Williamsburg City School discusses mentoring program; pending constitutional amendment

Mar. 21—WILLIAMSBURG — The Williamsburg Independent Board of Education heard from Sarah Bush and Maggie White of Kids Hope USA, an organization that helps to provide mentors for young students, during Tuesday's regular meeting.

Kids Hope USA is a non-profit group that seeks to give children in need a mentor who they can look up to and be encouraged by.

The program first came to Williamsburg City Schools in January with 8 mentors initially signed up. According to Bush, just two months later, they now have 21 mentors.

Bush said, "We want our kids to have a positive role model in their life, even if it just for extra support." She continued,"I cannot tell you how much joy it brings me to walk down the halls and get rugby tackled by the kids who are thanking me, loving on me, and their friends asking me for a mentor themselves."

Bush also noted that the Williamsburg portion of the Kids Hope USA program was the fastest-growing program in the nation, outpacing 700 other sects.

Williamsburg School Superintendent Tabetha Housekeeper said this of the program: "(Kids Hope USA) has brought so many people together...They asked me how many mentors we wanted, so I asked how many kids do we have? 853. So I want 853 mentors because every kid needs a champion."

In other news, the Williamsburg Board of Education also heard from teacher Aaron Brock, who expressed his dismay at the recent vote to pass House Bill 2 in the Kentucky State Legislature that will put a school choice amendment to the Kentucky State Constitution on the ballot in November.

The bill, if passed by popular vote in November, would amend the Kentucky State Constitution and allow public, tax-payer money to go toward private and charter schools.

The topic of school choice is a preeminent issue across many states this election cycle, with some states, such as Tennessee, already passing measures that permit the flow of public money to private schools.

Brock had this to say about the measure: "We need people to vote no. We need everyone to be vocal about their support for public schools in Kentucky."

Brock also noted that Representative of District 12 (Part of Laurel and all of Whitley County) Nick Wilson voted no on the measure, but Senate President Robert Stivers, who also represents Whitley County, voted yes on the measure.

Board Chairman Roger Faulkner shook his head in dismay upon hearing this.

Additionally, Superintendent Housekeeper urged Brock to create a document that would inform parents and the community of the vote and information pertaining to the measure, specifically how the passage of the bill could affect the city school system.

The board also voted to amend the procedure by which children would be given a photo release by their parents.

According to Superintendent Housekeeper, the current documentation is worded poorly and appears only at the back of the acceptable use of technology form that parents are supposed to sign for their children.

Housekeeper noted that the wording has led some to believe that selecting either option listed on the packet would lead their child to being permitted to be photographed or vice versa.

Now, the system will change.

The new system involves the distribution of one green card and one red card, indicating yes and no respectively.

If a parent fills out a green card, then their child will be permitted to be photographed. Contrarily, if they fill out the red card, they will not be permitted to be photographed.

In addition to make the process more clear, this change will also allow more easy access, and retrieval, of the clearances.