{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-156.553","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 156.553","heading":"Teachers' professional growth fund -- Purposes -- Courses -- Duties of","body":"Department of Education -- Professional development programs --\nAdministrative regulations -- Advancement by local boards of funds to\nteachers for professional development edu cation -- Reimbursement -- Priority\nfor use of funds from 2010 to 2016.\n(1) The teachers' professional growth fund is hereby created to provide teachers with\nhigh quality professional development in content knowledge in mathematics,\nreading, science, language arts, social studies, arts and humanities, practical living,\nvocational studies, and foreign languages; classroom -based screening, diagnostic,\nassessment, and intervention strategies; and teaching methodologies, including\nprofessional development that may lead to additional certification endorsements or\nrenewal of certification. Based on available funds, student achievement data, and\nteacher data, the Kentucky Board of Education shall annually determine the priority\nfor content emphasis based on the greatest needs.\n(2) (a) The fund may provide moneys to teachers for:\n1. Tuition reimbursement for successful completion of college or\nuniversity level courses, including online courses and seminars,\napproved for this purpose by the Education Professio nal Standards\nBoard;\n2. Stipends for participation in and successful completion of:\na. College or university courses, including online courses and\nseminars, approved for this purpose by the Education Professional\nStandards Board;\nb. Teacher institutes deve loped for core content instructors by the\nDepartment of Education in compliance with KRS 156.095; and\nc. Other professional development programs approved by the\nKentucky Department of Education, including professional\ndevelopment for teachers participating  in grants awarded by the\nMiddle School Mathematics and Science Scholars Program\nestablished under KRS 158.848;\n3. Reimbursement for the purchase of materials required for professional\ndevelopment programs; and\n4. Reimbursement for other approved professional development activities\nthroughout the school year, including reimbursement for:\na. Travel to and from professional development workshops; and\nb. Travel to and from other schools for the observation of, and\nconsultation with, peer mentors.\n(b) The fund may be used to provide grants to local school districts to support\nstaff participation in specific, statewide initi atives for the professional\ndevelopment of teachers and administrators in specific content areas as\nestablished by the Kentucky Department of Education and the Kentucky\nBoard of Education under the provisions of subsections (4), (5), and (6) of this\nsection and referenced in KRS 158.842.\n(c) The fund may be used to provide grants to colleges and universities to plan\nand develop statewide professional development institutes and other\nprofessional development services.\n(d) The fund may be used to provide gran ts to local school districts, to colleges\nand universities, or other entities to assist the Kentucky Department of\nEducation in evaluating costs and the effectiveness of activities and initiatives\nestablished under this section.\n(3) The Education Professio nal Standards Board shall determine the college and\nuniversity courses, including online courses and seminars, for which teachers may\nreceive reimbursement from the fund.\n(4) The Department of Education shall:\n(a) Administer the fund. In order to process reimbursements to teachers promptly,\nthe reimbursements shall not be subject to KRS 45A.690 to 45A.725;\n(b) Determine the professional development programs for which teachers may\nreceive reimbursement, or districts or colleges and universities may receive\ngrants, from the fund;\n(c) Determine the level of stipend or reimbursement, subject to the availability of\nappropriated funds, for particular courses and programs, under subsection (2)\nof this section; and\n(d) Provide an accounting of fund expenditures and results of the use of the funds\nfor each biennium to the Interim Joint Committee on Education by November\n1 of each odd-numbered year.\n(5) The professional development programs approved by the Department of Education\nfor which teachers may receive support from the fund shall:\n(a) Focus on improving the content knowledge of teachers;\n(b) Provide training in the use of research -based and developmentally appropriate\nclassroom-based screening, diagnostic, assessment, and intervention\nstrategies;\n(c) Provide ins truction on teaching methods to effectively impart content\nknowledge to all students;\n(d) Include intensive training institutes and workshops during the summer;\n(e) Provide programs for the ongoing support of teacher participants throughout\nthe year, which may include:\n1. A peer coaching or mentoring, and assessment program; and\n2. Planned activities, including:\na. Follow-up workshops; and\nb. Support