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AN ACT relating to curriculum. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
ď˘Section 1. KRS 156.160 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) With the advice of the Local Superintendents Advisory Council, the Kentucky 4
Board of Education shall promulgate administrative regulations establishing 5
standards which school districts shall meet in student, program, service, and 6
operational performance. These regulations shall comply with the expected 7
outcomes for students and schools set forth in KRS 158.6451. Administrative 8
regulations shall be promulgated for the following: 9
(a) Courses of study for the different grades and kinds of common schools 10
identifying the common curriculum content directly tied to the goals, 11
outcomes, and assessment strategies developed under KRS 158.645, 12
158.6451, and 158.6453 and distributed to local school districts and schools. 13
The administrative regulations shall provide that: 14
1. If a school offers American sign language, the course shall be accepted 15
as meeting the foreign language requirements in common schools 16
notwithstanding other provisions of law; 17
2. If a school offers the Reserve Officers Training Corps program, the 18
course shall be accepted as meeting the physical education requirement 19
for high school graduation notwithstanding other provisions of law;[ 20
and] 21
3. Every public middle and high school's curriculum shall include 22
instruction on the Holocaust and other cases of genocide, as defined by 23
the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the 24
Crime of Genocide, that a court of competent jurisdiction, whether a 25
court in the United States or the International Court of Justice, has 26
determined to have been committed by applying rigorous standards of 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1213
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due process; and 1
4. Every public middle and high school's curriculum shall include 2
instruction on the history of racism that shall include but not be 3
limited to the transatlantic slave trade, the American civil war, Jim 4
Crow laws, the black codes, desegregation, the Civil Rights Act of 5
1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, redlining, and residential 6
segregation; 7
(b) Courses of study or educational experiences available to students in all middle 8
and high schools to fulfill the prerequisites for courses in advanced science 9
and mathematics as defined in KRS 158.845; 10
(c) The acquisition and use of educational equipment for the schools as 11
recommended by the Council for Education Technology; 12
(d) The minimum requirements for high school graduation in light of the 13
expected outcomes for students and schools set forth in KRS 158.6451. The 14
minimum requirements shall not include achieving any postsecondary 15
readiness indicator as described in KRS 158.6455 or any minimum score on a 16
statewide assessment administered under KRS 158.6453. Student scores from 17
any assessment administered under KRS 158.6453 that are determined by the 18
department's technical advisory committee to be valid and reliable at the 19
individual level shall be included on the student transcript. The department's 20
technical advisory committee shall submit its determination to the 21
commissioner of education and the Legislative Research Commission; 22
(e) The requirements for an alternative high school diploma for students with 23
disabilities whose individualized education program indicates that, in 24
accordance with 20 U.S.C. sec. 1414(d)(1)(A): 25
1. The student cannot participate in the regular statewide assessment; and 26
2. An appropriate alternate assessment has been selected for the student 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1213
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based upon a modified curriculum and an individualized course of 1
study; 2
(f) Taking and keeping a school census, and the forms, blanks, and software to be 3
used in taking and keeping the census and in compiling the required reports. 4
The board shall create a statewide student identification numbering system 5
based on students' Social Security numbers. The system shall provide a 6
student identification number similar to, but distinct from, the Social Security 7
number, for each student who does not have a Social Security number or 8
whose parents or guardians choose not to disclose the Social Security number 9
for the student; 10
(g) Sanitary and protective construction of public school buildings, toilets, 11
physical equipment of school grounds, school buildings, and classrooms. With 12
respect to physical standards of sanitary and protective construction for school 13
buildings, the Kentucky Board of Education shall adopt the Uniform State 14
Building Code; 15
(h) Medical inspection, physical and health education and recreation, and other 16
regulations necessary or advisable for the protection of the physical welfare 17
and safety of the public school children. The administrative regulations shall 18
set requirements for student health standards to be met by all students in 19
grades four (4), eight (8), and twelve (12) pursuant to the outcomes described 20
in KRS 158.6451. The administrative regulations shall permit a student who 21
received a physical examination no more than six (6) months prior to his or 22
her initial admission to Head Start to substitute that physical examination for 23
the physical examination required by the Kentucky Board of Education of all 24
students upon initial admission to the public schools, if the physical 25
examination given in the Head Start program meets all the requirements of the 26
physical examinations prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1213
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(i) A vision examination by an optometrist or ophthalmologist that shall be 1
required by the Kentucky Board of Education. The administrative regulations 2
shall require evidence that a vision examination that meets the criteria 3
prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education has been performed. This 4
evidence shall be submitted to the school no later than January 1 of the first 5
