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The Jefferson County Board of Education released the following statement April 13 regarding the leadership of Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS):
“The Jefferson County Board of Education and Dr. Donna Hargens, Superintendent of the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), today announced that the Superintendent will step down from her position, effective July 1, 2017. Although Dr. Hargens regrets that her approach to implementing the strategic plan for JCPS no longer aligns with the Board’s approach, she is grateful for the experience of having provided leadership for the school district for the past six years.
The Board thanks Dr. Hargens for her service to JCPS and for guiding the district through its strategic planning process. The Board and the Superintendent believe it is in the best interest of employees and students to have a new leader guide the district through implementing the strategic plan. Since 2011, JCPS increased its graduation rate to 80.1 percent, doubled its College and Career Readiness rate, increased overall reading and math for every subgroup, and increased the number of students taking Advanced Placement classes. While the district has moved forward during the past six years, the Board believes that the district must accelerate the pace of achievement.
The Board is committed to its vision that all JCPS students graduate prepared, empowered, and inspired to reach their full potential as thoughtful, responsible citizens of our diverse, shared world. There is much work to be done. With the collective commitment of the Board, parents, teachers, and administrators across the district, JCPS can and will reach its goals. The Board now intends to move forward with a sense of urgency to find a successor to the Superintendent and take actions that will continue to improve the education that it provides to all children of Jefferson County.”
As part of an annual extravaganza of compassion and service, thousands of Louisvillians will be volunteering in ways large and small during the Mayor’s annual Week of Service, which runs Saturday through April 23.
One of the week’s largest projects will be the Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community Wide Cleanup on Saturday. Already, more than 16,000 people are committed to making Louisville a greener and cleaner community, by picking up litter and debris from neighborhoods, greenspaces and roadways.
And there is still time to register: Go to www.brightsideinc.org. With the help of sponsors Passport Health Plan and the Kentucky Pride Fund, Brightside provides bags and gloves to all participating groups, and T-shirts to the first 5,000 registrants.
Volunteer for Give A Day Projects
Mayor Greg Fischer will kick off this sixth annual Give A Day week with a 9 a.m. stop Saturday at the Build A Bed event at Meyzeek Middle School, where hundreds of volunteers will work in teams to build beds that will go to Jefferson County Public School children who are sleeping on couches, air mattresses or even the floor.
Other Saturday events include a 3 p.m. bicycle giveaway to refugees at Kentucky Refugee Ministries, thanks to volunteers from Pedal Power; and huge community cleanups and picnics in the California, Parkland and Shelby Park neighborhoods. (Similar events are planned in the Smoketown and Shawnee neighborhoods on April 22.)
The Mayor’s goal for the week, which helps launch the 2017 Kentucky Derby Festival, is to break Louisville’s existing “world record” for caring and helping – set in 2016 with more than 175,000 volunteers and acts of compassion.
“When we decided six years ago to start to focus on celebrating and cultivating compassion as one of our city’s core values, the people of Louisville responded, demonstrating over and over again that this is a city where people believe in the value of doing what our great native son Muhammad Ali called ‘the work of the heart,’” the Mayor said. “That work happens every day in this city. Give A Day simply shines a spotlight on it.”
The Mayor pointed out that participating in the Week of Service can be as simple as dropping food into the Dare to Care bins at all area Kroger stores.
And for the second year in a row, the international WE Day will, in partnership with the Mayor’s office and WLKY, hold a short Walk of Compassion through downtown as a Give A Day event on April 18. The public is invited to join more than 3,000 students participating in the lunch-time walk, carrying signs of compassion.
Students from both private and public schools are a huge component of Give A Day. JCPS’ students will be planting trees, collecting items for local food pantries, organizing campus and neighborhood cleanups, writing thank you cards to police and veterans, and collecting teddy bears for police to have in their cruisers when they make runs on cases involving children.
“We are proud to once again have 100 percent participation from our schools in the Mayor’s Give A Day initiative,” said JCPS Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens. “Last year, our students logged more than 1,145 days of service – that’s more than three years of kindness, service and citizenship in just one week. This experience gives our students a chance to give back to our community and participate as citizens in our diverse, shared world.”
Most local Catholic schools are also engaged in projects. St. Stephen Martyr, for example, is making care packages for cancer patients, filling decorated bags with things like hard candy, pocket tissues, hand sanitizer, lip balm and small packages of snacks. And fifth-graders at Holy Trinity will be visiting and playing games with residents of the Masonic Home.
