Former KY commissioner’s ruling caused ‘angst’ for this school. Bill would fix it.

The high-performing Model Laboratory School in Richmond, in a crisis because of a 2019 state ruling, could continue to operate under a bill moving through Kentucky’s General Assembly.

Former Kentucky Education Commissioner Wayne Lewis last fall told officials at Eastern Kentucky University’s Model Laboratory School in Richmond that as of 2020-2021 Model Lab can no longer operate under its current construct of both charging tuition and receiving common school education funding.

It was Lewis’ position that Model should eliminate tuition and operate solely on limited public funds or continue charging tuition and operate without any additional public school funding.

But Model Superintendent John Williamson said that neither option was financially feasible. Without the state support and funding partnership through Madison County Schools, Model would be forced to consider either a crippling decrease in funding to support existing enrollment or a significant increase in tuition costs, he said.

But legislation that would let the school continue to operate as a public school, House Bill 366, was approved by the House Education Committee on Tuesday and is now headed to the full House of Representatives.

The General Assembly created lab schools at several of Kentucky’s teacher’s colleges, including Model in 1906, but never explicitly defined how the lab schools would operate.

EKU Interim President David McFaddin said Tuesday that Lewis could only interpret the law that existed and he didn’t have a clear path to interpret what Model was and how it should function.

Williamson said in 2019 the clearest path was to ask the 2020 General Assembly for a permanent funding solution and that state Rep. Deanna Frazier, R- Richmond, had pledged to help by sponsoring legislation.

On Tuesday, McFaddin and Frazier convinced the House Education Committee that House Bill 366 would allow Model to continue to operate and provide the best funding solution. Frazier said Model, with more than 700 students, was the only K-12 university lab school in Kentucky. Lab schools at colleges across Kentucky have shut down over the years.

Model has operated under a contract with Madison County Schools that gives it public school funds for more than 25 years, Frazier said, but Lewis’ ruling said that could not continue. That resulted in the legislation.

Lewis’ ruling is under appeal in Franklin Circuit Court, said EKU spokeswoman Kristi Middleton.

The bill gives EKU the authority to operate Model and specifies that it is a university operated public school that is separate from any school district.

It would be a model and practice school which would be an educational laboratory for the purpose of piloting and testing kindergarten through high school educational practices. It would train student teachers.

The Superintendent of Model and the Kentucky Commissioner of Education would collaborate to identify research initiatives that will be carried out there to benefit the state.

Model is highly rated in the statewide public school testing and accountability system.

The school would be included in the average daily attendance of the students’ districts of residence for the purpose of determining how much public funds the school would get. The Department of Education would grant a district of residence a deduction for each of the district’s students attending the model school that adjusts the calculation under the district’s amount of local tax revenues generated for school purposes.

It would be eligible for federal funding.

However, under the bill, tuition could still be charged.

Frazier said EKU and Madison County Public Schools supported the bill.

Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, a lawmaker on the committee, noted that that the ”situation had caused a lot of angst for people” in Madison County and at EKU.

With the state’s teacher shortage, the bill would allow Model to give practical, applicable experience to students in the teacher education program, Tipton said.

After the committee vote, McFaddin in a statement thanked Frazier for moving the bill forward.

“Model Laboratory School stands as a foundational pillar for EKU’s mission to support and serve education in Kentucky,” he said. “This piece of legislation recognizes decades of collaboration between EKU and Madison County Schools. HB 366 seeks to ensure that the educational excellence provided by the lab school continues for many generations to come.“

This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 1:08 PM.