The Whitley County Board of Education met on Dec. 18 to present the Above and Beyond award and to hear a Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (CSIP) from each principal in the district, detailing assessment data and improvement goals moving forward.
The Above and Beyond Award recognizes district educational staff who do more than their jobs require.
Superintendent John Siler presented the Above and Beyond Award to employee Judy Petrey and read a nomination letter sent in by the curriculum team at the Central Office.
“Judy is the type of employee that always puts kids first. Being the McKinney Vento liaison is not just her job, but it’s her passion,” read Siler. “Judy dedicates many hours to helping families overcome struggles in their lives.”
Petrey visits homes, delivers needed supplies, arranges transportation to school, appointments, and secures housing for students. She is also the planner for community events and ensured that over 800 students received a book with a reading buddy (a stuffed animal) that matched the book.
Next on the agenda was the CSIP presentation by the district principals, during which each school discussed assessment data, goals, and action plans to achieve them. Each school, despite such high scores, was still not satisfied and wanted to grow for the next school year.
Principal Randy Love from Pleasant View Elementary School informed the board that the school was a blue school for the second year in a row, with an overall rating of 95.8. Reading and math scores, at 96.7, put them in the top 20 in the entire state. Social studies was a weakness the prior year, but major growth occurred, moving from 408th to 113th, and a score of 94.4.
Principal Heather Roaden from Whitley County Central Intermediate School informed the board that the school was a blue school with an overall rating of 92.6. Reading and math scores were 91.1, and science, social studies, and combined writing scored 95.2.
Principal Mike Partin from Whitley County East Elementary School informed the board that this was their fourth year as a blue school, with an overall rating of 97.1, placing them 10th in the state and the highest in the district. The overall reading and math index rating was 96.9, and the combined writing, social studies, and science index rating was 98.
Principal Richard Frazier from Whitley County North Elementary School was the only school in the district to receive a green rating, with an overall score of 74.1, but growth did occur. Frazier reminded the board that they had been a yellow school the year before and hoped to grow even more. Reading and math scores had an overall rating of 72.8, and science, social studies, and combined writing scored a 74.7.
Principal Jordan McCumbers from Boston Elementary School informed the board that they were a blue school with an overall rating of 95.2. Reading and math scores were 96.2, putting them 21st in the state, and science, social studies, and combined writing were 95.2, putting them 18th in the state. McCumbers hopes to continue to grow in all areas and is ultimately very pleased with his students and instructional staff.
Principal Brandon Anderson from Whitley County Central Primary School’s scores look different. Due to age level, students were not required to take the Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA) like the other schools, and instead took the MAP test. As an overall school, they received a 63 percent, putting them in the yellow category. Reading was 61 percent, math was 63 percent, and language usage for 2nd grade only was 64 percent.
Principal Gina Wilson from Oak Grove Elementary School described her school as a “school of change.” Wilson informed the board that they were a blue school, receiving an overall rating of 84.3, growing 16 points. Reading and math scores were 83.7, and social studies, science, and combined writing were 85.2.
Principal Amanda Croley from Whitley County Middle School informed the board that the school was a blue school, receiving an overall score of 83.6. Reading and math scores were 80.2, growing 5.3 points from last year. Science, social studies, and combined writing scores were 87.3, growing 10.3 points, which Croley and teachers described as “wonderful and amazing.”
Principal Julie Osborne from Whitley County High School said that although they missed the blue rating last year by one point, they “pushed over the hump significantly this year”, receiving a blue rating with an overall rating score of 84.6. Reading and math scores were 76.9, and science, social studies, and combined writing scored a 72.8. Graduation rate scored a 99.2, and post-secondary readiness scored a 111.5. Osborne wanted to emphasize the functionality of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Dual Credit program. According to Osborne’s data, the graduation rate increased by 4.1 percent, and Industry certifications increased by 226 percent. Osborne continued to explain that they had a 10 time increase in students participating and having those opportunities within the last three years, and three times more students who met more than one postsecondary readiness indicator.
“That doesn’t happen without you supporting that programming,” said Osborne, addressing board members.
In other business, the board approved several agenda items, like the Whitley County High School cheerleaders’ trip to Orlando, Florida, Jan. 28 through Feb. 2, and approved the 2026-2027 calendar committee.
In additional action items, the board approved the Whitley County Schools advance coursework and Accelerated Learning Plan in accordance with the Kentucky House Bill 190 and KRS 158.6453, renewed the mowing services bid for the 2026 mowing season with Imperial Property Services LLC, and approved a closeout of BG5 requirements for Phase 2 of the Whitley County High School athletic improvements project for the baseball and softball turf field conversion.
