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AN ACT relating to high school graduation requirements. 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 as 15
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 course 18
shall be accepted as meeting the physical education requirement for high 19
school graduation notwithstanding other provisions of law; and 20
3. ]every public middle and high school's curriculum shall include instruction on 21
the Holocaust and other cases of genocide, as defined by the United Nations 22
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, that 23
a court of competent jurisdiction, whether a court in the United States or the 24
International Court of Justice, has determined to have been committed by 25
applying rigorous standards of due process; 26
(b) Courses of study or educational experiences available to students in all middle 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 918
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and high schools to fulfill the prerequisites for courses in advanced science 1
and mathematics as defined in KRS 158.845; 2
(c) The acquisition and use of educational equipment for the schools as 3
recommended by the Council for Education Technology; 4
(d) The minimum requirements for high school graduation in light of the 5
expected outcomes for students and schools set forth in KRS 158.6451. The 6
administrative regulations[minimum requirements] shall: 7
1. Not include achieving any postsecondary readiness indicator as 8
described in KRS 158.6455 or any minimum score on a statewide 9
assessment administered under KRS 158.6453 as a graduation 10
requirement. Student scores from any assessment administered under 11
KRS 158.6453 that are determined by the department's technical 12
advisory committee to be valid and reliable at the individual level shall 13
be included on the student transcript. The department's technical 14
advisory committee shall submit its determination to the commissioner 15
of education and the Legislative Research Commission; 16
2. Permit satisfaction of any state or local board's physical education 17
course requirement through participation in: 18
a. Physically demanding interscholastic athletics, or similar 19
activities, including but not limited to cheerleading or marching 20
band, as determined by the local board of education; or 21
b. Completion of a Reserve Officers' Training Corps program 22
course; and 23
3. Permit satisfaction of any state or local board's foreign language 24
course requirement through completion of an American sign 25
language course, if offered by a school; 26
(e) The requirements for an alternative high school diploma for students with 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 918
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disabilities whose individualized education program indicates that, in 1
accordance with 20 U.S.C. sec. 1414(d)(1)(A): 2
1. The student cannot participate in the regular statewide assessment; and 3
2. An appropriate alternate assessment has been selected for the student 4
based upon a modified curriculum and an individualized course of 5
study; 6
(f) Taking and keeping a school census, and the forms, blanks, and software to be 7
used in taking and keeping the census and in compiling the required reports. 8
The board shall create a statewide student identification numbering system 9
based on students' Social Security numbers. The system shall provide a 10
student identification number similar to, but distinct from, the Social Security 11
number, for each student who does not have a Social Security number or 12
whose parents or guardians choose not to disclose the Social Security number 13
for the student; 14
(g) Sanitary and protective construction of public school buildings, toilets, 15
physical equipment of school grounds, school buildings, and classrooms. With 16
respect to physical standards of sanitary and protective construction for school 17
buildings, the Kentucky Board of Education shall adopt the Uniform State 18
Building Code; 19
(h) Medical inspection, physical and health education and recreation, and other 20
regulations necessary or advisable for the protection of the physical welfare 21
and safety of the public school children. The administrative regulations shall 22
set requirements for student health standards to be met by all students in 23
grades four (4), eight (8), and twelve (12) pursuant to the outcomes described 24
in KRS 158.6451. The administrative regulations shall permit a student who 25
received a physical examination no more than six (6) months prior to his or 26
her initial admission to Head Start to substitute that physical examination for 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 918
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the physical examination required by the Kentucky Board of Education of all 1
students upon initial admission to the public schools, if the physical 2
examination given in the Head Start program meets all the requirements of the 3
physical examinations prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education; 4
(i) A vision examination by an optometrist or ophthalmologist that shall be 5
required by the Kentucky Board of Education. The administrative regulations 6
shall require evidence that a vision examination that meets the criteria 7
prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education has been performed. This 8
evidence shall be submitted to the school no later than January 1 of the first 9
year that a three (3), four (4), five (5), or six (6) year-old child is enrolled in a 10
public school, public preschool, or Head Start program; 11
(j) 1. Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, a dental screening or 12
examination by a dentist, dental hygienist, physician, registered nurse, 13
advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant that shall be 14
