11-14-12 —     Monticello Indepen-dent School will now have the task of hiring a  new superintendent, following Superintendent Gary Abbott's  announcement that he would be retiring at the end of next month.

    Abbott announced his intention to retire, effective December 31,  during the monthly meeting of the Monticello School Board on Monday,  November 12.

    Abbott noted that much thought and prayer had gone into his decision  to retire, and that he thought this was the right thing for him to do  at this time. He emphasized that his decision to retire has nothing  to do with the situation that is currently going on with the school  district, as school faculty and staff strive to improve student  

achievement following an educational audit last year. He said there  were other factors that went into his decision to retire.

    "I have nothing but love for this school system," Abbott stated,  following his announcement.    The board authorized Abbott to contact retired superintendents and  

ask if any of them would be interested in acting as interim  

superintendent for the school district until a replacement is hired.

    In other action, the board heard a financial status update from Gail  Binder and Kay Kennedy with the Kentucky Department of Education  (KDE). According to Binder and Kennedy, Superintendent Abbott had  made a request to the Kentucky Department of Education for support  and assistance, and in response to that request members of the  finance staff were deployed to the school district to initiate a  

management audit of Monticello School District.

    The management audit will focus on school/district improvement in  five key areas: local governance; instruction and curriculum;  financial management; personnel; and school food service management.

    Once it is complete, the report from the KDE team will provide  constructive feedback to the school district.

    Binder, who has recently spent time in the school district, noted  that there were three areas that need to be brought to the board's  attention. The first area, noted Binder, is that the books closed on  June 30, 2012 with the school district in a deficit. The second thing  that needed to be brought to the board's attention, Binder said,  concerned a complete working budget for this fiscal year. She noted  that the department of education declined the budget presented to  them because it was incomplete. The third area Binder brought before  the board was that they will be asked to look at a draft of the  

2013-14 budget by the end of January 2013.

    "Our goal is to provide support and assistance to the district,"  stated Gail Binder.

    In addition, the finance staff team, along with the education  

recovery specialists that have been working with the high school  faculty and staff, are striving to provide the help that officials  

with the school district have requested.

    In other news, board members heard an update on the 2011-12 school  year test scores. John Chaplin provided board members with the  results from Kentucky's Unbridled Learning accountability model.  Chaplin gave an overview of the new Kentucky accountability system  and then presented the scores from each school.

    Monticello High School had an overall score of 51.1, which placed  

them in the 32nd percentile rank. This placed the school in the  overall category of Needs Improvement. According to Roger Keith, this  percentile ranking is the biggest jump in the history of the high  school since testing was implemented.

    Monticello Middle School had an overall score of 48.5, which placed  them in the 26th percentile rank, as well as the overall category of  Needs Improvement.

    According to Chaplin, Monticello Elementary School had an overall  score of 49.8, which earned the school a percentile rank of 22 and  placed them in the overall category of Needs Improvement. Monticello  Elementary Principal Mary McLean noted that the elementary results  showed an increase from previous testing results.

    In other action, the board:

    • recognized several students who were inducted into the National  Honor Society during a special induction ceremony that was held  during the board meeting. The inductees included: Alia Barrier,  Daniel Bertram (absent), Matthew Bertram, Jake Chaplin, Holden  Decker, Cheyanne Dishman, James Hickey, McKayla Jones, Bethany  Latham, Abi Perkins and LeAnn Ramsey.

    • heard a presentation on the Gifted and Talented Program by  Jennifer Chaplin, Gifted and Talented Program Coordinator.

    • approved the district technology plan presented by David Cook.

    • discussed the loan and COD for the land on Hwy. 90.