This petition is to encourage Owen County KY schools to move toward non-traditional instruction (NTI) days from home instead of adding make-up days to the end of the school year. These additional days are not quality once end-of-year testing has been done. They are a waste of the teachers' time and the students' time, as teachers still have to squeeze in all the lesson plans within the time they've got before testing, whether or not days are made up after testing.

School districts around us including Scott County, Gallatin County, Grant County, and Christian Academy of Carrollton have NTI plans in place so that students work from home in order to not have to make up snow days.

Lack of internet access can easily be solved by the district developing learning plans ahead of time that do not require internet to make up the work. In certain cases, if internet access was necessary, then an alternative learning plan could easily be developed. There is no shortage to solutions in this day and age of how we can work around minor obstacles. It is unlikely that Owen Countians lack access to internet at a much greater number than surrounding counties, and this has not hindered their decisions to implement these beneficial policies. In fact, KentuckyWired is nearing completion of its "statewide, open-access fiber optic network which will deliver robust, reliable and affordable Internet to communities" across the entire state, Owen County included, which will connect our county at a higher rate. The Marion County Schools website says on NTI days,

"Teachers have the opportunity to maintain an online presence for content delivery or provide a hard copy of work for students without technology or network resources. The result is decreased loss of instructional time and an increased ability to continue learning content."

Here are some of the ways that local schools use NTI days:

http://www.gallatin.kyschools.us/Content2/1078

http://www.scott.k12.ky.us/News/nti#sthash.31Y1AeA...

http://nebula.wsimg.com/6a01a468a290b089bface827d3...

I'm sure if we pulled our ideas together, we can improve upon each of these to come up with the absolute best solution that works for the benefit of everyone, students and teachers together.

At a time when state budget cuts threaten quality learning opportunities from reduced transportation, NTI days just make sense. Since applications to become a NTID district must be submitted in the spring of 2018 for the 2018-19 school year, we must act fast to get our district onboard!

Thanks for your help in getting our school board to listen to the wants and needs of Owen County families!