Concerned parents, students say Scott High School is headed for the worst - Kenton County Story

 

"In Kentucky’s 2012-2013 uniformed testing report card of Scott, the Taylor Mill school fell in the 41st percentile for scores amongst public schools in the state. The score landed Scott in the “needs improvement” category for the second year in a row.

 

Kenton County’s two other high schools, Simon Kenton and Dixie Heights, both scored in the 87th percentile last year.

 

A recent survey of Scott teachers also shows educators there believe 18 percent of students follow school conduct rules and only 39 percent of respondents said the school’s administration makes a sufficient effort to manage students' behavior.

 

"I have a friend that actually has skipped class multiple times in order to go sit in the library and do his school work just so he could be out of class from the other students who are distracting him," Child said."

When students themselves are realizing the need to skip class in order to get away from misbehaved students who are creating a distraction, what in the world is going on that the teachers and administrators are unable to manage the behavior?

When students themselves are realizing the need to skip class in order to get away from misbehaved students who are creating a distraction, what in the world is going on that the teachers and administrators are unable to manage the behavior?

 

What state tests are they taking these days? I read the article but it didn't say specifically which test it was they're using now.

Things seem to be slipping over in Taylor Mill.

 

My biggest beef right now: They have a huge flagpole with a large American flag flying that is absolutely shredded and needs to be taken down. These things disgust me to no end and show no respect for the flag and America.

 

If you aren't willing to at least make your public perception better, I guess your attention to detail on your product can be similarly classed.

On WCPO this was the headline of an article today: "Parents, students: Scott HS is out of control".

And while some of what is being said is true (the test scores don't lie), what is being said is a little overstated. My daughter is a Scott grad (and doing well at UL) my son is currently a Junior (and on the Student Council) and I have an 8th grader that will be attending Scott. I have no issues with the teachers, quality of instruction or facilities. Are there problems...yes, just like any other school. But there are also some really good things happening there as well, and presenting a more balanced story with other views doesn't exactly grab as much attention or make for juicy headlines. I had a conversation with son just a few minutes ago about the allegations. And he felt like this whole thing is a bit overblown. I think a lot of this comes down to some folks have a major problem with the administration, the principal in particular. And I can't say I agree with everything he has done in the few years he has been there. Some classes have been eliminated (there are virtually no business classes), and some popular, well regarded teachers have been let go over the last 2 years. And some feel like their concerns haven't been properly addressed or even acknowledged. And that is a problem. Looking at the video, there didn't seem to be a full house of concerned parents and students, so to say that groups views is representative of what is going on isn't exactly fair.

 

One other thing about the story that bothers me is the survey. Only 18% of students follow rules and 39% of respondents feel administrators aren't managing behavior?? Who are they polling? Was this a scientific survey? Or did someone just pick out a bunch of people in their circle to poll?? And who conducted the survey?? I'm guessing it wasn't Gallup. Sorry, its simply not true that only about 200 of 1150 students follow the rules.

 

My biggest beef right now: They have a huge flagpole with a large American flag flying that is absolutely shredded and needs to be taken down. These things disgust me to no end and show no respect for the flag and America.

 

And yes, you are completely right...this bugs me to no end, and needs to be fixed immediately.

Things seem to be slipping over in Taylor Mill.

 

My biggest beef right now: They have a huge flagpole with a large American flag flying that is absolutely shredded and needs to be taken down. These things disgust me to no end and show no respect for the flag and America.

 

If you aren't willing to at least make your public perception better, I guess your attention to detail on your product can be similarly classed.

 

Did you know that with the new red book laws and policies school money can not be used to purchase a new US Flag? Insanity the red tape with the red book.

Did you know that with the new red book laws and policies school money can not be used to purchase a new US Flag? Insanity the red tape with the red book.

It goes that far? I haven't looked into the red book stuff, just heard a bit in the basketball forum during the Sweet 16. But wow! A school isn't even allowed to buy a flag with school money? Who wrote these rules/laws? And who passed them?

Things seem to be slipping over in Taylor Mill.

 

My biggest beef right now: They have a huge flagpole with a large American flag flying that is absolutely shredded and needs to be taken down. These things disgust me to no end and show no respect for the flag and America.

 

If you aren't willing to at least make your public perception better, I guess your attention to detail on your product can be similarly classed.

I'm with you. The flag thing may not sound like a big deal to some, but it is a telling sign on how they may approach other things as well. Not really caring about perception is one and neglect over more than just arterial things another.

Did you know that with the new red book laws and policies school money can not be used to purchase a new US Flag? Insanity the red tape with the red book.

 

I'm willing to bet that a call to a local VFW or Elks, possibly any of the Veteran's groups, would produce a new flag. I'm willing to kick money in toward this. If you can't use school money to purchase a flag, no problem…..however, there is no excuse for not taking it down and properly retiring. The Elks have a ceremony each year to assist with retirement, no charge.

