Superintendent Scott Pierce compared the education mandated by the present system to a river that was three-miles wide but only a half-inch deep.

"The testing standards, as they are now," Pierce said; "they require testing on so many things that teachers are not able to delve deeply in any of the subjects."

He said a move adopted by the Russell County School Board at this Monday's meeting would change the schools to a better system.

The new standards are part of the new national standards proposed and they have already been adopted in Frankfort.

"Kentucky is the first in the nation to adopt these new standards," Pierce told the board.

The new system of testing will not be in the schools until the 2011-2012 school year, he said. The teacher preparation will begin in the coming school year, 2010-2011.

The new testing, Pierce said, will focus on what each student has learned, not how a school has been teaching the subject.

"It will be more like the tests you and I took when we were in school," he said. "With these tests we will be able to tell a parent exactly how their child is doing compared to other students locally and nationally."

In other business before the board-

• The board added days missed because of snow to the end of the school year. That means at present the school year will end on June 4th. Other options included shortening spring break and or attending school on Good Friday.

• financial report indicated that the district finished January with $3.4 million in its various accounts after starting the month with $3.1 million.

• Still living within the strictures of other accountability programs the board approved to a revision to the district comprehensive improvement plan.

• Because of questions over the coming year's fiscal budget from Frankfort the board moved decisions on staffing levels from March 1 to May 1, by which time the legislature should have a budget finalized.

• The board approved contracts, including one which opens the way for a concert in the Auditorium - Natatorium by Steve Wariner.

• In complying with a requirement for the next year Pierce explained that all five and six-year-old students must have a dental exam in order to enter school next year.