AN ACT relating to schools and declaring an emergency.

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AN ACT relating to schools and declaring an emergency. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 160.145 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) As used in this section: 4
(a) "Family member" means: 5
1. A parent, brother, sister, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, cousin, or 6
grandparent related to the student by consanguini ty, affinity, or 7
adoption; or 8
2. An adult that resides in the same household as the student; 9
(b) "Parent" means a parent, legal guardian , a person acting as a parent in the 10
absence of a parent or guardian , or other individual[person] or agency 11
responsible for the[a] student; 12
(c) "Private electronic communication" means electronic communication that 13
involves direct one -on-one or group conve rsations that are only accessible 14
to the participants; 15
(d) "Qualified school volunteer" means an adult who: 16
1. Is not: 17
a. A school district employee; or 18
b. Enrolled in the school district; and 19
2. Has served the school or school district at any point during the current 20
school year: 21
a. As a student teacher, a nonfaculty coach or assistant coach, a 22
nonfaculty sponsor of an extracurricular program or activity, or 23
a school-sponsored academic tutor; or 24
b. In a nonfaculty student services role designated as a qu alified 25
school volunteer by the local board of education. 26
(e) "School district employee[ or volunteer]": 27
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1. Means a school administrator, classified or contract employee who is 1
not enrolled in the school district, [or] certified employee[ of a school 2
district, school volunteer], or compensated nonfaculty coach or assistant 3
coach; and 4
2. Includes any Kentucky Department of Education or educational 5
cooperative employee who is assigned to a school or area technology 6
center within the school district [, student teacher, or sponsor of an 7
extracurricular program or activity]; 8
(f)[ (d)] "Traceable communication system" means one (1) or more electronic 9
school notification and communication programs or applications that: 10
1. Are designated by a local board of education in accordance with 11
subsection (2) of this section; 12
2. Trace all communications sent to or by a student; and 13
3. Provide parents an opportunity to access and review those 14
communications; and 15
(g)[(e)] "Unauthorized electronic communication": 16
1. Means private[an] electronic communication with a student enrolled in 17
a school district by the[a] school district's[district] employee or 18
qualified school volunteer who is not the student's family member that 19
occurs outside of a designated traceable communication syste m and 20
without prior written parental consent;[ and] 21
2. Includes any private electronic communication with a student or 22
students enrolled in the school district through a personal email 23
account, text messaging, social media, or other private electronic 24
[notification and ] communication program[programs] outside of the 25
traceable communication system[.]; and 26
3. Does not include: 27
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a. Virtual school instruction; 1
b. Electronic translation services; 2
c. Electronic communication with any telephone number provided 3
by a parent for the purpose of school communication with that 4
parent; 5
d. Electronic communication in which a parent of the student is 6
included as a recipient or participant; 7
e. Voice communication on an official telephone number affiliated 8
with the school or school district; 9
f. Social media posts and comments that are not private electronic 10
communication; 11
g. Electronic communication related to commercial products or 12
services with a telephone number, email address, or other 13
electronic account affiliated with a lawful commercial business; 14
h. Secure messaging for healthcare providers; or 15
i. Electronic communication between a school resource officer or 16
director of pupil personnel and a student in which the principal, 17
vice principal, or a school-based mental health services provider, 18
as defined by KRS 158.4416, is included as a recipient or 19
participant. 20
(2) Each local board of education shall designate a traceable communication system [ to 21
be the exclusive means] for [a ] school district employees and qualified school 22
volunteers[employee or volunteer] to communicate electronically with students 23
enrolled in the school district . The principal of each public school shall provide 24
parents written or electronic notification within the first ten (10) days of the school 25
year of each electronic school notification and communication program designated 26
within the traceable communication system. The notification shall include 27
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instructions for parents to access and review communications sent through each 1
electronic school notification and communication program. 2
(3) (a) [Except as provided in subsections (4) and (5) of this se ction, ] A school 3
district employee or qualified school volunteer shall not engage in 4
unauthorized electronic communication [communicate electronically with a 5
student: 6
1. Outside of the traceable communication system designated by the local 7
board of education; or 8
2. Through an unauthorized electronic communication program or 9
application]. 10
(b) A school district employee that violates paragraph (a) of this subsection 11
may[shall] be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with: 12
1. For certified employees, KRS 161.120 and 161.790; or 13
2. For classified employees, KRS 161.011(7). 14
(c) A qualified school volunteer that violates paragraph (a) of this subsection 15
may[shall] be prohibited by the school district from future school volunteer 16
opportunities. 17
(4) A parent may submit written consent to authorize a designated school district 18
employee or qualified school volunteer who is not a family member to participate 19
in private electronic communication [communicate electronically] with his or her 20
child outside of the traceable communication system. The written consent: 21
(a) Shall be filed in the administrative office of the student's school; 22
(b) Shall be submitted to the administrative office prior to any private electronic 23
communication being sent from a school district employee or qualified school 24
volunteer to a student outside of the traceable communication system; 25
(c)[(b)] Shall designate each[a single,] specific school district employee or 26
