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HB11
HB11: Dividing Persistently Underperforming School Districts
Last scannedAug 24, 2026, 10:26 AM
In one sentence
This bill creates a process for local governments to propose splitting school districts where more than half of the schools need improvement into two or more new independent districts if voters approve.
What it does
- Requires the Kentucky Department of Education to identify 'persistently underperforming' school districts and notify the local legislative body in that county.
- Mandates a public hearing within 30 days where residents can comment on whether to divide the district and propose boundaries for new ones.
- Allows the local legislative body to adopt one map dividing the old district into at least two new districts with similar area, population, and property value.
- Places questions on the ballot asking voters if they support dissolving the old district and electing members of an interim school board for the new areas.
- Requires advertising the proposed map in local newspapers before the election.
Who it affects
- School districts where more than fifty percent of schools are identified for comprehensive support and improvement.
- Local legislative bodies, such as county fiscal courts or consolidated government councils, which must hold hearings and propose maps.
- Voters living within the boundaries of school districts proposed for division.
Limits and unknowns
- The provided text ends before explaining the specific steps taken if voters reject the division proposal.
- The exact deadline by which new districts must be fully operational is referenced but not defined in this excerpt.
- This process only applies to school districts meeting the strict definition of 'persistently underperforming' as set by state law.
Plain language
Terms to know
- Persistently underperforming school district
- A school district where more than half of its schools are identified for comprehensive support and improvement in a given year.
- Interim board
- The temporary local board of education elected to run the new independent districts before they become fully operational.
- Local legislative body
- The county fiscal court or consolidated government council responsible for holding hearings and proposing district maps.
Official record
Sources
Official summary
AN ACT relating to independent school districts.