156.010 Commissioner's authority to organize Department of Education -- Composition -- Functions

156.010 Commissioner's authority to organize Department of Education --

Composition -- Functions.

(1) The commissioner of education shall be the chief executive of the Department of

Education. The commissioner shall be responsible for administering, structuring,

and organizing the department and its services, including but not limited to the

following:

(a) Technical assistance with curriculum design, school administration and

finance, computer and technology services, media services, community

education, career and technical education, STEM education as defined in KRS

158.845, education for exceptional children, and professional development;

(b) Compensatory education;

(c) Research and planning, which shall include, but not be limited to, a statewide

research and development effort to identify or develop the best educational

practices to be used in the public schools of the Commonwealth.

Appropriations for this purpose may be used within the department or for

contracting with other individuals, agencies, universities, laboratories, or

organizations;

(d) Kentucky School for the Blind and the Kentucky School for the Deaf;

(e) Performance and outcome assessments;

(f) Monitoring the management of school districts, including administration and

finance, implementation of state laws and regulations, and student

performance; and

(g) Implementing state laws and the policies promulgated thereunder by the

Kentucky Board of Education and the Education Professional Standards

Board.

(2) The commissioner of education may delegate any authority to act on the

commissioner's behalf in the supervision, inspection, and administration of the

schools to the extent the commissioner has supervisory and administrative control.

(3) All employees of the Department of Education shall be reimbursed for necessary

traveling expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties, and no part

of the reimbursement shall be included in or accounted as a part of their salaries.

(4) The State Department of Education, in the operation and management of its schools

and the programs at these schools, shall meet all required federal and state standards

relating to facilities and personnel qualifications; however, no license or license fee

shall be required for any school or program operated by the State Department of

Education.

(5) The Department of Education shall be the sole state agency for the purpose of

developing and approving state plans required by state or federal laws and

regulations as prerequisites to receiving federal funds for elementary and secondary

education.