By Rick HowlettThe Jefferson County Board of Education has approved a plan aimed at improving six low-performing schools that were the target of a state leadership assessment.After the intervention at Frost and Western Middle Middle Schools and Fern Creek, Shawnee, Valley and Western High Schools, state education officials gave JCPS Superintendent Sheldon Berman a list of options for improvement.The plan includes replacing some teachers and taking over some site-based councilsBerman initially recommended the closure of Frost Middle School, but has reversed course because of time considerations. That was good news to Frost PTA President Tonya Mobley (in photo, at podium)."I just hope some of the change that will be made will be ones that Frost has long been asking for. We need funding. I cannot stress this enough. We need funding for athletic programs. Most of all we need to know that we have your support," she said.The board will appeal a state recommendation to reassign the principals at Fern Creek and Valley High Schools. The plan will make the schools eligible for millions of dollars in federal improvement funds.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.