161.028 Education Professional Standards Board -- Powers and duties regarding the preparation and certification of professional school personnel -- Membership

161.028 Education Professional Standards Board -- Powers and duties regarding

the preparation and certification of professional school personnel --

Membership.

(1) The Education Professional Standards Board is recognized to be a public body

corporate and politic and an agency and instrumentality of the Commonwealth, in

the performance of essential governmental functions. The Education Professional

Standards Board has the authority and responsibility to:

(a) Establish standards and requirements for obtaining and maintaining a teaching

certificate;

(b) Set standards for, approve, and evaluate college, university, and school district

programs for the preparation of teachers and other professional school

personnel. College or university programs may be approved by the board for a

college or university with regional institutional level accreditation or national

institutional level accreditation that is recognized by the United States

Department of Education and is eligible to receive federal funding under 20

U.S.C. secs. 1061 to 1063. Program standards shall reflect national standards

and shall address, at a minimum, the following:

1. The alignment of programs with the state's core content for assessment

as defined in KRS 158.6457;

2. Research-based classroom practices, including effective classroom

management techniques;

3. Emphasis on subject matter competency of teacher education students;

4. Methodologies to meet diverse educational needs of all students;

5. The consistency and quality of classroom and field experiences,

including early practicums and student teaching experiences;

6. The amount of college-wide or university-wide involvement and support

during the preparation as well as the induction of new teachers;

7. The diversity of faculty;

8. The effectiveness of partnerships with local school districts; and

9. The performance of graduates on various measures as determined by the

board;

(c) Conduct an annual review of diversity in teacher preparation programs;

(d) Provide assistance to universities and colleges in addressing diversity, which

may include researching successful strategies and disseminating the

information, encouraging the development of nontraditional avenues of

recruitment and providing incentives, waiving administrative regulations

when needed, and other assistance as deemed necessary;

(e) Discontinue approval of programs that do not meet standards or whose

graduates do not perform according to criteria set by the board;

(f) Issue, renew, revoke, suspend, or refuse to issue or renew; impose

probationary or supervisory conditions upon; issue a written reprimand or

admonishment; or any combination of actions regarding any certificate;

(g) Develop specific guidelines to follow upon receipt of an allegation of sexual

misconduct by an employee certified by the Education Professional Standards

Board. The guidelines shall include investigation, inquiry, and hearing

procedures which ensure the process does not revictimize the alleged victim

or cause harm if an employee is falsely accused;

(h) Receive, along with investigators hired by the Education Professional

Standards Board, training on the dynamics of sexual misconduct of

professionals, including the nature of this abuse of authority, characteristics of

the offender, the impact on the victim, the possibility and the impact of false

accusations, investigative procedures in sex offense cases, and effective

intervention with victims and offenders;

(i) Recommend to the Kentucky Board of Education the essential data elements

relating to teacher preparation and certification, teacher supply and demand,

teacher attrition, teacher diversity, and employment trends to be included in a

state comprehensive data and information system and periodically report data

to the appropriate Interim Joint Committee on Education;

ith victims and offenders;

(i) Recommend to the Kentucky Board of Education the essential data elements

relating to teacher preparation and certification, teacher supply and demand,

teacher attrition, teacher diversity, and employment trends to be included in a

state comprehensive data and information system and periodically report data

to the appropriate Interim Joint Committee on Education;

(j) Submit reports to the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission and

inform the public on the status of teaching in Kentucky;

(k) Devise a credentialing system that provides alternative routes to gaining

certification and greater flexibility in staffing local schools while maintaining

standards for teacher competence;

(l) Develop a professional code of ethics;

(m) Charge reasonable fees for the issuance, reissuance, and renewal of

certificates that are established by administrative regulation. The proceeds

shall be used to meet a portion of the costs of the issuance, reissuance, and

renewal of certificates, and the costs associated with disciplinary action

against a certificate holder under KRS 161.120;

(n) Waive a requirement that may be established in an administrative regulation

promulgated by the board. A request for a waiver shall be submitted to the

board, in writing, by an applicant for certification, a postsecondary institution,

or a superintendent of a local school district, with appropriate justification for

the waiver. The board may approve the request if the person or institution

seeking the waiver has demonstrated extraordinary circumstances justifying

the waiver. Any waiver granted under this subsection shall be subject to

revocation if the person or institution falsifies information or subsequently

fails to meet the intent of the waiver;

