{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-161.028","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 161.028","heading":"Education Professional Standards Board -- Powers and duties regarding","body":"the preparation and certification of professional school personnel --\nMembership.\n(1) The Education Professional Standards Board is recognized to be a public body\ncorporate and politic and an agency and instrumentality of the Commonwealth, in\nthe performance of essential governmental functions. The Education Professional\nStandards Board has the authority and responsibility to:\n(a) Establish standards and requirements for obtaining and maintaining a teaching\ncertificate;\n(b) Set standards for, approve, and evaluate college, university, and school district\nprograms for the preparation of teachers and other professional school\npersonnel. College or university programs may be approved by the board for a\ncollege or university with regional institutional level accreditation or national\ninstitutional level accreditation that is recognized by the United States\nDepartment of Education and is eligible to receive federal funding unde r 20\nU.S.C. secs. 1061 to 1063. Program standards shall reflect national standards\nand shall address, at a minimum, the following:\n1. The alignment of programs with the state's core content for assessment\nas defined in KRS 158.6457;\n2. Research-based class room practices, including effective classroom\nmanagement techniques;\n3. Emphasis on subject matter competency of teacher education students;\n4. Methodologies to meet diverse educational needs of all students;\n5. The consistency and quality of classroom and  field experiences,\nincluding early practicums and student teaching experiences;\n6. The amount of college-wide or university-wide involvement and support\nduring the preparation as well as the induction of new teachers;\n7. The diversity of faculty;\n8. The effectiveness of partnerships with local school districts; and\n9. The performance of graduates on various measures as determined by the\nboard;\n(c) Include in the standards established for programs for the preparation of\nteachers under paragraph (b) of this subsection the requirement that\ninterdisciplinary early childhood education or eleme ntary regular education\nprograms shall:\n1. Provide instruction on how to teach reading and language arts using\nscientifically researched and evidence -based reading instruction and\nreading intervention programs as defined in KRS 158.306; and\n2. Not provide instruction on teaching reading and language arts that\nincorporates a three-cueing system as defined in KRS 158.306;\n(d) Require all interdisciplinary early childhood through grade five (5) educators\nwho receive certification pursuant to KRS 161.048(2) to (6) and (9) to\ncomplete within two (2) years of initial employment a science of reading\nprofessional learning program approved by the department;\n(e) Conduct an annual review of diversity in teacher preparation programs;\n(f) Provide assistance to universit ies and colleges in addressing diversity, which\nmay include researching successful strategies and disseminating the\ninformation, encouraging the development of nontraditional avenues of\nrecruitment and providing incentives, waiving administrative regulatio ns\nwhen needed, and other assistance as deemed necessary;\n(g) Discontinue approval of programs that do not meet standards or whose\ngraduates do not perform according to criteria set by the board;\n(h) Issue, renew, revoke, suspend, or refuse to issue or ren ew; impose\nprobationary or supervisory conditions upon; issue a written reprimand or\nadmonishment; or any combination of actions regarding any certificate;\n(i) Develop specific guidelines to follow upon receipt of an allegation of sexual\nmisconduct by an employee certified by the Education Professional Standards\nBoard. The guidelines shall include investigation, inquiry, and hearing\nprocedures which ensure the process does not revictimize the alleged victim\nor cause harm if an employee is falsely accused;\n(j) Receive, along with investigators hired by the Education Professional\nStandards Board, training on the dynamics of sexual misconduct of\nprofessionals, including the nature of this abuse of authority, characteristics of\nthe offender, the impact on the vi ctim, the possibility and the impact of false\naccusations, investigative procedures in sex offense cases, and effective\nintervention with victims and offenders;\n(k) Recommend to the Kentucky Board of Education the essential data elements\nrelating to teache r preparation and certification, teacher supply and demand,\nteacher attrition, teacher diversity, and employment trends to be included in a\nstate comprehensive data and information system and periodically report data\nto the appropriate Interim Joint Committee on Education;\n(l) Submit reports to the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission and\ninform the public on the status of teaching in Kentucky;\n(m) Devise a credentialing system that provides alternative routes to gaining\ncertification and greater flexibility in staffing local schools while maintaining\nstandards for teacher competence;\n(n) Develop a professional code of ethics;\n(o) Charge reasonable fees for the issuance, reissuance, and renewal of\ncertificates that are established by administrati ve regulation. The proceeds\nshall be used to meet a portion of the costs of the issuance, reissuance, and\nrenewal of certificates, the costs associated with disciplinary action against a\ncertificate holder under KRS 161.120, and the costs associated with t he\ndevelopment and maintenance of the Kentucky Educator Placement Service\nSystem required under KRS 160.152;\n(p) Waive a requirement that may be established in an administrative regulation\npromulgated by the board. A request for a waiver shall be submitted  to the\nboard, in writing, by an applicant for certification, a postsecondary