{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-161.011","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 161.011","heading":"Definitions of \"classified employee\" and \"seniority\" -- Job classifications","body":"and minimum qualifications -- Requirement of written contracts and written\npersonnel policies -- Reduction in force -- Registry of vacant classified\nemployee positions an d training -- Review of local board policies by\nDepartment of Education.\n(1) (a) \"Classified employee\" means an employee of a local district who is not\nrequired to have certification for his or her position as provided in KRS\n161.020.\n(b) \"Seniority\" means  total continuous months of service in the local school\ndistrict, including all approved paid and unpaid leave.\n(2) The commissioner of education shall establish by January 1992, job classifications\nand minimum qualifications for local district classified employment positions\nwhich shall be effective July 1, 1992. After June 30, 1992, no person shall be\neligible to be a classified employee or receive salary for services rendered in that\nposition unless he or she holds the qualifications for the position as established by\nthe commissioner of education.\n(3) No person who is initially hired after July 13, 1990, shall be eligible to hold the\nposition of a classified employee or receive salary for services rendered in such\nposition, unless he or she holds at leas t a high school diploma or high school\ncertificate of completion or High School Equivalency Diploma, or is provided an\nopportunity by the school district upon employment to obtain a High School\nEquivalency Diploma at no cost to the employee. Licenses or cr edentials issued by\na government entity that require specialized skill or training may also substitute for\nthis requirement.\n(4) Local school districts shall encourage classified employees who were initially hired\nbefore July 13, 1990, and who do not have a high school diploma or a High School\nEquivalency Diploma to enroll in a program to obtain a High School Equivalency\nDiploma.\n(5) Local districts shall enter into written contracts with classified employees.\nContracts with classified employees shall be re newed annually except contracts\nwith the following employees:\n(a) An employee who has not completed four (4) years of continuous active\nservice, upon written notice which is provided or mailed to the employee by\nthe superintendent, no later than May 15, that the contract will not be renewed\nfor the subsequent school year. Upon written request by the employee, within\nten (10) days of the receipt of the notice of nonrenewal, the superintendent\nshall provide, in a timely manner, written reasons for the nonrenewal.\n(b) An employee who has completed four (4) years of continuous active service,\nupon written notice which is provided or mailed to the employee by the\nsuperintendent, no later than May 15, that the contract is not being renewed\ndue to one (1) or more o f the reasons described in subsection (7) of this\nsection. Upon written request within ten (10) days of the receipt of the notice\nof nonrenewal, the employee shall be provided with a specific and complete\nwritten statement of the grounds upon which the non renewal is based. The\nemployee shall have ten (10) days to respond in writing to the grounds for\nnonrenewal.\n(6) Local districts shall provide in contracts with classified employees of family\nresource and youth services centers the same rate of salary adjustment as provided\nfor other local board of education employees in the same classification.\n(7) Nothing in this s ection shall prevent a superintendent from terminating a classified\nemployee for incompetency, neglect of duty, insubordination, inefficiency,\nmisconduct, immorality, or other reasonable grounds which are specifically\ncontained in board policy.\n(8) The sup erintendent shall have full authority to make a reduction in force due to\nreductions in funding, enrollment, or changes in the district or school boundaries, or\nother compelling reasons as determined by the superintendent.\n(a) When a reduction of force is necessary, the superintendent shall, within each\njob classification affected, reduce classified employees on the basis of\nseniority and qualifications with those employees who have less than four (4)\nyears of continuous active service being reduced first.\n(b) If it becomes necessary to reduce employees who have more than four (4)\nyears of continuous active service, the superintendent shall make reductions\nbased upon seniority and qualifications within each job classification affected.\n(c) Employees with mor e than four (4) years of continuous active service shall\nhave the right of recall positions if positions become available for which they\nare qualified. Recall shall be done according to seniority with restoration of\nprimary benefits, including all accumula ted sick leave and appropriate rank\nand step on the current salary schedule based on the total number of years of\nservice in the district.\n(9) Local school boards shall develop and provide to all classified employees written\npolicies which shall include but not be limited to:\n(a) Terms and conditions of employment;\n(b) Identification and documentation of fringe benefits, employee rights, and\nprocedures for the reduction or laying off of employees; and\n(c) Discipline guidelines and procedures that satisfy due process requirements.\n(10) Local school boards shall maintain a registry of all vacant classified employee\npositions that is available for public inspection in a location determined by the\nsuperintendent and make copies available at cost to interested pa rties. If financially\nfeasible, local school boards may provide training opportunities for classified\nemployees focusing on topics to include but not be limited to suicide prevention,\nabuse recognition, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). If suicide p revention\ntraining is offered it may be accomplished through self -study review of suicide\nprevention materials.\n(11) The evaluation of the local board policies required for classified personnel as set\nout in this section shall be subject to review by the D epartment of Education while\nit is conducting district management audits pursuant to KRS 158.785.","path":["KRS Chapter 161"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53476","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:09Z","sha256":"47019e3366e332a670a6414bd771d465705ea48e4fd78c806633baca316ccac0","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-161.010","next":"us-ky/krs-161.017"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}