required by the Kentucky Board of Education. The administrative 15
regulations shall require evidence that a dental screening or examination 16
that meets the criteria prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education 17
has been performed. This evidence shall be submitted to the school no 18
later than January 1 of the first year that a five (5) or six (6) year-old 19
child is enrolled in a public school. 20
2. A child shall be referred to a licensed dentist if a dental screening or 21
examination performed by anyone other than a licensed dentist identifies 22
the possibility of dental disease; 23
(k) The transportation of children to and from school; 24
(l) The fixing of holidays on which schools may be closed and special days to be 25
observed, and the pay of teachers during absence because of sickness or 26
quarantine or when the schools are closed because of quarantine; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 918
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(m) The preparation of budgets and salary schedules for the several school 1
districts under the management and control of the Kentucky Board of 2
Education; 3
(n) A uniform series of forms and blanks, educational and financial, including 4
forms of contracts, for use in the several school districts; 5
(o) The disposal of real and personal property owned by local boards of 6
education; and 7
(p) The development and implementation of procedures, for all students who are 8
homeless children and youths as defined in 42 U.S.C. sec. 11434a(2), to do 9
the following: 10
1. Awarding and accepting of credit, including partial credit, for all 11
coursework satisfactorily completed by a student while enrolled at 12
another school; 13
2. Allowing a student who was previously enrolled in a course required for 14
graduation the opportunity, to the extent practicable, to complete the 15
course, at no cost to the student, before the beginning of the next school 16
year; 17
3. Awarding a diploma, at the student's request, by a district from which 18
the student transferred, if the student transfers schools at any time after 19
the completion of the student's second year of high school and the 20
student is ineligible to graduate from the district to which the student 21
transfers, but meets the graduation requirements of the district from 22
which the student transferred; and 23
4. Exempting the student from all coursework and other requirements 24
imposed by the local board of education that are in addition to the 25
minimum requirements for high school graduation established by the 26
Kentucky Board of Education pursuant to paragraph (d) of this 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 918
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subsection in the district to which the student transfers, if the student 1
transfers schools at any time after the completion of the student's second 2
year of high school and the student is ineligible to graduate both from 3
the district to which the student transfers and the district from which the 4
student transferred. 5
(2) (a) At the request of a local board of education or a school council, a local school 6
district superintendent shall request that the Kentucky Board of Education 7
waive any administrative regulation promulgated by that board. Beginning in 8
the 1996-97 school year, a request for waiver of any administrative regulation 9
shall be submitted to the Kentucky Board of Education in writing with 10
appropriate justification for the waiver. The Kentucky Board of Education 11
may approve the request when the school district or school has demonstrated 12
circumstances that may include but are not limited to the following: 13
1. An alternative approach will achieve the same result required by the 14
administrative regulation; 15
2. Implementation of the administrative regulation will cause a hardship on 16
the school district or school or jeopardize the continuation or 17
development of programs; or 18
3. There is a finding of good cause for the waiver. 19
(b) The following shall not be subject to waiver: 20
1. Administrative regulations relating to health and safety; 21
2. Administrative regulations relating to civil rights; 22
3. Administrative regulations required by federal law; and 23
4. Administrative regulations promulgated in accordance with KRS 24
158.6451, 158.6453, 158.6455, and this section, relating to measurement 25
of performance outcomes and determination of successful districts or 26
schools, except upon issues relating to the grade configuration of 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS BR 918
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schools. 1
(c) Any waiver granted under this subsection shall be subject to revocation upon 2
a determination by the Kentucky Board of Education that the school district or 3
school holding the waiver has subsequently failed to meet the intent of the 4
waiver. 5
(3) Any private, parochial, or church school may voluntarily comply with curriculum, 6
certification, and textbook standards established by the Kentucky Board of 7
Education and be certified upon application to the board by such schools. 8
(4) Any public school that violates the provisions of KRS 158.854 shall be subject to a 9
penalty to be assessed by the commissioner of education as follows: 10
(a) The first violation shall result in a fine of no less than one (1) week's revenue 11
from the sale of the competitive food; 12
(b) Subsequent violations shall result in a fine of no less than one (1) month's 13
revenue from the sale of the competitive food; 14
(c) "Habitual violations," which means five (5) or more violations within a six (6) 15
month period, shall result in a six (6) month ban on competitive food sales for 16
the violating school; and 17
(d) Revenue collected as a result of the fines in this subsection shall be 18
transferred to the food service fund of the local school district. 19