Local businesses are also a huge part of the Week of Service, as companies large and small contribute their time, talent and treasure on projects throughout the community.
Volunteers are still needed for more than 100 projects of all kinds. To register, go to the website: www.mygiveaday.com and click on “volunteer for an existing project.”
Groups and individuals are urged to use the same website to report projects and good deeds they are doing on their own.
Thousands of volunteers will join together on Saturday, April 15 for the bi-annual Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community-Wide Cleanup to pick up litter and beautify sites across Louisville.
More than 200 groups — Boy & Girl Scouts, neighborhood associations, business associations, elementary school classrooms, families and more — will be participating in Saturday’s event, which serves as the kick off to Mayor Fischer’s Give A Day Week of Service, April 15-23.
“A clean street is something that residents in all corners of our city can agree is important to the quality of life in our neighborhoods,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “I encourage neighbors to work together and work with Brightside to keep our streets litter-free.”
To participate, volunteers choose their own cleanup site and coordinate with Brightside to receive gloves, bags, and for the first 5,000 volunteers, T-shirts. Trash pick-up will be coordinated with Louisville Metro Solid Waste Management Services. The cleanup is sponsored by Passport Health Plan.
“We are thrilled to be the title sponsor of the 2017 Brightside & Passport Health Plan Spring Community-Wide Cleanup,” said Mark B. Carter, CEO of Passport Health Plan. “We come together with Mayor Fischer, Brightside and all Louisville residents in the knowledge that a cleaner city helps all residents improve their health and overall quality of life.”
Cleanups are an integral part of Brightside’s mission, and without the help of volunteer groups and many other volunteers throughout the year, Brightside could not meet its goal of a cleaner, greener Louisville. Neighborhoods can hold their own cleanups at any point throughout the year, and Brightside encourages neighborhood associations, block watches, businesses and faith groups to play an active role in keeping their neighborhoods litter-free.
Registration for the April 15 community-wide cleanup is still open. Visit the Brightside website at www.brightsideinc.org to complete the registration form or call (502) 574-2613 to register your team.
Photo: Altitude Trampoline Park
Dixie Highway is undergoing a resurgence of new businesses and the newest addition is a fun entertainment center for all ages. Altitude Trampoline Park held its official grand opening celebration this week with city leaders on hand to welcome the new businesses.
“This is another great day for the new Dixie Highway. We need new exciting businesses like this to show everyone that this area of the city has much to offer,” said President David Yates (D-25).
The President was joined in the grand opening by Council members Rick Blackwell (D-12), Cindi Fowler (D-14) and Marianne Butler (D-15). They were also joined by Shively Mayor Sherry Conner.
The Altitude Trampoline Park is a 41,000 square foot, indoor trampoline park with jumping activities including sports and fitness programs, competitive jumping, and just plain, old-fashioned jumping fun.
The park will include such activities as a foam pit, gymnastics tumble tracks, toddler area, basketball dunking lanes, dodge ball and fitness classes.
“We are excited about another major investment along Dixie Highway. Southwest residents have often asked for more recreational opportunities for our youth and Altitude certainly meets the need in a big way,” said Blackwell
“South Louisville is happy to welcome Altitude to our community. Another locally owned, thriving business offering a fun night for families. Welcome – we are glad you are here and encourage others to join you!” said Butler.
“I am excited to see this wonderful new addition to South Louisville! The Altitude Trampoline Park will provide kids and their families a fun, positive space that’s close to home. I am encouraged by this promising economic investment along Dixie Highway, bouncing the Southend to new heights!” said Fowler.
“I want to thank the Council members and the people of the area for their support as we begin this venture,” said Mr. Chuck Hall of Altitude Trampoline Park, “We look forward to being a part of this great community.”
Altitude Louisville is going be a fresh, new entertainment option for groups and individuals to have active fun located at 4420 Dixie Hwy, Louisville, KY 40216.
To learn more go to: http://www.altitudelouisville.com/altitude-lousiville-trampoline-park.
Councilman Bill Hollander is inviting District 9 residents to come out to the next “Meet with Bill” set for Wednesday, April 19th.
“We are always happy to hear from constituents. To make meeting with us in person more convenient, we’ll be holding office hours at various places around the district in addition to our regular, evening D9 Community Conversations,” says Hollander.
