---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to public education and declaring an emergency. Amend KRS 156.557 to require school districts to develop and implement a personnel evaluation system based on a statewide framework for teaching; prohibit the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) from imposing reporting requirements related to the system on local districts; require evaluations annually for teachers who have not attained continuing service status and every three years for teachers with continuing service status, principals, and assistant principals; prohibit evaluation results from being included in school accountability; amend KRS 156.160 to allow a foreign language course, career and technical education course, or a computer technology or programming course to meet the arts and humanities requirement for high school graduation; amend KRS 158.305 to require KDE to provide assistance in implementing a response-to-intervention system if requested by a local district; amend KRS 158.6453 to implement a process for reviewing academic standards and assessments; require the Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate administrative regulations for the administration of the process; delete program reviews and audits from the statewide assessment system; revise the statewide assessment requirements; prohibit the statewide assessment from including any standards not included in the board-approved standards; require a college admissions and placement exam to be given in the fall of grade 10 and spring of grade 11 and require KDE to pay for it; delete provisions regarding WorkKeys assessments; amend requirements for the annual school report card; require KDE to implement a standards review process for visual and performing arts, practical living skills, and foreign language and require KDE to provide recommendations to schools for including those programs, and a writing program, in their curriculum; direct KDE to develop a school profile report for schools to describe implementation of the mandated standards in the visual and performing arts, practical living skills, and foreign language; amend KRS 158.6455 to revise the accountability system; require school improvement results to look at growth over three years as compared to similar schools; include progress toward English proficiency, quality of school climate and safety, high school graduation rates, and postsecondary readiness in the accountability system; require each local workforce investment board to compile a list of industry-recognized certifications; require KDE to pay for the cost of initial assessments taken to achieve industry-recognized certifications; amend the criteria for schools and districts receiving consequences and assistance under administrative regulations promulgated by the Kentucky Board of Education; amend KRS 158.649 to revise dates regarding review and reporting of school improvement plans; amend KRS 158.782 to describe KDE's monitoring and review process for low- performing schools and change the criteria for the Kentucky Board of Education providing highly skilled education assistance to schools and districts; amend KRS 158.805 to allow Commonwealth school improvement funds to be used for personnel costs; amend KRS 158.840 to prohibit KDE from requiring intervention reporting except in certain circumstances; amend KRS 160.345 to allow an alternative principal selection process in any school district and delete language regarding principal replacement; amend KRS 160.346 to delete provisions relating to the low-performing school identification and intervention process; add provisions for identifying schools for targeted support and improvement and comprehensive support and improvement; describe intervention requirements for schools identified for targeted support and improvement; define and describe a turnaround audit and intervention process for schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement; require the Kentucky Board of Education to establish exit criteria for schools identified for targeted support and improvement and comprehensive support and improvement; require a school to enter an intervention process selected by the commissioner after three years without exiting comprehensive support and improvement status; delete provisions pertaining to the current school audit process and the current intervention options approved by the Kentucky Board of Education; amend various KRS sections to conform; EMERGENCY."