institution,\nor a superintendent of a local school district, with appropriate justification for\nthe waiver. The board may approve the request if the person or institution\nseeking the waiver has demonstrated extraordinary circumstances justifying\nthe waiver. Any waiver granted under this subsection shall be subject to\nrevocation if the person or institution falsifies information or subsequently\nfails to meet the intent of the waiver;\n(q) Promote the development of one (1) or more innovative, nontraditional or\nalternative administrator or teacher preparation programs through public or\nprivate colleges or universities, private contractors, the Department of\nEducation, or the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University and waive\nadministrative regulations if needed in order to implement the program;\n(r) Grant approval, if appropriate, of a university's request for an alternative\nprogram that enrolls an administrator candidate in a postbacc alaureate\nadministrator preparation program concurrently with employment as an\nassistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, or superintendent in a\nlocal school district. An administrator candidate in the alternative program\nshall be granted a temporary provisional certificate and shall be a candidate in\nthe Kentucky Principal Internship Program, notwithstanding provisions of\nKRS 161.030, or the Superintendent's Assessment process, notwithstanding\nprovisions of KRS 156.111, as appropriate. The t emporary certificate shall be\nvalid for a maximum of two (2) years, and shall be contingent upon the\ncandidate's continued enrollment in the preparation program and compliance\nwith all requirements established by the board. A professional certificate shall\nbe issued upon the candidate's successful completion of the program,\ninternship requirements, and assessments as required by the board;\n(s) Employ consultants as needed;\n(t) Enter into contracts. Disbursements to professional educators who receive less\nthan one thousand dollars ($1,000) in compensation per fiscal year from the\nboard for serving on an assessment validation panel or as a test scorer or\nproctor shall not be subject to KRS 45A.690 to 45A.725;\n(u) Sponsor studies, conduct research, conduct conf erences, and publish\ninformation as appropriate; and\n(v) Issue orders as necessary in any administrative action before the board.\n(2) (a) The board shall be composed of seventeen (17) members. The secretary of the\nEducation and Labor Cabinet and the presid ent of the Council on\nPostsecondary Education, or their designees, shall serve as ex officio voting\nmembers. The Governor shall make the following fifteen (15) appointments:\n1. Nine (9) members who shall be teachers representative of elementary,\nmiddle or junior high, secondary, special education, and secondary\nvocational classrooms;\n2. Two (2) members who shall be school administrators, one (1) of whom\nshall be a school principal;\n3. One (1) member representative of local boards of education; and\n4. Three (3) members representative of postsecondary institutions, two (2)\nof whom shall be deans of colleges of education at public universities\nand one (1) of whom shall be the chief a cademic officer or head of an\neducator preparation program of an independent not-for-profit college or\nuniversity.\n(b) The members appointed by the Governor shall be confirmed by the Senate\nunder KRS 11.160. If the General Assembly is not in session at the time of the\nappointment, persons appointed shall serve prior to confirmation, but the\nGovernor shall seek the consent of the Senate at the next regular session or at\nan intervening extraordinary session if the matter is included in the call of the\nGeneral Assembly.\n(c) Each appointed member shall serve a three (3) year term. A vacancy on the\nboard shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment within\nsixty (60) days after it occurs. A member shall continue to serve until his or\nher successo r is named. Any member who, through change of employment\nstatus or residence, or for other reasons, no longer meets the criteria for the\nposition to which he or she was appointed shall no longer be eligible to serve\nin that position.\n(d) Members of the board shall serve without compensation but shall be permitted\nto attend board meetings and perform other board business without loss of\nincome or other benefits.\n(e) A state agency or any political subdivision of the state, including a school\ndistrict, required to hire a substitute for a member of the board who is absent\nfrom the member's place of employment while performing board business\nshall be reimbursed by the board for the actual amount of any costs incurred.\n(f) 1. A chair shall be elected by and from the membership and confirmed by\nthe Senate in accordance with KRS 11.160. If the person selected as\nchair is not confirmed by the Senate, he or she shall still retain his or her\nposition on the board, but shall vacate his or her position as chair, and\nthe membership shall select a new chair.\n2. A member shall be eligible to serve no more than three (3) one (1) year\nterms in succession as chair. Regular meetings shall be held at least\nsemiannually on call of the chair.\n(g) The commissioner of education shall serve as executive secretary to the board\nand may designate staff to facilitate his or her duties.\n(h) To carry out the functions relating to its duties and responsibilities, the board\nis empowered to receive donations and grants of funds; to appoint cons ultants\nas needed; and to sponsor studies, conduct conferences, and publish\ninformation.","path":["KRS Chapter 161"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=58156","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:09Z","sha256":"867fc1152270a31be3fc515c32b71fc203129763cfbd4f7be83d44033c74b831","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-161.027","next":"us-ky/krs-161.030"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}