AN ACT relating to teachers.

UNOFFICIAL COPY 26 RS BR 2127
Page 1 of 3
XXXX 2/10/2026 1:21 PM Jacketed
AN ACT relating to teachers. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 158.060 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) Each teacher shall be provided access to a copy of his or her employment contract 4
upon request. 5
(2) Twenty (20) school days, or days in which teachers are actually employed in the 6
schoolroom, shall constitute a school month in the common schools. 7
(3) (a) Each full-time teacher shall be provided the equivalent of two hundred fifty 8
(250) minutes of noninstructional planning time each five (5) day school 9
week, which shall be used at the teacher's discretion an d may include but is 10
not limited to grading, instructional planning, curriculum development, and 11
outreach activities involving the teacher's students. If a school week does 12
not contain five (5) instructional days, the required minimum number of 13
minutes may be reduced proportionally. 14
(b) Each full-time teacher shall be provided with a duty -free lunch period each 15
day during the regularly scheduled student lunch period in addition to the 16
noninstructional planning time described in paragraph (a) of this 17
subsection. The duty-free lunch period shall be not less than the length of the 18
lunch period specified in the school calendar approved by the chief state 19
school officer. 20
(c) Each full-time teacher shall receive additional compensation of at least his 21
or her usual hourly rate of pay for all dut ies assigned during the 22
noninstructional planning time required by paragraph (a) of this subsection 23
or duty-free lunch required by paragraph (b) of this subsection. A full-time 24
teacher may be assigned duties during any [to lunch room duty during the 25
regularly scheduled student lunch period only for an amount of time equal to 26
the] noninstructional time in excess of the minimum time required by 27
UNOFFICIAL COPY 26 RS BR 2127
Page 2 of 3
XXXX 2/10/2026 1:21 PM Jacketed
paragraph (a) of this subsection without additional compensation [fifty-five 1
(55) minutes included in the teacher's daily schedule]. 2
(d) The calculation of the minimum noninstructional time required by paragraph 3
(a) of this subsection shall not include the teacher's duty -free lunch period, 4
the time teachers are required to be at school prior to the start of the student's 5
instructional day, [or ]the time teachers are required to remain at school after 6
the students are dismissed , or the time teachers are required to coordinate 7
and attend a meeting to develop or monitor an individual education plan as 8
provided in KRS 157.196, unless such time is compensated in accordance 9
with paragraph (c) of this subsection. 10
(4) Except for children with disabilities and children attending the primary school 11
program who may attend a program of less than six (6) hours per day under policy 12
adopted by the local school district board of education and approved by the 13
commissioner of education and children attending a school district where the local 14
board has approved a schedule that provides at least the equivalent of six (6) hours 15
of daily instruct ion during the school year, a minimum of six (6) hours of actual 16
school work shall constitute a school day. Kindergarten programs may be operated 17
for less than six (6) hours without state board approval. The Kentucky Board of 18
Education, upon recommendation of the chief state school officer, shall develop and 19
approve regulations governing make up by school districts of whole days missed 20
due to emergencies, or partial days missed as a result of shortening regularly 21
scheduled school days due to emergencies. 22
(5) (a) Teachers shall be provided additional time and shall receive additional 23
compensation of at least his or her usual hourly rate of pay for nonteaching 24
activities required by a school or school district outside of the teacher's 25
contract hours, including but not limited to [. The nonteaching time shall be 26
used to provide teachers] opportunities for professional development activities 27
UNOFFICIAL COPY 26 RS BR 2127
Page 3 of 3
XXXX 2/10/2026 1:21 PM Jacketed
as provided in KRS 156.095, [ instructional planning,] coordination of or 1
attendance at a meeting to develop or monitor an in dividual education plan 2
as provided in KRS 157.196, school-based decision making as provided in 3
KRS 160.345, [curriculum development, ] and outreach activities involving 4
their students' families and the community. 5
(b) A school or school district may require a teacher to remain at school outside 6
of the teacher's contract hours for up to sixty (60) minutes after the students 7
are dismissed one (1) day a week with additional compensation of at least 8
his or her usual hourly rate of pay. 9
(6) This section shall not be interpreted to: 10
(a) Limit the ability of a school district to provide teachers noninstructional 11
time in excess of the minimum required by subsection (3)(a) of this section; 12
(b) Limit the ability of a school district to compensate teachers for work 13
performed during noninstructional time or outside of a teacher's contract 14
hours beyond the teacher's usual hourly rate of pay; or 15
(c) Reduce any rights of school district employees as set forth in an existing 16
employer-employee bargained contract. 17
(7) Character education programs and activities shall be considered valuable and 18
legitimate components of the actual school work constituting a school day under 19
subsection (4) of this section. 20