Christeena GAllahue For Oldham County Schools

 This is a priority that my family can relate to personally.

1.  When a student or family makes a complaint, a principal or  administrator may decide whether to initiate an investigation, unless a  crime is suspected. There does not appear to be a clear district policy  or guidelines outlining what circumstances require an investigation to  begin versus what circumstances do not. In practice, this decision seems  to rest largely with administrative discretion. 

2.  Once an investigation is initiated, I have not found a district policy  that establishes standardized investigative procedures. As a result,  investigations may be conducted using methods that vary from one  administrator or situation to another.

3.  It is difficult for families to locate the district’s Title IX or other  grievance procedures on the district website. Important information  regarding reporting, investigations, appeals, and available resources  should be easy to find and understand. It’s better now that the District  adopted some of the KSBA policies, but it still needs work. 

4.  Current policy allows a principal to make the final discretionary  decision, regarding Title IX supportive measures, if a student requests  to transfer schools, in order to avoid contact with an alleged offender.  

5.   An open records request asking for Title IX training certifications  produced scarce results at best. It was clear to me that the District  needs substantial training in this area, including what is considered  “actual knowledge” of a complaint in K-12. 

6. I believe our district should strive for greater transparency, consistency, and accountability in how complaints are handled.

If I were to lobby legislators, it would probably be related to providing some form of property tax relief for seniors, like an optional tax freeze program. My focus would also likely  be more on responsible stewardship of the resources we already have.  Before asking for more, I think it's more important to make sure we're  spending existing dollars wisely. If there are opportunities to reduce  unnecessary spending, apply for additional grants from outside funding,  and then redirect resources toward student support and teacher support,  I'd be more interested in working towards that.  I really want to focus  on ways we can bring the passion of teaching back to our teachers.   

I hear you on the fees, because I know what it's like to write those checks in August. I also know what it's like to receive the discounts on AP classes and that feels really nice.  However, I also hear from a lot of people who are part of the community and are feeling a major burn from all the school taxes and increasing property values.  This is one, of many, areas where experiencing another school  district has it's benefits. My daughter's school is a Title I school and they participate in the CEP Federal Lunch Program, BUT parents still have to  pay school fees. They have capped school fees (unless AP and dual  credit) at $100 per student. The families here know what to  expect each August and can plan for it. Maybe if we had a cap per student/family that would help families plan? I also wonder if some type of dispersed installment payment system could help families ($35 in  June; $35 in July, remaining balance in August at registration, etc).  This would take some of the burden off of taxpayers and families, but still keep the same dollars coming in. Definitely deserves some serious discussions among all board members.

My views on teacher support are more towards offering teachers resources that can truly help tofacilitate a classroom environment where they can teach bell to bell.