Now that the merger of the Providence Independent School District into the Webster County School District is complete (see related story), what can citizens, district staff, and Providence school students expect to happen during the transition period in the first half of 2007?

These were questions posed recently to Webster County School District Superintendent James Kemp, Webster County Board of Education Chair James Nance, and Vice-Chair Lisa Preston.

JE: What things are being planned between now and May during this transition process?

Kemp: First of all I think everyone is aware of the Trojan Academy, and to that effect, you’ve already seen the advertisement in the paper. There have been a number of... applications received, and in order to expand that program just as quickly as we can, and affect as many students as we can, we will likely be trying to interview individuals who applied this week so that we can begin utilizing their strengths to help build on what students at Providence already know, and help them learn more efficiently and faster.

JE: Can you explain how Trojan Academy works?

Kemp: Think of it as being a type of alternative program, but this has nothing to do with behavior. It is specifically intended to help identify strengths and weaknesses in students, and make them even stronger as students.

JE: And it focuses mainly on core content?

Kemp: It focuses on core content, and the most important portion of the core content, or the Kentucky Core Content, has been the development of language skills, so that’s where we start. The second portion is mathematics. First you have to be able to read in order to be able to utilize the math, so we always start with the reading.The program has already been in place in the Webster, the “traditional” Webster district, for four years?

Nance: I think so.

Kemp: Four years at this point, and that, coupled with MAPs testing, and a variety of other things we have done, has made some significant improvement in a way that students can demonstrate their comprehension of the curriculum. The intent, of course, is that we’ll bring the traditional Providence students, those students who are still down at Broadway, along just as quickly, perhaps even a little more quickly (as students in the rest of the district).

The other part that we need to do, that we will be doing fairly quickly, is MAPs testing. It’s a little hard to work with students’ strengths and weaknesses if you haven’t assessed it so that you can determine what those strengths and weaknesses are. That’s what the MAPs program, the MAPs testing does.

Preston: Can I add something to the Trojan Academy before we get too far away from that? That’s also a one-on-one. It’s just a personal contact; it can be one-on-one with each individual child. I think that’s important because that’s how you can increase the strengths and identify the weaknesses. It’s kind of like a personal tutor in a way. Now, all of them won’t receive it every day, but it will be one-on-one, so I think that’s important.

Kemp: In the old Webster half of the district, we had four... members of the Trojan Academy team, and if I remember correctly... we had 10,500 student contacts last year, which is a tremendous number... (with tutors spending) two-to-three days a week at any given location (Webster school building).

Preston: And when you have that much contact with one student, then you’re going to be able to see the needs or the strengths that they have, and then that way we can base our curriculum toward them, to enhance their academics.

Kemp: The MAPs program, not only does it test and assess, but it’s also linked to a curricular program such that once you know what the strengths and weaknesses that each individual child has, a teacher can... start to customize the instruction for that particular student.

JE: And MAP stands for?

Kemp: Measures of Academic Progress. The program can be administered individually, but it also can be administered by group, grade group, or other interest group.

JE: How would the teachers customize their instruction?

Kemp: Well, for instance, if in the curriculum content, I’ll take math, because that’s the part I’m more familiar with. Let’s say you’re at a grade level where I’m moving into decimals or conversion of decimals into fractions, or vice-versa, and I test, I assess you, and I find that you’re still having problems with two-place addition and subtraction. Now I know, and the program now allows the teacher to look at various strategies that he or she can use to teach two-place addition or subtraction to students, and do it quickly and efficiently so those students can catch up with where the rest of the class is right now. You can continue to re-assess as often as you need to. As it turns out, we don’t assess that often, for practicality purposes. We’re limited to about three times in any given year. Nonetheless, that’s three snapshots the teacher might have, taking a look at you, taking a look at some other student, and knowing exactly what that student has mastered and what that student has not.

Nance: That really gives us a good track record. The board gets a copy of that; we look over those MAP scores. That gives us a good idea of where they’re at, is it working, and we’re getting a tremendous amount of feedback from Trojan Academy.

