·      Reduces the individual income tax to 4.5% for taxable years beginning January 1, 2023, and to 4% for taxable years beginning January 1, 2024.

·      Passed out of House 79-19 on 1/5/23

·      Regarding commercial driver’s licenses with a school bus endorsement, to increase the time period allowed for the required physical examination from 12 to 24 months.

·      Remove language that allows for half-day kindergarten programs

·      Increase the dual credit tuition rate ceiling amount; add eligibility for high school freshmen and sophomores

·      Expand the scholarship to include two career and technical education courses in each year of high school and four general education or career and technical education courses in any combination over the junior and senior years

·      Delete the dual credit provisions from the Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship Program

·      Effective July 1, 2024.

Dossett

·      Increase the minimum amount for advertising and bidding school building projects from $7,500 to $30,000; require reporting for contracts under $30,000

·      Require a board of education policy on small purchase procedures that includes at least three quotes for projects greater than $7,500 and less than $30,000.

·      Specify authority of Education Professional Standards Board over educators hired by public schools only

·      Define “learning pods” and exclude them from the definition of “child-care center” and “family child-care home

Exclude learning pods from certain hiring requirements.

·      Define terms, establish legislative findings to ensure that student privacy exists in school restrooms, locker rooms, and shower rooms; require students born male to use only those facilities designated to be used by males and students born female to use only those facilities designated to be used by females

·      Require schools to provide the best available accommodation to students who assert that their gender is different from their biological sex

·      Identify consequences for using facilities designated for the opposite biological sex

·      EMERGENCY.

·      Prohibit regulations of the Kentucky Board of Education from requiring students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in order to attend school.

Jackson

Pratt

·      Allow for the hiring of classified personnel without a high school diploma or equivalent if the district provides the employee the opportunity to obtain a high school equivalency diploma at no cost to the employee; allow licenses or credentials issued by a government entity to substitute.

Tipton

·       Establish the Innovative Teacher Education Grant Program for school years 2024 through 2026

·       Require the Council on Postsecondary Education to administer the grant program; require the council to create a process for awarding grants

·       Require the council to report to the Interim Joint Committee on Education by December 1, 2025, an evaluation of implementation

·       Establish requirements for Kentucky colleges and universities to participate in the program

·       Provide that the Act may be cited as the Innovative Teacher Education Act

·      APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

·      Require school districts provide a full-day preschool program for eligible three and four year-olds

·      Define “eligible”; require that preschool for three year old children continue to be funded through a grant process and preschool programs for four year old children be funded under KRS 157.310 to 157.440

·      Require preschool programs to operate on the school district calendar

·      Require transportation be provided; amend KRS 158.031 to include preschool programs for four year old children in the primary school program

·      Remove the definition of “kindergarten full-time equivalent pupil in average daily attendance

·      Remove a reference to the kindergarten full-time equivalent

·      Include a preschool program for four year old children in the definition of “common school”

·      Remove language allowing kindergarten to operate for less than six hours on a school day.

·      Direct the Kentucky Department of Education to develop a foster care student toolkit to provide resources and information to assist school personnel in addressing the unique educational needs of foster children.

Lockett

·      Require the office of county commissioner to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·      Require the office of mayor and legislative body members to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·      Require all city offices to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·      Require the city ward to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·      Require the offices of boards of education to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·      Require school board candidates to have emblems of political party affiliation presented on the ballot

·      Require the offices of soil and water conservation officers to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·      Require a moment of silence or reflection at the start of each school day and establish guidelines.

Dossett

Williams

·      Extend the period of time that a peace officer, who was employed as a peace officer as of December 1, 1998, may be separated from service before losing his or her certification status from 100 days to 365 days; EMERGENCY.

·      Remove the population restriction and make the alternative publication procedure available to all local governments as defined

·      Stipulate that the local government must submit the advertisement to the newspaper in a timely manner for publication within the prescribed limits; make technical corrections.

Bojanowski

·      Require rather than allow local boards of education to develop policy on dyslexia

·      Require rather than allow the policy to include listed items

·      Require postsecondary institutions offering teacher preparation programs to include instruction on dyslexia by the 2024-2025 school year, rather than the instruction being contingent on funding availability.

Lawrence

·       Define “proprietary school” and “qualified proprietary school program” and allow use of KEES funds for enrollment in a qualified proprietary school program

·      Allow a student who attends an out-of-state high school or Department of Defense school due to a parent’s military transfer to earn a KEES award if the student earned a base amount in a previous year at a Kentucky high school.

