Results from the Field – Casey County, Kentucky

Our Featured School

Casey County Middle School is located in the rural town of Liberty, roughly 50 miles southwest of Lexington, in the bluegrass region of Kentucky. This school year (2005-06), two administrators and 22 teachers are managing 411 seventh and eighth graders, 97 percent of whom are Caucasian. Just over 60 percent qualify for the free/reduced lunch program.

In an effort to build a more positive school climate, students and staff implemented Safe & Civil Schools programs in the fall of 2004. Here's what they have to say about the results!

From the Principal

"Before using START on Time!, tardies were almost too numerous to count. We had as many as 40 per class period in the morning. The number of students in the hall after the bell rang increased as the day went on—often up into the 70's. From September through November, 2004, we averaged 240 tardies per day. After implementing START on Time!, tardies dropped dramatically. The data shows the average tardies per day for November (7.05), December (4.77), January (1.9), and February (2.62)."

"This year (2005-06) we have had 13 office referrals for tardies in August and 11 for the month of September. That's less than one per day."

"Since school began, we've had 30 office referrals for hall behavior. Twenty-four referrals were for tardies. That means we've had only six office referrals for inappropriate hall behavior. That's nearly nothing! Also, we've had only one office referral from the restroom since school began—AMAZING!"

How They Did It

The goal of the educational program at Casey County Middle is to prepare students to become productive, independent citizens, who will achieve success in an ever-changing society. This means that the dedicated and experienced faculty and staff focus on meeting the needs of the whole childóacademic, social, physical, and emotional. It was this emphasis—a desire to provide every child with the best educational opportunities possible—that drove their search for ways to improve school climate.

In the mid-1990's, the Kentucky Department of Education began a program to improve school climate in selected schools throughout the state. It was called the Kentucky Instructional Discipline and Support (K.I.D.S) Project and it was based on a model created by Randy Sprick. K.I.D.S. has been, and continues to be, extremely successful.

Today, CCMS participates in a K.I.D.S. replication project called the Wilderness Trail Cooperative, which, like the original K.I.D.S. program, is based on Safe & Civil Schools' Foundations.

One of the components of their program is START on Time!, the springboard for the achievements just described.

In Summary...

From a daily average of 240 to a daily average of 1 is a decrease in tardies of 99.99 percent—accomplished over a period of only five months! This is a dramatic result that can only be accomplished with a truly unified effort from the entire school staff. Safe & Civil Schools salutes the staff and students of Casey County Middle School for their tremendous efforts and these inspiring results!