Three western Kentucky counties look like they will not become a District of Innovation. The Kentucky Board of Education’s review team is making its recommendations at its meeting tomorrow.
McCracken County, Trigg County, and Owensboro Independent schools are not among the review team’s recommendations.
Districts of Innovation come after the passage of a new state law that allows chosen districts to be exempt from certain KDE regulations and local board policies in order to improve student learning. The law was a compromise to charter school legislation.
The distinction challenges schools to rethink their courses and operations allowing such changes as year round calendars and teacher assistants. The chosen schools can then make the approved changes to try to engage more students and increase the number of those that are college and career ready.
The KDE’s Districts of Innovation review team took several weeks to score the 16 submissions and are denying 12 of those applications. Those districts recommended include Danville Independent, Eminence Independent, Jefferson County and Taylor County schools.