Monday December 15, 2025
Local Connection
Weather
Traffic
@LouisvilleDispatch
@LouisvilleDisp
Subscribe
Dr. John Marshall, Chief Equity Officer for Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), has been named a 2017 ‘Leader to Learn From’ by Education Week. A profile highlighting his contributions to JCPS appears in the publication’s annual special report spotlighting innovative school district leaders around the nation.
Marshall was selected by Education Week editors from a pool of hundreds of nominees submitted by readers, staff reporters and other education writers, state school administrator groups and experts in the K-12 field.
“I’m incredibly humbled and grateful to be recognized by Education Week,” Dr. Marshall said. “This recognition is really a reflection of the tremendous work undertaken by my entire department to continually promote diversity and equity in our school system, and I’m very proud to accept it on their behalf.”
He will be recognized at a special ‘Leaders to Learn From’ event at the end of March in Washington, D.C.
Education Week – founded in 1981 and published by Editorial Projects in Education, a nonprofit corporation based in Bethesda, Maryland – is the leading independent provider of news, information and analysis in K-12 education.
Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens announced today that the District is holding a series of feedback sessions as it begins the process of updating the Student Support and Behavior Intervention Handbook for the 2017-18 school year.
Feedback Session Dates and Locations:
- Saturday, February 25, 2017, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.
- Waggener High School
- Marion C. Moore School
- Central High School
- Pleasure Ridge Park High School
- Tuesday, February 28, 2017, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
- Waggener High School
- Marion C. Moore School
- Central High School
- Pleasure Ridge Park High School
Those wishing to provide feedback, but are unable to attend a meeting, may also do so in one of three ways:
- Feedback forms may be filled out during normal business hours at the VanHoose Education Center, 3332 Newburg Rd.
- Interested parties may download the stakeholder handbook review feedback form and email it to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Katy Zeitz.
- Feedback will also be taken by phone at (502) 485-6266.
Feedback should be submitted to the District by March 7. The data and comments will be collected and reviewed by both internal and external role groups before final recommendations are made to the Jefferson County Board of Education in late March.
Attorney General Andy Beshear today joined with other state attorneys general to send a letter to federal officials expressing continued support of recent federal protections for students in higher education and taxpayers.
Beshear sent the letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Elisabeth DeVos and congressional leadership detailing how rolling back federal education laws would allow some of the “worst actors in the for-profit school industry” to harm Kentuckians.
“College has never been more unaffordable, and students are being crushed with debt,” Beshear said. “My office is focused on ensuring Kentucky students are treated fairly but if these protections are rolled back by the federal government, those days are over.”
According to the letter, millions of students have been defrauded by unscrupulous for-profit, postsecondary schools over the past 15 years.
The list of investigations and enforcement actions against for-profit colleges by state AGs include: American Career Institute; Ashford University/Bridgepoint Education Inc.; Corinthian Colleges Inc.; Career Education Corporation; Education Management Corporation; Daymar College; DeVry University; ITT Tech; National College of Kentucky and Westwood Colleges.
In December, Beshear announced nearly 3,500 former students of Daymar College’s Kentucky campuses and online programs will receive restitution checks totaling $1.2 million. The payments are pursuant to a settlement agreement the Office of the Attorney General entered into with Daymar in 2015 resolving a consumer protection lawsuit.
In August, Beshear announced that the Kentucky Court of Appeals had affirmed a previous order by Franklin Circuit Court requiring National College of Kentucky Inc. and its attorneys to pay the state a combined $157,000 in civil monetary sanctions. Earlier this month, the Kentucky Supreme Court declined to take up National College’s request to overturn the appeals’ court decision.
In March, Beshear joined seven other state attorneys general in asking the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to restore educational and vocational benefits to thousands of veterans victimized by Corinthian Colleges Inc. for predatory practices.
Beshear said he and the other attorneys general need federal officials to keep a number of protections, including the Gainful Employment Rule, which ensures students who attend career-training programs are able to repay their federal student loans once they graduate.
The AGs are pushing to keep vigorous federal oversight of school accreditors who are tasked with providing prospective quality assurance of schools, and the Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule, which will provide a fair and transparent process for students who have been defrauded to apply for federal student loan relief.
Attorney General Andy Beshear joined AARP of Kentucky and members of the faith-based community to launch a partnership to protect local congregations and the communities they serve from con artists and the latest scams.
The Interfaith Travel Series Scam Alerts, hosted by Beshear’s Office of Senior Protection, will hold events at more than 20 different locations around the state with members of the faith-based community.
Beshear launched Scam Alerts last year as the state’s first direct messaging service that notifies Kentuckians of financial schemes by con artists to steal money or a person’s identification.
“One of my top priorities is to protect Kentucky families, especially our seniors, from the emotional and financially devastating effects that scams and financial exploitation can cause,” Beshear said. “I am proud to be partnering with AARP of Kentucky and congregations across Kentucky who want to protect their members and their communities.”
