2013 Kentucky Revised Statutes
CHAPTER 158 - CONDUCT OF SCHOOLS -- SPECIAL PROGRAMS
158.070 School term -- Professional development -- Suicide prevention -- Holidays and days closed -- Continuing education for certain students – Instructional days and their equivalents in school term -- Breakfast program -- Scheduling of athletic competitions -- Missed school days due to emergencies and service credit.

Download as PDF 158.070 School term -- Professional development -- Suicide prevention -Holidays and days closed -- Continuing education for certain students Instructional days and their equivalents in school term -- Breakfast program -- Scheduling of athletic competitions -- Missed school days due to emergencies and service credit. (1) (2) (3) (4) The minimum school term shall be one hundred eighty-five (185) days, including no less than the equivalent of one hundred seventy-five (175) six (6) hour instructional days. A board of education may extend its term beyond the minimum term. The local board of education, upon recommendation of the local school district superintendent, shall adopt a school calendar for the upcoming school year that establishes the opening and closing dates of the school term, beginning and ending dates of each school month, instructional days, and days on which schools shall be dismissed. The local board may schedule days for breaks in the school calendar that shall not be counted as a part of the minimum school term. Any local board of education operating its schools on a year-round school program basis shall conform with administrative regulations promulgated and adopted by the Kentucky Board of Education upon the recommendation of the commissioner of education, which regulations must be in conformity with the following criteria: (a) The year-round school program shall be operated on a fiscal year beginning July 1 and ending June 30; (b) A pupil's required attendance in school shall be for at least the minimum instructional term; and (c) No teacher shall be required to teach more than the minimum term during the school year. (a) Each local board of education shall use four (4) days of the minimum school term for professional development and collegial planning activities for the professional staff without the presence of pupils pursuant to the requirements of KRS 156.095. At the discretion of the superintendent, one (1) day of professional development may be used for district-wide activities and for training that is mandated by federal or state law. The use of three (3) days shall be planned by each school council, except that the district is encouraged to provide technical assistance and leadership to school councils to maximize existing resources and to encourage shared planning. (b) In addition to the four (4) days required under paragraph (a) of this subsection, a minimum of two (2) hours of self-study review of suicide prevention materials shall be required for all high school and middle school principals, guidance counselors, and teachers each school year. (c) A local board may approve a school's flexible professional development plan that permits teachers or other certified personnel within a school to participate in professional development activities outside the days scheduled in the school calendar or the regularly scheduled hours in the school work day and receive credit towards the four (4) day professional (5) (6) development requirement within the minimum one hundred eighty-five (185) days that a teacher shall be employed. 1. A flexible schedule option shall be reflected in the school's professional development component within the school improvement plan or consolidated plan and approved by the local board. Credit for approved professional development activities may be accumulated in periods of time other than full day segments. 2. No teacher or administrator shall be permitted to count participation in a professional development activity under the flexible schedule option unless the activity is related to the teacher's classroom assignment and content area, or the administrator's job requirements, or is required by the school improvement or consolidated plan, or is tied to the teacher's or the administrator's individual growth plan. The supervisor shall give prior approval and shall monitor compliance with the requirements of this paragraph. In the case of teachers, a professional development committee or the school council by council policy may be responsible for reviewing requests for approval. (d) The local board of each school district may use up to a maximum of four (4) days of the minimum school term for holidays; provided, however, any holiday which occurs on Saturday may be observed on the preceding Friday. (e) Each local board may use two (2) days for planning activities without the presence of pupils. (f) Each local board may use the number of days deemed necessary for: 1. National or state disaster or mourning when proclaimed by the President of the United States or the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky; 2. Local disaster which would endanger the health or safety of children; and 3. Mourning when so designated by the local board of education and approved by the Kentucky Board of Education upon recommendation of the commissioner of education. The Kentucky Board of Education, upon recommendation of the commissioner of education, shall adopt administrative regulations governing the use of school days, including days missed from the regular school day as a result of local disaster, as defined in subsection (4)(f)2. of this section, and regulations setting forth the guidelines and procedures to be observed for the approval of