Restaurants looking to get their feet wet.

            A city-wide vote will be held March 20 for legal sales of alcohol by the drink in Williamsburg, Ky. restaurants. According to News Journal writer, Mark White, a petition containing 400 signatures of the Citizens for Progress was presented to the Whitley County Clerk, Kay Schwartz, early last month. 272 signatures were certified as only 271 were needed to push the issue to a ballot.

            The referendum, if passed, would allow restaurants seating at least 100 people to sell alcoholic beverages and would require that 70 percent of restaurant sales be from food sales.

            Williamsburg Mayor, Roddy Harrison, has been in talks with several restaurant chains regarding plans if sales are approved in the city.

            “They haven’t promised to come, but promised they for sure won’t come if we stay dry,” said Harrison. Some local restaurants like El Dorado have plans in place to try and meet the 100 seat requirement if the issue is passed.

Paul Croley presenting petition.

            The last time alcohol sales came to vote was in May 2006 when it was voted down by a tally of 790 to 577. The 213 vote margin was the closest ever in Williamsburg history.

            Local attorney Paul Croley believes that the city is at a different point now than it was six years ago.

            "There was a lot of opposition the last time here in Williamsburg based upon the fact that Corbin had just recently voted to go moist. The argument that people made then was that Corbin would never get restaurants in spite of the fact that they voted for this. I think that is clearly not the case," said Croley.

            Corbin voted for alcohol sales by the drink in 2003. Since then they have moved in at least one chain restaurant and a handful of more local establishments that serve alcohol.

Whitley County School System                                                     “For Immediate Release”

300 Main Street                                                                                                                       Williamsburg, KY 40769                                                                                        
(606)549-7000

Whitley County High School rolls out a plan to help improve

future end of year test scores.

           

            Williamsburg, KY - Whitley County High School department chair members have announced an improvement plan for the 2011-2012 school year geared towards raising the school’s Academic Performance Index. In May 2011 the school’s API was  measured at 86 out of 100 on the Kentucky Core Content Test. The plan’s goal is to raise that number by 4.67 for a total API of 90.67 by May 2012.

            According to history department chair member, Tim Cooper, the plan is mainly to benefit the students. Students used to take the CATS test, which gauged how well each student did in each academic category and ranked schools in the state by how well they did overall. Cooper said, “Before, we as teachers and a school district were held accountable. What it could mean was if you scored bad enough for enough years in a row the state could come in and take over your school.” The state of Kentucky contracted the company that does the ACT to write these new end of course exams. Students' grades are now effected by their scores on these tests because it counts for 20 percent of their grade in each subject. In-class tests and daily discussions are becoming harder to help prepare the student for the degree of difficulty of these exams.

            WCHS plans to better prepare students by utilizing a variety of resources. Changes that are expressed in the plan include:

·       Freshmen scoring beneath the 30^th percentile in math and reading will be placed in remedial classes.

·       All teachers will write on the board the day's lesson objective, key concept, or essential question so students are aware of the content covered for that day.

·       All teachers will develop and implement formative assessments.

·       All teachers will be encouraged to seek out and attend professional development experiences, beyond the required 24 hours, in order to best prepare themselves for helping students reach proficiency.

     Through this process students should become better aware of what is expected of them and be able to meet the goals set for them individually.

About Our District

The Whitley County School District, established in 1818, serves students in preschool through

grade 12. The schools include one primary, one intermediate, five elementary, one middle, one

high and one alternative school. The district continues to grow and prosper bringing the latest

technology, resources and facilities to our community.

About WCHS

The mission of Whitley County High School is to provide instructional programs in which every

student can learn at his/her highest possible level.  Each student will become a life-long and

independent learner and will make a successful transition to post-high school experience.