Whitley County Board of Education hears audit report

Dec. 19—WILLIAMSBURG — The last meeting of 2023 for the Whitley County Board of Education was fairly routine with much of the discussion centered around the district's finance department.

Thursday's board meeting opened with Marla Carnes, a representative from the Kentucky Association of School Business Officials (KASBO), presenting Chief Finance Officer Alicia Logan with the Goldenrod Outstanding School Business Official Award for the 2022-23 school year.

Logan was initially announced as this year's recipient at KASBO's conference last month.

"She is most deserving," Carnes said of Logan. "She always has such a professionalism....She is always willing to help out with our organization. You're so fortunate to have her helping in your district because I know she really does have kids at heart — not just the kids for this district but I think the kids in every district in the state, that she wants to do the right things to help all of our students."

Whitley Superintendent John Siler noted that Logan's handling of district finances was essential to them being able to build a 13,000 square foot career and technical education (CTE) building strictly with the General Fund.

"We've been fortunate to give raises the last four years in a row," Siler continued. "A lot of that is her ability to budget, maintain that budget and give us good data to make decisions. She has really shaped our finance department to be strong...We greatly appreciate her leadership and the whole team."

With that, the superintendent introduced Artie White of White & Associates — presenting the 2022-23 annual audit report.

White noted that Whitley County is a first-year client for his firm — adding that there were no adverse findings in the report.

"You got the highest report that you can get," White said.

"The finance team is excellent, and I appreciate the whole team," Logan noted.

The board approved the report and balance sheet later in the meeting.

In other news, Supt. Siler updated board members on the progress of the calendar committee. While they are planning a mid-August start date similar to the current calendar, Siler said the committee will survey district staff in early January.

"We'd like to have that [calendar] done at the January meeting," he said.

The board also:

—approved a WHAS Crusade for Children grant request for 2024-25 to purchase equipment for visually impaired students.

—renewed a bid from Imperial Property Service for mowing in the upcoming school year.

—contracted with RossTarrant Architects for floor replacement at Whitley North Elementary over the summer.

The meeting concluded with a reception allowing district principals to present on their schools' progress as winter break gets underway.