Published: June 01, 2007 11:47 pm      

School district recognized for meeting family needs

The Madison County School District is one of 20 in Kentucky that have “What Parents Want,” according to a Columbus, Ohio-based school selection consulting firm.

SchoolMatch, an independent, nationwide service that helps families find schools that meet the needs of their children, is honoring the local district as part of its 16th annual awards.

The “What Parents Want” Award is recognizing 2,516 of the nation’s 15,571 public school districts for making noteworthy efforts to meet family needs. This is the second consecutive year Madison County has been honored.

“This is something (Superintendent) Mr. (Mike) Caudill was really proud of last year,” said Glenn Marshall, acting superintendent. “I’m certainly pleased that we received this honor again.”

To determine the winners, SchoolMatch compiled information from more than 97,000 parent questionnaires to determine what parents most often seek when deciding which school districts are best for their children.

The criteria included solid academics, competitive test scores and appropriate levels of rigor, accreditation, national recognition for excellence, competitive teacher salaries, above-average instructional expenditures on a national-percentile basis, above-average expenditures for library/media services on a national-percentile basis, small class sizes and high-quality secondary education.

“Mr. Caudill made some decisions several years ago that started the ball rolling instructionally, for our facilities and some long-range planning that have started to bear fruit with recognition, such as this,” said Tommy Floyd, chief academic officer for the district

“From our school board on down, we ask questions that make us uncomfortable sometimes because it uncovers things that we can do differently,” he said. “I think (this recognition) says that Madison County Schools, down to the bus drivers, the custodians, the cooks, the central office staff, the wonderful classroom teachers and the leadership that exists at each school, that we’re trying to do the right things. I think somebody recognized that.”

Madison County certainly is deserving of the honor, interim Kentucky Commissioner of Education Kevin M. Noland wrote in a letter to Caudill notifying him of the award.

“Your district’s performance on state assessments, low dropout rates and recognition on the state, regional and national level make it a natural choice,” he stated. “Your district’s selection for this award puts it in an elite group of school districts across the nation. I applaud your achievements, and I’m certain that Madison County will continue to be a leader among Kentucky’s 176 school districts.”

With the district awarded many grant opportunities and recently chosen by legislators for a math pilot program, the “What Parents Want” recognition gives even more creditability to the hard work that everyone in the district is doing, Floyd said.

“For a newcomer (to the district) like me, it says that I’m blessed to be on a wonderful team,” he said. “It says to people who support public education through their tax dollars that Madison County is a pretty good place to live.”

Bryan Marshall can be reached at bmarshall@richmondregister.com or 624-6691.