The other teachers in this school system seem to enjoy it. They think it’s really beneficial. We’re being told, and there’s really no reason to doubt it, that students just can’t wait for that Trojan Academy teacher to be there, because it’s that individual instruction they get. We, the board (of education) thinks from the information we’ve gotten from our staff, it’s probably one of the better deals we’ve done, as far as identifying students’ needs and being able to track (their progress), and it ties into our core content, so we’re really looking forward to doing that in Providence, too. We can get off to a good start if we do that. We get the MAP testing over there, assess the children to see where they’re at, and just go from there. I think it will have a positive impact on Providence. It has on ours, and I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t on theirs.

Preston: One thing is this also prevents some peer pressure. When a student in a classroom is having problems, sometimes they’re reluctant about asking for help in front of their peers. I think the Trojan Academy, from the students that I’ve talked to, that has given them the opportunity to be one-on-one with that teacher, and be able to ask something privately, or they can work on something privately that’s a weak point, because then they don’t have to do it in front of the whole class and feel like they have to be singled out. I’ve heard different students say, ‘I’ve got to ask about this,’ or ‘I’ve got to ask what this meant.’ Not that our classroom teachers aren’t doing it, but sometimes it’s hard to raise that hand when you want to ask something, and when you’re doing the Trojan Academy, I think that that gives them a personal relationship to be able to ask things. They’re just not embarrassed to do so, and I think that’s important for the students, to feel like they’re not competing with the students next to them.

Nance: The other thing is the MAP testing. Students (are tested) in private; no one else knows (their results). If a child can’t read, they’re not going to be successful. MAP testing shows us where they’re at. This board is very conscious of children being able to read on grade level.

Preston: We’ve also added to the maps. Aren’t we dropping down even to the lower grades as far as a reading program, and we’re working on the math?

Kemp: Correct.

JE: So the MAP testing at Providence, is that something that’s going to happen within the first couple of weeks of school?

Kemp: Yes.

JE: Let’s talk about the board of education issues. What’s coming up in the new year? Obviously, the swearing in is first, right, and that’s on Jan. 2? What are some things the board will be looking at?

Preston: I think in time we’d like to hold a retreat, to get together as one. By all means, we want them (new board members from Providence) to feel welcome and to have input because they should know their district pretty well, and the needs, too, and maybe we can help address those needs or concerns.

We come together as a new group every year, and we have ideas of goals that we want. We make a goal list, and then try to proceed with them. Well, we’re starting again, and we need their ideas, too.

Nance: The good thing about new board members coming onto a sitting board is that new members always bring something they want to see happen. They bring new ideas to the table that maybe other board members have thought about, but put on the back burner. Sometimes new people bring that back and help the rest look at it from a different viewpoint. It’s going to take a little while for them to get orientated to us, and us to them. There’s information they need to know about this board and Webster County (school district), what we have done, and what we’re trying to do.

Preston: Our policies and procedures, for example.

Nance: There are things happening in Webster County that they need to be aware of... now that we’re a merged system.

JE: Right now, though, you’re still operating as separate districts, even though Providence is part of the Webster County school system. So, as a board, you would be looking at Providence’s finances and records independently this year?

Kemp: For the remainder of this (school) year, there’s really not any choice that the board has. So, when you take a look at the (Webster Board of Education meeting) agenda, you’ll see a section devoted to what appears to be Webster County school business, and Providence school business. In the middle of the year, it’s simply impossible to amend salary scales, to change school district calendars, to merge or try and meld together two different kinds of accounting systems. That just can’t be done. While this is a larger district, the number of personnel who are available would find that they have insufficient time to put those together. When we get very close to June 30, it will be much easier because at that point, from a financial standpoint, we’ll be basically just moving money. I hate to phrase it that way, but we’ll be moving money at that point with very few items that are still receivables or payables. Right now, there are literally hundreds of items that are receivables or payables.

Preston: And it would probably take that long for the transition, to get used to the policies and procedures. The do’s and the don’t’s, you know, the changes, there’s just so many things... that’s just some of the things that we have to work through. Everything won’t happen overnight; it’s going to be a slow process.

Nance: I really feel like even though Providence is losing its high school, they’re very fortunate to have the grade school. I think we can help simply by adding funding that maybe they didn’t have to enhance programs. I see it as a win-win situation for the new district.

Hopefully with the bonding issue we just got resolved (the state’s Urgent Needs committee approved $5 million in bonding to Webster County school district for new high school expansion), we’re going to be able to do some things in Webster County that we haven’t been able to do in the past.

