Education

Kentucky State Auditor Adam Edelen says he will be expanding his efforts to track misspending in Kentucky school districts. Edelen campaigned on cleaning up education spending and he has already conducted special audits in three districts. The examinations of Kenton, Mason and Breathitt County schools found misspending and poor documentation.

Two employees involved in reporting inaccurate test scores at West Kentucky Community and Technical College have been fired. The Paducah Sun reports Shannon Ogan and Catherine Hasty received termination letters from WKCTC citing violations of ethical conduct guidelines. An audit of the Adult Basic Education Test found inconsistent markings on tests, which resulted in an extra $137 thousand dollars from Kentucky Adult Education. WKCTC has since returned the extra money to KEA.

Kentucky will share a $24 million grant with more than 20 states to improve training for teachers working with children with disabilities. Kentucky will receive more than $1.1 million in the grant’s first year to train teachers to better prepare students with special needs to graduate and pursue either a career or further education. State Department of Education Spokesperson Lisa Gross says there is still a lot of work to do to close the achievement gap between special needs students and those without disabilities. She says,

Hopkinsville Community College seeks applications for its Board of Directors. The Nominating Commission looks to fill three positions. Six-year terms expired in September for current board chair Bettie Wallace, vice chair John Rittenhouse III, and board member Gary Logan.