KRS 156.160: Promulgation of administrative regulations by Kentucky Board of

Education -- Voluntary compliance -- Penalties.

(1) With the advice of the Local Superintendents Advisory Council, the Kentucky

Board of Education shall promu lgate administrative regulations establishing

standards which school districts shall meet in student, program, service, and

operational performance. These regulations shall comply with the expected

outcomes for students and schools set forth in KRS 158.645 1. Administrative

regulations shall be promulgated for the following:

(a) Courses of study for the different grades and kinds of common schools

identifying the common curriculum content directly tied to the goals,

outcomes, and assessment strategies develo ped under KRS 158.645,

158.6451, and 158.6453 and distributed to local school districts and schools.

The administrative regulations shall provide that:

1. If a school offers American sign language, the course shall be accepted

as meeting the foreign langua ge requirements in common schools

notwithstanding other provisions of law;

2. If a school offers the Reserve Officers Training Corps program, the

course shall be accepted as meeting the physical education requirement

for high school graduation notwithstanding other provisions of law;

3. Every public middle and high school's curriculum shall include

instruction on the Holocaust and other cases of genocide, as defined by

the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the

Crime of Genocide, that a court of competent jurisdiction, whether a

court in the United States or the International Court of Justice, has

determined to have been committed by applying rigorous standards of

due process; and

4. Beginning in the 2025 -2026 school year, cursive writing shall be

included as a course of study in all elementary schools and shall be

designed to ensure proficiency in cursive writing by the end of grade

five (5);

(b) Courses of study or educational experiences available to students in all middle

and hi gh schools to fulfill the prerequisites for courses in advanced science

and mathematics as defined in KRS 158.845;

(c) The acquisition and use of educational equipment for the schools as

recommended by the Kentucky Department of Education;

(d) The minimum requirements for high school graduation in light of the

expected outcomes for students and schools set forth in KRS 158.6451. The

minimum requirements shall not include achieving any postsecondary

readiness indicator as described in KRS 158.645 5 or any minimum score on a

statewide assessment administered under KRS 158.6453. Student scores from

any assessment administered under KRS 158.6453 that are determined by the

department's technical advisory committee to be valid and reliable at the

individual level shall be included on the student transcript. The department's

technical advisory committee shall submit its determination to the

commissioner of education and the Legislative Research Commission;

(e) 1. Beginning with the 2027 -2028 school year, the requirements for an

alternate high school diploma for students with disabilities:

a. Whose individualized education program indicates that, in

accordance with 20 U.S.C. sec. 1414(d)(1)(A):

i. The student cannot participate in the regular statewide

assessment; and

ii. An appropriate alternate assessment has been selected for the

student based upon a modified curriculum and an

individualized course of study;

b. That is obtained within the time period for which students are

ensured the availability of a fr ee appropriate public education

consistent with KRS 158.100 and the federal Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. sec. 1400 et seq.;

c. That, upon the completion of the requirements for an alternate

high school diploma, maintains a student 's right to continue to

receive a free appropriate public education until the student earns a

regular high school diploma or reaches the maximum age of

eligibility for attendance, whichever occurs first; and

d. That complies with the criteria for a state -defined alternate high

school diploma to meet requirements for inclusion in the adjusted

cohort graduation rate under the federal Every Student Succeeds

Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114-95; and

2. The requirements for a modified high school diploma for students with

disabilities whose individualized education program indicates that, in

accordance with 20 U.S.C. sec. 1414(d)(1)(A):

a. The student cannot participate in the regular statewide assessment;

b. An appropriate alternate assessment has been selected for t he

student based upon modified curriculum and an individualized

course of study; and

c. Does not meet requirements for inclusion in the adjusted cohort

graduation rate under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of

2015, Pub. L. No. 114-95;

(f) Taking and keeping a school census, and the forms, blanks, and software to be

used in taking and keeping the census and in compiling the required reports.

