1. (1)

   1. (a) The Kentucky Department of Education shall establish, direct, and maintain a statewide program of professional development to improve instruction in the public schools.
   2. (b) By August 1, 2025, the department shall create a four (4) year recurring professional development training schedule that includes all professional development for certified personnel required by subsection (2) of this section and federal law.
   3. (c) Each local school district shall implement the professional development training schedule created by the department.

2. (2) All certified school district employees and public charter school employees shall complete at least one (1) hour of each of the following trainings within twelve (12) months of initial hire and at least once every four (4) years thereafter:

   1. (a) How to respond to an active shooter situation training prepared by the Department of Criminal Justice Training in collaboration with the department, the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council, and the Center for School Safety;
   2. (b) Child abuse and neglect prevention, recognition, and reporting training from the list of trainings approved by the department in accordance with subsection
   3. (7) of this section;
   4. (c) 1. High-quality, evidence-based suicide prevention training, including risk factors, warning signs, protective factors, response procedures, referral, postvention, and the recognition of signs and symptoms of possible mental illness.
3. (3) 2. As used in this paragraph, "postvention" means a series of planned supports and interventions with persons affected by a suicide for the purpose of facilitating the grieving or adjustment process, stabilizing the environment, reducing the risk of negative behaviors, and limiting the risk of further suicides through contagion; and
4. (d) Self-study review of seizure disorder materials.
5. (a) Each local school district superintendent shall appoint a certified school employee to fulfill the role and responsibilities of a professional development coordinator who shall disseminate professional development information to schools and personnel. Upon request by a school council or any employees of the district, the coordinator shall provide technical assistance to the council or the personnel that may include assisting with needs assessments, analyzing school data, planning and evaluation assistance, organizing districtwide programs requested by school councils or groups of teachers, or other coordination activities.
6. (b) The manner of appointment, qualifications, and other duties of the professional development coordinator shall be established by the local board of education.
7. (c) The local district professional development coordinator may participate in the Kentucky Department of Education annual training program for local school district professional development coordinators. The training program may include but is not limited to the demonstration of various approaches to needs assessment and planning; strategies for implementing long-term, school-based professional development; strategies for strengthening teachers' roles in the planning, development, and evaluation of professional development; and demonstrations of model professional development programs. The training shall include information about teacher learning opportunities relating to the core content standards. The department shall regularly collect and distribute this information.

8. (4) The department shall provide or facilitate optional, professional development programs for certified personnel throughout the Commonwealth that are based on the statewide needs of teachers, administrators, and other education personnel. Programs may include classified staff and parents when appropriate. Programs offered or facilitated by the department shall be at locations and times convenient to local school personnel and shall be made accessible through the use of technology when appropriate. They shall include programs that: address the goals for Kentucky schools as stated in KRS 158.6451, including reducing the achievement gaps as determined by an equity analysis of the disaggregated student performance data from the state assessment program developed under KRS 158.6453; engage educators in effective learning processes and foster collegiality and collaboration; and provide support for staff to incorporate newly acquired skills into their work through practicing the skills, gathering information about the results, and reflecting on their efforts. Professional development programs shall be made available to teachers based on their needs which shall include but not be limited to the following areas:

   1. (a) Strategies to reduce the achievement gaps among various groups of students and to provide continuous progress;
   2. (b) Curriculum content and methods of instruction for each content area, including differentiated instruction;
   3. (c) School-based decision making;
   4. (d) Assessment literacy;
   5. (e) Integration of performance-based student assessment into daily classroom instruction;
   6. (f) Nongraded primary programs;
   7. (g) Research-based instructional practices;
   8. (h) Instructional uses of technology;
   9. (i) Curriculum design to serve the needs of students with diverse learning styles
   10. (j) and skills and of students of diverse cultures; Instruction reading, comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary; including in phonics, phonemic awareness,
   11. (k) Educational leadership; and
   12. (l) Strategies to incorporate character education throughout the curriculum.
9. (5) The department shall assist school personnel in assessing the impact of professional

10. (6) development on their instructional practices and student learning.

    1. (a) Upon the request of a school district or school council, the department shall assist with the development of long-term school and district improvement plans that include multiple strategies for professional development based on the assessment of needs at the school level.
    2. (c)
    3. (b) Professional development strategies may include but are not limited to participation in subject matter academies, teacher networks, training institutes, workshops, seminars, and study groups; collegial planning; action research; mentoring programs; appropriate university courses; and other forms of professional development. In planning the use of the four (4) days for professional development under KRS 158.070, school councils and districts shall give priority to programs that increase teachers' understanding of curriculum content and methods of instruction appropriate for each content area based on individual school plans. The district may use up to one (1) day to provide district-wide training and training that is mandated by state or federal law. Only those employees identified in the mandate or affected by the mandate shall be required to attend the training.
    4. (d) State funds allocated for professional development shall be used to support professional development initiatives that are consistent with local school improvement and professional development plans and teachers' individual growth plans. The funds may be used throughout the year for all staff, including classified and certified staff and parents on school councils or committees. A portion of the funds allocated to each school council under KRS 160.345 may be used to prepare or enhance the teachers' knowledge and teaching practices related to the content and subject matter that are required for their specific classroom assignments.

