Kentucky School Advocate
May 2024
Staff report
In a win for local school board members, a KSBA-supported bill passed in the final hours of the legislative session that makes changes to state-mandated board training requirements and improves the process of filing to run in school board elections.
House Bill 449, filed by Rep. Steve Riley, R-Glasgow, alters the current statute that requires all school board members to annually earn training in finance and superintendent evaluation. Once in effect, the topics will only be required for school board members with less than two consecutive years of service. The bill also adds one hour of state-mandated training on the Open Meetings Act and Open Records Act within the first 12 months of initial service and every four years thereafter.
The legislation also allows county clerks to accept signed affidavits from school board candidates affirming completion of 12th grade as an alternative to submitting official high school transcripts.
“HB 449 addresses two ongoing member concerns,” said Kerri Schelling, KSBA executive director. “School board members will now have greater flexibility in the topics they choose for meeting state-mandated training hours, and many of those running for election or reelection to their local school boards will no longer be unfairly burdened with obtaining paperwork that, in some cases, is not available to them.”