description: "AN ACT relating to public education and declaring an emergency. Amend KRS 156.557 to require school districts to develop and implement a personnel evaluation system based on a statewide framework for teaching; prohibit the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) from imposing reporting requirements related to the system on local districts; require evaluations annually for teachers who have not attained continuing service status and every three years for teachers with continuing service status, principals, and assistant principals; prohibit evaluation results from being included in school accountability; amend KRS 156.160 to allow a foreign language course, career and technical education course, or a computer technology or programming course to meet the arts and humanities requirement for high school graduation; amend KRS 158.305 to require KDE to provide assistance in implementing a response-to-intervention system if requested by a local district; amend KRS 158.6453 to implement a process for reviewing academic standards and assessments; require the Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate administrative regulations for the administration of the process; delete program reviews and audits from the statewide assessment system; revise the statewide assessment requirements; prohibit the statewide assessment from including any standards not included in the board-approved standards; require a college admissions and placement exam to be given in the fall of grade 10 and spring of grade 11 and require KDE to pay for it; delete provisions regarding WorkKeys assessments; amend requirements for the annual school report card; require KDE to implement a standards review process for visual and performing arts, practical living skills, and foreign language and require KDE to provide recommendations to schools for including those programs, and a writing program, in their curriculum; direct KDE to develop a school profile report for schools to describe implementation of the mandated standards in the visual and performing arts, practical living skills, and foreign language; amend KRS 158.6455 to revise the accountability system; require school improvement results to look at growth over three years as compared to similar schools; include progress toward English proficiency, quality of school climate and safety, high school graduation rates, and postsecondary readiness in the accountability system; require each local workforce investment board to compile a list of industry-recognized certifications; require KDE to pay for the cost of initial assessments taken to achieve industry-recognized certifications; amend the criteria for schools and districts receiving consequences and assistance under administrative regulations promulgated by the Kentucky Board of Education; amend KRS 158.649 to revise dates regarding review and reporting of school improvement plans; amend KRS 158.782 to describe KDE's monitoring and review process for low- performing schools and change the criteria for the Kentucky Board of Education providing highly skilled education assistance to schools and districts; amend KRS 158.805 to allow Commonwealth school improvement funds to be used for personnel costs; amend KRS 158.840 to prohibit KDE from requiring intervention reporting except in certain circumstances; amend KRS 160.345 to allow an alternative principal selection process in any school district and delete language regarding principal replacement; amend KRS 160.346 to delete provisions relating to the low-performing school identification and intervention process; add provisions for identifying schools for targeted support and improvement and comprehensive support and improvement; describe intervention requirements for schools identified for targeted support and improvement; define and describe a turnaround audit and intervention process for schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement; require the Kentucky Board of Education to establish exit criteria for schools identified for targeted support and improvement and comprehensive support and improvement; require a school to enter an intervention process selected by the commissioner after three years without exiting comprehensive support and improvement status; delete provisions pertaining to the current school audit process and the current intervention options approved by the Kentucky Board of Education; amend various KRS sections to conform; EMERGENCY."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2017RS"
identifier: "SB 1"
citation: "Kentucky SB 1 (2017RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 8
action_count: 29
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2017-01-03"
last_action: "2017-04-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/13f145b8-9539-4d6e-9f59-4e1edf1edfd3"
source_url: "http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/17RS/SB1.htm"
source_hash: "dabf8d9d1f6c6293f2db7b78781bbd463b795c547cf326c862341af513236b5a"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ky"]
---

# Kentucky SB 1 (2017RS) — AN ACT relating to public education and declaring an emergency. Amend KRS 156.557 to require school districts to develop and implement a personnel evaluation system based on a statewide framework for teaching; prohibit the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) from imposing reporting requirements related to the system on local districts; require evaluations annually for teachers who have not attained continuing service status and every three years for teachers with continuing service status, principals, and assistant principals; prohibit evaluation results from being included in school accountability; amend KRS 156.160 to allow a foreign language course, career and technical education course, or a computer technology or programming course to meet the arts and humanities requirement for high school graduation; amend KRS 158.305 to require KDE to provide assistance in implementing a response-to-intervention system if requested by a local district; amend KRS 158.6453 to implement a process for reviewing academic standards and assessments; require the Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate administrative regulations for the administration of the process; delete program reviews and audits from the statewide assessment system; revise the statewide assessment requirements; prohibit the statewide assessment from including any standards not included in the board-approved standards; require a college admissions and placement exam to be given in the fall of grade 10 and spring of grade 11 and require KDE to pay for it; delete provisions regarding WorkKeys assessments; amend requirements for the annual school report card; require KDE to implement a standards review process for visual and performing arts, practical living skills, and foreign language and require KDE to provide recommendations to schools for including those programs, and a writing program, in their curriculum; direct KDE to develop a school profile report for schools to describe implementation of the mandated standards in the visual and performing arts, practical living skills, and foreign language; amend KRS 158.6455 to revise the accountability system; require school improvement results to look at growth over three years as compared to similar schools; include progress toward English proficiency, quality of school climate and safety, high school graduation rates, and postsecondary readiness in the accountability system; require each local workforce investment board to compile a list of industry-recognized certifications; require KDE to pay for the cost of initial assessments taken to achieve industry-recognized certifications; amend the criteria for schools and districts receiving consequences and assistance under administrative regulations promulgated by the Kentucky Board of Education; amend KRS 158.649 to revise dates regarding review and reporting of school improvement plans; amend KRS 158.782 to describe KDE's monitoring and review process for low- performing schools and change the criteria for the Kentucky Board of Education providing highly skilled education assistance to schools and districts; amend KRS 158.805 to allow Commonwealth school improvement funds to be used for personnel costs; amend KRS 158.840 to prohibit KDE from requiring intervention reporting except in certain circumstances; amend KRS 160.345 to allow an alternative principal selection process in any school district and delete language regarding principal replacement; amend KRS 160.346 to delete provisions relating to the low-performing school identification and intervention process; add provisions for identifying schools for targeted support and improvement and comprehensive support and improvement; describe intervention requirements for schools identified for targeted support and improvement; define and describe a turnaround audit and intervention process for schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement; require the Kentucky Board of Education to establish exit criteria for schools identified for targeted support and improvement and comprehensive support and improvement; require a school to enter an intervention process selected by the commissioner after three years without exiting comprehensive support and improvement status; delete provisions pertaining to the current school audit process and the current intervention options approved by the Kentucky Board of Education; amend various KRS sections to conform; EMERGENCY.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HFA1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB1/HFA1.pdf)
2. **HFA2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB1/HFA2.pdf)
3. **HFA3** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB1/HFA3.pdf)
4. **HFA4** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB1/HFA4.pdf)
5. **HFA5** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB1/HFA5.pdf)
6. **Most Recent Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB1/bill.pdf)
7. **SB 1 (As Introduced)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB1/orig_bill.pdf)
8. **SCS1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.lrc.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/17RS/SB1/SCS1.pdf)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-03** Introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2017-01-03** Taken from Committee on Committees (S)
- **2017-01-03** 1st reading `reading-1`
- **2017-01-03** Returned to Committee on Committees (S)
- **2017-01-03** To Education (S) `referral-committee`
- **2017-01-04** Taken from Education (S)
- **2017-01-04** 2nd reading `reading-2`
- **2017-01-04** Returned to Education (S)
- **2017-02-16** Reported favorably, to Rules with Committee Substitute
- **2017-02-16** Posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, February 17, 2017
- **2017-02-17** 3rd reading, passed 35-0 with Committee Substitute `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-02-21** Received in House
- **2017-02-22** To Education (H) `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-06** Posted in committee
- **2017-03-07** Reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar `reading-1`
- **2017-03-07** Floor amendments (1), (2) and (3) filed
- **2017-03-08** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2017-03-08** Posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, March 14, 2017
- **2017-03-15** Floor amendments (4) and (5) filed `amendment-introduction`
- **2017-03-15** 3rd reading, passed 94-0 with floor amendments (2) and (5) `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-03-15** Received in Senate
- **2017-03-29** To Rules (S) `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-29** Posted for passage for concurrence in House floor amendments (2) and (5) for Wednesday, March 29, 2017
- **2017-03-29** Senate concurred in House floor amendments (2) and (5)
- **2017-03-29** Bill passed 37-0
- **2017-03-29** Enrolled, signed by President of the Senate
- **2017-03-29** Enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House
- **2017-03-29** Delivered to Governor
- **2017-04-10** Signed by Governor (Acts, ch. 156) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/13f145b8-9539-4d6e-9f59-4e1edf1edfd3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).