The board shall create a statewide student identification numbering system

based on students' Social Security n umbers. The system shall provide a

student identification number similar to, but distinct from, the Social Security

number, for each student who does not have a Social Security number or

whose parents or guardians choose not to disclose the Social Security number

for the student;

(g) Sanitary and protective construction of public school buildings, toilets,

physical equipment of school grounds, school buildings, and classrooms. With

respect to physical standards of sanitary and protective construction for school

buildings, the Kentucky Board of Education shall adopt the Uniform State

Building Code;

(h) Medical inspection, physical and health education and recreation, and other

regulations necessary or advisable for the protection of the physical welfare

and safety of the public school children. The administrative regulations shall

set requirements for student health standards to be met by all students in

grades four (4), eight (8), and twelve (12) pursuant to the outcomes described

in KRS 158.6451. The adminis trative regulations shall permit a student who

received a physical examination no more than six (6) months prior to his or

her initial admission to Head Start to substitute that physical examination for

the physical examination required by the Kentucky Boa rd of Education of all

students upon initial admission to the public schools, if the physical

examination given in the Head Start program meets all the requirements of the

physical examinations prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education;

(i) A vision ex amination by an optometrist or ophthalmologist that shall be

required by the Kentucky Board of Education. The administrative regulations

shall require evidence that a vision examination that meets the criteria

prescribed by the Kentucky Board of Education has been performed. This

evidence shall be submitted to the school no later than January 1 of the first

year that a three (3), four (4), five (5), or six (6) year -old child is enrolled in a

public school, public preschool, or Head Start program;

(j) 1. A d ental screening or examination by a dentist, dental hygienist,

physician, registered nurse, advanced practice registered nurse, or

physician assistant that shall be required by the Kentucky Board of

Education. The administrative regulations shall require e vidence that a

dental screening or examination that meets the criteria prescribed by the

Kentucky Board of Education has been performed. This evidence shall

be submitted to the school no later than January 1 of the first year that a

five (5) or six (6) year-old child is enrolled in a public school.

2. A child shall be referred to a licensed dentist if a dental screening or

examination performed by anyone other than a licensed dentist identifies

the possibility of dental disease;

(k) The transportation of children to and from school;

(l) The fixing of holidays on which schools may be closed and special days to be

observed, and the pay of teachers during absence because of sickness or

quarantine or when the schools are closed because of quarantine;

(m) The pre paration of budgets and salary schedules for the several school

districts under the management and control of the Kentucky Board of

Education;

(n) A uniform series of forms and blanks, educational and financial, including

forms of contracts, for use in the several school districts;

(o) The disposal of real and personal property owned by local boards of

education; and

(p) The development and implementation of procedures, for all students who are

homeless children and youths as defined in 42 U.S.C. sec. 11434 a(2), to do

the following:

1. Awarding and accepting of credit, including partial credit, for all

coursework satisfactorily completed by a student while enrolled at

another school;

2. Allowing a student who was previously enrolled in a course required for

graduation the opportunity, to the extent practicable, to complete the

course, at no cost to the student, before the beginning of the next school

year;

3. Awarding a diploma, at the student's reques t, by a district from which

the student transferred, if the student transfers schools at any time after

the completion of the student's second year of high school and the

student is ineligible to graduate from the district to which the student

transfers, b ut meets the graduation requirements of the district from

which the student transferred; and

4. Exempting the student from all coursework and other requirements

imposed by the local board of education that are in addition to the

minimum requirements for hi gh school graduation established by the

Kentucky Board of Education pursuant to paragraph (d) of this

subsection in the district to which the student transfers, if the student

transfers schools at any time after the completion of the student's second

year of high school and the student is ineligible to graduate both from

the district to which the student transfers and the district from which the

student transferred.

(2) Any private, parochial, or church school may voluntarily comply with:

(a) Curriculum, certification, and textbook standards established by the Kentucky

Board of Education; and

(b) Employment standards established in KRS 160.151;

and be certified upon application to the board by such schools.

(3) (a) Any public school that violates the provis ions of KRS 158.854 shall be

subject to a penalty to be assessed by the commissioner of education as

follows:

1. The first violation shall result in a fine of no less than one (1) week's

revenue from the sale of the competitive food;

2. Subsequent violatio ns shall result in a fine of no less than one (1)

month's revenue from the sale of the competitive food;

3. "Habitual violations," which means five (5) or more violations within a

six (6) month period, shall result in a six (6) month ban on competitive

food sales for the violating school; and

4. Revenue collected as a result of the fines in this subsection shall be

transferred to the food service fund of the local school district.

(b) Penalties under this subsection shall not be applicable to a student -based

enterprise operating under KRS 158.854.