Kentucky principals benefitting from leadership training through Kentucky Chamber Foundation, officials tell lawmakers

On Tuesday, lawmakers heard about a program putting Kentucky principals through executive-level leadership training at no cost to them to help outcomes in communities across the Commonwealth.

Kentucky Chamber Senior Vice President of Public Affairs told the Interim Joint Committee on Education the Leadership Institute for School Principals program is a prime example of the Kentucky Chamber and the Kentucky Chamber Foundation marrying policy with programmatic work to improve the state.

Shanks said a key goal of the leadership training program, which entails three days of training in North Carolina as well as classes in Kentucky, one on one coaching and more, is to empower Kentucky’s principals to be the CEOs of their schools.

Principals attend the program free to them thanks to the Kentucky Chamber Foundation’s partnership with the Truist Institute and the investment of businesses across the state supporting the program to help improve education in their communities.

More than 420 principals from 95 Kentucky counties have participated in the program which the Chamber Foundation has raised more than $3 million throughout the ten years the Leadership Institute for School Principals has been active.

Franklin County Independent Schools Superintendent Houston Barber is a graduate of the Leadership Institute for School Principals and now the program’s co-chair. Barber told legislators the program was life changing for him when he was a principal in the Jefferson County Public School System (JCPCS) and that it helps teach Kentucky principals how to better navigate the dynamics of being a leader in their school, their community, and much more.

He added the investment into the program by businesses is crucial as companies are looking for the next generation of talent and pointed to the recent announcement by Ford bringing 5,000 new jobs to Kentucky, adding it is important for Kentucky schools to be preparing students for those types of jobs of the future.

Shanks and Barber encouraged lawmakers to get involved by encouraging school leaders in their community to apply for the program which accepts applicants beginning in January.

Learn more about the Leadership Institute for School Principals here.