By Brad Hughes
Special to NKyTribune
A spot survey of Kentucky school districts Monday afternoon found more than 60 school systems where employees have received emails from the camp of GOP gubernatorial hopeful Matt Bevin, asking for their votes in tomorrow’s general election. Staff at the Kentucky School for the Blind in Louisville also received the emails as did employees in the state’s three largest districts, Boone County, Fayette County and Jefferson County.
The first of the emails was reported last Friday to employees in the Bowling Green Independent System. But early Monday morning, school workers in more districts got the original email, primarily addressing the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System pension underfunding issue.
In response to a KSBA eNews survey around 2 p.m., several districts reported some staff getting a second email Monday afternoon, this one inviting recipients to a “victory celebration” election night in Louisville.
Much of the state has been blanketed with the email – from Ballard County, Marshall County and Paducah Independent in the west; Dayton Independent, Erlanger-Elsmere Independent and Kenton County in Northern Kentucky; Christian County, Cumberland County, and Simpson County to the south; Bath County, Madison County, and Montgomery County in Central Kentucky; and Ashland Independent, Floyd County and Perry County to the east.
Whether all 173 districts were blanketed with the emails is unclear. In Logan County and Oldham County, officials there had not received reports of employees receiving the communications as of the time of the Monday afternoon survey.
And some districts are having a professional development day or an off-day Monday, extending the weekend as schools are closed tomorrow for the election.
Brad Hughes is director of member support for the Kentucky School Boards Association and writes for its eNews service.