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Dear Colleagues,
The school year is still young and welcome back to those of you who just started this week. We at the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) wish you all the best for the upcoming year!
One of the initiatives we’re excited about this year is All In for Ag Education Week, which is happening Sept. 15-19. You remember this from last school year, when we launched Agriculture Education Week March 17-21, and now we’re looking forward to celebrating agriculture in the fall each year.
With All In for Ag Education Week, we’re celebrating an industry that produces so much for our communities, including so many vibrant learning experiences for our students.
With the Kentucky State Fair going on right now, many of these vibrant learning experiences are on full display. I was thrilled to be part of the judging panel for a School Garden Salsa Challenge on Monday with Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman. The competition was the kickoff event for this fall's All in for Ag Education Week, which is a collaboration between the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the Lieutenant Governor's Office and KDE.
Teams from across the Commonwealth produced different varieties of salsa, all made from ingredients grown by the students in their school gardens or locally sourced. The projects were a good example of the vibrant learning experiences we hope to see in all of our classrooms: learning that is meaningful, relatable and joyful for the students.
Congratulations to the winning team from Madisonville-North Hopkins High School, who made a delightful corn salsa made from the school’s field of sweet corn. Their students will receive a special visit from Shell, Coleman and I during All In for Ag Education Week and their recipe will be showcased to school nutrition offices across Kentucky.
All In for Ag Education Week is an all-encompassing learning experience for students that also equips educators with ready-to-use lessons and fosters community involvement to create hands-on learning opportunities.
More details, including lessons plans and resources, can be found on the All In for Ag Education Week website.
As always, thank you for being …
All In,
Robbie Fletcher
Commissioner of Education
School Report Card – SRC Review/Approval Collector, Overview and Educational Opportunity Now Open
The School Report Card Secure Portal Collection, Preview and Approval tools for the Overview and the Educational Opportunity domains have opened for data entry, review and approval. The collection window and review period will close Sept. 24.
School Report Card (SRC) and district assessment coordinator (DAC) contacts were notified Monday and provided details on tasks that need to be completed. School Profile and other required data must be entered into the Collection tool; districts must approve each domain to indicate completion of this work. The School Profile Report must be completed with applicable signatures and available in the local board office by Oct. 1, per KRS 158.6453.20 (b).
There are known issues with the system. Functionality or technical issues should be referred to AnLar by email. The applicable KDE point of contact can assist with data issues. Additional details are available in the SRC/DAC communication (5).
Career and Technical Education and Transition to Adult Life domains are not part of this release. These two domains are expected to open mid-September before soft launch to the public in early October. Assessment and accountability data will be released publicly mid-to-late-November.
The School Report Card Resources webpage is the central repository for communications and resources. The SRC timeline, resources and all SRC communications are posted to this webpage.
Improvement Planning 2025-2026
Planning for the 2025-2026 academic year is now underway. A collaborative approach that brings together diverse stakeholders is essential to identifying priority needs and determining the most effective resources and strategies to address them. Schools and districts will engage in this collaborative process with the shared goal of advancing student success and strengthening their communities.
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) will continue using the Cognia Continuous Improvement Platform (CIP), and the diagnostics for 2025–2026 are now available. Since schools and districts are required to develop an annual improvement plan, new diagnostics must be initiated. When completing diagnostics in the CIP, please verify that you have selected the correct level (system or school) and the appropriate school year.
The process and timeline for comprehensive school and district improvement planning, as outlined in 703 KAR 5:225, remain unchanged and are detailed on the Comprehensive Improvement Planning webpage. Please note the addition of a new diagnostic for districts this year as required by Senate Bill 2 (2024).
The District Trauma-informed Approach Plan diagnostic will be part of Phase Two which is to be completed by Nov. 1. For more information regarding this new diagnostic, please contact Christina Weeter, Division of Student Success director in the KDE Office of Continuous Improvement and Support.
Improvement planning is a continuous process, and plans may be updated throughout the year. However, the established timeline outlines all required diagnostics for each phase and their statutory deadlines.
We also encourage you to attend the Continuous Improvement Summit, taking place Sept. 22-23 at the Central Bank Center in Lexington. This event will dive deeper into improvement planning practices, highlight continuous improvement initiatives, and unveil the recently updated Comprehensive District Improvement Plan and Comprehensive School Improvement Plan goal building templates.
For questions about the CIP platform, please contact Veronica Boller. For additional guidance on improvement planning, visit the Comprehensive Improvement Planning webpage.
