Education

SB 71 requires all Kentucky local school board members to complete six hours of financial training every two years. This applies to every member serving on school boards across the state, replacing the previous annual training system. The bill specifies that the training must cover financial management topics, with no other detailed content provided in the text. It directly affects school board members' professional development requirements, focusing on financial oversight responsibilities. The change is a concrete policy update to existing training rules under KRS 160.180.

Amend KRS 156.502 to define "medication" and "sunscreen"; require local boards of education to adopt a policy authorizing students in kindergarten through grade 5 to carry and self administer sunscreen with parent permission and allow students in grades 6 to 12 to carry and self-administer sunscreen; require board policy to cover possession and use in various settings; amend KRS 194A.380 to define "sunscreen"; create a new section of KRS 194A.380 to 194A.383 to require youth camps to adopt a policy authorizing a child to carry and self-administer sunscreen.

Amend KRS 164.515 to make the amount of tuition waived for the spouse or child of designated permanently disabled veterans a last-dollar scholarship that shall not exceed the cost of tuition and mandatory fees less any state or federal grants; amend KRS 164.2841 to make the amount tuition waived for the survivor of police officer, firefighter, or volunteer firefighter killed in line of duty last-dollar scholarship that shall not exceed the cost of tuition and mandatory fees less any state or federal grants; amend KRS 164.2842 to make the amount of tuition waived for the survivor of police officer, firefighter, or volunteer firefighter permanently and totally disabled in line of duty a last-dollar scholarship that shall not exceed the cost of tuition and mandatory fees less any state or federal grants; amend KRS 164.507 to make the amount of tuition waived for the non-married spouse or child of a deceased veteran a last-dollar scholarship that shall not exceed the cost of tuition and mandatory fees less any state or federal grants; amend KRS 164.020 to delete the tuition waiver for employees and faculty of state and locally operated secondary area technology center staff.

Amend KRS 61.315 to define "rescue squad personnel"; expand eligibility for in the line of duty death benefits to rescue squad personnel; require the Division of Emergency Management to promulgate administrative regulations establishing necessary criteria and procedures; amend KRS 164.2841 to define "rescue squad personnel"; expand eligibility for tuition and fee exemption to dependents of rescue squad personnel who died in the line of duty; amend KRS 342.316 to conform.

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to define terms; establish the robotics competition fund; establish the Robotics Funding Selection Committee to award grants from the fund to eligible robotics teams competition sponsors; establish committee membership, duties, and set terms; require the Kentucky Department of Education to promulgate administrative regulations to establish procedures for grant applications and distribution of awards by April 1, 2027; set requirements for grant applications; require annual report by August 1 to Legislative Research Commission; provide for initial staggering of appointments; require the committee to hold its first meeting by October 15, 2026; provide that the Act may be cited as the Advanced Manufacturing Through Robotics Education Act.

Amend KRS 161.028 to preclude the Education Professional Standards Board from requiring a minimum score on any assessment; require applicants to submit proof of completion of a formative basic skills assessment at the time of application; require applicants to submit results of a formative basic skills assessment prior to their first day of attendance; require the postsecondary institution provide supports for candidates aligned with their formative assessment performance; amend KRS 161.030 to require the Education Professional Standards Board to narrowly tailor content assessments to the area in which an applicant is seeking certification.