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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 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
3. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, any course meeting the 21
health requirement for high school graduation shall include 22
information on the purposes, processes, and benefits of the organ 23
donation program; 24
4. Every public middle and high school's curriculum shall include 25
instruction on the Holocaust and other cases of genocide, as defined by 26
the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 223
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Crime of Genocide, that a court of competent jurisdiction, whether a 1
court in the United States or the International Court of Justice, has 2
determined to have been committed by applying rigorous standards of 3
due process; and 4
5[4]. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, cursive writing shall be 5
included as a course of study in all elementary schools and shall be 6
designed to ensure proficiency in cursive writing by the end of grade 7
five (5); 8
(b) Courses of study or educational experiences available to students in all middle 9
and high schools to fulfill the prerequisites for courses in advanced science 10
and mathematics as defined in KRS 158.845; 11
(c) The acquisition and use of educational equipment for the schools as 12
recommended by the Council for Education Technology; 13
(d) The minimum requirements for high school graduation in light of the 14
expected outcomes for students and schools set forth in KRS 158.6451. The 15
minimum requirements shall not include achieving any postsecondary 16
readiness indicator as described in KRS 158.6455 or any minimum score on a 17
statewide assessment administered under KRS 158.6453. Student scores from 18
any assessment administered under KRS 158.6453 that are determined by the 19
department's technical advisory committee to be valid and reliable at the 20
individual level shall be included on the student transcript. The department's 21
technical advisory committee shall submit its determination to the 22
commissioner of education and the Legislative Research Commission; 23
(e) The requirements for an alternative high school diploma for students with 24
disabilities whose individualized education program indicates that, in 25
accordance with 20 U.S.C. sec. 1414(d)(1)(A): 26
1. The student cannot participate in the regular statewide assessment; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 223
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2. An appropriate alternate assessment has been selected for the student 1
based upon a modified curriculum and an individualized course of 2
study; 3
(f) Taking and keeping a school census, and the forms, blanks, and software to be 4
used in taking and keeping the census and in compiling the required reports. 5
The board shall create a statewide student identification numbering system 6
based on students' Social Security numbers. The system shall provide a 7
student identification number similar to, but distinct from, the Social Security 8
number, for each student who does not have a Social Security number or 9
whose parents or guardians choose not to disclose the Social Security number 10
for the student; 11
(g) Sanitary and protective construction of public school buildings, toilets, 12
physical equipment of school grounds, school buildings, and classrooms. With 13
respect to physical standards of sanitary and protective construction for school 14
buildings, the Kentucky Board of Education shall adopt the Uniform State 15
Building Code; 16
(h) Medical inspection, physical and health education and recreation, and other 17
regulations necessary or advisable for the protection of the physical welfare 18
and safety of the public school children. The administrative regulations shall 19
set requirements for student health standards to be met by all students in 20
grades four (4), eight (8), and twelve (12) pursuant to the outcomes described 21
in KRS 158.6451. The administrative regulations shall permit a student who 22
received a physical examination no more than six (6) months prior to his or 23
her initial admission to Head Start to substitute that physical examination for 24
the physical examination required by the Kentucky Board of Education of all 25
students upon initial admission to the public schools, if the physical 26
examination given in the Head Start program meets all the requirements of the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 223
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physical examinations prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education; 1
(i) A vision examination by an optometrist or ophthalmologist that shall be 2
required by the Kentucky Board of Education. The administrative regulations 3
shall require evidence that a vision examination that meets the criteria 4
prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education has been performed. This 5
evidence shall be submitted to the school no later than January 1 of the first 6
year that a three (3), four (4), five (5), or six (6) year-old child is enrolled in a 7
public school, public preschool, or Head Start program; 8
(j) 1. Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, a dental screening or 9
examination by a dentist, dental hygienist, physician, registered nurse, 10
advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant that shall be 11
required by the Kentucky Board of Education. The administrative 12
regulations shall require evidence that a dental screening or examination 13
that meets the criteria prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education 14
