{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-158.191","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 158.191","heading":"Health and mental health services related to human sexuality,","body":"contraception, or family planning -- District to notify parents -- District\nprohibited from keeping student information confidential from a parent --\nProhibition on policies for use of  pronouns that do not conform to a student's\nbiological sex.\n(1) As used in this section:\n(a) \"External health care provider\" means a provider of health or mental health\nservices that is not employed by or contracted with the school district to\nprovide services to the district's students;\n(b) \"Health services\" has the same meaning as in KRS 156.502;\n(c) \"Mental health services\" means services provided by a school -based mental\nhealth services provider as defined in KRS 158.4416 but shall not include\nacademic or career counseling; and\n(d) \"Parent\" means a person who has legal custody or control of the student such\nas a mother, father, or guardian.\n(2) Upon a student's enrollment and at the beginning of each school year, the district\nshall provide a notification to the student's parents listing each of the health services\nand mental health services related to human sexuality, contraception, or family\nplanning available at the student's school and of the parents' right to withhold\nconsent or decline any of those specific services. A parent's consent to a health\nservice or mental health service under this subsection shall not waive the parent's\nright to access the student's educational or health records held by the district or the\nnotifications required under subsection (3) of this section.\n(3) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, as part of a school district's\neffort to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for students, a school\nshall notify a student's parents if:\n(a) The school chan ges the health services or mental health services related to\nhuman sexuality, contraception, or family planning that it provides, and shall\nobtain parental consent prior to providing health services or mental health\nservices to the student; or\n(b) School personnel make a referral:\n1. For the student to receive a school's health services or mental health\nservices; or\n2. To an external health care provider, for which parental consent shall be\nobtained prior to the referral being made.\n(4) School districts and district personnel shall respect the rights of parents to make\ndecisions regarding the upbringing and control of th e student through procedures\nencouraging students to discuss mental or physical health or life issues with their\nparents or through facilitating the discussion with their parents.\n(5) (a) The Kentucky Board of Education or the Kentucky Department of Educat ion\nshall not require or recommend that a local school district keep any student\ninformation confidential from a student's parents. A district or school shall not\nadopt policies or procedures with the intent of keeping any student\ninformation confidential from parents.\n(b) The Kentucky Board of Education or the Kentucky Department of Education\nshall not require or recommend policies or procedures for the use of pronouns\nthat do not conform to a student's biological sex as indicated on the student's\noriginal, unedited birth certificate issued at the time of birth pursuant to KRS\n156.070(2)(g)2.\n(c) A local school district shall not require school personnel or students to use\npronouns for students that do not conform to that particular student's\nbiological sex as referenced in paragraph (b) of this subsection.\n(d) Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit a school district or district personnel\nfrom withholding information from a parent if a reasonably prudent person\nwould believe, based on previous conduct and  history, that the disclosure\nwould result in the child becoming a dependent child or an abused or\nneglected child as defined in KRS 600.020. The fact that district personnel\nwithhold information from a parent under this subsection shall not in itself\nconstitute evidence of failure to report dependency, neglect, or abuse to the\nCabinet for Health and Family Services under KRS 620.030.\n(6) Prior to a well -being questionnaire or assessment, or a health screening form being\ngiven to a child for research purpos es, a school district shall provide the student's\nparent with access to review the material and shall obtain parental consent. Parental\nconsent shall not be a general consent to these assessments or forms but shall be\nrequired for each assessment or form. A parent's refusal to consent shall not be an\nindicator of having a belief regarding the topic of the assessment or form.\n(7) Nothing in this section shall:\n(a) Prohibit a school district or the district's personnel from seeking or providing\nemergency medical or mental health services for a student as outlined in the\ndistrict's policies; or\n(b) Remove the duty to report pursuant to KRS 620.030 if district personnel has\nreasonable cause to believe the child is a dependent child or an abused or\nneglected chil d due to the risk of physical or emotional injury identified in\nKRS 600.020(1)(a)2. or as otherwise provided in that statute.","path":["KRS Chapter 158"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53551","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:04Z","sha256":"6cb84179974f36b3ad884fe12d67a8d217331a6f1f4b15d16cf3feb55aa8cbb3","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-158.190","next":"us-ky/krs-158.192"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}