KSBA’s positions on proposed legislation, whether in support or opposition, are informed by a list of 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.
Each year, the Kentucky School Boards Association releases a summary of priorities for advancing public education, strengthening Kentucky’s 171 school districts and empowering local school boards. See below for a summary of KSBA's top four legislative priorities for the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly. Priorities were approved by KSBA’s board of directors, comprised of 27 locally elected school board members throughout Kentucky.
Priority 1: Enacting a state budget that adequately provides for all students across Kentucky
We ask the General Assembly to:
- Increase the funding allocated through Base SEEK. As the most fundamental component of school operational funding which promotes equity across communities (in both overall and state/local proportional funding), an increase allows school boards to more adequately address local budgeting needs.
- Increase reimbursement for student transportation to help school boards address bus driver shortages through competitive compensation packages.
- Continue to provide state funding for full-day kindergarten.
- Continue to equalize local nickel taxes levied for facility improvements.
- Increase funding for Learning & Results Services (LARS) programs. These programs directly support students in the form of family resource and youth service centers (FRYSCs), instructional resources, gifted and talented, state agency children, extended school services (ESS), etc.
- Increase funding to fully implement the School Safety and Resiliency Act (2019), particularly costs associated with on-boarding school counselors and resource officers.
- Increase SEEK add-on rates for exceptional children and those with Limited English Proficiency to address the growth in these populations across the state.
- Continue to appropriate the full actuarially determined contributions to the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), and the full amount needed for school employee health insurance.
Priority 2: Extending cost- and time-saving measures currently allowed for facilities improvements
We thank the General Assembly for providing districts with greater, short-term flexibility over facility improvement processes through HB 678 (2022). School boards overwhelmingly indicate this has saved their districts time and money. We ask the legislature to extend the flexibilities and cost-saving measures afforded by that bill so that our schools may continue to realize the benefits.
Priority 3: Focusing state-required professional development on improving instructional practice, prioritizing the training most impactful on student achievement
Many hours of training on non-instructional topics have been mandated for district employees, over time becoming a hindrance to the development of stronger instructional skills among our educators. We ask the General Assembly not to enact additional professional development mandates, but rather to allow educators to focus on improving their core instructional skills and practices through efforts such as LETRS training through the new Kentucky Reading Academies.
Priority 4: Helping districts to work with judicial and child welfare agencies to keep students in class pursuant to existing truancy laws
We thank the General Assembly for including in HB 3 (2022) some provisions requested by district directors of pupil personnel (DPPs), aimed at better facilitating the enforcement of long-standing state truancy laws through the courts when necessary. We ask the General Assembly to continue to closely monitor this aspect of the omnibus juvenile justice reform legislation, and to continue efforts for FAIR Teams to function more quickly and effectively.