House Bill 142 (2024) Reminder
House Bill 142 (2024) was in effect starting with the 2024-2025 school year. This new law requires districts to provide to the parent/guardian and the student evidence-based, age-appropriate nicotine cessation information as a discipline resolution for the first behavior incident including drug types of those listed below:
- Alternative nicotine products
- Nicotine vapor products
- Non-nicotine vapor products
- Tobacco/nicotine product
- THC electronic vapor product
The materials should be provided by the school counselor or other school-based mental health services and should include but not limited to materials, programs, and referrals for treatment.
Districts can reference the Behavior Data Standards on page 6, Section A for guidance on creating the resolution code in the district database.
The bill enacts additional requirements for student behavior events in which the drug type selection is alternative nicotine and non-nicotine vapor, tobacco/nicotine or THC electronic vapor products.
To add the resolution to student behavior, when a behavior event of Drug or Tobacco Use, Possession or Distribution are selected, Drug Type data element requires a selection. If the drug type is one of the above products, the first resolution attached to the event should be the provision of the nicotine cessation information.
In addition, if a behavior event involving drug or tobacco results in a medical intervention, users must select the already existing indicator named Medical Services Provided in the Participant Details section of the Behavior Management Tool. Reference page 9, section C if the Behavior Data Standards.
This data is reportable and can be tracked using the Safe Schools report via KY State Reporting in Infinite Campus.
KDE’s Evidence-based Prevention and Cessation Materials website provides resources intended to help ensure school districts are implementing programs and resources that have been proven effective through research and evidence.
Please share this information and the data standard with those staff in the schools responsible for entry of student behavior.
Questions regarding Infinite Campus set-up and student tracking can be directed to Windy Spalding. Questions regarding evidence-based prevention and cessation materials can be directed to Jessica Johnson.
Adaptive Schools Professional Learning Opportunity
The Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) Office of Continuous Improvement and Support will be offering its first cohort of Adaptive Schools professional learning in the fall of 2025.
The Adaptive Schools training provides participants the skills needed to lead collaborative groups in becoming more effective and better equipped to resolve complex issues around student learning. The training takes teams beyond the idea of professional learning communities to the actual implementation of principles and understandings to engage in a continuous cycle of team and individual improvement. School leaders learn how to embrace the hard-to-talk-about details of learning, teaching, data analysis and assessment to evaluate the cumulative effects of their work with students and each other.
Adaptive Schools is the “how” of professional learning communities: how to behave in groups, how to lead them and how to facilitate them for improved leading, teaching and learning and perfectly complements the Cognitive Coaching seminars previously offered by KDE.
The four sessions will take place Oct. 13-14 and Nov. 13-14 at the Central Bank Center in Lexington from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET. This professional learning opportunity comes at no charge to participants and there is a 50-participant maximum. Priority will be given to schools who are designated for comprehensive or targeted support and improvement, as well as those schools requiring more rigorous intervention, although we invite all Kentucky leaders to attend.
To register, please complete the Adaptive Schools registration form by Oct. 3. If you have any questions, contact Shannon Gullett, KDE educational recovery director.
School Resource Officer Funding Available to Districts
The general fund appropriation included $18 million in fiscal year 2025-2026 to the Kentucky Department of Education to assist local districts in funding salaries for school resource officers, as defined in KRS 158.441, on a reimbursement basis.
In accordance with House Bill 622, the Kentucky Department of Education shall reimburse local school districts up to $20,000 for each campus employing at least one on-site full-time certified school resource officer. Once each local district has staffed and continues to maintain one school resource officer for each campus in that district, the local district is then eligible to apply for reimbursement for additional assistance in funding salaries for school resource officers, except that the assistance allowed under this paragraph shall be limited to:
- Funding available; and
- No more than one school resource officer for each academic building.
Monthly grants shall first be applied to the per-campus requirement across all local districts and then to districts that meet the per-campus requirement and have additional school resource officers, but only to the extent that funding is available.
Notwithstanding KRS 45.229, any portion of general fund money not expended for this purpose shall lapse to the Budget Reserve Trust Fund Account (KRS 48.705). Mandated reports shall be submitted pursuant to Part III, 24. of this Act.
In order to meet the requirement outlined above, the Kentucky Department of Education is asking districts that will seek reimbursement to complete the School Resource Officer (SRO) Funding Intent to Participate form by Sept. 15.
