Education

Twenty-five years ago, 15-year-old Quinton Higgins spent about a month in Kosair Children’s Hospital after suffering lung damage and second- and third-degree burns in the fiery Carrolton bus crash. Today, Higgins drives a Hardin County Schools bus. The differences between the bus he drives every school day and the repurposed 1977 Ford B-700 school bus he was in that night in 1988 are like “night and day,” Higgins said.

Many college graduates across Kentucky may be set on finding just the right job.  But,  they were reminded over the weekend of other priorities.  During commencement exercises Saturday evening at Eastern Kentucky University, First Lady Michelle Obama reminded graduates that providing ‘service’ to the community should be a priority after college.

RICHMOND — First lady Michelle Obama chose to speak at Eastern Kentucky University's graduation Saturday because of its often-celebrated work with veterans, and in her speech she urged graduates to take the values they learned here out into the world.

Long lines are likely at Eastern Kentucky University tomorrow evening during a visit by America’s First Lady.  Michelle Obama addresses some 600 Eastern Kentucky University graduates, families and friends. "You’ll not be able to bring bottled water, an umbrella, items like pocket knives as those items will have to be disposed of as you’re coming into the building,” said EKU spokesman Marc Whitt.

Cost cutting plans at Eastern Kentucky University were endorsed today by the school’s next president.   Doctor Michael Benson, who takes over as president this August, agreed to disassemble Continuing Education and Outreach at EKU, eliminating its top two officials. The school will also review its regional campus program, close its center at Fort Knox and re-purpose its campus in Lancaster. 

Keeping his word to avoid across-the-board cuts to meet a projected $2,139,000 revenue shortfall, Western Kentucky University President Gary Ransdell on Wednesday announced a three-pronged strategy developed by the WKU Administrative Cabinet to a balanced budget.  No job cuts are mentioned, but financial help on employees’ cellphone expenses was chopped as the cabinet reached into pockets and pocketbooks.  The biggest slice is a 5 percent cut of university financial subsidy for the WKU Athletic Department over the next five years.

University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto appointed a task force Tuesday to examine longtime rules that strictly limit alcohol on campus. The 15-member group, which includes a mix of university officials and community representatives, is called the Work Group on Student Health and Safety. It will look at factors leading to alcohol misuse by students, current alcohol policies, and best practices to prevent alcohol abuse, as well as other health and safety issues.

The price for a president is going up at Eastern Kentucky University.  EKU’s new President will earn two-thirds more than its outgoing CEO.

Newsweek and The Daily Beast have again set out to find the best high school in the United States, based on which schools are doing the best job preparing students for college. And they've decided that the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Bowling Green, Ky., is that school. The Gatton Academy was also named the top school last year in Newsweek/The Daily Beast's ranking.

The company contracted to provide standardized end-of-course exams in Kentucky has suspended online testing this week. The Kentucky Department of Education halted the state’s ACT End-of-Course Exam last week after nearly 25 school districts experienced problems connecting to the test online. ACT officials initially told the department they had fixed the glitch, but later said more technical issues would prevent testing from resuming.

Kentucky Department of Education officials say problems with the company contracted to administer one of the state’s standardized tests online have been fixed and testing will resume on Monday. This week several states experienced problems with three separate companies contracted to administer standardized tests.

Kentucky has become the most recent state to see problems with the company that administers online  exams in public schools and officials say the problem is of concern as more states move to online testing. Since the beginning of this week, 25 Kentucky school districts have experienced slow or dropped  connections to the online system, making it impossible to complete the ACT End of Course Exam.

The administration of Eastern Kentucky University attempted to fire EKU Center for the Arts director Debra Hoskins on June 12 because of allegations including fiscal misconduct and falsification of university records and documents. Violation of human-resources policies, improper handling of customers' credit card information, and the misleading of university officials were also alleged. The university's issues with Hoskins while she led the $33 million publicly financed arts center are described in 740 pages of documents obtained late Wednesday afternoon under the Kentucky Open Records law.

A small tuition increase and no raises were approved yesterday by regents at Eastern Kentucky University.     Tuition at the Richmond-based school will go up almost three-percent.  That’s a fraction on the tuition increases seen in previous years, but within limits recently set by the state Council on Postsecondary Education.

In the early stages of developing the University of Kentucky's master plan, hired consultants Sasaki and Associates took a deeper look at some of UK's oldest buildings, putting an emphasis on renovation over demolition. Bob Wiseman, UK's vice president for facilities, said preservation of old buildings is part of the "give and take that will go on for many years."

A Louisville high school ranks as the best in Kentucky, according to the 2013 best high school rankings released by U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News joined with the American Institutes for Research in Washington, D.C. to evaluate schools on student performance on state-mandated assessment tests, according to the publication's website. In all, data from more than 21,000 public high schools in 49 states and the District of Columbia was evaluated.