·      Appropriate General Fund moneys for a salary supplement for all full-time school district employees; appropriate General Fund moneys to provide for universal preschool for all four-year-olds

·      Appropriate General Fund moneys to provide funding for professional development for educators

·      Appropriate General Fund moneys for textbooks and instructional resources

·      Appropriate General Fund moneys to address social emotional learning and mental health for students and school staff

·      Appropriate Restricted Funds to provide a student loan forgiveness program for teachers certified by the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board and employed by Kentucky public schools

·      APPROPRIATION; EMERGENCY.

Calloway

·      Require that a parent or guardian be permitted to opt a student of any public school requirement for medical devices and procedures, and treatments

·      Provide that the parent or guardian shall not be required to submit any documentation or certification to opt out; provide that nothing in the section shall be interpreted to contradict

·      Create a new section of KRS Chapter164 to provide that postsecondary education institutions may not require individuals to use medical devices or submit to medical procedures and treatments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on property not used for the delivery of medical services

·      Provide that a postsecondary education institution may implement a requirement for facial coverings that is not responsive to the COVID-19 pandemic

·      EMERGENCY.

·      Establish the Kentucky Urban Farming Youth Initiative to promote farming to youth in urban counties in at least one urban University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service office beginning August 1, 2023, and others by August 1, 2024

·      Set each program term to 1 year in duration beginning in January

·      Establish guidelines for participant eligibility.

Nemes

Willner

·      Require an additional day to be added to the school calendar if required training cannot be completed in a single calendar day

·      Require the General Assembly to appropriate funds for an additional calendar day if determined to be necessary.

·      Prohibit administrative regulations of the Kentucky Board of Education from requiring students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in order to attend school.

·      Authorize participation in a public school interscholastic extracurricular activity by an at-home private school student and establish criteria for participation

·      Require a parent, guardian, or teacher of an at-home private school student participating in a public school interscholastic activity to verify the student’s academic progress

·      Declare a public school student who does not make academic progress at a public school and withdraws and enters an at-home private school program ineligible for participation in an interscholastic activity for the remainder of the school year

·      Direct statute be cited as the Play Fair Kentucky Act.

C. Stevenson

·       Remove provisions of HB 258 enacted during the 2021 Regular Session that created and adjusted benefits for individuals who become members of the Teachers’ Retirement System on or after January 1, 2022

·      Provide that these members shall be eligible for the benefits applicable to members who entered the system immediately prior to January 1, 2022; EMERGENCY.

Bojanowski

Raymond

·      Require education service providers to be nonprofit entities and require wait lists after student admission lotteries

·      Provide that a subsequent mayor or chief executive officer may terminate a previously approved charter contract

·      Limit the number of public charter schools to five unless waived by the General Assembly

·      Forbid the use of financial incentives to induce a student to enroll or apply to enroll in a public charter school

·      Make conforming changes; amend KRS 160.1592 to forbid a public charter school from entering into a contract with a for-profit organization for educational design, implementation, or comprehensive management

·      Forbid public charter schools from charging fines or fees that are different from those charged by other public schools

·      Establish a wait list process for students not selected in the admission lottery

·      Require board of directors’ members to be residents of the school district in which the public charter school is located

·      Require at least 75% of the board of directors to be elected by the residents of the school district of location and set the terms and conditions of that election

·      Require the board of directors to submit the name of any education service provider the board has contracted with and the associated contracts to the Kentucky Department of Education for publication

·      Require a charter application to include a plan for the election and composition of the board of directors and a statement detailing the potential operational and financial impact the proposed public charter school will have on the district of location

·      Require a public charter school authorizer to collect student withdrawal and disciplinary data and make a report

·      Remove any locally raised revenues from funds to be transferred from a school district to a public charter school

·      Require any add-on or funding factor for special education to be split between a local district and a public charter school when a student has attended both during the school year

·      Cap the authorizer fee to 1% of funds transferred or the actual prior year’s authorizer costs, whichever is less

·      Limit the length of a charter contract to three years

·      Establish a process to revert a conversion public charter school back to the school district.

Flannery

·      Exempt motor vehicles, recreational vehicles, trailers, and semitrailers from state and local ad valorem taxes

·      A JOINT RESOLUTION directing the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Kentucky Board of Education, in partnership with the Secretary of the State and other education entities, to develop strategies and a timeline for improving Kentucky students’ knowledge and understanding of the Constitution of the United States and the democratic processes.

·      Create new sections of KRS Chapter 508 to define “hazing,” “student,” and “organization”

·      Establish a Class D felony of hazing in the first degree

·      Establish a Class A misdemeanor of hazing in the second degree

·      Remove eligibility for a KEES scholarship if convicted of hazing

·      Provide that the Act may be referred to as Lofton’s Law.