Information provided in the survey will determine funding amounts available to districts for SRO funding.
For questions, please contact Karen Wirth or Lalah Brewer.
Kentucky Department of Education to Host Kaleidoscope Community of Practice Sessions
Join the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) for the next round of Kaleidoscope Community of Practice sessions for special education teachers.
Through the Community of Practice, special education teachers will expand their understanding of Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) through collaboration and co-creation. Teachers will leave the Community of Practice with a collection of resources, tools and skills that will grow their capacity to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.
Participants must attend one monthly session. Virtual sessions are from 4:30-6:30 p.m. ET or 5-7 p.m. ET.
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Session 1 (October, full-day, in-person): multiple dates and locations TBD by participants.
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Session 2 (Two hours, virtual): Nov. 13 or Nov. 19
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Session 3 (Two hours, virtual): Jan. 14, 2026, or Jan. 22, 2026
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Session 4 (Two hours, virtual): Feb. 11, 2026, or Feb. 19, 2026
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Session 5 (March 2026, full-day, in-person): multiple dates and locations TBD by participants
Free teacher kits will be given to participants who complete all five sessions!
Spots are limited. Visit the 2025-2026 Kaleidoscope Community of Practice registration form for more information. Registration ends on Aug. 29.
Accepting Applications for Diagnostic Review Team Members
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and Cognia are accepting applications for diagnostic review team members to serve during the 2025-2026 school year.
The Cognia diagnostic review process is a performance-driven approach that relies on data from student performance, stakeholder feedback, classroom observations and a review of documents, artifacts and school practices.
Diagnostic reviews yield a comprehensive analysis of an institution in an extensive report intended to energize and guide continuous improvement planning for underperforming schools and districts.
All diagnostic review team members must have experience or expertise in the following areas:
- School or system administration with a specific emphasis on instructional leadership such as superintendent, principal, instructional supervisor, director of curriculum and instruction, assessment, special education, etc.
- Leading or supporting turnaround/improvement initiatives at the school, system or state department levels.
- Familiarity with the analysis and use of data as a driver for improvement.
Diagnostic review team members are required to complete specialized training. While there is no compensation for participating as a diagnostic review team member, all expenses associated with travel for an onsite visit will be reimbursed by Cognia.
If you are interested in serving in this capacity, please begin by submitting your contact information on the Diagnostic Review Team Member Interest Form.
We will send next step information to support you through the training process. We will have multiple training options available throughout the next few months in preparation for reviews scheduled for the 2025-2026 school year. If you have questions, please email the Cognia team.
Statutory Requirements for Rights of Students, Display the National Motto
Pursuant to KRS 158.186, before Sept. 15 of each year, the commissioner of education must distribute copies of KRS 158.183, which details the “rights of students,” and KRS 158.195, which requires each public elementary and secondary school to “display the national motto” of the United States. This distribution must be made to school‐based decision making councils, among other groups. Please share this information with school‐based decision making council members in your school district.
158.183 Prohibited acts by students - Rights of student - Duties of local board of education -Administrative remedies.
(1) Consistent with the Constitutions of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a student shall have the right to carry out an activity described in any of paragraphs (a) to (j) of subsection (2) of this section, if the student does not:
(a) Infringe on the rights of the school to:
- Maintain order and discipline;
- Prevent disruption of the educational process; and
- Determine educational curriculum and assignments;
(b) Harass other persons or coerce other persons to participate in the activity; or
(c) Otherwise infringe on the rights of other persons.