year that a three (3), four (4), five (5), or six (6) year-old child is enrolled in a 6
public school, public preschool, or Head Start program; 7
(j) 1. Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, a dental screening or 8
examination by a dentist, dental hygienist, physician, registered nurse, 9
advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant that shall be 10
required by the Kentucky Board of Education. The administrative 11
regulations shall require evidence that a dental screening or examination 12
that meets the criteria prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education 13
has been performed. This evidence shall be submitted to the school no 14
later than January 1 of the first year that a five (5) or six (6) year-old 15
child is enrolled in a public school. 16
2. A child shall be referred to a licensed dentist if a dental screening or 17
examination performed by anyone other than a licensed dentist identifies 18
the possibility of dental disease; 19
(k) The transportation of children to and from school; 20
(l) The fixing of holidays on which schools may be closed and special days to be 21
observed, and the pay of teachers during absence because of sickness or 22
quarantine or when the schools are closed because of quarantine; 23
(m) The preparation of budgets and salary schedules for the several school 24
districts under the management and control of the Kentucky Board of 25
Education; 26
(n) A uniform series of forms and blanks, educational and financial, including 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1213
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forms of contracts, for use in the several school districts; 1
(o) The disposal of real and personal property owned by local boards of 2
education; and 3
(p) The development and implementation of procedures, for all students who are 4
homeless children and youths as defined in 42 U.S.C. sec. 11434a(2), to do 5
the following: 6
1. Awarding and accepting of credit, including partial credit, for all 7
coursework satisfactorily completed by a student while enrolled at 8
another school; 9
2. Allowing a student who was previously enrolled in a course required for 10
graduation the opportunity, to the extent practicable, to complete the 11
course, at no cost to the student, before the beginning of the next school 12
year; 13
3. Awarding a diploma, at the student's request, by a district from which 14
the student transferred, if the student transfers schools at any time after 15
the completion of the student's second year of high school and the 16
student is ineligible to graduate from the district to which the student 17
transfers, but meets the graduation requirements of the district from 18
which the student transferred; and 19
4. Exempting the student from all coursework and other requirements 20
imposed by the local board of education that are in addition to the 21
minimum requirements for high school graduation established by the 22
Kentucky Board of Education pursuant to paragraph (d) of this 23
subsection in the district to which the student transfers, if the student 24
transfers schools at any time after the completion of the student's second 25
year of high school and the student is ineligible to graduate both from 26
the district to which the student transfers and the district from which the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1213
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student transferred. 1
(2) (a) At the request of a local board of education or a school council, a local school 2
district superintendent shall request that the Kentucky Board of Education 3
waive any administrative regulation promulgated by that board. Beginning in 4
the 1996-97 school year, a request for waiver of any administrative regulation 5
shall be submitted to the Kentucky Board of Education in writing with 6
appropriate justification for the waiver. The Kentucky Board of Education 7
may approve the request when the school district or school has demonstrated 8
circumstances that may include but are not limited to the following: 9
1. An alternative approach will achieve the same result required by the 10
administrative regulation; 11
2. Implementation of the administrative regulation will cause a hardship on 12
the school district or school or jeopardize the continuation or 13
development of programs; or 14
3. There is a finding of good cause for the waiver. 15
(b) The following shall not be subject to waiver: 16
1. Administrative regulations relating to health and safety; 17
2. Administrative regulations relating to civil rights; 18
3. Administrative regulations required by federal law; and 19
4. Administrative regulations promulgated in accordance with KRS 20
158.6451, 158.6453, 158.6455, and this section, relating to measurement 21
of performance outcomes and determination of successful districts or 22
schools, except upon issues relating to the grade configuration of 23
schools. 24
(c) Any waiver granted under this subsection shall be subject to revocation upon 25
a determination by the Kentucky Board of Education that the school district or 26
school holding the waiver has subsequently failed to meet the intent of the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS BR 1213
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waiver. 1
(3) Any private, parochial, or church school may voluntarily comply with curriculum, 2
certification, and textbook standards established by the Kentucky Board of 3
Education and be certified upon application to the board by such schools. 4
(4) Any public school that violates the provisions of KRS 158.854 shall be subject to a 5
penalty to be assessed by the commissioner of education as follows: 6
(a) The first violation shall result in a fine of no less than one (1) week's revenue 7
from the sale of the competitive food; 8
(b) Subsequent violations shall result in a fine of no less than one (1) month's 9
revenue from the sale of the competitive food; 10
(c) "Habitual violations," which means five (5) or more violations within a six (6) 11
month period, shall result in a six (6) month ban on competitive food sales for 12
the violating school; and 13
(d) Revenue collected as a result of the fines in this subsection shall be 14
transferred to the food service fund of the local school district. 15