Preston: I think when actual things start happening, and you can put sight to what’s been said... I think that excitement’s going to come out of both districts that have come together. There’s got to be some excitement knowing that... we’re upgrading on technology, doing some reading programs that weren’t there, and Trojan Academy. We look at academics. When we look at all the opportunities that can be enhanced, we also can look at our athletic programs. A lot of that won’t take place until next fall, but in between time, I think there should be some excitement on more opportunities to do things.

Nance: For years, Providence had an outstanding band program. We think that some of those children will want to come on and be a part of this program.

JE: What’s going to be involved in helping high-school students transition to Webster County, in terms of scheduling classes and enrolling in things like band?

Kemp: Things that are going to encourage students at the high school; obviously, athletics. In every other instance in the state of Kentucky, a high school student who moves from one school to another is rendered ineligible except in the case of a merger. Under that circumstance, all of the students are made eligible. In fact, the district was reclassified by KHSAA (Kentucky High School Athletic Association) a number of months ago with the assumption that the merger or the consolidation of the two districts would take place, and all of the high school students would be placed in a single school.

If you observed what was happening at the last ball game, several of the football coaches were already working the audience, and working with the students, to see whether or not there was some additional interest in playing football, because now is the time to do that.

Nance: That’s one area, football, that has been very successful, but numbers have always been low. We’d like to see more (participants), coaches would, I know, because it just gives them more opportunities. I think every sport in Webster County will grow with more involvement.

Preston: I’d like to address another area. If you’re not athletic, what do we have to offer to students? Let me tell you what we’ve got to offer. It’s not all about athletic programs. Of course, we’ve got outstanding baseball, soccer, and other things, but for children that are not into athletic programs, then we’ve got to offer something for them, so let me give you some ideas there. We’ve got a YES (Youth Enrichment Services) program that would give a community service, working within the school, doing a lot of charitable volunteer work. We’ve got mock trial that children can also get involved in. Not even academics, necessarily, it’s just opportunities to do other things.

We have the band, which we’ve mentioned. Hopefully with the new (students) coming in, (the band teacher) has to dip down to take the middle school (students) to help him sometimes for some of the programs that he does. We still will offer that middle school program, but they can enhance their program at just the middle school-age level, and we can keep the high school program separate (if enough students participate).

We also have an agriculture department... for children that are interested. They go to state fairs and things like that. We also offer the vocational school... for skills development. Not everybody is going to be lawyers and doctors, some are going to want to have vocational skills. We’re going to have that there... that can give them credited hours so they can go on to Madisonville (Community College) or wherever they want for a vocational education.

We’ve got several various clubs for students to get involved in as well. VICA, Beta, the list goes on and on. Of course, we’ve got a dance team. The numbers dropped this year. We’re going to need more dancers.

We have a cheerleader program; we have academic meets. So there’s going to be opportunities for all of the students to be able to participate.

JE: These are things that the coaches, sponsors, and teachers are going to be working with students at Providence on very soon to help them get enrolled?

Kemp: Yes.

Preston: I just think they need to know, we need a handbook, pamphlets, or something showing parents and the community, grandparents, that have been used to the (Providence Independent) system that we’ve got something for the students. It’s not the end of the world that this has happened.

Nance: Well, that is one reason that we wanted, in particular, this six month period to get used to them, and for us to find out what the needs are, and to introduce them to the things that are happening in Webster County (school district.) I’m sure that this board and this school district are going to be very receptive to bringing the Providence community in.

Kemp: The very first day back is a planning day for the former Providence district, and we will be meeting with them, so that faculty and staff are oriented to some of the differences, but also to many of the opportunities within the merged school district. For the individuals joining the district, we will look at that as a second ‘opening day.’

JE: Something else we should talk about is the Providence High School building. I understand it’s going to be a long time before a decision’s made, and that some community forums in Providence are being considered?

Nance: I think first of all, as (WC school board member) Tim McCormick said at a meeting the other night, we definitely need to not do anything until those two board members (former Providence school board member Kathy Atkins and newly elected board member Sandi Jackson) come on board and we have some time to talk with them. I would think that we as a board will want community input about what plans they might have for that building. I know the building’s old, but it is not beyond use, and I would like for that building to be used.

Kemp: Dennis, the only restriction that KDE put on the (building) is it can’t be used for instructional purposes. Apart from that, whether it’s office space, whether it’s a museum, whether there are community meetings there, whether it’s leased to someone, all of those are all viable options.