(o) Promote the development of one (1) or more innovative, nontraditional or

alternative administrator or teacher preparation programs through public or

private colleges or universities, private contractors, the Department of

Education, or the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University and waive

administrative regulations if needed in order to implement the program;

(p) Grant approval, if appropriate, of a university's request for an alternative

program that enrolls an administrator candidate in a postbaccalaureate

administrator preparation program concurrently with employment as an

assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, or superintendent in a

local school district. An administrator candidate in the alternative program

shall be granted a temporary provisional certificate and shall be a candidate in

the Kentucky Principal Internship Program, notwithstanding provisions of

KRS 161.030, or the Superintendent's Assessment process, notwithstanding

provisions of KRS 156.111, as appropriate. The temporary certificate shall be

valid for a maximum of two (2) years, and shall be contingent upon the

candidate's continued enrollment in the preparation program and compliance

with all requirements established by the board. A professional certificate shall

be issued upon the candidate's successful completion of the program,

internship requirements, and assessments as required by the board;

(q) Employ consultants as needed;

(r) Enter into contracts. Disbursements to professional educators who receive less

than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in compensation per fiscal year from the

board for serving on an assessment validation panel or as a test scorer or

proctor shall not be subject to KRS 45A.690 to 45A.725;

(s) Sponsor studies, conduct research, conduct conferences, and publish

information as appropriate; and

(r) Enter into contracts. Disbursements to professional educators who receive less

than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in compensation per fiscal year from the

board for serving on an assessment validation panel or as a test scorer or

proctor shall not be subject to KRS 45A.690 to 45A.725;

(s) Sponsor studies, conduct research, conduct conferences, and publish

information as appropriate; and

(t) Issue orders as necessary in any administrative action before the board.

(2) (a) The board shall be composed of seventeen (17) members. The secretary of the

Education and Labor Cabinet and the president of the Council on

Postsecondary Education, or their designees, shall serve as ex officio voting

members. The Governor shall make the following fifteen (15) appointments:

1. Nine (9) members who shall be teachers representative of elementary,

middle or junior high, secondary, special education, and secondary

vocational classrooms;

2. Two (2) members who shall be school administrators, one (1) of whom

shall be a school principal;

3. One (1) member representative of local boards of education; and

4. Three (3) members representative of postsecondary institutions, two (2)

of whom shall be deans of colleges of education at public universities

and one (1) of whom shall be the chief academic officer or head of an

educator preparation program of an independent not-for-profit college or

university.

(b) The members appointed by the Governor shall be confirmed by the Senate

under KRS 11.160. If the General Assembly is not in session at the time of the

appointment, persons appointed shall serve prior to confirmation, but the

Governor shall seek the consent of the Senate at the next regular session or at

an intervening extraordinary session if the matter is included in the call of the

General Assembly.

(c) Each appointed member shall serve a three (3) year term. A vacancy on the

board shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment within

sixty (60) days after it occurs. A member shall continue to serve until his or

her successor is named. Any member who, through change of employment

status or residence, or for other reasons, no longer meets the criteria for the

position to which he or she was appointed shall no longer be eligible to serve

in that position.

(d) Members of the board shall serve without compensation but shall be permitted

to attend board meetings and perform other board business without loss of

income or other benefits.

(e) A state agency or any political subdivision of the state, including a school

district, required to hire a substitute for a member of the board who is absent

from the member's place of employment while performing board business

shall be reimbursed by the board for the actual amount of any costs incurred.

(f) A chairman shall be elected by and from the membership. A member shall be

eligible to serve no more than three (3) one (1) year terms in succession as

chairman. Regular meetings shall be held at least semiannually on call of the

chairman.

(g) The commissioner of education shall serve as executive secretary to the board

and may designate staff to facilitate his or her duties.

(h) To carry out the functions relating to its duties and responsibilities, the board

is empowered to receive donations and grants of funds; to appoint consultants

as needed; and to sponsor studies, conduct conferences, and publish

information.