HB 883

UNOFFICIAL COPY  26 RS BR 1885
1AN ACT relating to virtual schools and declaring an emergency.
2 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
3Section 1. KRS 158.120 is amended to read as follows:
4 (1)    A board of education shall adopt a nonresident pupil policy to govern the terms
5under which the district shall allow enrollment of nonresident pupils. Upon
6allowing nonresident pupil enrollment, the policy shall allow nonresident children
7to be eligible to enroll in any public school located within the district. The policy
8shall not discriminate between nonresident pupils, but may recognize enrollment
9capacity, as determined by the local school district. The nonresident pupil policy
10and any subsequent changes adopted by a board of education shall be filed with the
11Kentucky Department of Education no later than thirty (30) days following their
12adoption.
13 (2)    Any board of education may charge a reasonable tuition fee per month for each
14child attending its schools whose parent, guardian, or other legal custodian is not a
15bona fide resident of the district. Any controversy as to the fee shall be submitted to
16the Kentucky Board of Education for final settlement. The fee shall be paid by the
17board of education of the school district in which the pupil resides, except in cases
18where the board makes provision for the child's education within his or her district.
19If a board of education is required to pay a pupil's tuition fee, the pupil shall be
20admitted to a school only upon proper certificate of the board of education of the
21district in which he or she resides.
22 (3)    When it appears to the board of education of any school district that it is convenient
23for a pupil of any grade residing in that district to attend an approved public school
24in another district, the board of education may enter into a tuition contract with the
25public school authorities of the other school district for that purpose, but before a
26contract is entered into with public school authorities in another state the school
27shall have been approved by the state school authorities of that state through the
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1grades in which the pupil belongs. When a district undertakes, under operation of a
2tuition contract or of law, to provide in its school for pupils residing in another
3district, the district of their residence shall share the total cost of the school,
4including transportation when furnished at public expense, in proportion to the
5number of pupils or in accordance with contract agreement between the two (2)
6boards.
7 (4)    As used in this subsection, "virtual program" has the same meaning as in KRS
8157.320. A school district may enroll nonresident pupils on a full-time basis in
9kindergarten through grade twelve (12) in a virtual program established under KRS
10158.100 by that district. Nonresident pupil enrollment shall be subject to the
11following requirements:
12(a)     1.       [Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, ]The statewide total
13enrollment of nonresident pupils in virtual programs offered by school
14districts shall not exceed an enrollment cap of one percent (1%) of the
15previous year's total statewide student enrollment in all school districts.
16By July 1, 2025, and each year thereafter until June 30, 2028, the
17Kentucky Department of Education shall publish on its website the
18previous year's total statewide student enrollment in all school districts
19and the one percent (1%) value of that number. The information shall
20remain on the website for the remainder of each school year.[;]
212.       Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, the districtwide total
22enrollment of nonresident pupils in virtual programs offered by a
23school district shall not exceed an enrollment cap of ten percent (10%)
24of the previous year's total districtwide student enrollment in the
25school district. By July 1, 2026, and each year thereafter until June
2630, 2028, the Kentucky Department of Education shall publish on its
27website the previous year's districtwide student enrollment for each
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1school district and the ten percent (10%) value of that number. The
2information shall remain on the website for the remainder of each
3school year;
4(b)     1.       Each school district shall report in the student information system the
5nonresident pupils enrolled in the district's virtual programs.
62.       The department shall monitor the number of statewide total enrollment
7of nonresident pupils in virtual programs.
83.       Each school district shall be responsible for monitoring its districtwide
9total enrollment of nonresident pupils in virtual programs and
10complying with the districtwide nonresident enrollment cap for virtual
11programs;
12(c)     If the number of statewide total enrollment of nonresident pupils in virtual
13programs reaches eighty-five hundredths of one percent (0.85%) of the
14previous year's total statewide student enrollment in all school districts, the
15department shall alert all school districts operating virtual programs that the
16nonresident enrollment cap has almost been reached. Upon receiving the alert,
17a school district shall notify any nonresident pupil seeking enrollment in a
18virtual program operated by the school district that the pupil will be
19provisionally enrolled until the department can confirm that the pupil's
20enrollment would not exceed the enrollment cap, and shall report the pupil as
21provisionally enrolled in the student information system. If the department
22determines that a pupil's enrollment would exceed the statewide nonresident
23enrollment cap, the department shall notify the school district that the pupil
24cannot be approved for enrollment due to the statewide enrollment cap. The
25department shall determine whether the pupil's enrollment will exceed the
26statewide enrollment cap and provide notice to the school district of the
27determination. If the department fails to provide the school district with the
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1determination within two (2) business days, the pupil shall be deemed to not
2exceed the statewide enrollment cap and the provisional status shall be
3removed;
4(d)     If the statewide nonresident enrollment cap is reached, the department shall
5notify all school districts operating virtual programs and that no additional
6nonresident pupils shall be enrolled until such time as statewide nonresident
7enrollment falls below the enrollment cap;
8(e)     After reaching the statewide nonresident enrollment cap, if the number of
9statewide total enrollment of nonresident pupils in virtual programs falls back
10below the enrollment cap, the department shall notify all school districts
11operating virtual programs that nonresident enrollment may resume again, but
12any nonresident pupils enrolled for the remainder of the school year shall be
13provisionally enrolled, following the same process outlined in paragraph (c)
14of this subsection; and
15(f)     The statewide and districtwide nonresident enrollment caps for virtual
16programs[cap] established in this subsection shall not apply to any of the
17following pupils:
181.       A sibling of a pupil already enrolled into the same virtual program;
192.       A pupil who is a dependent of a member of the Armed Forces of the
20United States; or
213.       A pupil with a medical condition for which enrolling into the virtual
22program may be beneficial to the pupil, which shall be evidenced in a
23written statement signed by the pupil's physician.
24All documentation related to these exceptions to the nonresident enrollment
25caps[cap] shall be maintained by the school district enrolling the nonresident
26pupil as part of the pupil's official record.
27 (5)    A school district operating a virtual program that enrolls nonresident pupils shall no
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1longer continue the enrollment of nonresident pupils in the program after June 30,
22028, unless explicit permission to do so is provided by the General Assembly.
3Section 2. Whereas ensuring an efficient system of common schools, including
4 virtual programs offered therein, is imperative, an emergency is declared to exist, and this
5 Act takes effect upon its passage and approval by the Governor or upon its otherwise
6 becoming a law.
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