Amend KRS 65.013 to define terms; expand the prohibition on using tax dollars to advocate for or against a public question on the ballot to prohibit using any resources, and to explicitly apply prohibition to school districts, regional educational cooperatives, and recalls on a ballot; establish a criminal penalty and a prohibition against holding a position of public trust or profit for 10 years for a person found guilty of violating the prohibition; create a cause of action for a citizen aggrieved by a violation of the prohibition; establish a statute of limitations to commence suit and the appropriate venue; provide when the suit accrues; specify damages recoverable per violation; allow for class action; include a prohibition against holding a position of public trust or profit for 10 years for a person held civilly liable; amend KRS 48.025 and 132.017 to conform.
Create new sections of KRS Chapter 610 to establish a pilot program to be known as the Supporting Opportunities for Accountability and Restoration Program for children who are truant; require the pilot program to be established in no less than 10 public school districts; establish the responsive interventions to support and empower teams; establish criteria for participation and procedure for the program; create a new section of KRS Chapter 159 to establish the duties of the director of pupil personnel in school districts that are participating in the pilot program; amend KRS 159.140 to conform; create a new section of KRS Chapter 160 to require schools to collect certain data relating to habitual truancy and require the Kentucky Department of Education to annually report data relating to habitual truancy to the Legislative Research Commission for referral to the Interim Joint Committee on Education and the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary; amend KRS 610.030 to require the use of an evidence-based family screening tool to identify family strengths, needs, and risks; create family diversion plans and require a child's parent to participate; amend KRS 605.030 to require a court-designated worker to coordinate the pilot program in the school districts that participate; amend KRS 17.125 to allow responsive interventions to support and empower teams to access information on juveniles involved with the juvenile justice system; amend KRS 600.020 to amend the definition of "habitual truant" and define "Supporting Opportunities for Accountability and Restoration Program" or "SOAR Program" and "Responsive Interventions to Support and Empower Teams" or "RISE teams"; create a new section of KRS Chapter 630 to provide that a child who is alleged to be a status offender, adjudicated a status offender, or is a status offender alleged or found to have violated a valid court order shall not be detained in a secure detention facility until the child is at least 16 years old; amend various sections to conform; repeal KRS 630.100.
Create new sections of KRS Chapter 197 to establish the Kentucky Community and Technical College System Prison Education Program within the Department of Corrections in partnership with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) to provide inmates with job training; require KCTCS to construct a facility to house the program at Northpoint Training Center; establish convictions that preclude participation in the program; require the parties to enter into a memorandum of agreement establishing the responsibilities of each party; amend KRS 196.281 to establish entitlement to a certificate of employability upon successful completion of the program and require reporting by the department; amend KRS 335B.020 to establish that a person shall not be disqualified from public employment or obtaining an occupational license solely because of previous criminal conviction and obtaining a certificate of employment from the department shall constitute rebuttable evidence of rehabilitation and fitness for the occupation; amend KRS 355B.030 to remove a conviction of a Class A felony, Class B felony, or any other felony offense other than a conviction that would qualify the individual as a registrant as defined in KRS 17.500 as supportive of a rebuttable presumption of a connection between that conviction and a license issuance request.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to define terms; establish a proactive postsecondary admissions program to be managed by the Council on Postsecondary Education; require each public postsecondary education institution in Kentucky to establish the minimum academic qualification for prospective admission to the institution and implement the common online application approved by the council by July 1, 2027; require the Kentucky Department of Education and each certified nonpublic school to submit a compiled list with designated information of all high school students who most recently completed their junior year to the council and the Kentucky Center for Statistics on or before September 1 of each year; require the KHEAA to submit the KEES award amounts of public and certified nonpublic high school students to the council on or before September 1 of each year; direct the council to send a personalized prospective admissions letter notifying each eligible high school student of each public postsecondary education institution in Kentucky where the recipient qualifies for prospective admissions, provides instructions for the recipient to apply for full admission, and of the student's KEES scholarship amount; provide that the personalized letter shall not constitute a guarantee of admission; retain the right for public postsecondary education institutions to perform a comprehensive reviews of all admissions applications internally; create a new section of KRS Chapter 151 to direct the Kentucky Center for Statistics to collaborate with the Kentucky Department of Education and the Council on Postsecondary Education to publish annual data on academic and workforce outcomes; amend KRS 164.020 to direct the Council on Postsecondary Education to establish a common online application and maintain a website for students to apply to Kentucky public postsecondary institutions through the common online application.
Amend KRS 156.160 to require the Kentucky Board of Education to promulgate administrative regulations for an alternate high school diploma and a modified high school diploma; specify requirements for alternate and modified high school diplomas; create a new section of KRS Chapter 158 to require the Department of Workforce Development to identify, compile, and publish a list of employers willing to employ individuals possessing an alternate high school diploma; amend KRS 158.140, 164.787, and 164.7882 to conform.
Create new sections of KRS Chapter 322 to establish and grant scholarships through the Kentucky professional engineer and professional land surveyor incentive scholarship fund; declare legislative intent to address engineer and land surveyor development and needs by providing Kentucky residents with postsecondary scholarships; establish the Kentucky professional engineer and professional land surveyor incentive scholarship fund as a trust and agency accounts direct the engineer and land surveyor board to administer the fund and award scholarships to qualified applicants; require a written contract between the board and the recipient where the recipient agrees to obtain engineer or land surveyor licensure within 6 years of graduation and practice in Kentucky for at least 1 year for each year of scholarships granted; acquire moneys for the fund through penalties and fines, assessments from license renewals, and the board's budgeted funds; make the applicant's failure to complete the terms of the contract subject to recovery of the fund assistance, attorney's fees, and 8% annual interest; require the board to annually report its scholarship data to the Legislative Research Commission for referral to the Interim Joint Committee on Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations.
Amend KRS 161.048 to modify and reestablish alternative teacher certification options as alternative routes; establish the eligibility requirements of alternative routes; delete Option 2 certification; establish a route for current professional certificate holders to expand certification and the eligibility requirements; require the Education Professional Standards Board to maintain and publish a list of academic majors, academic minors, and graduate degree academic content areas and the corresponding areas for which they shall satisfy certification requirements; make current professional certificate holders eligible to expand certification through any alternative route; require holders of professional certificates under specific routes complete training requirements to be eligible for the first renewal of the certificate; provide that the Education Professional Standards Board may require a passing score on a professional skills assessment; amend KRS 161.032 and 164.757 to conform; repeal KRS 161.049.
Amend KRS 157.350 to provide that in order to be eligible to receive support education excellence in Kentucky funds a school district shall not provide the superintendent or any administrator a percentage pay increase greater than the average percentage pay increase provided to classroom teachers within the district; amend KRS 156.070 to conform.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 247 to define terms; establish the Kentucky Urban Youth Agriculture Initiative to promote farming to youth in urban counties with a pilot program in at least 1 University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service office by September 1, 2026; set each program term to 1 year in duration, beginning each January; establish guidelines and participant eligibility.
HB 685 requires Kentucky's Education Professional Standards Board to issue 5-year teaching certificates to new teachers who pass required assessments. This directly affects new educators and those seeking additional certification in Kentucky public schools, as it mandates successful completion of field-specific tests before receiving a professional certificate. Key provisions include: (1) a 5-year professional certificate after passing assessments, (2) conditional certificates for one year if assessments are failed (with mentoring support), and (3) temporary certificates for out-of-state teachers with less than two years' experience. The bill standardizes certification timelines and assessment requirements without altering existing fee structures or minority recruitment data collection.
