{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-158.120","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 158.120","heading":"Nonresident pupils -- Nonresident pupil policy -- Tuition -- Enrollment of","body":"nonresident pupils in virtual programs -- Limitations -- Sunset.\n(1) A board of education shall adopt a nonresident pupil policy to govern the terms\nunder which the district shall allow enrollment of nonresident pupils. Upon\nallowing nonresident pupil enrollment, the policy shall allow nonresident children\nto be eligible to enroll in any public school located within the district. The policy\nshall not discriminate betw een nonresident pupils, but may recognize enrollment\ncapacity, as determined by the local school district. The nonresident pupil policy\nand any subsequent changes adopted by a board of education shall be filed with the\nKentucky Department of Education no l ater than thirty (30) days following their\nadoption.\n(2) Any board of education may charge a reasonable tuition fee per month for each\nchild attending its schools whose parent, guardian, or other legal custodian is not a\nbona fide resident of the district. Any controversy as to the fee shall be submitted to\nthe Kentucky Board of Education for final settlement. The fee shall be paid by the\nboard of education of the school district in which the pupil resides, except in cases\nwhere the board makes provision fo r the child's education within his or her district.\nIf a board of education is required to pay a pupil's tuition fee, the pupil shall be\nadmitted to a school only upon proper certificate of the board of education of the\ndistrict in which he or she resides.\n(3) When it appears to the board of education of any school district that it is convenient\nfor a pupil of any grade residing in that district to attend an approved public school\nin another district, the board of education may enter into a tuition contract  with the\npublic school authorities of the other school district for that purpose, but before a\ncontract is entered into with public school authorities in another state the school\nshall have been approved by the state school authorities of that state throu gh the\ngrades in which the pupil belongs. When a district undertakes, under operation of a\ntuition contract or of law, to provide in its school for pupils residing in another\ndistrict, the district of their residence shall share the total cost of the schoo l,\nincluding transportation when furnished at public expense, in proportion to the\nnumber of pupils or in accordance with contract agreement between the two (2)\nboards.\n(4) As used in this subsection, \"virtual program\" has the same meaning as in KRS\n157.320. A school district may enroll nonresident pupils on a full -time basis in\nkindergarten through grade twelve (12) in a virtual program established under KRS\n158.100 by that district. Nonresident pupil enrollment shall be subject to the\nfollowing requirements:\n(a) Beginning with the 2025 -2026 school year, the statewide total enrollment of\nnonresident pupils in virtual programs offered by school districts shall not\nexceed an enrollment cap of one percent (1%) of the previous year's total\nstatewide student enrollment in all school districts. By July 1, 2025, and each\nyear thereafter until June 30, 2028, the Kentucky Department of Education\nshall publish on its website the previous year's total statewide student\nenrollment in all school districts and the one per cent (1%) value of that\nnumber. The information shall remain on the website for the remainder of\neach school year;\n(b) Each school district shall report in the student information system the\nnonresident pupils enrolled in the district's virtual programs. T he department\nshall monitor the number of statewide total enrollment of nonresident pupils\nin virtual programs;\n(c) If the number of statewide total enrollment of nonresident pupils in virtual\nprograms reaches eighty -five hundredths of one percent (0.85%) of the\nprevious year's total statewide student enrollment in all school districts, the\ndepartment shall alert all school districts operating virtual programs that the\nnonresident enrollment cap has almost been reached. Upon receiving the alert,\na school di strict shall notify any nonresident pupil seeking enrollment in a\nvirtual program operated by the school district that the pupil will be\nprovisionally enrolled until the department can confirm that the pupil's\nenrollment would not exceed the enrollment cap , and shall report the pupil as\nprovisionally enrolled in the student information system. If the department\ndetermines that a pupil's enrollment would exceed the enrollment cap, the\ndepartment shall notify the school district that the pupil cannot be appro ved\nfor enrollment due to the enrollment cap. The department shall determine\nwhether the pupil's enrollment will exceed the enrollment cap and provide\nnotice to the school district of the determination. If the department fails to\nprovide the school distric t with the determination within two (2) business\ndays, the pupil shall be deemed to not exceed the enrollment cap and the\nprovisional status shall be removed;\n(d) If the nonresident enrollment cap is reached, the department shall notify all\nschool districts operating virtual programs and that no additional nonresident\npupils shall be enrolled until such time as nonresident enrollment falls below\nthe enrollment cap;\n(e) After reaching the nonresident enrollment cap, if the number of statewide total\nenrollment of nonresident pupils in virtual programs falls back below the\nenrollment cap, the department shall notify all school districts operating\nvirtual programs that nonresident enrollment may resume again, but any\nnonresident pupils enrolled for the remainder  of the school year shall be\nprovisionally enrolled, following the same process outlined in paragraph (c)\nof this subsection; and\n(f) The nonresident enrollment cap established in this subsection shall not apply\nto any of the following pupils:\n1. A sibling of a pupil already enrolled into the same virtual program;\n2. A pupil who is a dependent of a member of the Armed Forces of the\nUnited States; or\n3. A pupil with a medical condition for which enrolling into the virtual\nprogram may be beneficial t o the pupil, which shall be evidenced in a\nwritten statement signed by the pupil's physician.\nAll documentation related to these exceptions to the nonresident enrollment\ncap shall be maintained by the school district enrolling the nonresident pupil\nas part of the pupil's official record.\n(5) A school district operating a virtual program that enrolls nonresident pupils shall no\nlonger continue the enrollment of nonresident pupils in the program after June 30,\n2028, unless explicit permission to do so is provided by the General Assembly.","path":["KRS Chapter 158"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=55952","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:04Z","sha256":"beeec4eb2c7389f13d945cf76f785e5d198ac0eef42de19aa15a67575d36bcdd","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-158.115","next":"us-ky/krs-158.130"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}