Board members and guests welcomed students from Dewitt Elementary as the meeting was called to order. The students led the Pledge of Allegiance for those in attendance and were presented with a coloring and reading book in appreciation of their attendance.
The moment of silence was led by Reed Murphy, Pastor of Popular Grove Baptist Church at Flat Lick. He was presented with a token of appreciation from the Board.
Anthony Wynn, a bus driver for the Knox County Public Schools, was recognized with the District’s Shining Star award and the Superintendent’s Top 10% award. Transportation director Jeff Ketchum shared with the Board and guests how Wynn goes the extra mile for his students. One of many stories is two years ago, Wynn was stopping at a local daycare during morning and afternoon routes. A little girl was having a hard time seeing her siblings leave to go to school. To help out, the mother took her to the bus, and Wynn would tap his horn and wave – making her at ease, and from the very first day, she loved it.
Nowadays, she doesn’t go out to the bus as often, but when she sees or hears it nearby, she screams “BUS!”.
The mother stated that when her daughter is old enough to start school, she knows she will be extra brave and excited because of Wynn had a large part in preparing her to be at ease when seeing the “BUS!”
Dewitt Elementary and Lynn Camp MH Schools shared their report to the Board. Their reports featured highlights, improvement areas, and general information about their school for the Board members. Each month the Board welcomes one to two schools to share with the Board information on what is happening in KCPS classrooms.
William Barnhill, principal at Dewitt Elementary, shared the Lion’s roar of being Respectful, taking Ownership, Always Safe, and being Responsible.
Highlights of his presentation about Dewitt Elementary included:
- On last year’s summative assessment, 30% of students were distinguished in reading and 47% in math. Dewitt was ranked #3 in the state for Mathematics on KSA for the 23/24 school year.
- Writing has been their top improvement focus for this year followed by social studies.
- Dewitt students are having a year full of wins and participation in the areas of extracurricular activities:
- The rookies academic team placed 3rd in the county and had the top scorer in the rookie division.
The STLP Team will compete for second year in a row at state. They have implemented a Lion Kindness initiative in our school.
The Girls B-team Basketball team was undefeated winning their second consecutive county championship.
The A-team Boys Basketball placed third place in the county.
The Cross County Team hosted first cross country meet at Dewitt and had several students medal throughout the season.
- The rookies academic team placed 3rd in the county and had the top scorer in the rookie division.
Barnhill also thanked their Little Dribblers, Dance Kittens, and Cheerleaders for entertaining throughout our basketball season.
Community involvement was highlighted at Dewitt through Gravy with Grandparents, Pioneer Day, Trunk-or-Treat, and Easter Egg Hunt.
New principal Todd Merida and assistant principal Travis Canady gave their first report on Lynn Camp Middle High School since being named the school’s leaders. Highlights of their presentation focused on three areas of improvement.
Merida shared, “our improvement focus centers on three key areas: school climate and culture, Wildcat Time, and special needs testing. These areas were selected based on feedback from staff, students, and families, as well as a review of academic and behavioral data. Together, these focus areas reflect our commitment to creating a supportive, inclusive, and effective learning environment for all students.”
He stated that strategic placement of students for intervention using MAP scores, data-driven PLCs through collaborative efforts that are student-centered, focus on skill building, and teacher professional development would all be utilized to achieve many of the focus areas.
Merida and Canady continued to share successes at their school including:
- LCHS ranked 17th in writing on the 2023-24 KSA (85.8%)
- Marketing End of Program Assessment 17 out of 21 (80.95%) pass rate (2025 KY State pass rate for Marketing was 65%)
- 100% of our Agriculture Seniors are Career Ready. 7 FFA students placed FIRST in their Proficiency Contest.
- LCHS had 100% Postsecondary Readiness last year, and we are on track to do the same this year.
- Girls’ Cross Country team advanced to the State Competition, and Ethan Curry qualified for the State Competition as well.
- Dance Team placed 2nd in Small Prop and 6th in Small Pom at State Competition.
- DECA, the Marketing Association for students, advanced from Regionals to State Competition. Three students are currently competing at the International Career Development Conference for DECA, which begins tomorrow in Orlando.
- Isaac Brock was recently selected as a State Officer Candidate from our region. He will compete in June for a spot as a KY FFA State Officer.
- 7 FFA students placed FIRST in their Proficiency Contest.
- JAG program has been very successful. At the state level competition in Lexington, our students had 1st place finishes in T-Shirt Design, Creative Decision Making, and JAG Promotional Video categories. We had a 2nd place finisher in the Essay portion and a 3rd place finisher in Prepared Speaking. Our JAG teacher, Mrs Brooke Cain was also named the Veteran Specialist of the Year. Our JAG students have advanced to compete at the National Career Development Conference this week in Indianapolis. We have one of ten JAG students in the state who have been chosen to hold an officer position. She was chosen to be the of Vice President of Communications Relations for the state and has traveled to Washington DC to advocate.
Superintendent Jeremy Ledford presented the Board with his monthly report. In it he highlighted several standards of superintendent leadership including collaboration, managerial, collaborative and influential. He cited Knox Central partnering with the Knox County Autism Foundation to host a baseball game with proceeding going to their foundation. He gave a construction update on HVAC projects occurring in the District that are being paid for by ESSER funds. He shared that Kentucky experienced an ESSER Federal level, leaving many counties such as Knox with remaining projects unfunded.
“I want to thank our Commissioner Robbie Fletcher for the help in the new application process along with Representative Tom Smith and Senator Stivers for writing a letter of support for KCPS,” Ledford stated.
Scott Noel with Summit Engineering presented a construction update. Lynn Camp HVAC will soon be turned over for owner training and control of the system. The system at Girdler has already been turned over and staff trained. Pay applications were presented for the Knox County Middle School HVAC project. Asphalt work is scheduled to occur early summer not to conflict with any activities.
Other Board Action included:
- Releasing an Advertisement of Bids for Supplies and Services for the 2025-2026 School Year and Advertisement for Bids for KCMS Roof Project.
- Renewal of KEDC Membership 2025-2026.
- Award Network Services Agreement with Windstream for FY26.
- Approval of the 2025-2026 Athletic Handbook which also included revision of the Board’s drug testing policy for 2025-2026.
- Signed an MOA with Morehead State for Lynn Camp Dual Credit.
- Approval of Audit Contract for FY25 and Award of Banking & Financial Approval for FY26.
- Final SBDM staffing allocations for next year.
The next scheduled meeting of the Knox County Board of Education is set for May 22, 2025, at the Board of Education Annex, at 6:30pm.