Nance: I know from conversations with this board, there’s not going to be any action taken with this high school until there’s been plenty of thought input from the community and the board has had a chance to sit down.

Preston: In the last year to two years, there’s a lot of businesses that have come into Providence, (started by) local people. That’s great. I can’t keep from thinking that with the new kick on all of that, something can come out of that high school, being a good community opportunity. Not saying that’s what it will be, but I just feel like you’re going to see people that will see an opportunity to use that building for something positive.

Nance: I feel sure this board will be very receptive to working with the city, whomever, any organization in Providence that’s viable, that could undertake something, I think this board would be more than willing to sit down and talk to them about it, and work out something that this building can be used for something in the community.

Preston: I think communication is the main thing. I just believe in that. If you can’t communicate with your community, it just takes one little wrong word told in a different expression. That can turn things around, and I think that’s the main thing. We have got to get the word out to those parents and those families. Just simple things like our attendance policies, our parent-teacher conferences, parent involvement, volunteers, we want parent volunteers. We want people to be a part of this district. There are many opportunities there that we need their help.

Nance: We didn’t do this on purpose, but we didn’t include Providence Site-Based Decision-Making council on our list of visits, but we will. We will visit them, even if it has to be a special called meeting, but we will include them in our rotations.

(Editor’s note: The Webster County Board of Education hosts meetings at different school locations throughout the year in order to meet with SBDM councils at those respective schools.)

Nance: I can assure you board members will be in Providence... talking to people. We have not because the (merger) wasn’t official, we did not want to interfere with them, but I’m sure as the new year comes around, you’ll see board members in Broadway Elementary talking to teachers and administrators. Our main job is to try and find funds for the schools.

JE: Let’s talk about the high school here. You’ve got the bonding money now to do some expansion work. Can you talk about the details for that expansion development?

Kemp: What Tim Townsend, the board’s architect, actually did was, he brought one concept to the board. The board also gave him direction to come up with several other concepts.

JE: And (Webster school district assistant superintendent) Rachel Yarbrough mentioned during the recent board meeting about getting staff input on the building design?

Kemp: Eventually, everyone will be involved. The board’s responsibility is to determine what the concept is. They’re going to have to determine...

Preston: Priorities.

Kemp: ... yes, what the priorities are and how they want the school to look over a period of time. Once you get to that point, then it’s time to bring the teachers in, such that whatever you do build, it works for the practitioner who has to be in that space.

Nance: The problem, Dennis, well it’s not a problem, but it’s something the board has to be very cautious about, is that, and Dr. Kemp you correct me if you don’t agree, but we’re not going to have the money to build a new high school. We just don’t have the bonding potential to do that. So this board’s going to have to be very careful, that’s not a good word maybe, but we’re really going to have to put some thought into what we’re going to do and how it’s going to be done, because we all know it is going to be a challenge. Whatever we do has to lend itself to whatever further expansion is needed, and so we have to be very careful where we place it. We don’t have the luxury of having a lot of extra space over there.

Preston: There’s a lot of things we’d like to have, but as the add-ons come on, we can’t put something that we’d really like to have that’s going to be on the other end and start out there because it’s not going to be realistic. We have to work it where we can do it in phases. The money is a pretty good amount, but it’s not going to be enough to do all the phases. We’re looking at three phases?

Kemp: We’re looking at two, possibly three phases. Basically when this money is spent, we’re going to have to live with the consequences. I know what the board doesn’t want to do is put themselves in a position where somebody in 10 or 15 years starts to look at the decisions made (and criticize those decisions).

Preston: We’ve got to build our needs. We don’t have money to build our wants, we’re having to build for our needs, and that means students. So we’ve got classrooms right off the bat; that’s our number one priority.

JE: How long will the expansion take to finish?

Kemp: Usually, the way that it works, and KDE has said they will streamline everything and work with us as quickly as possible. KDE is usually the fast part of the process. It’s HBC, Housing, Building, and Construction, that usually takes much longer. Planning can’t be done in less than four months, but it’s usually six. I’m including approval process in there as well. Once you do that, you’re still looking at approximately one year, from the date of that final approval.

JE: So you’re looking at June 2008 for completion?

