FRANKFORT - The state on Friday identified 28 schools, including Latonia Elementary in Covington, whose performance has lagged badly enough that their students must be given other options, including a chance to transfer at public expense.

        These are the “failing schools” that President Bush and others have talked about and the first use of vouchers to allow the market to help education improve.

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Schools lagging badly enough that their students must be given other options, including a chance to transfer at public expense, under federal law. Listed by district:   • Barbourville Independent: Barbourville Elementary   • Bourbon County: Millersburg Elementary   • Bowling Green Independent: Dishman McGinnis Elementary, L.C. Curry Elementary   • Christian County: Pembroke Elementary   • Covington Independent - Latonia Elementary   • Fayette County: Cardinal Valley Elementary, Tates Creek Elementary, Tates Creek Middle, Yates Elementary   • Fleming County: Ewing Elementary   • Fulton County: Fulton County Elementary   • Hardin County: Parkway Elementary   • Harrodsburg Independent: Harrodsburg Middle   • Jackson County: Jackson County High   • Jefferson County: Hazelwood Elementary, Okolona Elementary, Southern Middle, Thomas Jefferson Middle   • Knott County: Cordia High   • Lee County: Lee County Middle   • Magoffin County: John T. Arnett Elementary   • Martin County: Inez Middle   • Perry County: Buckhorn Elementary, Lost Creek Elementary   • Pike County: Majestic Knox Creek Elementary   • Providence Independent: Broadway Elementary   • Webster County: Sebree Elementary

        They were among more than 8,600 schools nationwide that were targeted by the U.S. Department of Education for failing to make “adequate yearly progress” for two consecutive years.

        Kentucky's statewide test scores were released Thursday. The 28 schools, all of which receive federal funding, fell far enough short of state performance goals to require maximum state assistance.

        “These 28 schools will receive extensive help, both on the state and federal level,” Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit said.

        Each will have to undergo a “scholastic audit” - a complete examination of its operation - and will be assigned an expert consultant. Each school also will have access to a state school improvement fund.

        On the federal side, the schools will get supplemental educational services designed to raise student achievement. Both state and federal requirements call for review of schools' Comprehensive School Improvement Plans.”

        Jack Moreland, superintendent of Covington Independent Schools, learned of Latonia Elementary's inclusion on the list in a Wednesday phone call from Judy Tabor, director of the division for federal program resources with the Kentucky Department of Education.

        Within two or three weeks, Kentucky schools on the list should learn how much of the federal Title I improvement funds they will receive, Mrs. Tabor said Friday.

        “My guess is that Latonia parents will not be inclined to transfer their children,” Mr. Moreland said. He added Latonia Elementary has enjoyed a reputation as a good school and he characterized the latest test scores as “an aberration,” because of a series of unusual circumstances.

        Those included the Covington school board's decision in June 2001 to reassign the 120 advanced placement students at Latonia Elementary to their home schools. The school also experienced a 35 percent turnover in faculty and lost its principal and assistant principal in the 2000-'01 school year. Still unknown is the effect a fatal shooting of a parent outside Latonia Elementary a year ago had on students.

        Besides notifying Latonia Elementary parents of the federal designation by letter, Mr. Moreland said that the administration will likely meet with them to explain what the school's inclusion on the federal list means to them.

        “There should be plenty of room if any kid would want to go to another (Covington elementary) school,” Mr. Moreland said.

        Within the next month, the U.S. Department of Education is expected to release a list of all schools that qualify for the transfer options and other federal assistance, said Dottie Howe, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Education. In July, that department began notifying some districts that they would have schools on the list, but it later retracted that. Ms. Howe said Ohio education officials “made a miscalculation in the formula itself” and had to remove 203 of the 412 schools from the list.

        In Kentucky, 62 other schools also fell short of performance goals but were not reported to the federal agency because they get no federal Title I funding or require less state assistance.

        Districts with schools on the list must quickly notify parents and offer students an option to transfer to another public school within the district. The option must be implemented no later than the beginning of the second semester.

        In addition, affected districts must implement supplemental educational services for low-income children who have academic difficulties. They also must provide technical assistance in developing or revising school improvement plans.

        Kentucky law has included a transfer provision since 1992, but the Department of Education has no record of a parent choosing to exercise it.

        In Bowling Green, L.C. Curry Elementary School is on the list, but Michelle Overton says her 9-year-old daughter, Alexis, is staying put.

        Alexis had behavior problems at schools in Tennessee but has stayed out of trouble this year at L.C. Curry.

        Enquirer reporter Cindy Schroeder contributed.

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