{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-160.1592","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 160.1592","heading":"Public charter schools part of state's public education system --","body":"Exemption from laws and regulations -- School requirements -- Enrollment\noption information for parents -- Board of directors -- Buildings and grounds,\nliability insurance, and ot her undertakings -- Requirement to be nonsectarian\nand nondiscriminatory -- Authorized grade levels -- Programs and services for\nstudents with disabilities -- Participation in athletic, academic, and other\nprograms -- Single-sex public charter schools perm itted -- Amendments to\ncharter contract -- Acceptance of credits earned and grades received in public\ncharter school -- Leave of absence to teach in public charter school.\n(1) A public charter school shall be part of the state's system of public ed ucation but\nshall be exempt from all statutes and administrative regulations applicable to the\nstate board, a local school district, or a school, except the public charter school shall\nadhere to the same health, safety, civil rights, and disability rights requirements as\nare applied to all public schools and to all requirements otherwise identified in KRS\n160.1590 to 160.1599 and 161.141.\n(2) A public charter school may elect to comply with any one (1) or more provisions of\nany state statute or administrative regulation.\n(3) A public charter school shall:\n(a) Be governed by a board of directors;\n(b) Be established and operate in pursuit of a specific set of educational objectives\nas defined in the charter contract between the school's board of directors and\nits authorizer;\n(c) Ensure students meet compulsory attendance requirements under KRS\n158.030 and 158.100 and record student enrollment and attendance in a\nmanner necessary for participation in the fund to support education excellence\nin Kentucky;\n(d) Hire only qualified teachers to provide student instruction;\n(e) Ensure high school course offerings meet or exceed the minimum required\nunder KRS 156.160 for high school graduation;\n(f) Design its education programs to meet or exceed the student performance\nstandards adopted by the Kentucky Board of Education;\n(g) Ensure students' participation in required state assessment of student\nperformance, as required under KRS 158.6453;\n(h) Adhere to all generally accepted accounting principles and adhere to the same\nfinancial audits, audit procedures, and audit requirements as are applied to\nother public schools under KRS 156.265;\n(i) Utilize the same system for reporting student information data and financial\ndata as is utilized by other school districts across the state;\n(j) Require criminal background checks for staff and volunteers, including\nmembers of its governing board, as required of all public school employees\nand volunteers within the public schools specified in KRS 160.380 and\n161.148;\n(k) Comply with open records and open meeting requirements under KRS\nChapter 61;\n(l) Comply with purchasing requirements and limitations under KRS Chapter\n45A and KRS 156.074 and 156.480, or provide to the public charter school\nboard of directors a detailed monthly report of school purchases over ten\nthousand dollars ($10,000), including b ut not limited to curriculum, furniture,\nand technology;\n(m) Provide instructional time that is at least equivalent to the student instructional\nyear specified in KRS 158.070;\n(n) Provide data to the Kentucky Department of Education and the authorizer as\nrequired by the Kentucky Department of Education or authorizer to generate a\nschool report card under KRS 158.6453;\n(o) Operate under the oversight of its authorizer in accordance with its charter\ncontract and application;\n(p) As a public body corporate, have all the powers necessary for carrying out the\nterms of its charter contract, including the power to:\n1. Receive and disburse funds for school purposes;\n2. Secure appropriate insurance and enter into contracts and leases;\n3. Contract with an education service provider, provided the board of\ndirectors of the public charter school retains oversight and authority over\nthe school;\n4. Incur debt in reasonable anticipation of the receipt of public or private\nfunds;\n5. Pledge, assign, or encumber its assets to  be used as collateral for loans\nor extensions of credit;\n6. Solicit and accept any gifts or grants for school purposes, subject to\napplicable laws and the terms of its charter;\n7. Acquire real property for use as its facility or facilities, from public o r\nprivate sources; and\n8. Employ or contract with other entities for the provision of teaching,\nprofessional, and support staff, as needed;\n(q) Conduct an admissions lottery if capacity is insufficient to enroll all students\nwho wish to attend the school a nd ensure that every student has a fair\nopportunity to be considered in the lottery and that the lottery is competently\nconducted, equitable, randomized, transparent, impartial, and in accordance\nwith targeted student population and service community as id entified in KRS\n160.1593(3) so that students are accepted in a public charter school without\nregard to ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, income level, disabling\ncondition, proficiency in the English language, or academic or athletic ability;\nand\n(r) Establish a food program for students that, at a minimum, provides free and\nreduced-price meals to students identified as qualifying for such meals under\nfederal guidelines for the National School Lunch Program.