This year, several new practices are being implemented in Kentucky schools as a result of multiple new laws that were passed. These include a state wide phone ban, communication limits, sexual extortion awareness, and a moment of silence at the beginning of each day. Throughout the state, different school boards are each taking their own approaches on how to enforce these day-to-day. Principal Tony Blackman provides insight on how he is helping staff and students adapt to these new changes.
In regards to these new laws, Blackman is focused on consistency and communication. He recognizes the importance of these not only with students, but with staff as well.
“I sent out a staff newsletter [as I do] every Monday, and there was a reminder in there about cell phones and how to be consistent, but at the same time continuing to build relationships with students in these first three weeks,” Blackman said.
He is prioritizing compliance with the new laws, but above that is a positive learning environment for students.
One of the most controversial of the new laws is the state wide phone ban passed through Kentucky House Bill 208. This bill requires local school boards to enact policies that, at minimum, prohibit student use of personal devices during instructional time. The goal of the bill is to help limit distractions in the classroom and enhance students’ learning experience.
Blackman believes that the phone ban will have a positive impact on students’ focus and attention overall.
“We want to make sure that we are able to educate students [as well as] be able to prepare them to focus on instruction [and] also respect the teacher when they’re speaking up in front of the classroom,” Blackman said.
With the new phone law, Blackman along with the administration are working to find a healthy balance between compliance and reason, rather focusing on respect than rigidity.
In April of this year, Kentucky Senate Bill 181 was passed. This bill required there to be a trackable source of communication between a teacher and a student. The reasoning behind this bill was to diminish inappropriate teacher-student relations. According to a 2022 Herald-Leader study, 61% of the 194 teachers who lost their teaching license in some way in the past five years has been to related to sexual relations with a student. A majority of these relationships emerged out of text messages and phone calls. At HC, the app ParentSquare has been adopted to help make easy communication between staff and parents which abides by the new law.
With this new form of communication, there has been a lot of confusion around what other platforms are available to use. Blackman comes in to provide some clarity.
“We can still communicate to students on our email, on Google, [or] on Microsoft Teams,” Blackman said. “It’s just that ParentSquare is new, so everyone’s just focused on [that], but there’s still several traceable platforms that we can communicate on with students.”
Kentucky Senate Bill 19 moves the changes toward a conversation about religion. The bill states that schools must devote up to two minutes at the beginning of each day to a “moment of silence,” in which students may pray, meditate, or sit and collect their thoughts.
In regards to any confusion surrounding the moment of silence and its purpose, Blackman made it clear that it does not try to perpetuate any specific religions or ideologies. Clarifying that the content of the law specifically states that staff may not instruct students on how to use the time, only that they must be seated and silent.
“We’re diverse, [HC has] lots of different thoughts [and] cultures, so we don’t dictate how you or any other student chooses to celebrate that or focus on that moment of silence,” Blackman said.
The law also makes allowances for students to be excused from class for up to one hour each day to receive “moral instruction” off campus. In regards to said moral instruction, organizations must gain permission from the local school board to remove students for the provided hour.
According to the Kentucky Department of Education, “Moral Instruction Providers must be approved by the local school board and entered into Infinite Campus.”
The law requires quarterly reporting and information will be entered under the category of “Moral Instruction Providers” to minimize individual burdens on districts.
On a more serious note, Kentucky Senate Bill 73 addresses the prevalence of sexual extortion in the digital age. The bill requires schools to raise awareness about the issue through displaying signs and integrating age-appropriate conversations about sexual extortion into anti-bullying and harassment presentations. The law also creates an array of felony offenses regarding sexual extortion, generating stiffer penalties for those who target children and makes it easier to sue offenders.
There has been a lot of change starting this new school year in the state of Kentucky and especially HC. Blackman acknowledges this change
“We’re always going to try and follow the law the best that we can, and we’re always going to try to educate students and families, and prepare around that to make it better for all students,” Blackman said. “Just as things change in education, we just stay up and change with it.”
These changes are something that the students, staff, and parents will continue to learn and grow on in order to make the year as smooth as possible.