I have a child that has recently graduated from Scott and will say that he had a very good experience and was well prepared for college. However, with that said, I have often felt that certain individuals in the administration come across as very arrogant and condensening. I have witnessed and experienced this first hand and I find that very unfortunate for the school. I will also say that I have often been embarrassed by the lack of attention and focus on extra curricular activities in the school. I am a firm believer that you can find the 'health' of a school by the number of students that are involved in the school. This particular administration often neglects the girls side of activities and seem to place a check mark beside each of their programs rather than striving to be successful. If they are truly interested then the current participation levels and lack of success' would not be acceptable. Just simply look. If you are willing to accept a destroyed flag, mediocrity throughout your extra curricular activities, then it should come as no shock that mediocrity is achieved within the school.

I will also be the first to say that ALL schools have their challenges. Whether it academics, drug related issues etc... ALL schools have their challenges and Scott is no worse off than most.

I have a child that has recently graduated from Scott and will say that he had a very good experience and was well prepared for college. However, with that said, I have often felt that certain individuals in the administration come across as very arrogant and condensening. I have witnessed and experienced this first hand and I find that very unfortunate for the school. I will also say that I have often been embarrassed by the lack of attention and focus on extra curricular activities in the school. I am a firm believer that you can find the 'health' of a school by the number of students that are involved in the school. This particular administration often neglects the girls side of activities and seem to place a check mark beside each of their programs rather than striving to be successful. If they are truly interested then the current participation levels and lack of success' would not be acceptable. Just simply look. If you are willing to accept a destroyed flag, mediocrity throughout your extra curricular activities, then it should come as no shock that mediocrity is achieved within the school.

I will also be the first to say that ALL schools have their challenges. Whether it academics, drug related issues etc... ALL schools have their challenges and Scott is no worse off than most.

 

And I do believe that is what is the root of this issue. I do agree with the arrogance/condescending part. Not sure that I totally agree with the part about athletics as nearly all sports now are competitive and on the rise. The football program is improving, the boys basketball team, while down this year is usually always competitive, the girls BB team made the region for the first time in years, baseball always competes for a district title etc. Really the only major program struggling is softball. But I'm with you, I'm more than satisfied with the education and experience my two kids have had, and I won't even consider sending my 3rd anywhere else when he starts HS next year.

I was a 2008 Scott graduate and still have a little brother currently attending Scott as a senior this year so I think I have a little insight into the issues. I also still know some of the teachers still at the school as well as those who have left/retired.

 

The overall test scores (the standardization test scores) have been dropping and falling since my junior year of high school and its continued trending downward. In addition to the falling test scores, Scott has had fewer and fewer students enrolling into the school which has led us from being 1200+ student school (5A) to fall to around 1000 students if not less and be on the fringe of the 4A/5A border. With fewer students enrolling, they had to let some teachers ago over the past few years as well as cut out some of the classes they offered.

 

I will also say this, the AP and Honors classes they offer at Scott are just fine as well as the teachers who teach those. I was one of those students who was taking multiple classes like those and am now in UK's College of Pharmacy. The upper track courses are fine in preparing the students taking them for things like the State Tests that evaluate the schools and compare them to the rest of Kentucky. They also do a fine job in preparing the students for when they go to College. However, the same cannot be said for the General Education courses that all the students have to take and some of the more "normal" courses. Just from my experience, there were several teachers that had little control over the class while I was there and often let us do pretty much anything we wanted. When they did put their foot down and were trying to "teach" us, it wasn't to what many would expect. I know at least two of those teachers who were like that during my days at Scott are now gone but it was by no means just a few teachers that were a problem. However, I won't just blame the teachers as I really felt like there was a large student base that was unruly, uncooperative and have general attitude problems. I'm sure all schools have students like that. However from my friends that I knew that attended other schools as well as having the opportunity to have student exchange programs where I got to go to the other public schools for a day, I really felt a different atmosphere from the students and teachers at SK and Dixie.

 

This isn't an easy fix and is going to take quite awhile before things get put back on the right track but its quite sad to see how far Scott has fallen over the years. I still remember when I moved to the NKY back in the 90s that my parents had researched into the local high schools and had found Scott was one of the best in the nation in terms of test scores, etc. and I even saw the articles of these that were hung on the walls of Scott while I was there. Scott has fallen quite a bit from where they once were and its going to take a long road to get back.

I don't know if the stuff about Scott that some parents and students are legitimate, but as was said earlier, ALL schools have issues! But to throw out the good in the school isn't addressing the bad.

 

Also, you could attend the worse school in the US, but if you are focused enough you most likely will succeed, even more that students at the best schools.

Also I can say there is a massive textbook problem. While I was in school, the ONLY textbook that I was able to bring home with me was my Math Textbook. Every other textbook was to be kept in the classroom and you couldn't take it home with you because there wasn't enough of the books to go around. Anything that was absolutely needed would be provided via photocopies to us by the teachers. As for the Math books, they were in absolutely TERRIBLE condition and after talking with the teachers there, they have options to get new textbooks every 7 years or so but that is decided upon by the school. If you are going to be a school, I feel like you need to be able to provide enough textbooks to all of your students so that they can take it home with them if need be. This problem is still present 6 years later as my brother is still encountering this issue as a senior at Scott.