Beshear said the scam awareness events give his office the opportunity to partner with area faith-based communities and churches, and work with senior Kentuckians one-on-one through local senior ministries.
Joining Beshear at today’s announcement were: the Rev. Steve Weaver, senior pastor at Farmdale Baptist Church in Frankfort; the Rev. Ron Loughry, executive director, Fern Creek/Highview United Ministries in Louisville; the Rev. Dr. Valerie Washington, senior pastor, Hughlett Temple A.M.E. Zion Church in Louisville; and Charlotte Whittaker, of Hartford, who serves as the AARP Kentucky State President.
“I am honored to be included in the efforts of the Office of Senior Protection to help the seniors of Kentucky,” Washington said. “The Hughlett Temple African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church family is comprised of approximately 55 percent senior citizens. On a personal note, it was the Senior Protection Department in Texas that rescued my father from scam artists. For months they were taking his checks, leaving him with nothing. Lastly, due to the technology today, many of our senior citizens are targeted due to their lack of technical skills. Therefore, it behooves us to take an active part in their private and personal lives, preventing them from becoming victims. It also helps them to become more cognizant of the scams and con artists who prey on our communities.”
“One of the chief responsibilities of government is to protect its citizens,” Weaver said. “I’m thankful that the Office of the Attorney General is providing this service to the seniors of the Commonwealth which offers information to protect them from those who would prey upon them.”
“I am encouraged and excited that our Attorney General Andy Beshear, through his Office of Senior Protection, is taking this initiative to reach out across the Commonwealth, engaging in dialogue with faith communities around the concerns of older adults,” Loughry said. “My organization, Fern Creek/Highview United Ministries, along with all the community ministries that are part of the Association of Community Ministries in the Louisville Metro area, have long been concerned for and provided services for the older adult population.”
“One of AARP’s missions is to help people outsmart con artists before they strike,” Whittaker said. “Our goal is to help Kentuckians safeguard against identity theft and scams so they can keep their hard-earned money. We look forward to working with Attorney General Beshear and faith groups across the Commonwealth as we fight to end fraud and scams, and keep Kentuckians money where it belongs – in their pockets.”
Beshear is working to bring new solutions and ideas to address scams because of the severe harm they are having on Kentucky families. Just last year more than 3 million consumers were conned out of $765 million across the country. Seniors nationwide lose nearly $37 billion a year to elder financial exploitation.
To date, more than 100 nonprofit and retail organizations have joined Beshear’s initiative as a Scam Alerts partner, including Kroger, AARP of Kentucky, Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service, the Better Business Bureau and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Kentuckians have recently received Scam Alerts on the Sweetheart Scam, IRS Scam, Seasonal Employment Scam and a scam targeting veterans.
Beshear hosted the first Interfaith Scam Alerts event at Shelby Christian Church in Shelbyville earlier this month.
“Protecting our seniors against fraud, scams and financial exploitation is a priority,” said Laura Witt, Commonwealth’s Attorney for Anderson, Shelby and Spencer counties. “General Beshear’s Interfaith Initiative brought that message to our local citizens. Thank you General Beshear and the Office of Senior Protection for educating our seniors and caregivers about Scam Alerts. Scam Alerts is a great way to protect yourself from predators. Thanks to the Attorney General’s Office of Senior Protection for bringing it to our community.”
Currently there are 25 congregations participating in the 2017 Interfaith Travel Series Scam Alert. The Kentucky Baptist Convention is partnering with the Office of the Attorney General on this initiative. The congregations are:
- Allen Baptist Church: Prestonsburg
- Beargrass Christian Church: Louisville
- Beaver Dam Baptist Church: Beaver Dam
- Blooming Grove Baptist Church and St. John United Methodist Church: Hopkinsville
- East Somerset Baptist Church: Somerset
- Eastwood Baptist Church: Bowling Green
- Farmdale Baptist Church: Frankfort
- First Baptist Church Bracktown: Lexington
- First Christian Church: Frankfort
- Flemingsburg Baptist Church: Flemingsburg
- Hughlett Temple A.M.E. Zion Church: Louisville
- Immaculate Conception Catholic Parish: La Grange
- Kentucky Refugee Ministries Inc.: Louisville
- Lone Oak First Baptist Church: Paducah
- New Covenant Baptist Church: Louisville
- New Hope Christian Center: Hazard
- Memorial United Methodist Church: Elizabethtown
- Sand Spring Baptist Church: Lawrenceburg
- Shelby Christian Church: Shelbyville
- Shiloh Baptist Church: Lexington
- St. Bernard Parish: Louisville
- St. Elizabeth Training and Education Center: Erlanger
- St. Stephen Church: Louisville
- The Temple AIBS: Louisville
The next event in the series will be at 10 a.m. March 16 at the Allen Baptist Church in Prestonsburg. For dates, times and locations of each upcoming event, please click here. Congregations interested in participating in the series may contact Beshear’s Office of Senior Protection at 502-696-5300.
