Education

A sarcastic "thanks, thanks a lot" rang out from the crowd as the Shelby County Board of Education passed a 2.5 percent increase, plus a .2-cent exoneration allowance, on personal property and real estate taxes.

The vocal crowd  at the board’s meeting Thursday at Shelby County High School called out just before the vote that the board should not "keep throwing money" at problems in a time of economic restraint.

Christy Coleman decided to home school her children when she was still in high school – long before she married her husband, Micah, and became a mom.

Part of her decision likely stems from her own academic experience: She attended a public elementary school but in middle school was switched to a private school. In high school, she returned to public education.

Once again Thursday, the Shelby County Board of Education will weigh the district's needs against the state of the local economy when it discusses and votes on the year's tax levy at its 7 p.m. meeting at Shelby County High School.

Superintendent James Neihof is again recommending an increase, asking the board to approve 1.7 cents, or 2.5 percent, plus a .2-cent exoneration allowance to both the real estate and personal property taxes.

That would raise the school district’s total tax to 69.7 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The ACT scores among juniors in Shelby County fell behind those of the state and most surrounding counties in 2011 – just one year after they had showed significant gains.

Shelby County Public Schools’ average composite score among juniors fell from 18.7 in 2010 to 18.5, which lags the state's average (18.8).

School districts in Oldham (21.5), Eminence (20.9), Scott (19.9), Franklin (19) and Spencer (18.7) all had better scores, and Henry and Jefferson counties matched Shelby, with Henry and Jefferson both improving to the 18.5.