KRS 156.565: Definitions for section -- Principal leadership development practicum --

Administrative regulations.

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Department" means the Kentucky Department of Education; and

(b) "Principal" means a person who:

1. Is the primary administrator and instructional leader of a public school

or program;

2. Supervises students and school employees; and

3. Is selected by the district's superintendent pursuant to KRS 160.345.

(2) There is hereby established the principal leadership development practicum to

provide all new principals within the first four (4) years of experience in the

position with leadership development training. It is the intent of the General

Assembly to ensure that a school district or principal incurs no cost f or the

participation in the practicum and the principal receives a stipend toward the cost of

the third year of the practicum. The Kentucky Department of Education shall

develop and operate the practicum, subject to the following provisions:

(a) The practicum shall operate based on cohorts of new principals and offer four

(4) years of leadership development training with specific requirements in

each year. The department shall annually establish a calendar for the operation

of the practicum;

(b) Each year's cohort of new principals shall consist of those people who first

became principals by September 1 of each year;

(c) The department shall establish the minimum requirements for successful

completion of each year, including hours of instruction o r specific work

products;

(d) The first and second year of the practicum shall provide professional learning

and mentorship supports to new principals, subject to the following:

1. The mentors shall have significant and successful experience as a

principal and may be currently employed in a school district or retired.

The mentors shall provide ongoing support to the new principals

through the first and second school year with regular personal sessions

to provide individualized support to the new principal;

2. The mentorship shall also provide the cohort of new principals an

opportunity to build a peer support network;

3. The professional learning provided by the department shall be aligned to

the most recent professional standards adopted by the National Pol icy

Board for Educational Administration and include, at a minimum, the

following topics:

a. Personnel evaluation and feedback;

b. School-based decision making and school councils;

c. Implementation of instructional leadership, high -quality

instructional materials, and curriculum alignment;

d. Assessment and accountability;

e. Multitiered systems of support;

f. Services for exceptional children and youth; and

g. School safety; and

4. Professional learning under subparagraph 3. of this paragraph shall

utilize any existing trainings required in administrative regulation or

statute or developed by the department. Additional professional learning

developed by the department shall first be approved by the Kentucky

Board of Education;

(e) The third year of the pra cticum shall require, as funds are available, that the

new principal participate in an intensive leadership program during the

summer with follow -up sessions throughout the following year. The

leadership program shall be established by the department in pa rtnership with

the Kentucky Chamber Foundation. A new principal shall be exempted from

the requirements of this paragraph if:

1. The new principal misses the intensive leadership program during the

summer due to illness or an emergency;

2. The absence is a pproved by the superintendent of the school district in

which the new principal is employed; and

3. The new principal completes an alternative program established by the

department; and

(f) The fourth year of the practicum shall not be mandatory but shall provide

high-level leadership training options for new principals. The department shall

establish the standards for training providers and the trainings under this

paragraph, including the number of hours required. The department shall

maintain a list of t raining providers who are eligible to provide the high -level

leadership training and make it available to new principals; and

(g) After the fourth year, each principal shall continue leadership development

through the effective instructional leadership pro gram established in KRS

156.101.

(3) A principal may submit the participant hours of instruction that the principal earns

under this section during a year toward the twenty -one (21) participant hours

required by the effective instructional leadership prog ram established in KRS

156.101. The department shall grant program credit for the verified hours the

principal submits.

(4) If a person discontinues serving as a principal during the first four (4) years of

service and subsequently returns to a principal p osition, then that person shall

continue the new principal program for the year in which the person was previously

participating.

(5) The principal leadership development practicum required under this section shall

begin on July 1, 2027, for the 2027 -2028 school year with a cohort of principals

with less than one (1) year of experience in the position. Subsequent cohorts shall

be admitted as provided in subsection (2) of this section.

(6) The Kentucky Board of Education may promulgate administrative regulat ions in

accordance with KRS Chapter 13A for the operation of the section.