“Meet with Bill” is set for the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center, 201 Reservoir Avenue, from 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. in the meeting room.
“Please stop by with any questions or concerns. It is an informal way of telling me what’s on your mind,” says Hollander.
For more information about “Meet with Bill” or any other issue in the district, call 574-1109 or email kyle.ethridge@louisvilleky.gov
Yesterday, Attorney General Andy Beshear joined Eileen Recktenwald, director of the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs (KASAP), to announce the winners of the #VoiceofJustice video contest via Facebook Live.
A panel of survivors and victim advocates selected the video “Stand with us” as the overall $500 video prizewinner. Students enrolled in Dr. Emily Bonistall Postel’s 400-level sociology course at the University of Kentucky submitted the video, and students Trent Patrick and Raenah Hawkins led the production team.
The video, “We all need to speak up,” produced by Western Kentucky University SGA and co-produced by students Sam Kirby and Student Body President Jay Todd Richey, won the $500 “Viral Video” award by receiving the most views on Beshear’s YouTube channel.
“I want to thank every student, faculty member and campus organization who sent in a video or who helped us spread the word about the contest,” Beshear said. “Voice of Justice was an opportunity for college students to lend their voices to bringing greater awareness to campus sexual assault, and I am proud of their courage to speak out. I hope their bravery inspires everyone on campus to intervene and prevent sexual assault, and creates a safer space for victims to contact the rape crisis hotline and report to authorities.”
Beshear’s Office and KASAP created the contest to engage Kentucky college students and campus communities to raise awareness for campus sexual assault during April’s Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.
“The more voices that are raised to bring awareness to the scope of the problem of sexual assault and the lifelong harmful effects it causes to our fellow human beings, the stronger the much-needed support for victims who are doing the hard work of healing there will be,” Recktenwald said.
Beshear said sexual assault is a crime that effects one in five women and one in 16 men in college, yet in 2015, only 36 sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement on Kentucky’s public university campuses.
Announced in February 2017, the #VoiceofJustice contest called upon college students to submit 30-second videos that contained information on the 24/7 free and confidential Sexual Assault Hotline, 800-656-HOPE, and increase:
- Awareness of campus sexual assault,
- Active bystanding to prevent sexual assault, or
- Reporting, investigations and prosecutions of campus sexual assault.
By the April 1 deadline, Beshear’s office received 14 entries from seven colleges and universities: Elizabethtown Community and Technical College; Murray State University; Owensboro Community and Technical College; Western Kentucky University; West Kentucky Community and Technical College; University of Kentucky and University of Louisville.
The videos are posted on the Office of the Attorney General’s YouTube page and are available for public service announcement usage on Kentucky’s college campuses and by statewide media outlets.
Clorissa Novak, a member of the Office of the Attorney General’s Survivors Council, was one of the contest judges.
“I was so pleased to see so many great submissions,” Novak said. “It was especially heartening for me to see the call to action to stand up for victims’ rights and be an active bystander. I hope survivors on the contest winners’ campuses and beyond will see these videos and know that they are not alone.”
Since announcing the contest, Beshear traveled to many of Kentucky’s colleges and universities to encourage students to participate in the contest, to urge support from faculty and campus communities, and to raise awareness.
The contest is part of Beshear’s mission to seek justice for victims of sexual assault and bring transparency to the reporting of sexual assaults on college campuses.
For more information about services offered by Beshear’s Office of Victim’s Advocacy, visit ag.ky.gov or call 800-372-2551. For more information, visit kasap.org or call 502-226-2704.
Photo: IRS
For taxpayers who have not filed their 2016 individual income taxes, there is a little more time to file this year.
The filing deadline to submit 2016 tax returns is Tuesday, April 18, 2017, rather than the traditional April 15 date. This year, April 15 falls on a Saturday, which would usually move the filing deadline to the following Monday, April 17. However, Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in the District of Columbia, is on that Monday and pushes this year’s filing deadline to Tuesday, April 18, 2017.
Another holiday is just around the corner, Easter.
In observance of Good Friday, all Kentucky Department of Revenue offices will close at noon local time, Friday, April 14, 2017.
DOR offices will open Monday, April 17 at their regularly scheduled business hours.
For more information on DOR programs, please go to revenue.ky.gov
