Kentucky School Advocate
May 2020

By Brenna R. Kelly
Staff writer

Locally elected school board members will no longer have to undergo annual charter authorizer training thanks to a bill passed by the 2020 General Assembly. 

“Charter authorizer training shall not be required of any local school board member until a charter application is submitted to the board or boards,” states Senate Bill 158 which was signed by Gov. Andy Beshear. 

Under the law, once a board receives a charter school application, any board member who has not completed the charter authorizer training within the last 12 months must receive six hours of charter training before evaluating the application. 

In addition to the law, the Kentucky Board of Education on April 9 voted to amend the state’s charter school regulation to also say that boards do not have to undergo charter authorizer training until the district receives an application. 

Under the amended regulation, once a district receives an application, school board members would have 10 days to complete the training. 

The regulation must still go through the legislative approval process which includes a public comment period and a vote by the Administrative Regulation Review subcommittee. 

Prior to the changes, local board members with eight or fewer years of charter authorizer experience were required to complete 12 hours of charter authorizer training annually.

KSBA Executive Director Kerri Schelling applauded the legislature and the KBE for removing those burdensome requirements. The changes will allow board members to pursue training that is more relevant to their governance roles, she said.

“Board members will be able to explore professional development, without expending additional time and resources, that could enhance districts’ ability to prepare every Kentucky student to succeed,” Schelling said. 

Previously, the KBE had allowed Interim Commissioner Kevin Brown to waive the charter training requirements for 2020 to any school board that asked. By April, all 172 school boards had applied for the waiver.

 

Photo: Board members attend a charter authorizer training session at KSBA’s 2020 Annual Conference. Board members will no longer be mandated to take charter training until their district receives an application.