This story was written by Lia Salvatierra, our new Education Reporter. Find more of Lia’s reporting here. Do you have an NKY education story? Email lsalvatierra@linknky.com.
Covington Independent Schools parents, alumni and community members are starting to imagine the district’s future since it gained access to $5 million and exemptions from state rules for innovative education initiatives.
In August, the Kentucky Board of Education voted to designate all of Covington’s schools as part of the state’s “School of Innovation” pilot program which waives regulations for public schools in favor of customization, flexibility and non-traditional learning models.
Although district leaders didn’t approach the state with details about what innovation would look like or how Covington would use the funding, they argued receiving the designation was the first step toward developing concrete plans.
Superintendent Cortnei Flucas welcomed a few dozen people at a Sept. 23 community forum intended to generate conversations around those baseline questions. Over a hot meal at the John G. Carlisle Elementary School cafeteria on Wednesday night, tables of adults organized their input around three main ideas: what they want to protect, what they want to improve and what they imagine is possible at the district.
“What do you imagine Covington to look like by the end of this innovation period, which is essentially 2030?” Flucas asked the group. Funding for the three-year pilot becomes available in 2027.
She encouraged the group to speak from their personal experiences, rather than what they’d seen or heard from others about the district.
The group discussed wanting to protect things like afterschool programs, teachers and staff, including English language support. Northern Kentucky NAACP President Jerome Bowles also told the group he wanted to protect educational equity.
“When we become innovators, sometimes you can move away from equal protection and equal opportunity,” Bowles said.
“Equity is a throughline and that’s not something we’d be willing to sacrifice,” Flucas responded.
Parent stakeholders focused on wanting to improve communication. A handful of parents also voiced concerns about ensuring the district looks out for all students equally, not just students who are struggling.
Courtney Barlow-Schulte, a parent of a student at Glenn O. Swing Elementary said she wanted the district to welcome more parent engagement, rather than assuming parents aren’t interested.
“Parents really do want to be involved,” she said.
Holmes High School alumnus Phyllis Tyler shared multiple areas of improvement and innovation for the district, including wanting to implement African American history curriculum.
“When you understand where you come from, it can have a better impact on how you can succeed and excel ,” Tyler said.
Tony Magner, an instructional coach for Covington Independent Schools who taught at Holmes High School for 13 years, ended the evening by sharing his table group’s vision for the district.
“We would love to see either all of our schools or maybe just the campus at the high school, or middle school become a true community hub where the lights never turn off,” Magner said.
“Students are always welcome in the evenings, on the weekends. They’re playing basketball. They’re playing football. They’re getting tutoring. They’re getting advice on resume building, interview skills. But also, the whole community, families , can be there,” he said.
Magner even described bringing in washers and dryers and barbers for haircuts, which was met with applause.
Lastly, he described a future where 100% of Covington students are involved in extracurriculars and 100% of seniors have a dual-credit internship with a community partner that would afford them a high-wage or high-skill job after college.
At the end of the gathering, Flucas said the district will host two more community forums, on Oct. 15 and Nov. 18 also at 6 p.m. It will also gather input from student, staff and faculty advisory councils on the School of Innovation effort and an anonymous survey online.
“Then we move from ideation to how do we actualize these ideas?” Flucas said. “What best practices might be aligned to this? What are schools and districts around the country doing that is solving for this thing that our community has said is really important, or they want to see?”
Flucas plans to share a current picture of the district and those ideas and solutions in a “State of the District,” address on Dec. 1 at 5:30 p.m.