Kentuckians may sign up for Scam Alerts by texting the words KYOAG Scam to GOV311 (468311), or enroll online at ag.ky.gov/scams and select text message or email alert.
Photo: KHS
Last week, the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) announced recipients of the first grants from the Kentucky Local History Trust Fund (KRS 171.325), a funding pool that supports local history organizations’ efforts to preserve and tell Kentucky’s stories.
Seventeen organizations from 16 counties across the Commonwealth received grants totaling $9,504.30. Individual amounts range from $290 to $1,000 for projects related to collection conservation, education, promotion, exhibits and strategic planning.
Kentucky Local History Trust Fund grant recipients include:
- Appalshop, Inc., $1,000, Letcher County, for collection management
- Highlands Museum and Discovery Center, $1,000, Boyd County, for collection management
- The Friends of Audubon, $1,000, Henderson County, for exhibit artifact conservation
- Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum, $909, Crittenden County, for educational programming
- McDowell House Museum, Inc., $700, Boyle County, for collections management
- American Printing House for the Blind, $700, Jefferson County, for exhibit installation
- Bluegrass Heritage Museum, $600, Clark County, for collection management
- Boone County Public Library, $500, Boone County, for collection management
- Shelby County Historical Society, $500, for organization development/management
- Montgomery County Historical Society, $500, Montgomery County, for exhibit artifact conservation
- Erlanger Historical Society, $355.30, Kenton County, for collections management
Six groups received $290 each to enroll in the American Association for State and Local History Standards and Excellence Program for History Organizations field-based standards program. Participation in a standards-based program such as this one is one of the requirements for grant eligibility.
- Duncan Tavern Historic Center, Bourbon County
- Historic Paris-Bourbon County/Hopewell Museum, Bourbon County
- Hickman County Historical and Genealogical Society, Hickman County
- Riverview at Hobson Grove, Warren County
- Allen County Historical Society, Allen County
- Kentucky Railway Museum, Inc., Nelson County
Local History Trust Fund money comes from Kentuckians who donate a portion of their state income tax refund (as little as $1 or as much as the entire refund). The Kentucky Historical Society administers the Local History Trust Fund, accepting applications and awarding grants. For this work, it may reserve 15 percent of the annual contributions to cover administration costs.
Fern Creek High School has been awarded a $14,000 grant from American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards, to further theater instruction at the school. The Classroom Resource Grant was made possible by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative.
The grant will allow students in the school’s theater program to formalize learning in scenic, costume, light, sound, hair/makeup and props for design and construction.
“Technical instruction is critical to prepare students for careers in the theater,” Alexander MacPhail-Fausey, theater director and teacher at Fern Creek. “By concentrating on the connections between design and construction in all disciplines connected to production, students will be able to start building portfolios before they graduate, giving them better chances of entering a theater program in college, or pursuing a career or apprenticeship in a theater immediately out of high school.”
Fern Creek is one of only three high schools in the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District offering the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Communication and Media Arts program, which includes instrumental/vocal music and theater, among other concentrations.
With the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation’s help, the American Theatre Wing is investing in public schools to help drama teachers get more of the resources they need to provide quality drama instruction in their schools. This project is an expansion of the work that the multi-Tony Award winning composer and producer has been doing to promote and fund arts education through his Foundation in the United Kingdom.
More than 600 students from Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) and area private schools will gather Friday for the JCPS IdeaFestival, to be held from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. at Spalding University, 901 S. Fourth St.
With a theme of ‘connectivity,’ the student-centered conference will feature six presentations, highlighting discussion of current and forward-looking ideas and issues from a diverse group of speakers.
Student-planned and executed, the event provides young people with an outlet to express opinions and delve into timely issues, and encourage their peers to see the connection between these issue and their lives.
Presentations include:
- 9:25 a.m.: “From the Memoirs of Society” (Shan’Taya Cowan of Fairdale High School)
- 9:40 a.m.: “Connecting to Classical Music” (Alison Addie of duPont Manual High School)
- 10:20 a.m.: Education Panel presentations (Jack Bradley of duPont Manual High School; Pearl Morttey of Fern Creek High School; Seth Pardieu of duPont Manual High School; Brittany Jewell of Central High School; and Naudia Green of Central High School)
- 10:40 a.m.: “Students Connecting to Education” (Moderators: Sydney Blocker and Anjali Chadha of duPont Manual High School) Followed by an audience Q&A
- 12:05 p.m.: “A Word with Kris Kimel, founder of IdeaFestival”
- 12:15 p.m.: “Decriminalizing Debate” (Carter Squires of duPont Manual High School)
In 2014, the JCPS IdeaFestival evolved from the IF Manual event, a festival held at duPont Manual High School and inspired by the official IdeaFestival. The JCPS IdeaFestival has expanded to deliver thought-provoking presentations and festivals to the entire JCPS District and private schools.
