KSBA’s positions on proposed legislation, whether in support or opposition, are informed by a list of fundamental guiding principles, most recently approved by KSBA’s board of directors in 2022:
- KSBA supports policies that strengthen local control and decision-making authority in school governance and opposes proposals that may diminish that authority.
- KSBA supports continuous operational improvements of our common schools to help all children in Kentucky develop the required capacities for learning.
- KSBA supports policies that better prepare our children for success at the K-12 level and beyond.
- KSBA supports providing school boards/districts with full funding of all specific funding formulas.
- KSBA advocates for the removal of, or adequate funding for, currently unfunded mandates.
- KSBA opposes any proposal that would violate federal law or the state constitution.
- KSBA opposes any proposed legislation that would require school boards to expend additional financial resources without the state providing those necessary resources.
- KSBA opposes (re)directing public funds to K-12 schools outside the common school system.
2026 Legislative Priorities
Each year, the Kentucky School Boards Association outlines legislative priorities for advancing public education, strengthening Kentucky’s 171 school districts and empowering local school boards. The following summarizes KSBA's top priorities for the 2026 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly. These priorities were approved by KSBA’s
board of directors, comprised of 27 school board members from across Kentucky.
Enacting a state budget that adequately provides for all students in Kentucky’s common schools.
We ask the General Assembly to:
- Protect funding for our state’s most vulnerable students including SEEK add-on funding for exceptional students, at-risk students and English language learners, and Learning & Results Services (LARS) programs including family resource and youth services centers (FRYSCs), state agency children and extended school services (ESS).
- Ensure 100% reimbursement for student transportation to help school boards address driver shortages.
- Continue funding for full-day kindergarten and make the funding permanent by codifying full-day kindergarten funding into state law.
- Continue to equalize local nickels levied by school boards for facility improvements.
- Continue to fund statewide and local efforts to create safe school environments, including funding to achieve the goals of the School Safety and Resiliency Act (2019).
- Continue to appropriate the full actuarially determined contributions to the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), and the full amount needed for school employee health insurance.
Protecting local control of school boards so they can make decisions in the best interest of the communities that elected them.
We ask the General Assembly to continue supporting local board authority over the issues that call for local solutions and thoughtful use of local resources. This includes prioritizing permissive statutory language over rigid, one-size-fits-all statewide mandates. This also includes the passage of legislation that maintains local taxing authority and does not contribute to the erosion of the elected board’s ability to levy necessary funding for schools.
Preventing unintended consequences.
We ask members of the General Assembly to consult school boards, administrators, teachers, parents and students when considering education legislation – ensuring the letter of the law matches the spirit of the law.
We ask the General Assembly to fulfill its commitment to making urgent, necessary improvements to 2025’s Senate Bill 181 regarding traceable communications and to seek out feedback from the districts and personnel charged with its implementation.
Advocating for adequate funding for any new requirements.
We ask the General Assembly to consider the potential financial impact of new requirements on our school districts. In order to successfully achieve the policy goals of the legislation, we ask that any new mandates be accompanied by the resources to effectively implement the requirements.
Expanding access to early childhood education to improve kindergarten readiness.
Across the state, many of our students enter school without the skills they need to succeed in the classroom. In the 2023-24 school year, less than 50% of students arrived prepared for kindergarten. To help us give students the greatest chance to thrive in school, we ask the General Assembly to continue its efforts to expand access to early childhood learning experiences and support districts’ preschool programs.
Enabling facility improvement cost-saving and funding modernization.
We ask the General Assembly to make permanent the provisions of House Bill 678 (2022) which have saved districts time and money by providing flexibility over the facility improvement process. Those cost-saving measures are now set to expire in 2027.
We also ask the General Assembly to work with education stakeholders to explore pathways to modernize how school boards fund facility improvement and construction and how those facilities are insured.