KRS 164.771: Teacher Recruitment Student Loan Forgiveness Pilot Program --

Procedures -- Repayment obligations -- Reporting requirements -- Fund.

(1) The General Assembly hereby establishes the Teacher Recruitment Student Loan

Forgiveness Pilot Program to encourage and assist individuals in becoming certified

teachers in Kentucky public schools.

(2) As used in this section:

(a) "Authority" means the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority;

(b) "Eligible program of study" means an undergraduate or gradua te program of

study which is preparatory to teacher certification, as determined by the

authority;

(c) "Eligible student" means a student who:

1. Is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States;

2. Is a Kentucky resident, as determined by the parti cipating institution in

accordance with criteria established by the Council on Postsecondary

Education for the purposes of admission and tuition assessment;

3. Is enrolled at a participating institution; and

4. Meets any other criteria established in administrative regulation

promulgated by the authority;

(d) "Participating institution" means an institution of higher education located in

Kentucky that offers an eligible program of study and has an agreement in

force with the authority providing for administration of the pilot program

established by this section;

(e) "Qualified teaching service" means teaching in a classroom the majority of

each school day for at least eighty (80) days each semester in a public sch ool

of the Commonwealth while satisfying a one (1) year contract, except that an

individual having a disability defined by Title II of the Americans with

Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. sec. 12131 et seq., or serious and extended illness,

whose disability or i llness, certified by a licensed physician, prevents that

individual from teaching a major portion of each school day, shall be deemed

to perform qualified teaching service by teaching the maximum time

permitted by the attending physician;

(f) "Semester" me ans a period of about eighteen (18) weeks, which usually

makes up one -half (1/2) of a school year or one -half (1/2) of a participating

institution's academic year; and

(g) "Summer term" means an academic period consisting of one (1) or more

sessions of instruction between a spring and a fall semester.

(3) The authority may, to the extent of appropriations and other funds available to it

pursuant to subsection (9) of this section, provide teacher recruitment awards to

eligible students pursuant to subsection (4) of this section, who initially demonstrate

financial need in accordance with standards and criteria established by the

authority. Each teacher recruitment award shall be evidenced by a promissory note

that requires repayment or cancellation pursuant to subsection (6) of this section.

(4) Teacher recruitment awards shall first be provided to eligible students accepted into

an eligible program of study and then to eligible students who have declared a

major that is an eligible program of study in pursuit of initial teacher certification.

(5) To the extent funds are available, the authority shall provide to eligible students:

(a) Accepted into an eligible program of study, a maximum award of up to five

thousand dollars ($5,000) per semester or summer term; or

(b) Having declared a major that is an eligible program of study, a maximum

award of up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per semester or

summer term.

(6) (a) The authority shall disburse teacher recruitment awards to eligible students

who agree to render qualified teaching service as certified teachers, are

unconditionally admitted and enrolled in a participating institution, and have

declared a major that is an eligible program of study.

(b) A teacher recruitment award shall not be provide d, or a promissory note

cancellation shall not be granted, to any person who is in default on any

obligation to the authority under any program administered by the authority

pursuant to KRS 164.740 to 164.7891 until financial obligations to the

authority are satisfied, except that ineligibility for this reason may be waived

by the authority for cause.

(c) Recipients shall render one (1) year of qualified teaching service for each

semester of award received. The authority shall cancel a promissory note upon

completion of each year of qualified teacher service beginning with the oldest

promissory note.

(d) If the recipient of a teacher recruitment award fails to complete an eligible

program of study at a participating institution or fails to render qualified

teaching service in any semester following certification or recertification,

unless the failure is temporarily waived for cause by the authority, the

recipient shall immediately become liable to the authority for repayment of

the sum of all outstanding prom issory notes and accrued interest. Persons

liable for repayment of awards under this paragraph shall be liable for interest

accruing from the dates on which the teacher recruitment awards were

disbursed.

(e) The authority shall establish, by administrative regulation, the terms and

conditions for the award and cancellation and repayment of teacher

recruitment awards, including but not limited to the selection criteria,

eligibility for renewal awards, amount of award payments, deferments, the

rate of repayment, and the interest rate thereon.

(f) Notwithstanding any other statute to the contrary, the maximum interest rate

applicable to repayment of a promissory note under this section shall be eight

percent (8%) per annum, except that if a judgment is rendered to recover

payment, the judgment shall bear interest at the rate of five percent (5%)

greater than the rate actually charged on the promissory note.

(7) A repayment obligation imposed by this section shall not be voidable by reason of

the age of the recipient at the time of receiving the teacher recruitment award.

(8) Failure to meet repayment obligations imposed by this section shall be cause for the

revocation of a person's teaching certificate, subject to the procedures set forth in

KRS 161.120.

(9) All moneys repaid to the authority under this section shall be deposited into the

Teacher Recruitment Student Loan Forgiveness Pilot Program fund created in

subsection (13) of this section.

(10) The authority may execute appropriate contracts and promissory n otes for

administering this section.

(11) (a) Notwithstanding any other statute to the contrary, if available funds are

insufficient for all requested awards for eligible applicants during any fiscal

year, the authority shall give priority consideration to eligible applicants who

previously received teacher recruitment awards.

(b) If funds are insufficient to make all requested renewal awards to eligible

applicants, the authority shall reduce all awards to the extent necessary to

provide awards to all qualified renewal applicants.

(c) If, after awarding all eligible renewal applicants, funds are not depleted, initial

applications shall be ranked according to regulatory selection criteria, and

awards shall be made to eligible applicants until funds are depleted.

(12) The authority shall submit a report on the number of teacher awards provided in

each fiscal year, the program of study in which recipients are enrolled, recipient

retention rates, total number of applications, and award recruitment strategies to t he

Legislative Research Commission for referral to the Interim Joint Committee on

Education by December 1 of each year.

(13) (a) The Teacher Recruitment Student Loan Forgiveness Pilot Program fund is

hereby created as a revolving account in the State Treas ury to be administered

by the authority for the purpose of providing loan repayment as described in

this section.

(b) The fund shall consist of state general fund appropriations, gifts and grants

from public and private sources, and federal funds. All moneys included in the

fund shall be appropriated for the purposes set forth in this section.

(c) Any unallotted or unencu mbered balances in the trust fund shall be invested

as provided in KRS 42.500(9). Income earned from the investments shall be

credited to the fund.

(d) Notwithstanding KRS 45.229, any fund balance at the close of the fiscal year

shall not lapse but shall b e carried forward to the next fiscal year and

continuously appropriated only for the purposes specified in this section.