11. (7)

    1. (a) The department shall develop and maintain a list of approved comprehensive trainings on child abuse and neglect prevention, evidence-informed recognition, and reporting that encompass child physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect.
    2. (b) The trainings shall be web-based or in-person and cover, at a minimum, the following topics: 1. Recognizing child physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and neglect; 2. Reporting suspected child abuse and neglect in Kentucky as required by KRS 620.030 and the appropriate documentation; 3. Responding to the child; and 4. Understanding the response of child protective services.
    3. (c) The trainings shall include a questionnaire or other basic assessment tool upon completion to document basic knowledge of training components.
12. (8)
13. (d) Each local board of education shall adopt one (1) or more trainings from the list approved by the department to be implemented by schools.
14. (a) By May 1, 2027, the Kentucky Department of Education, in collaboration with the Education Professional Standards Board, shall develop a training for school district employees, to be available via multiple delivery options, related to appropriate relationships and communication with students, inappropriate relationships and communication with students, sexual grooming, and sexual misconduct. Each local school district shall require all current employees to complete the training by June 30, 2027.
15. (b) Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, every local school district shall require all new employees to undergo the training described in paragraph (a) of this subsection within ninety (90) days of the employee's initial hiring. Any new employee who has completed the training within the prior five (5) years with a previous employer shall be exempt from the requirement under this paragraph.
16. (c) The requirements of this subsection shall apply to public charter schools as a health and safety requirement under KRS 160.1592(1).
17. (9) The department shall establish an electronic consumer bulletin board that posts information regarding professional development providers and programs as a service to school district central office personnel, school councils, teachers, and administrators. Participation on the electronic consumer bulletin board shall be voluntary for professional development providers or vendors, but shall include all programs sponsored by the department. Participants shall provide the following information: program title; name of provider or vendor; qualifications of the presenters or instructors; objectives of the program; program length; services provided, including follow-up support; costs for participation and costs of materials; names of previous users of the program, addresses, and telephone numbers; and arrangements required. Posting information on the bulletin board by the department shall not be viewed as an endorsement of the quality of any specific provider or program.

18. (10) The department shall provide voluntary training to address the characteristics and instructional needs of students at risk of school failure and most likely to drop out of school. The training shall be developed to meet the specific needs of all certified and classified personnel depending on their relationship with these students. The training for instructional personnel shall be designed to provide and enhance skills of personnel to:

    1. (a) Identify at-risk students early in elementary schools as well as at-risk and potential dropouts in the middle and high schools;
    2. (b) Plan specific instructional strategies to teach at-risk students;
    3. (c) individualized and extra Improve the academic achievement of students at risk of school failure by providing increase expectations for targeted students; Involve parents as partners in ways to help their children and to improve their children's academic progress; and instructional support
    4. (d) to
    5. (e) Significantly reduce the dropout rate of all students.
19. (11) The department shall establish teacher academies to the extent funding is available in cooperation with postsecondary education institutions for elementary, middle school, and high school faculty in core disciplines, utilizing facilities and faculty from universities and colleges, local school districts, and other appropriate agencies throughout the state. Priority for participation shall be given to those teachers who are teaching core discipline courses for which they do not have a major or minor or the equivalent. Participation of teachers shall be voluntary.
20. (12) The department shall annually provide to the oversight council established in KRS 15A.063, the information received from local schools pursuant to KRS 158.449.

Effective: April 10, 2026

History: Amended 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 74, sec. 10, effective April 10, 2026. -- Amended 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 145, sec. 3, effective June 27, 2025. -- Amended 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 165, sec. 9, effective July 15, 2024; and ch. 202, sec 2, effective July 15, 2024. – Amended 2020 Ky. Acts ch. 5, sec. 10, effective February 21, 2020. -- Amended 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 5, sec. 15, effective March 11, 2019. -- Amended 2018 Ky. Acts ch. 53, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2018. -- Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 171, sec. 2, effective June 29, 2017. -- Amended 2016 Ky. Acts ch. 125, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2016. -- Amended 2015 Ky. Acts ch. 7, sec. 1, effective June 24, 2015. -- Amended 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 132, sec. 10, effective July 15, 2014. -- Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 6, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2010. -- Amended 2009 Ky. Acts ch. 101, sec. 8, effective March 25, 2009. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 302, sec. 2, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 162, sec. 4, effective July 14, 2000; ch. 452, sec. 3, effective July 14, 2000; and ch. 527, sec. 10, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 514, sec. 4, effective July 15, 1998.; and ch. 609, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 362, sec. 6, effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 476, Pt. I, sec. 13, effective July 13, 1990. -- Amended 1985 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 10, sec. 1, effective October 18, 1985; Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 155, sec. 82, effective June 17, 1978. -- Amended 1956 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 7, Art. II, sec. 2. -- Created 1950 Ky. Acts ch. 127, sec. 1. Legislative Research Commission Note (6/27/2025). 2025 Ky. Acts ch. 145, sec. 14, provides that the Act, which amended this section and KRS 156.070, 156.492, 156.557, 157.360, 158.060, 158.070, 158.4416, and 161.031, and created KRS 158.039 and 158.041, may be cited as the Red Tape Reduction Act. Legislative Research Commission Note (3/11/2019). Under the authority of KRS 7.136(1), the Reviser of Statutes has relettered the paragraphs in subsection (7) of this statute. No words were changed in this process. Legislative Research Commission Note (7/14/2000). This section was amended by 2000 Ky. Acts chs. 162, 452, and 527. Where these Acts are not in conflict, they have been codified together. As to subsection (7) of this section, a conflict exists, in part, between Acts chs. 452 and 527. Under KRS 446.250, Acts ch. 527, which was last enacted by the General Assembly, prevails in this conflict.