qualified school volunteer[ per each consent form] that may participate in 27
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private electronic communication[communicate] with the student outside of 1
the traceable communication system and shall not be transferable to any other 2
school district employee or qualified school volunteer; 3
(d)[(c)] May be revoked by the[a] parent who filed the consent at any time . 4
Upon notice of a revocation, the administrative office shall promptly notify 5
the school district and each school district employee and qualified school 6
volunteer subject to the revocation; 7
(e)[(d)] May establish terms limiting electro nic communication with a student, 8
including [a term requiring that a parent be included as a direct party to all 9
electronic communications sent to the student outside of the traceable 10
communication system or ] establishing an expiration for the term of the 11
consent. Any electronic communication with the[a] student enrolled in the 12
school district outside of the traceable communication system under this 13
subsection shall comply with all terms of the written consent;[ and] 14
(f) Shall not be rejected or denied by t he school or school district unless the 15
written consent fails to properly identify the applicable student, school 16
district employee, or qualified school volunteer. Upon receipt of the written 17
consent, the administrative office of the school shall deliver a copy of the 18
written consent to the school district and the designated school district 19
employee or qualified school volunteer; 20
(g) Shall not be compelled as a requirement for a student to participate in an 21
academic, athletic, or extracurricular opportunity; and 22
(h)[(e)] Shall not authorize a school district employee or qualified school 23
volunteer to engage in inappropriate or sexual electronic communication with 24
a student or be used as a basis of a defense for a school district employee or 25
qualified school v olunteer that engages in inappropriate or sexual electronic 26
communication with a student or students. 27
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(5) Notwithstanding subsections (2) and (3) of this section, this section shall not restrict 1
any private electronic communications: 2
(a) Between a student and his or her family member who is a school district 3
employee or qualified school volunteer; or 4
(b) Between a student and a school district employee or qualified school 5
volunteer who reasonably believes an emergency exists that creates a n 6
imminent risk to any person or property, provided the school district 7
employee promptly discloses the private electronic communication to his or 8
her immediate supervisor after the fact in accordance with subsection (6) of 9
this section. 10
(6) (a) A school district employee or qualified school volunteer that participated in 11
unauthorized electronic communication or reasonably believes [receives a 12
report alleging] that another school district employee or qualified school 13
volunteer participated in unauthorized electronic communication that has not 14
been previously reported shall immediately notify the supervising principal or 15
applicable supervisor. If the subject of the report is the principal or district-16
wide employee, the reporting employee or volunteer shall immediately notify 17
the superintendent of the school district. If the subject of the report is the 18
superintendent or a Kentucky Department of Education employee assigned 19
to a school or area technology center within the school district, the reporting 20
employee or volunteer shall immediately notify the commissioner of 21
education and the chair of the local board of education. 22
(b) A school district employee that violates paragraph (a) of this subsection 23
may[shall] be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with: 24
1. For certified employees, KRS 161.120 and 161.790; or 25
2. For classified employees, KRS 161.011(7). 26
(7) (a) Upon receipt of a report alleging that a school district employee or qualified 27
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school volunteer participated in unauthorized electronic communication, the 1
commissioner of education, a principal, or a superintendent shall immediately: 2
1. Notify the parent of each s tudent that is an alleged party to the 3
unauthorized electronic communications; and 4
2. a. If the individual that is the subject of the report is a certified 5
employee: 6
i. Notify the Education Professional Standards Board, which 7
shall promptly investigate all allegations received under this 8
subsection and proceed with appropriate disciplinary actions 9
in accordance with KRS 161.120; and 10
ii. Investigate the underlying allegations and proceed with 11
appropriate disciplinary actions in accordance with KRS 12
161.790; 13
b. If the individual that is the subject of the report is a classified 14
employee, investigate the underlying allegations and proceed with 15
appropriate disciplinary actions in accordance with KRS 16
161.011(7);[ and] 17
c. If the individual that is the subject of th e report is a qualified 18
school[ or district] volunteer, the school or district shall investigate 19
the underlying allegations and, if substantiated, the qualified 20
school volunteer may[shall] be prohibited from future school and 21
district volunteer opportunities; and 22
d. Notwithstanding any statute to the contrary, notify the parent of 23
each student that is an alleged party to the unauthorized 24
electronic communication of each material phase of an 25
investigation and disciplinary action under this subparagraph, 26
including but not limited to a written summary of the results of 27
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an investigation and the final outcome of the disciplinary action. 1
(b) A principal or superintendent who violates paragraph (a) of this subsection 2
shall be subject to disciplinary action in accor dance with KRS 156.132 and 3
161.120. 4
Section 2. If a school district volunteer was prohibited from future school 5
volunteer opportunities pursuant to subsection (3)(c) of Section 1 of this Act prior to the 6
effective date of this Act, a school district may permit that person to participate in future 7
school volunteer opportunities. 8
Section 3. Whereas it is critical to ensure that parents, schools, and school 9
districts have clarity on lawful electronic communication with students, an emergency is 10
declared to exist, this Act takes effect upon its passage and approval by the Governor or 11
upon its otherwise becoming a law. 12