has been performed. This evidence shall be submitted to the school no 15
later than January 1 of the first year that a five (5) or six (6) year-old 16
child is enrolled in a public school. 17
2. A child shall be referred to a licensed dentist if a dental screening or 18
examination performed by anyone other than a licensed dentist identifies 19
the possibility of dental disease; 20
(k) The transportation of children to and from school; 21
(l) The fixing of holidays on which schools may be closed and special days to be 22
observed, and the pay of teachers during absence because of sickness or 23
quarantine or when the schools are closed because of quarantine; 24
(m) The preparation of budgets and salary schedules for the several school 25
districts under the management and control of the Kentucky Board of 26
Education; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 223
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(n) A uniform series of forms and blanks, educational and financial, including 1
forms of contracts, for use in the several school districts; 2
(o) The disposal of real and personal property owned by local boards of 3
education; and 4
(p) The development and implementation of procedures, for all students who are 5
homeless children and youths as defined in 42 U.S.C. sec. 11434a(2), to do 6
the following: 7
1. Awarding and accepting of credit, including partial credit, for all 8
coursework satisfactorily completed by a student while enrolled at 9
another school; 10
2. Allowing a student who was previously enrolled in a course required for 11
graduation the opportunity, to the extent practicable, to complete the 12
course, at no cost to the student, before the beginning of the next school 13
year; 14
3. Awarding a diploma, at the student's request, by a district from which 15
the student transferred, if the student transfers schools at any time after 16
the completion of the student's second year of high school and the 17
student is ineligible to graduate from the district to which the student 18
transfers, but meets the graduation requirements of the district from 19
which the student transferred; and 20
4. Exempting the student from all coursework and other requirements 21
imposed by the local board of education that are in addition to the 22
minimum requirements for high school graduation established by the 23
Kentucky Board of Education pursuant to paragraph (d) of this 24
subsection in the district to which the student transfers, if the student 25
transfers schools at any time after the completion of the student's second 26
year of high school and the student is ineligible to graduate both from 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 223
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the district to which the student transfers and the district from which the 1
student transferred. 2
(2) (a) At the request of a local board of education or a school council, a local school 3
district superintendent shall request that the Kentucky Board of Education 4
waive any administrative regulation promulgated by that board. Beginning in 5
the 1996-97 school year, a request for waiver of any administrative regulation 6
shall be submitted to the Kentucky Board of Education in writing with 7
appropriate justification for the waiver. The Kentucky Board of Education 8
may approve the request when the school district or school has demonstrated 9
circumstances that may include but are not limited to the following: 10
1. An alternative approach will achieve the same result required by the 11
administrative regulation; 12
2. Implementation of the administrative regulation will cause a hardship on 13
the school district or school or jeopardize the continuation or 14
development of programs; or 15
3. There is a finding of good cause for the waiver. 16
(b) The following shall not be subject to waiver: 17
1. Administrative regulations relating to health and safety; 18
2. Administrative regulations relating to civil rights; 19
3. Administrative regulations required by federal law; and 20
4. Administrative regulations promulgated in accordance with KRS 21
158.6451, 158.6453, 158.6455, and this section, relating to measurement 22
of performance outcomes and determination of successful districts or 23
schools, except upon issues relating to the grade configuration of 24
schools. 25
(c) Any waiver granted under this subsection shall be subject to revocation upon 26
a determination by the Kentucky Board of Education that the school district or 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 223
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school holding the waiver has subsequently failed to meet the intent of the 1
waiver. 2
(3) Any private, parochial, or church school may voluntarily comply with curriculum, 3
certification, and textbook standards established by the Kentucky Board of 4
Education and be certified upon application to the board by such schools. 5
(4) Any public school that violates the provisions of KRS 158.854 shall be subject to a 6
penalty to be assessed by the commissioner of education as follows: 7
(a) The first violation shall result in a fine of no less than one (1) week's revenue 8
from the sale of the competitive food; 9
(b) Subsequent violations shall result in a fine of no less than one (1) month's 10
revenue from the sale of the competitive food; 11
(c) "Habitual violations," which means five (5) or more violations within a six (6) 12
month period, shall result in a six (6) month ban on competitive food sales for 13
the violating school; and 14
(d) Revenue collected as a result of the fines in this subsection shall be 15
transferred to the food service fund of the local school district. 16