·      Change the public high school nonvoting student member to a voting member of the Kentucky Board of Education

·      Add an at-large member to the board

·      Require at least two of the members to have a child enrolled in public school

·      Exclude the student member from the age and college degree requirements.

Schickel

·      Include an equivalent score on the Classic Learning Test as a KEES supplemental amount

·      Define an “eligible noncertified school graduate”

·      Amend definitions of “KEES award, maximum”, and ” KEES base amount” for an eligible noncertified school graduate

·      Establish an equivalent grade point average for eligible noncertified school graduates based on the graduate’s ACT score

·      Include achieving three hours of dual credit or qualifying for three hours of postsecondary articulated credit as a postsecondary readiness indicator.

·      State that the prohibition of weapons on school grounds only applies when entrances to the school buildings display a sign indicating that unlawfully possessing a weapon in a school is a felony

·      Remove the requirement that signs be prominently displayed indicating possessing a weapon in a school is prohibited

·      Remove the provision that failure to post the signs indicating weapons are prohibited in schools shall not relieve a person of liability

·      Repeal KRS 237.115 which interprets the application of the license to carry concealed deadly weapon statute as permitting postsecondary facilities and state and local governments to limit concealed carry in governmental buildings.

Schickel

·      Require the office of county commissioner to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·      Require the office of mayor and legislative body members to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·      Require all city offices to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·      Require the city ward to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·      Require the offices of boards of education to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·      Require school board candidates to have emblems of political party affiliation presented on the ballot

·      Require the offices of soil and water conservation officers to have a partisan primary or partisan election

·       require a report to the court of truancy cases when there is no action implemented by the response team within 90 days

·       require a court-designated worker to make a finding if diversion is failed due to lack of parental cooperation

·       allow a court to refer cases back to the court-designated worker and order parental cooperation and amend KRS 610.990 to establish penalty

·       require children charged with serious felony offenses to be detained pending a detention hearing and to be evaluated for treatment

·       provide that confidentiality does not apply to cases in which a child has admitted to or been adjudicated for a violent felony offense for five years

·       direct renovations to the Jefferson County Youth Detention Center

·       APPROPRIATION.

This bill seeks to require greater parental compliance with truancy and other court orders involving juveniles

Tipton

·       establish the Commonwealth Education Continuum; specify the membership of the continuum

·       establish the terms of members; require the Council on Postsecondary Education to act as the administrative body for the continuum

·       establish reporting requirements to the Interim Joint Committee on Education.

Timoney

·       Remove the requirement that a teacher or employee submit an affidavit to take sick and personal leave.

Timoney

·       define “sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts,” “mental health professional,” and “public funds”

·       prohibit mental health professionals from engaging in sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts with a person under 18 years of age, a person who is 18 years or older who is an adult as defined in KRS 209.020, or a ward as defined in KRS 387.510

·       require violations to be subject to board discipline

·       prohibit public funds from being used for sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts

·       create a new section of KRS Chapter 211 to require the Department for Public Health and the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities to develop, produce, and disseminate educational materials regarding sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts

·       permit the cabinet to contract for the educational materials

·       cite as the Youth Mental Health Protection Act

·       EMERGENCY.

Establishes guidelines for mental health services and care for individuals regarding sexual orientation and gender identity

Laferty

·       relating to the individual income tax, to increase the retirement distribution exclusion from $31,110 to $41,110 for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2024.

Restores the previous retirement income amount exempted from the KY Income Tax

Fleming

·       establish the Kentucky Mental Health Safety Center within the University of Louisville to be known as SafeKY

·       require SafeKY to create, implement, and maintain a real-time electronic mental health application

·       require the application be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year

·       require the application to be made available at no cost to all elementary, secondary, and postsecondary students and the parents and teachers of those students

·       require the University of Louisville to establish an advisory council regarding the electronic application

·       require the University of Louisville to report on the implementation status of the electronic application to the Interim Joint Committees on Health, Welfare, and Family Services and Education by November 1, 2024.

This bill would require the implementation by the University of Louisville of a real time electronic mental health service at no cost to all elementary, secondary, and postsecondary students and the parents and teachers of those students.

Bauman

·       establish a school fiscal impact statement to evaluate the potential costs that would be incurred by school districts and other parts of the common school system by passing certain legislation; establish the requirements and components of the statement

·       authorize the director of the Legislative Research Commission to implement policies and procedures necessary to produce the statements

·       EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025.