the days utilized for the opening and closing of school and the days utilized for professional development and planning activities for the professional staff. (a) In setting the school calendar, school may be closed for two (2) consecutive days for the purpose of permitting professional school employees to attend statewide professional meetings. These two (2) days for statewide professional meetings may be scheduled to begin with the first Thursday after Easter, or upon request of the statewide professional education association having the largest paid membership, the (7) (8) (9) commissioner of education may designate alternate dates. If schools are scheduled to operate during days designated for the statewide professional meeting, the school district shall permit teachers who are delegates to attend as compensated professional leave time and shall employ substitute teachers in their absence. The commissioner of education shall designate one (1) additional day during the school year when schools shall be closed to permit professional school employees to participate in regional or district professional meetings. These three (3) days so designated for attendance at professional meetings shall not be counted as a part of the minimum school term. School shall be closed on the day of a regular election and on the day of a primary election, and those days may be used for professional development activities, professional meetings, or parent-teacher conferences. (b) All schools shall be closed on the third Monday of January in observance of the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Districts may: 1. Designate the day as one (1) of the four (4) holidays permitted under subsection (4)(d) of this section; or 2. Not include the day in the minimum school term specified in subsection (1) of this section. (a) The Kentucky Board of Education, or the organization or agency designated by the board to manage interscholastic athletics, shall be encouraged to schedule athletic competitions outside the regularly scheduled school day. (b) Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, any member of a school-sponsored interscholastic athletic team who competes in a regional tournament or state tournament sanctioned by the Kentucky Board of Education, or the organization or agency designated by the board to manage interscholastic athletics, and occurring on a regularly scheduled school day may be counted present at school on the date or dates of the competition, as determined by local board policy, for a maximum of two (2) days per student per year. The student shall be expected to complete any assignments missed on the date or dates of the competition. (c) The school attendance record of any student for whom paragraph (b) of this subsection applies shall indicate that the student was in attendance on the date or dates of competition. Students applying for excused absence for attendance at the Kentucky State Fair shall be granted one (1) day of excused absence. Schools shall provide continuing education for those students who are determined to need additional time to achieve the outcomes defined in KRS 158.6451, and schools shall not be limited to the minimum school term in providing this education. Continuing education time may include extended days, extended weeks, or extended years. A local board of education may adopt a policy requiring its students to participate in continuing education. The local policy shall set out the conditions under which attendance will be required and any exceptions which are provided. The Kentucky Board of Education shall promulgate administrative regulations establishing criteria for the allotment of grants to local school districts and shall include criteria by which the commissioner of education may approve a district's request for a waiver to use an alternative service delivery option, including providing services during the school day on a limited basis. These grants shall be allotted to school districts to provide instructional programs for pupils who are identified as needing additional time to achieve the outcomes defined in KRS 158.6451. A school district that has a school operating a model early reading program under KRS 158.792 may use a portion of its grant money as part of the matching funds to provide individualized or small group reading instruction to qualified students outside of the regular classroom during the school day. (10) Notwithstanding any other statute, each school term shall include no less than the equivalent of the minimum number of instructional days required by this section, except that the commissioner of education may grant up to the equivalent of ten (10) instructional days for school districts that have missed an average of twenty (20) or more days in the previous three (3) years and use alternative methods of instruction, including virtual learning, on days when the school district is closed for health or safety reasons, on nontraditional days, or on nontraditional time. Average daily attendance for purposes of Support Education Excellence in Kentucky program funding during the instructional time granted shall be calculated in compliance with administrative regulations promulgated by the Kentucky Board of Education. (11) Notwithstanding the provisions of KRS 158.060(3) and the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, a school district shall arrange bus schedules so that all buses arrive in sufficient time to provide breakfast prior to the instructional day. In the event of an unforeseen bus delay, the administrator of a school that participates in the Federal School Breakfast Program may authorize up to fifteen (15) minutes of the six (6) hour instructional day if necessary to provide the opportunity for children to eat breakfast not to exceed eight (8) times during the school year within a school building. (12) Notwithstanding any other statute to the contrary, the following provisions shall apply to a school district that misses school days due to emergencies, including weather-related emergencies: (a) A certified school employee shall be considered to have fulfilled the minimum one hundred eighty-five (185) day contract with a school district under KRS 157.350 and shall be given credit for the purpose of calculating service credit for retirement under KRS 161.500 for certified school personnel if: 1. State and local requirements under this section are met regarding the equivalent of the number and length of instructional days, professional development days, holidays, and days for planning activities without the presence of pupils; and 2. The provisions of the district's school calendar to make up school days missed due to any emergency, as approved by the Kentucky Department of Education, including but not limited to a provision for additional instructional time per day, are met. (b) Additional time worked by a classified school employee shall be considered as equivalent time to be applied toward the employee's (c) contract and calculation of service credit for classified employees under KRS 78.615 if: 1. The employee works for a school district with a school calendar approved by the Kentucky Department of Education that contains a provision that additional instructional time per day shall be used to make up full days missed due to an emergency; 2. The employee's contract requires a minimum six (6) hour work day; and 3. The employee's job responsibilities and work day are extended when the instructional time is extended for the purposes of making up time. Classified employees who are regularly scheduled to work less than six (6) hours per day and who do not have additional work responsibilities as a result of lengthened instructional days shall be excluded from the provisions of this subsection. These employees may be assigned additional work responsibilities to make up service credit under KRS 78.615 that would be lost due to lengthened instructional days. Effective:June 25, 2013 History: Amended 2013 Ky. Acts ch. 107, sec. 1, effective June 25, 2013. -Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 136, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2010; and ch. 146, sec. 1, effective April 13, 2010. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 178, sec. 1, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 89, sec. 1, effective April 6, 2004. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 131, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2002; and ch. 169, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 2001 Ky. Acts ch. 134, sec. 1, effective June 21, 2001. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 261, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2000; and ch. 527, sec. 13, effective July 14, 2000. -Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 580, sec. 4, effective July 15, 1998; and ch. 609, sec. 2, effective July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 20, sec. 2, effective July 15, 1996; ch. 195, sec. 25, effective July 15, 1996; and ch. 362, sec. 6, effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 394, sec. 22, effective July 15, 1994; and ch. 464, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1994. Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 398, sec. 1, effective July 14, 1992. -- Amended 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 476, Pt. I, sec. 27, effective July 13, 1990. -- Amended 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 373, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1986. -- Amended 1984 Ky. Acts ch. 359, sec. 2, effective July 13, 1984. -- Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 306, sec. 2, effective March 30, 1978. -- Amended 1976 Ky. Acts ch. 209, sec. 1. -Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 265, sec. 5. -- Amended 1972 Ky. Acts ch. 372, sec. 2. -- Amended 1966 Ky. Acts ch. 29, sec. 1 (1) and (2); and ch. 255, sec. 150. -- Amended 1964 Ky. Acts ch. 6, sec. 1; and ch. 133, sec. 1. -Amended 1962 Ky. Acts ch. 244, Art. VII, sec. 2. -- Amended 1952 Ky. Acts ch. 104, sec. 1. -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 4370-7. Legislative Research Commission Note (7/15/2010). The amendments made to this section by 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 136 shall be known as the "Make a Difference for Kids Act of 2010." Legislative Research Commission Note (1/29/2002). The words "upon request of the statewide professional education association having the" were inadvertently omitted from subsection (6)(a) of this section when it was amended by 2001 Ky. Acts ch. 134, sec. 1. These words have been restored to the section by the reviser of statutes under KRS 7.136 and 446.280. Legislative Research Commission Note (6/21/2001). A reference to "subsection (3)(c)" in subsection (6)(b)1. of this statute has been changed in codification to "subsection (4)(c)" under KRS 7.136(1)(e) and (h). In 2001 Ky. Acts ch. 134, sec. 1, the existing subsection (3) was renumbered as subsection (4), but an internal reference to that subsection in the existing language of this statute was overlooked. 2012-2014 Budget Reference. See State/Executive Branch Budget, 2012 Ky. Acts ch. 144, Pt. I, C, 3, (17) at 1111. 2012-2014 Budget Reference. See State/Executive Branch Budget, 2012 Ky. Acts ch. 144, Pt. I, C, 3, (20) at 1112.