\n(4) For purposes of this subsection, a me mber of the board of directors of a public\ncharter school shall be considered an officer under KRS 61.040 and shall be\nremoved from office under the statute's provisions.\n(5) A local school district shall provide or publicize to parents and the general pu blic\ninformation about public charter schools authorized by the local school district as an\nenrollment option within the district to the same extent and through the same means\nthat the school district provides and publicizes information about noncharter pu blic\nschools in the district.\n(6) A local school district shall not assign or require any student enrolled in the local\nschool district to attend a public charter school.\n(7) (a) For purposes of ensuring compliance with this section and the charter under\nwhich it operates, a public charter school shall be administered by a public\ncharter school board of directors accountable to the authorizer in a manner\nagreed to in the charter contract, as negotiated between the public charter\nschool applicant and the authorizer.\n(b) The board of directors of a public charter school shall consist of a minimum\nof two (2) parents of students attending any public charter school operating\nunder the direction of the board of directors.\n(c) A member of the board of directors of a public charter school shall:\n1. Not be an employee of that school or of an education service provider\nthat provides services to the school; and\n2. File full disclosure reports and identify any potential conflicts of interest,\nrelationships with managemen t organizations, and relationships with\nfamily members who are applying to or are employed by the public\ncharter school or have other business dealings with the school, the\nmanagement organization of the school, or any other public charter\nschool and shall  make these documents available online through the\nauthorizer.\n(8) Collectively, members of the board of directors shall possess expertise in\nleadership, curriculum and instruction, law, and finance.\n(9) (a) A board of directors may hold one (1) or more charter contracts.\n(b) Each public charter school under contract with a board of directors shall be\nseparate and distinct from any other public charter school under contract with\nthe board of directors.\n(10) The board of directors shall be responsible for the operation of its public charter\nschool, including but not limited to preparation of a budget, contracting for services,\nschool curriculum, and personnel matters.\n(11) The board of directors shall:\n(a) Ensure that all meetings of the board are publicized in advance according to\nthe rules governing the authorizer and are open to the public at times\nconvenient to parents; and\n(b) Require any education service provider contracted with the board to provide a\nmonthly detailed budget to the board.\n(12) (a) A public charter school may negotiate and contract with its authorizer or any\nthird party for the use, operation, and maintenance of a building and grounds,\nliability insurance, and the provision of any service,  activity, or undertaking\nthat the public charter school is required to perform in order to carry out the\neducational program described in its charter. Any services for which a public\ncharter school contracts with a school district shall be provided by the  district\nat cost and shall be negotiated as a separate agreement after final charter\ncontract negotiations. The public charter school shall have standing to sue and\nbe sued in its own name for the enforcement of any contract under color of\nauthority granted by KRS 160.1590 to 160.1599. A public charter school may\nown, rent, or lease its space.\n(b) Any entity contracted to provide educational services or goods to a public\ncharter school in an amount exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) shall be\nsubject to the Open Records Act under KRS Chapter 61 for all records\nassociated with the public charter school contract.\n(13) A public charter school shall be exempt from administrative regulations governing\npublic schools for purposes of zoning and local land use  regulation. The Finance\nand Administration Cabinet shall annually publish a list of vacant and unused\nbuildings and vacant and unused portions of buildings that are owned by the state\nand that may be suitable for the operation of a public charter school a nd shall\nprovide the list to applicants for public charter schools and to existing public charter\nschools upon request.\n(14) A public charter school shall be nonsectarian in its programs, admissions policies,\nemployment practices, partnerships, and all oth er operations and shall not have\nentrance requirements or charge tuition or fees, except that a public charter school\nmay require the payment of fees on the same basis and to the same extent as other\npublic schools.\n(15) A public charter school shall not d iscriminate against any student, employee, or any\nother person on the basis of ethnicity, religion, national origin, sex, disability,\nspecial needs, athletic ability, academic ability, or any other ground that would be\nunlawful if done by a public school.