A bill that would expand how charter schools could be created and fund the schools with local taxes collected by school districts has been assigned to a House committee.

HB 9, filed by Rep. Chad McCoy, R-Bardstown, is now in the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee. The bill would expand the charter school law passed in 2017 in major ways, including requiring local school board tax revenues to be transferred to charter schools in their boundaries, even if the charter school students are not residents or current students of the district.

The bill would also:

In addition to the charter school provisions of the bill, HB 9 would also expand on last year’s HB 563 which allowed education opportunity accounts to be used to pay private school tuition in counties with population over 90,000.

HB 9 states that if the Kentucky Supreme Court agrees with a lower court’s ruling that allowing EOAs to pay for private school tuition only in some counties is illegal, EOAs could then be used for private school tuition in all counties.

For a more detailed analysis, see KSBA’s section-by-section summary of HB 9. The bill has not yet been scheduled for a vote in the A&R Committee.

Last week, our colleagues at the Kentucky Association of School Administrators (KASA) released a petition in opposition of the education opportunity account bills that have been filed, as well as any effort to divert public funds to private schools. KSBA opposes these bills – and all new/expanded tax credits/deductions/exemption – that move public school funds to anything outside of public schools. KSBA is grateful to KASA for this effort. Review and/or sign the petition.

A bill that would ban local districts from instituting mask mandates for COVID-19 passed the House on Tuesday. The bill now goes to the Senate.

House Bill 51, filed by Rep. Lynn Bechler, R-Marion, would technically allow local boards to continue requiring masks, but would allow any student to opt out for any reason. The opt-out provisions would also apply to school-sponsored events and transportation.

During a special legislative session in September, the legislature voted to allow local districts to decide whether to require masks. Several representatives pointed out the contradiction as they debated the bill on the House floor Tuesday.

“Six months ago, we made the right decision, taking power out of Frankfort, no matter which branch it came from, and sending it to the local communities and saying, you make the decision that's best for your district,” said Rep. Adam Koenig, R-Erlanger. “And if the parents disagree, and I don't blame them at this point, there are elections for that.”

Rep. Jim Duplessis, R-Elizabethtown, asked what would happen if there were another COVID-19 variant and schools aren’t allowed to require masks. Bechler replied that masks don't stop COVID from spreading unless they are N95 masks.

In the case of a new outbreak, the only thing school districts could do is to ask parents to send their children in masks, he said.

The bill passed 56 to 35. The bill does not have an emergency clause, so if it passes the Senate, it would not take affect until after this school year.

Hours after the bill passed the House, the Jefferson County school board voted to allow the superintendent to decide whether masks would be required in schools. Superintendent Marty Pollio said masks would soon be optional in the state’s largest district. The Fayette County board previously voted to give the decision to the superintendent.

As of Wednesday, fewer than 20 school districts still had mask mandates in place, according to an anti-mask Facebook group.

KSBA previously issued a statement calling for the legislature to maintain local decision-making as passed in SB 1 of the special session. See the full statement.

The KSBA Kentucky School Board Member of the Year (BMOY) Award was established in 2021 to honor the exemplary service of association members and to celebrate the critical roles school boards play in the advancement of public education in Kentucky. The BMOY is honored for his or her significant contributions to public education through service on a local board. Click here to review the full award description and criteria.

Each election year the Kentucky School Boards Association assembles updated information on the election process and related issues for school leaders and board members. For more than a decade, KSBA has offered these materials as a benefit to members, school districts and the public. Our 2022 School Board Election Resources Guide, now available for viewing/downloading, summarizes key aspects of election filing, campaigning, documentation and more.

KSBA’s guide is a helpful resource for anyone considering board service, whether for his/her first time or fifth term.

KSBA has released a preliminary schedule of the association’s 2022 Fall Regional Meetings.

Aug. 30 – Fifth

Sept. 6 - Northern Ky.

Sept. 12 - Upper Ky. River

Sept. 20 - Middle Cumberland

Sept. 22 - Central Ky.

Sept. 26 – First

Sept. 27 – Second

Oct. 18 - Eastern Ky. South

Oct. 20 – Fourth

Oct. 24 – Third

Nov. 1 - Upper Cumberland

Nov. 3 - Eastern Ky. North

Locations, start times and program information will be released this summer. Unsure as to which region your district belongs? Find your district's assigned region.

KSBA has unveiled the 2022 schedule of its popular Learn and Earn webinar series. The series offers insightful topics each month in the form of one-hour live online trainings good for required school board training credit. Sessions are scheduled from noon – 1 p.m. (Eastern) on the second Wednesday of each month at a cost of $50 per session. Pre-registration is required, and space is limited to 100 viewers each session. All Learn and Earn webinars count for one hour of board training credit. See below for KSBA's 2022 Learn and Earn webinar series schedule

This year’s series kicks off April 13 when KSBA will present, “How Much Do Your Site Base Allocations Cost?” Employees are your most important asset, but they don’t come cheap! This session will focus on the district’s annual site base allocation, including the applicable laws, timelines and pitfalls to watch out for in developing the staffing policies pertaining to the allocations. The training, facilitated by KSBA’s training cadre, counts toward mandated finance training requirements.

View the complete schedule of the 2022 Learn and Earn series and register for one or more of the events. This year’s lineup features a variety of new topics including solutions to teacher shortages, women in educational leadership, teaching certification and rank changes, and much more!

An emergency regulation that allowed school district employees to take quarantine leave for COVID-19 is no longer in effect after a legislative panel rejected the regulation.

The legislature’s Administrative Regulations Subcommittee on Monday found the emergency regulation deficient. Sen. Stephen West, R-Paris, said that after the passage of SB 25, which said that all COVID-19 regulations not spelled out in the bill were void after Jan. 14, “at that time, it’s my opinion that this regulation became null and void.”

Staring on March 8, districts will not be able to provide leave for quarantines due to COVID-19.

“So those symptomatic vaccinated folks who otherwise would have relied upon the emergency regulation quarantine leave will now need to rely upon their sick leave going forward,” said Todd Allen, KDE attorney.

Education Commissioner Jason Glass said during Tuesday’s Superintendent’s Webcast that KDE was surprised to learn that the emergency regulation was no longer in effect and that it was found deficient.

“We regret that this is the situation that we’re in,” he said. “It’s never good to sort of pull the rug out from people mid-year when it comes to any sort of policies, especially things like leave, but it’s not our decision to make.”

A permanent regulation working its way through the process would allow paid leave for quarantines of any communicable disease, including COVID-19, after employees have exhausted sick leave but still need to quarantine. That regulation is expected to take effect May 3.

KSBA's Superintendent Search Service is currently facilitating searches in the districts listed below, all of which have application deadlines within the next week. Click the district name to be directed to the position posting.

Application deadline: March 9

Application deadline: March 10

Application deadline: March 12

Application deadline: March 15

KSBA's experienced Superintendent Search consultants have worked with local school boards across Kentucky to facilitate more than 300 successful searches.

March 7-11: National School Breakfast Week

April 1-30: School Library Month

This edition of KSBA Aware is made possible in part