Kemp: June 2008, an 18-month process. If everything goes well, if our architect can come back with a variety of plans from which the board can select one, and let’s say there’s a tentative approval by the board of what the building or the changes might look like in late January or February, then sometime right at the beginning of the summer, the documents and plans can be put together. We might... receive some kind of approval from KDE and HBC some time during the summer. All during the 2007-2008 school year, some students will be inconvenienced by being in portable units.

Nance: If we can get a master plan that starts with those classrooms, then some of it will have to be done in stages, but if we can get that main concept, and get those classrooms started, then it’s very possible we can (accomplish more construction goals during the initial expansion).

Preston: You know, rumors fly that these mobile units, are only going to be for Providence students.

Nance: That’s not true.

Preston: No, it’s not. They’re not Providence students anymore. They’re Webster County students. It will be all of our students that will be in these mobile units, and I think it’s important for people to know that. It’s not that they’re going to be separate, because that happens that some people think, ‘Oh, they’re just moving them in (mobile units) for our children. No, all of our children will be together.

Kemp: Dennis, when the students who formerly attended Providence get over here, they’re not going to wear name badges. You won’t be able to tell who’s who, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. And I can assure you that the high school principal and the guidance counselors, when they’re putting together the class schedule, they’ll utilize all of the room they have. Once they’ve determined which class goes in which room, then they’ll assign the students, and it will be a mixture of students.

Nance: The high school is not just for high school anymore. There are so many activities going on over there, middle school children come over for band, for example. We have middle school sports, basketball, soccer...

Preston: Field and track day for the middle school...

Nance: ...So there’s a lot of activities that just don’t involve high school, so those children should just fit right in, and be a part of what we’re doing.

I as a board member... feel the Webster County school board is going to encourage all the interaction that can possibly be done, and I think Dr. Kemp will support that, and be very up front with that to get as much input and cooperation as we can.

Kemp: Absolutely.

Preston: If I was a parent from Providence, I’d be thinking about bussing and things like that. How is that going to change? It’ll be just like all other grade schools. They’ll (bus drivers) go to the grade school and pick them up, just like the other grade schools. There will be busses provided. I’m sure there’s some wondering, ‘Am I going to have to drive them over?’ No, we’re going to provide transportation.

Kemp: And the board has already taken the steps to order some busses, since we know there will be additional students involved in transportation.

Preston: There was also an idea discussed of (installing) new security systems. We don’t want anyone to think that we’re doing security systems because of the merger. This is something that was being looked at for all the schools (in Webster County school district). We have so many violent things going on in this country... that the district is looking at least a front door entrance where we can monitor every school. That means Broadway... Sebree, Slaughters, all of those, that means at the high school...

Kemp: Well, schools weren’t originally designed with that in mind.

Preston: So we don’t want that to reflect (on the merger) because of some things that we’re going to be doing.

Nance: Security system in the county has been talked about for quite some time.

JE: A question I hear often is whether teachers from the former Providence school district are going to keep their jobs?

Kemp: All of the positions are going to be retained.

JE: Does that mean teachers in those positions, too?

Kemp: Dennis, some of the teachers are on emergency permits, and emergency permits are single-year appointments. I have already addressed the teachers on that point, and strongly urged them to take steps to remove any deficiencies in terms of their certification.

Nance: Those teachers that have their degrees, they’re tenured teachers, they will have seniority.

Kemp: The folks who have tenure retain that tenure. The folks who have seniority from the classified staff will retain that. Again, this is different than someone being hired into the district, and you’ll remember the board has debated previously as to how you determine that seniority, but in a merger, the supposition is that all seniority earned within the district, either the Providence portion or the Webster portion, is seniority, and it’s taken at face value, so an individual with 20 years in Providence still has 20 years worth of seniority. How that fits in with other staff members that are here just depends upon the number of years.

Preston: We will need most of the teachers anyway.

Nance: That’s what we’re saying.

Kemp: The other half of your question, Dennis, and Lisa (Preston) is getting to it, a merger does not affect the number of teachers we need. We still have the same number of additional students; we still need the same number of teachers to provide instructional services for them. The same thing in terms of maintaining buildings and so on, it still takes a certain number of custodians, for example, to clean and prepare a building for student use. The fact that the administration of the district has moved... doesn’t have anything to do with those... positions.

Preston: Now there are some positions, and you’re aware of, that we have made publicly known, that we don’t need. We don’t need two lawyers; we don’t need two auditors. Those are things that are common sense.

Kemp: Those are determinations the board will make as they go along through the process.