\n(16) A public charter school shall serve one (1) or more of grades kindergarten through\ntwelve (12) and shall limit admission to students within the grade levels served.\n(17) A public charter school shall provide programs and services to a student with a\ndisability in accordance with the student's individualized education program and all\nfederal and state laws, rules, and regulations. A public charter school shall deliver\nthe services directly or contract with another provider to deliver the services. A\npublic charter school shall establish an admissions and release committee at the\nschool and the committee shall:\n(a) Develop an individualized education program for each student with a\ndisability; or\n(b) Review, revise, or utilize a student's individualized e ducation program\ncompleted by the admissions and release committee of the student's former\nschool. If needed, the committee shall work collaboratively with staff from the\nstudent's former school to review and revise a student's existing individualized\neducation program.\n(18) (a) A public charter school shall be eligible to participate in state -sponsored or\ndistrict-sponsored interscholastic athletics, academic programs, competitions,\nawards, scholarships, and recognition programs for students, educators,\nadministrators, and schools to the same extent as noncharter public schools.\nParticipants shall comply with eligibility requirements of students enrolled in\nnoncharter public schools.\n(b) A public charter school has no obligation to provide extracurricular a ctivities\nor access to facilities for students enrolled in the public charter school.\n(c) If a public charter school sponsors interscholastic athletic activities, students\nenrolled in the public charter school shall be considered eligible to participate\nin interscholastic competitions by the Kentucky Board of Education or the\nagency designated by the state board to manage interscholastic athletics, if\nother eligibility requirements are met. A student enrolled in a public charter\nschool that sponsors an inte rscholastic athletic activity shall be ineligible to\nparticipate in that activity at any other school.\n(d) If a public charter school does not offer any interscholastic athletic activity\nsanctioned by the Kentucky Board of Education or the agency designate d by\nthe state board to manage interscholastic athletics, a student enrolled in the\npublic charter school shall be eligible to participate at the school the student\nwould attend based on the student's residence.\n(e) If a public charter school offers any in terscholastic athletic activity sanctioned\nby the Kentucky Board of Education or the agency designated by the state\nboard to manage interscholastic athletics, a student enrolled in the public\ncharter school shall be ineligible to participate in any intersc holastic athletic\nactivity at any other school.\n(19) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the establishment of a single -\nsex public charter school consistent with federal regulations or a public charter\nschool designed to provide expanded l earning opportunities for students at risk of\nacademic failure or for students with special needs.\n(20) The authorizer of a public charter school shall semiannually consider for approval a\npublic charter school's proposed amendments to a charter contract. The authorizer\nmay consider requests for amendments more frequently upon mutual agreement\nbetween the authorizer and the public charter school. The denial of an amendment\nrequest is appealable pursuant to KRS 160.1595.\n(21) If a student who was previously enrolled in a public charter school enrolls in\nanother public school located within the state, the new school shall accept any\ncredits earned and grades received by the student in courses or instructional\nprograms while enrolled in the public charter schoo l in a uniform and consistent\nmanner and according to the same criteria that are used to accept credits from other\npublic schools.\n(22) A teacher employed by a local board of education under a continuing service\ncontract and offered employment with a public charter school shall be granted a two\n(2) year leave of absence to teach in a public charter school. The leave of absence\nshall commence on the first day of service to the public charter school. During the\nfirst or second year of the leave of absence, the teacher may notify the local board of\neducation that the teacher intends to return to a teaching position in the local school\ndistrict. The teacher shall be allowed to return to a teaching position in the local\nschool district at the appropriate salary f or the teacher's years of experience and\neducational level. After two (2) years on leave, the relationship between the teacher\nand the local board of education shall be determined by the local board and the local\nboard shall notify the teacher of the decision.","path":["KRS Chapter 160"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53116","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:07Z","sha256":"c95c37577e8880ea60163e0e310bea963464368d81719f4661caa62d5431e38d","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-160.15911","next":"us-ky/krs-160.1593"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}