Would require ‘school fiscal impact statements’ similar to other fiscal impact statements for local government, corrections and pension legislation

Wise

·       establish definitions; require specific parental notifications from public schools

·       require school districts to adopt specific procedures related to parental rights

·       limit authority of the Kentucky Board of Education and Kentucky Department of Education in relation to parental rights and a student’s use of pronouns

·       prohibit district or school policies with the intent of keeping student information confidential from parents

·       prohibit a school district from requiring school personnel or pupils to use pronouns for students that do not conform to that student’s biological sex

·       provide school districts and district personnel authority to seek emergency medical services for a student

·       provide conditions for student confidentiality

·       establish requirements for any public school’s course, curriculum, or program on the subject of human sexuality.

This legislation would require school districts to do pretty much what they already do.

This bill may conflict with federal law regarding the safety of students if schools release certain information the student tells a school employee in confidence.  See https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/ED-DCL-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Baker

·       define terms; make legislative findings and declarations on the rights of parents as it relates to public schools and establish a standard to protect those rights

·       require public schools to establish a process to receive complaints of violations; create a cause of action for violations and establish limitations

·       establish specific parental rights as related to public schools and require public schools to adopt policies to protect those rights

·       require the Kentucky Department of Education to eliminate regulations in violation and develop recommended policies to public schools for compliance

·       make findings and declarations related to privacy of parents and children and require public schools to adopt policies to safeguard those rights

·       establish a cause of action for a child encountering a person of the opposite biological sex while in a location where there is a reasonable expectation of bodily privacy

·       create a cause of action for those who are forced by a public school to share private quarters with specific people of the opposite biological sex and provide exclusions

·       make findings and declarations relating to controversial subject matter in common schools

·       establish a parental right of not having a child indoctrinated into any political position or being involved in advocacy in a controversial subject matter

·       establish limitations on school personnel related to instruction and discussion on sexual orientation, sexual preference, or gender expression; establish limitations on school personnel advocacy in the scope of employment and actions based on the immutable characteristics of students

·       prohibit compelling school personnel to advocate for or against anything in opposition to sincerely held beliefs and convictions

·       require public schools to adopt enforcement policies; establish limitations

·       establish a parental right to expect a child not to be exposed to or given access to harmful to minors, pervasively vulgar, or obscene matter or performance or obscene imagery representing minors

·       require that public schools adopt

This bill would subject school districts to cause of actions over allegations of a violation of parental rights.

This bill may conflict with federal law regarding the safety of students if schools release certain information the student tells a school employee in confidence.  See https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/ED-DCL-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Calloway

·       authorize the General Assembly to provide for the educational costs of elementary and secondary school students outside of the public school system; provide ballot language for submission to voters for ratification or rejection.

This bill seeks to circumvent the KY Supreme Court ruling finding the use public funds for non public schools unconstitutional

·       Create new sections of KRS Chapter 405 to establish definitions; provide for parental rights

·       establish that no governmental entity shall substantially burden the rights of parents unless required by a compelling governmental interest of the highest order and in the least restrictive means

·       establish specific rights of parents, with some limitations

·       provide that specific governmental employees shall not encourage or coerce a child to withhold information from a parent

·       require local boards of education or boards of directors of public charter schools to adopt specific policies to promote involvement of parents in education

·       allow the Kentucky Department of Education to provide consultation and model policies that shall not be binding on schools

·       require a report from the Kentucky Department of Education on the consultation and model policies provided to schools

·       require obtaining parental consent prior to procuring, soliciting to perform, arranging for the performance of, providing a referral for, or providing medical or mental health services to a child

·       require verification of identity for remote parental consent; establish limits of the applicability of the requirement

·       establish a cause of action for violation and establish terms and conditions for the cause of action

·       waive sovereign, governmental, and qualified immunity

·       provide a procedure for requesting, inspecting, and reviewing specific information held by a school district or public charter school

·       establish the conditions required for providing medical or mental health services to a minor without consent of the parent or legal guardian

·       EMERGENCY

This bill would subject school districts to cause of actions over allegations of a violation of parental rights.