(2) Consistent with the Constitutions of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, a student shall be permitted to voluntarily:
(a) Pray or engage in religious activities in a public school, vocally or silently, alone or with other students to the same extent and under the same circumstances as a student is permitted to vocally or silently reflect, meditate, speak on, or engage in nonreligious matters alone or with other students in the public school;
(b) Express religious or political viewpoints in a public school to the same extent and under the same circumstances as a student is permitted to express viewpoints on nonreligious or nonpolitical topics or subjects in the school;
(c) Express religious or political viewpoints in classroom, homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free from discrimination or penalty based on the religious or political content of the submissions;
(d) Speak to and attempt to discuss religious or political viewpoints with other students in a public school to the same extent and under the same circumstances as a student is permitted to speak to and attempt to share nonreligious or nonpolitical viewpoints with other students. However, any student may demand that this speech or these attempts to share religious or political viewpoints not be directed at him or her;
(e) Distribute religious or political literature in a public school, subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions to the same extent and under the same circumstances as a student is permitted to distribute literature on nonreligious or nonpolitical topics or subjects in the school;
(f) Display religious messages on items of clothing to the same extent that a student is permitted to display nonreligious messages on items of clothing;
(g) Access public secondary school facilities during noninstructional time as a member of a religious student organization for activities that may include prayer, Bible reading, or other worship exercises to the same extent that members of nonreligious student organizations are permitted access during non-instructional time;
(h) Use school media, including the public address system, the school newspaper, and school bulletin boards, to announce student religious meetings to the same extent that a student is permitted to use school media to announce student nonreligious meetings;
(i) Meet as a member of a religious student group during noninstructional time in the school day to the same extent that members of nonreligious student groups are permitted to meet, including before and after the school day; and
(j) Be absent, in accordance with attendance policy, from a public school to observe religious holidays and participate in other religious practices to the same extent and under the same circumstances as a student is permitted to be absent from a public school for nonreligious purposes.
(3) Consistent with its obligations to respect the rights secured by the Constitutions of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a local board of education shall ensure that:
(a) 1. The selection of students to speak at official events is made without regard to the religious or political viewpoint of the student speaker;
- The prepared remarks of the student are not altered before delivery, except in a viewpoint‐neutral manner, unless requested by the student. However, student speakers shall not engage in speech that is obscene, vulgar, offensively lewd, or indecent; and
- If the content of the student's speech is such that a reasonable observer may perceive affirmative school sponsorship or endorsement of the student speaker's religious or political viewpoint, the school shall communicate, in writing, orally, or both, that the student's speech does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position, or expression of the school;
(b) Religious and political organizations are allowed equal access to public forums on the same basis as nonreligious and nonpolitical organizations; and
(c) No recognized religious or political student organization is hindered or discriminated against in the ordering of its internal affairs, selection of leaders and members, defining of doctrines and principles, and resolving of organizational disputes in the furtherance of its mission, or in its determination that only persons committed to its mission should conduct these activities.
(4) Consistent with its obligations to respect the rights secured by the Constitutions of the United States of America and the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a local board of education shall permit public schools in the district to sponsor artistic or theatrical programs that advance students' knowledge of society's cultural and religious heritage, as well as provide opportunities for students to study and perform a wide range of music, literature, poetry, and drama.
(5) No action may be maintained under KRS 158.181 to 158.187 unless the student has exhausted the following administrative remedies;
(a) The student or the student's parent or guardian shall state his or her complaint to the school's principal. The principal shall investigate and take appropriate action to ensure the rights of the student are resolved within seven (7) days of the date of the complaint;
(b) If the concerns are not resolved, then the student or the student's parent or guardian shall make a complaint in writing to the superintendent with the specific facts of the alleged violation;
(c) The superintendent shall investigate and take appropriate action to ensure that the rights of the student are resolved within thirty (30) days of the date of the written complaint; and
(d) Only after the superintendent's investigation and action may a student or the student's parent or legal guardian pursue any other legal action.
Effective: June 29, 2017
History: Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 15, sec. 1, effective June 29, 2017. – Created 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 294, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1998.
158.195 Display of national motto in public elementary and secondary schools - Reading and posting in public schools of texts and documents on American history and heritage.
(1) (a) Beginning in the 2019‐2020 school year, local boards shall require each public elementary and secondary school to display the national motto of the United States, "In God We Trust," in a prominent location in the school.
(b) The display required in paragraph (a) of this subsection may take the form of but is not limited to a mounted plaque or student artwork.
(c) For purposes of this section, "prominent location" means a school entryway, cafeteria, or common area where students are likely to see the national motto.
(2) Local boards may allow any teacher or administrator in a public school district of the Commonwealth to read or post in a public school building, classroom, or event any excerpts or portions of: the national motto; the national anthem; the pledge of allegiance; the preamble to the Kentucky Constitution; the Declaration of Independence; the Mayflower Compact; the writings, speeches, documents, and proclamations of the founding fathers and presidents of the United States; United States Supreme Court decisions; and acts of the United States Congress including the published text of the Congressional Record. There shall be no content-based censorship of American history or heritage in the Commonwealth based on religious references in these writings, documents, and records.
Effective: June 27, 2019
History: Amended 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 82, sec. 1, effective June 27, 2019. ‐ Created 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 170, sec. 4, effective July 14, 1992.
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