networks of teachers of the core disciplines using\ntechnologies, including but not limited to telephone, vid eo, and\nonline computer networks;\n(f) Provide teacher participants with professional development credit toward\nrenewal of certification under the provisions of KRS 161.095, relating to\ncontinuing education for teachers; and\n(g) Provide teacher participants  with the opportunity to obtain certificate\nendorsements or extensions in critical shortage areas, with priority given to\nmathematics and science through 2016, and in core content areas to their\nexisting certifications through the TC -HQ process, establishe d by the\nEducation Professional Standards Board to meet the requirements of the No\nChild Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. sec. 6301 et seq.\n(6) The Kentucky Board of Education shall specify through promulgation of\nadministrative regulations:\n(a) The application and approval process for receipt of funds;\n(b) The requirements and process for the disbursal of funds; and\n(c) The number of each kind of approved course for which applicants may\nreceive funds.\n(7) Notwithstanding any other provisions to t he contrary, a local school board may\nadvance the funds necessary for its teachers to participate in a college course or\nprofessional development seminar or activity approved by the Kentucky\nDepartment of Education and the Education Professional Standards Board under\nprovisions of this section and receive reimbursement from the department at the\nconclusion of the activity or course by the teacher. If funds are advanced for the\nbenefit of a teacher under this subsection, but the teacher does not fulfill his or her\nobligation, the teacher shall reimburse the school district for the funds expended by\nthe district on the teacher's behalf.\n(8) Notwithstanding the provisions of KRS 45.229, unexpended funds in the teachers'\nprofessional growth fund in the 2000 -2001 fiscal year or in any subsequent fiscal\nyear shall not lapse but shall carry forward to the next fiscal year and shall be used\nfor the purposes established in subsections (1) and (2) of this section.\n(9) Notwithstanding any provisions of this section to t he contrary, beginning June 1,\n2006, through the 2009 -2010 school year, priority for the use of funds from the\nteachers' professional growth fund shall be used to train and support teams of\nteachers from all school levels to be trained as reading coaches a nd mentors or as\nmathematics coaches and mentors in statewide institutes referenced in KRS\n158.840 and 158.842, and for selected teachers to be highly trained in providing\ndiagnostic assessment and intervention services for students in the primary program\nstruggling with mathematics.\n(a) The design of the statewide mathematics institutes to train mathematics\ncoaches and mentors shall be developed by the Committee for Mathematics\nAchievement established in KRS 158.842. The committee shall provide\nrecommendations to the Kentucky Department of Education and the Kentucky\nBoard of Education in the preparation of administrative regulations that may\nbe promulgated by the board to implement the provisions of this subsection\nrelating to mathematics.\n(b) The design of the professional development program to provide highly trained\nmathematics intervention teachers in the primary program shall be developed\nby the Center for Mathematics in collaboration with public and private\ninstitutions of postsecondary education.\n(c) The development of the statewide program to train reading coaches and\nmentors shall be coordinated by the Kentucky Department of Education with\nrecommendations from the statewide reading research center established\nunder KRS 164.0207 and the reading steeri ng committee established in KRS\n158.794. The design of the program shall reflect a consensus of the agencies\ninvolved in the development of the program. The training program for reading\ncoaches and mentors shall complement other statewide reading initiativ es,\nfunded with state and federal funds, and shall give priority to teachers in\ngrades four (4) through twelve (12). The program shall be implemented no\nlater than June 1, 2006. The board shall promulgate administrative regulations\nrequired to implement the provisions of this subsection relating to reading.\n(10) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, beginning June 1,\n2010, through the 2015 -2016 school year, priority for the use of funds from the\nteachers' professional growth fund shall be for the purpose of increasing the number\nof certified teachers with extensions or endorsements in mathematics and science as\ndescribed in subsection (5)(g) of this section.","path":["KRS Chapter 156"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=54244","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:00Z","sha256":"64f0a3a94b53a52505a0cb6855e9a9e60ae79ea0915412986f5540396741802e","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-156.551","next":"us-ky/krs-156.555"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}