This bill may conflict with federal law regarding the safety of students if schools release certain information the student tells a school employee in confidence.  See https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/ED-DCL-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Tichenor

·       define terms; make legislative findings and declarations on the rights of parents as it relates to public schools and establish a standard to protect those rights

·       require public schools to establish a process to receive complaints of violations

·       create a cause of action for violations and establish limitations; establish specific parental rights as related to public schools

·       require public schools to adopt policies to protect those rights

·       require the Kentucky Department of Education to eliminate administrative regulations in violation and develop recommended policies to public schools for compliance; make findings and declarations related to privacy of parents and children and require public schools to adopt policies to safeguard those rights

·       establish a cause of action for a child encountering a person of the opposite biological sex while in a location where there is a reasonable expectation of bodily privacy

·       create a cause of action for those who are forced by a public school to share private quarters with specific people of the opposite biological sex and provide exclusions

·       make findings and declarations relating to controversial subject matter in common schools

·       establish a parental right of not having a child indoctrinated into any political position or being involved in advocacy in a controversial subject matter

·       establish limitations on school personnel related to instruction and discussion on sexual orientation, sexual preference, or gender expression

·       establish limitations on school personnel advocacy in the scope of employment and actions based on the immutable characteristics of students

·       prohibit compelling school personnel to advocate for or against anything in opposition to sincerely held beliefs and convictions

·       require public schools to adopt enforcement policies

·       establish limitations; establish a parental right to expect a child not be exposed to or given access to harmful to minors, pervasively vulgar, or obscene matter or performance or obscene imagery representing minors

·       require that public schools adopt policies to protect that right by making those materials and performances inaccessible and prohibit matters and performances harmful to minors, drag performances, pervasively vulgar performances, obscene performances, and any performance involving sexual conduct, nudity, or stripping; provide that none of the materials identified shall be deemed to have educational value for minors

·       establish limitations

·       establish a parental right to expect a child will not be bulled at school and require public schools adopt policies to ensure notification and support of bullying victims

·       require an order of reporting to staff, require specific time requirements for investigations

·       provide for an appeal and review of incidents

·       require identification of actions to prevent future acts of bullying or retaliation

·       require procedures for supporting victims

·       establish a short title of the Childhood Protection in Education Act.

This bill would subject school districts to cause of actions over allegations of a violation of parental rights.

This bill may conflict with federal law regarding the safety of students if schools release certain information the student tells a school employee in confidence.  See https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/ED-DCL-Fact-Sheet.pdf

Wilson

·       Establish the Board of Education Nomination Committee, set requirements for appointees, and term limitations

·       require the commissioner of education to be subject to Senate confirmation in accordance with KRS 11.160

·       require the commissioner of education to be subject to an annual review by the Kentucky Board of Education

·       provide that the commissioner of education shall serve for a defined employment contract term not to exceed 4-years

·       prohibit ex officio and nonvoting members of the Board of Education from being represented by proxy at any meeting.

Bill aimed at KDE Commissioner Glass over ‘woke’ agenda on pronoun requirements.

Willner, Nemes

·       require each local school board to include at least one student representative; require each local school board to adopt a school board student representative policy.

Riley

·       require completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form as a high school graduation requirement

·       provide waiver options for meeting the requirement

·       require local boards of education to develop policies and procedures to assist students in completing the requirement; require high schools to report potential graduate information to the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority

·       require the authority to provide each high school FAFSA submission and completion data for the potential graduates

·       require local schools districts to report student completion and waiver data to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Banta

·       remove the transfer of net lottery revenues to the Collaborative Center for Literacy Development

Swann

·       require public middle and high school curriculum to include instruction on the history of racism.

Brown

·       provide definitions of “protective hairstyle” and “race” that include traits historically associated with race

·       provide that school disciplinary codes shall prohibit discrimination on the basis of race

·       establish the short title of C.R.O.W.N. Act.

Howell

·       define “harmful to minors”

·       require local boards of education to adopt a complaint resolution policy to address parent complaints about materials that are harmful to minors

·       require the school to ensure that a student whose parent has filed a complaint does not have access to the material

·       require the Kentucky Department of Education to promulgate model complaint resolution policy

·       EMERGENCY.

Westerfield

·       provide definitions of “protective hairstyle” and “race” that include traits historically associated with race

·       provide that school disciplinary codes shall prohibit discrimination on the basis of race

·       establish the short title of C.R.O.W.N. Act.

Yates

·       define “danger zone”

·       direct the Department of Education to consider requiring the installation of school bus sensors and interior cameras on new school buses purchased on or after July 1, 2024

·       direct the Department of Education to promulgate administrative regulations

·       require the Department of Education to report on the availability and effectiveness of school bus sensors to the Interim Joint Committee on Education by June 30, 2024

·       encourage cities to install safety sensors in city buses

·       establish the short title of Ally’s Law.

Unfunded mandate

Bledsoe

·       require private and parochial schools to operate on a school calendar with a minimum school term and student instructional year as defined in KRS 158.070 instead of for a term not less than the public school district in which the child resides.

R Webb

·       Remove the restrictions on the use and sale of property now held by the Lewis County Board of Education that were placed on the lot of ground in 1881-1882 Ky. Acts ch. 701.