orange school. So um this is just the status of each one which is not considering the growth factor. Um your reading math 23 24 was 56.3 it dropped to 51.6 science, social studies, and combined writing went to a 46.9 to a 43. And then your um climate and safety went from a 66 to 76. It looked higher before because of your growth factor there. So this is the overall indicator score for reading and math. This is what the growth included. We dropped from
026a 60 60.2 to 46.9. Science, social studies, and combined 46 to 39. Then you have your your gain there in your climate and school safety. This is your proficient distinguished by subject. So this first one, this is over four years span. The blue here is your 2122. So right after you know we were 43, we dropped down to a 37. This second column is your math. We were at 32 four years ago. We were up to 37 down to 31. Our science about the same from four years ago. Your social studies is the same from four years ago. We had a the year before last a big gain in their but it's dropped down to a 20 the lowest that it's been in four years. So this kind of just breaks down the NAPD apprentice
027proficient distinguish. You know obviously we need this graph going the other way. You want small amount of the red and large in the green and blue but we're about equal 36% in novice in reading and what is that 37% proficient distinguish so we're weighing out both sides there in almost every subject this I've been through these it's hard to read from from where you're at but the um blue is your proficient distinguish over the four years span and the red you're not it's just showing you that on the same screen so um the big increase in from 28 to 36% you know that needs to be the other way needs to be on the rise. This just breaks down by the sub group if you're interested in you know the difference between male female that
028sort of thing but right down here in the bottom where it says disability and notice in our the big game we have there. So that's obviously an area of concern for this this year. So I just kind of through these and this is your Math again 31 and 33 about the same on both sides. Your science 27 versus 33 your social studies 51% got a lot of work to do your combining separated you have your on demand score your editing and mechanics and they combine it together to make the distinguish. They're scored a little bit better on the hand part. So what I need you to understand is the color does not define us nor does the number. Um these people do these people have took me in. You would be amazed at the work
029that they do, how hard they work for our students and and your students are showing up and they're working hard too. So, um, the middle school, we currently serve 627 students. That's 186th graders, 225 7th graders, 222 eighth graders. We serve 35 virtual students and seven homebound. These represent real students, each with unique needs, strengths, and challenges, and they guide the work we do every single day. We have certified staff of 50, 41 teachers, regular ed, nine special ed. Of those certified staff members, 19 31 are non-tenure teachers which gives us the balance of experience and growth within our building. Um we rely on our essential support and operation personnel. We've got one librarian, two youth service center staff, one attendance clerk, one SRO, one nurse, one secretary, one bookkeeper, seven instructional assistants, four custodians,
030and nine cooks. and I didn't bring them with me today, but that's my people that that show up for these kids every day. And their work supports our daily needs and creates the environment where learning can happen. We've got one principal, one assistant, and one counselor. And so, we work closely with staff, students, and families to support instruction. Who we are is reflected in our staff who show up for our kids every day in the relationships they build, the commitment to have safety, growth, and accountability. McCory County Middle School percentages and charts. It's a community of people working towards a common goal. So, as we move forward, this is our past data. We own it. We understand it. Um, our academic goal is clear. We're looking to move the overall indicator from 44.8 to a
03164 this next year. That's a pretty big increase, but we're grounded in in um intentional efforts. We're going to make that happen. Um, our map data is one of the tools that using to monitor progress and guide instruction. It allows us to look at the individual student growth, identify trends and make decisions to support the kids. So they are taking the fall map when I arrived in September. So we just took the winter map and we have made significant gains already in reducing our August. So I know that we're headed in the right direction. So some of the things that we're doing to support our CED goals this year, we're revamping our NTSS team to improve clarity, consistency, and timely support, strengthening our tier one instruction across the classrooms, implementing targeted interventions, and monitoring progress.
032We've introduced smart paths to improve accountability and student movement. Implemented a new cell phone policy to reduce distractions and increase engagement. restructuring the restructuring the second elective after Christmas break so that we can better meet the students needs. We're going to rehamp and improve our library checkout progress. Implementing sustained reading schoolwide establishing a schoolwide writing on Wednesdays implementing compass curriculum once per week using pair assessment to support formative assessment strengthen our PLC's reinforcing our testing expectations utilizing rewards for incorporating vibrate learning practices and portrait of the learner work into our instruction in addition to the academic We continue to focus on attendance, engagement, and school culture, recognizing that students must be present, supported, and connected in order to learn. So, I want to close with this. This is who we are. We know where we're
033headed, and I take full responsibility for the outcomes moving forward. What feels like five years in reality, it's been three months. In that time, I feel like we we've laid a good foundation. We're establishing clear direction and getting the work necessary to move the middle school forward. The work continues and so does our community. Anybody have any questions? >> I think Dr. Taylor's put some good changes in place and we look forward to seeing the growth that comes out of middle school. Further down superintendent report on personnel employment authorization recommend acknowledge receive superend report on personnel employment authorization. Yeah, just acknled >> at this time. The treasur report >> in general fund, we had se payments and we started receiving some of our tax payments. Special revenue, we had grant reimbursements, district activity We had
034some operational expenses from our DA accounts. Uh building fund went ahead and transferred the first part of our tax payments to capital outlay as required by PE that's used to make our bond payments. Um we did have some activity in our debt service fund. Food service had reimbursements of $286,000 and general fund has an ending balance of 10.8 million. >> Questions for Mr. Thank you. No public comment. Need a motion and second on the action. Make a motion. Sec >> no actions with discussion. Uh, our next board meeting is set for January 27th, but I think we need to call a set of special. >> We got we're going to let the elementary schools do their presentation presentation. 1 January or January, that's fine. Whatever you can't do the 13th or 14th on [snorts] board
035any Can we do both of these at the same time? The special. Do we need weight on it? Next meeting and adjourn the next meeting board of education will be Tuesday. Uh let me rephrase that. Next a special meeting is on Tuesday January the 6th and then we will have regular board meeting on January 27th 2025 at 5:30 p.m. the board central office and to journ motion second. Motion >> second. >> Thank you.