KentuckySB 1012026 Regular SessionSenate

AN ACT relating to children.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

5 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 3 mixed.

Early return path after expulsion

An expelled student can ask to come back early after at least 26 weeks. The expulsion must be for the listed staff‑injury deadly‑weapon offense, and it must be the student’s first expulsion. The student must submit a written letter to any person injured and to the adjudicating body, complete at least 15 hours of community service for each week since expulsion, and earn a 3.0 or higher GPA on schoolwork done since expulsion. The panel of the superintendent or designee, the principal or designee, and any person injured must unanimously agree to end the expulsion. Boards may add other requirements.

Students face stricter discipline and removals

The law requires at least 12 months of expulsion for students who bring a weapon, make dangerous threats, or, in grades 6–12, injure or try to injure a district employee with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument. Boards must also discipline, up to expulsion, students who possess drugs to sell or who assault other students or staff on school property, at bus stops, or at school events. Principals can remove disruptive students from class; three removals from the same class in 30 days makes a student “chronically disruptive” and eligible for suspension. A principal may permanently remove a student from a classroom for the rest of the school year if continued placement would chronically disrupt learning. Expelled students cannot join any school‑sponsored extracurriculars during the expulsion.

Alternative schooling during and after expulsion

Expelled students receive education in an appropriate alternative program unless the board shows, with clear and convincing evidence, the student is too great a safety risk. Alternatives can include virtual and state‑funded agency programs, and the board reviews placements at least yearly. A superintendent may place a student in an alternative program instead of expulsion, or after expulsion, if staying in the regular school would disrupt learning or threaten safety; parents get a hearing. Students placed this way still count for state attendance and funding. Transportation to and from the alternative program is not provided as an educational service.

Stricter student record and transfer rules

Before admission, a parent, guardian, or other responsible party must send a sworn statement within five working days if the student was adjudicated or expelled for homicide, assault, or offenses involving weapons, alcohol, or drugs. If a student was expelled for those offenses, any records sent must show the charges and final outcome. During an active expulsion case, schools cannot send records until the case ends; then the records must show the charges and outcome. Districts must enter expulsions in the statewide system within five days and tell the state when a new student enrolls. The Kentucky Department of Education must forward collected records to the receiving district within ten working days and keep the statewide system able to collect and transfer records.

Stronger school incident reporting by staff

School employees must immediately report threats or plans of school violence and illegal firearms on school property. Staff must also report serious acts on school property or at school events, including injury to staff, sexual offenses, kidnapping, assault with a weapon, illegal guns or deadly weapons, illegal controlled substances, and property damage of $500 or more. Reports go to a school‑created law enforcement agency, a local law enforcement agency, or the Kentucky State Police. School‑created police must send a weekly report of all incidents they received to a designated local agency. Intentionally failing to report is a crime: Class B misdemeanor first, Class A misdemeanor after. Spousal and some professional‑client privileges do not block reporting; attorney‑client and religious privileges still apply. If a student’s disability likely caused the behavior, staff do not have to report it.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Matt Nunn
Republican • Senate

Cosponsors

Amanda Mays Bledsoe
Republican • Senate
Aaron Reed
Republican • Senate
Brandon Smith
Republican • Senate
Craig Richardson
Republican • Senate
Donald Douglas
Republican • Senate
Gary Boswell
Republican • Senate
Greg Elkins
Republican • Senate
Gex Williams
Republican • Senate
Lindsey Tichenor
Republican • Senate
Matthew Deneen
Republican • Senate
Max Wise
Republican • Senate
Phillip Wheeler
Republican • Senate
Robby Mills
Republican • Senate
Shelley Funke Frommeyer
Republican • Senate
Scott Madon
Republican • Senate
Steve Rawlings
Republican • Senate

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 143 • No: 21

Senate vote • 3/26/2026

passed

Yes: 32 • No: 6

House vote • 3/25/2026

3rd reading, passed

Yes: 84 • No: 5

Senate vote • 2/24/2026